Bogley

[Udink]

I had a hell of an adventure with my youngest son this Saturday in the San Rafael Swell. We rode the Coal Wash loop, which is about 60 miles and took 11 hours to complete. I'm still not sure whether the heavy rainstorm late in the day improved my time or made me slower. :lol8:

Here's a link to my GPS tracklog in Google Earth .KML format, and for those following along in their San Rafael Motorized Route Designations map, here's the route I took starting at the staging area at the north end of Coal Wash:

• Trail 638 south to the fork in Coal Wash
• Trail 639 through the South Fork of Coal Wash, up the Eva Conover Road, and down into Eagle Canyon
• Trail 820 through the bottom of Eagle Canyon under I-70 and up to the Head of Sinbad
• BLM road 6852 and under the I-70 tunnel
• Trail 644 around Locomotive Point
• Trail 638 down across Cane Wash, over Fix-It Pass, into the North Fork of Coal Wash and back to the staging area

Here's a link to the rest of the photos, and below are a few of the better ones.

The first part of the ride through the main part of Coal Wash and through the south fork was enjoyable, but I didn't stop for photos too many times because I've ridden most of that trail several times.

The staging area--perhaps I should have heeded the warning of the dark clouds


South Fork of Coal Wash


A spring in the South Fork of Coal Wash - it had a lot of tadpoles in it


Another spring with orange mud under the water


It took about an hour and a half to reach the Eva Conover Road. It was still pretty dreary, but so far it hadn't rained yet and I still had hope that it would clear up.

The start of the Eva Conover Road


Climbing up the Eva Conover Road


More of the Eva Conover Road


View down into the South Fork of Coal Wash


Panorama taken from Secret Mesa


It took about an hour and 45 minutes to ride the entire Eva Conover Road. The climb out of Coal Wash was easier than I'd been expecting, and once up onto the mesa, the riding was pretty easy. It did sprinkle on-and-off a few times, but not even enough to dampen my clothes.

The end of the Eva Conover Road


Our lunch spot on Secret Mesa


After a lunch break on Secret Mesa, just past the UDOT shed, we headed down into Eagle Canyon. It was getting windy and a bit colder, so I put my son on the ATV in front of me so he could take advantage of the heat from the engine. Fortunately it was less windy in the bottom of the canyon, though the sprinkles got a bit heavier as we rode through there. We stopped under the I-70 bridges, and then again at the huge arch in Eagle Canyon. After only being in the canyon for about four miles, we started the climb up to the Head of Sinbad and Swasey's Cabin. We made a brief stop at the cabin, then moved on.

I-70 bridges over Eagle Canyon


The start of the trail down into Eagle Canyon


At the bottom of Eagle Canyon


Under the bridges


Eagle Canyon Arch


The trail up to Swasey's Cabin


Near the cabin


At the cabin


We crossed under I-70 through the concrete tunnel, then stopped at Dutchman Arch and some of the pictographs at Locomotive Point. Then we headed around the Point and began the descent down toward Cane Wash. This part of the trail was pretty rocky and steep, and it made me very glad that I was doing the loop in a counter-clockwise direction, because going up this part would have been tough. I stopped at an awesome overlook of Horseshoe Bend, and shortly after leaving there, the sun came out! It was 5:00 PM by this time and it was the first sunshine I'd seen during the entire ride. It lasted until we got to the bottom of Cane Wash, and then some much darker clouds started rolling in.

Crossing under I-70


Dutchman Arch


Locomotive Point pictographs


Horseshoe Bend overlook


Panorama of the overlook


Panorama of Cane Wash


The clouds rolled in, and it began sprinkling heavier than it had all day, though it still wasn't too bad. Even though it was getting later in the day, I wasn't in a terrible hurry, and we enjoyed the scenery and made a few stops to take photos and check the area out.

Start of the trail leading to the North Fork of Coal Wash


The shadow of the storm rolling in overhead


Near Fix-It Pass


Another shot near Fix-It Pass


Light rain near Fix-It Pass


Just before dropping down into the North Fork of Coal Wash, the sprinkles turned into light rain, and it was time to put our jackets back on. There was one very steep and bouldery section of trail just above Coal Wash that was so bad I had to make my son get off and walk while I negotiated the trail. It was a bit tippy, but I made it down without too much trouble, though again I was very glad that I was going down this part of the trail instead of up it--I don't think I would ever do this loop clockwise.

Since the rain was getting a bit heavier and it was getting late, and since I was back on a familiar trail, I picked up the speed a bit. However, just past the Devil's Racetrack turnoff, the light rain turned into a very heavy downpour. Lightning began striking frequently and relatively close by, and it got really dark. I knew that we were still about an hour away from the truck, and I got very alarmed when waterfalls began flowing down the canyon walls. Large pools began forming in the bottom of the wash and in the middle of the trail, and in places there was flowing water in the canyon. I started really hauling ass, going as fast as I dared, and we got soaked. I think my dog had it the worst because she had no idea what was going on other than that she was cold and wet and bouncing around a lot more than usual. There was nowhere to take cover, and there was really no point in doing so because I had no desire to spend the night.

A waterfall in the North Fork of Coal Wash


Flowing water in the canyon


I had no idea what the flash flood danger was in Coal Wash, but I know that it's a huge drainage and a storm this big could easily accumulate plenty of water. Even a relatively small flow of water (not big enough to wash the ATV away) would have caused a huge problem because it would have obscured the trail and any obstacles in the way, making egress difficult or impossible. After about five miles of riding flat-out, we reached the junction with BLM road 6768, which took us out of Coal Wash and out of flash flood danger. However, now we were riding above the canyon rim and I was worried about lightning strikes nearby.

About 50 minutes after the downpour started, we finally made it safe and sound back to the truck, and the rain let up about then as well. Figures. The ordeal wasn't quite over yet, because the next mile of road leading home was covered in the nastiest clay I've ever encountered. I'd been on this road once before in the rain and I already knew what to expect, and it didn't disappoint. There were times when the truck was at a 45-degree angle to the road, but still making headway straight down the road at about 5 MPH. I almost lost it and slid off into the ditch several times, but I managed to avoid doing so and after about 20 minutes finally made it over that one-mile stretch of road to the graveled section of road.

Rainbow at the staging area


Despite the rain at the end, it was a great day. My son even had a good time, though I expected the cold soaking to sour his experience. I can't wait to do this loop again when the weather is nicer.

[accadacca]

Epic trip dood. Wicked. :popcorn:

[BruteForce]

Nice! Great photos and excellent tale.

Cute kid you've got there, quite photogenic!

[Jaxx]

I concur. Very cool TR. How do you plan your trips? Do you just know the area and remember roads that you wanted to check out when planning or do you just look at a map and connect roads and go?

[Udink]

Jaxx wrote: How do you plan your trips? Do you just know the area and remember roads that you wanted to check out when planning or do you just look at a map and connect roads and go?
I normally use the BLM's OHV travel map, USGS topo maps, and Google Earth to plan out my routes. I create waypoints in Google Earth, then transfer them to my GPS and just follow them when I'm out on the ground. Although, recently I got a new GPS with very nice topo/trail maps, and I could probably dispense with much of the route planning, but I'd think I'd still prefer to do it all in advance just in case the GPS fails me on the trail, so I'll still have a good idea of where to go.

[Jaxx]

Cool. Thanks for the info. I'm surprised you don't just have all the trails memorized. you post a ton of TRs