X88 expeditions

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 18 track in larger window.

The trail winds its way through and around the impressive rock formations with short side trails that lead to what look like spectacular backcountry campsites at the base of the buttes along the ridge. Towards the end I stopped at a grand overlook whith an impressive view of the entire valley.

The 500mm lens captured a close up of the 2 spires that the road passes between - see the middle picture at the top. From the same overlook, I noticed some interesting formations way in the distance to the south so I tried to capture those as well. They are in fact part of Monument Valley.

After descending the Moki Dugway, I turned onto the western end of the Valley of the Gods Trail (Southeast #43, page 195). This is also an easy 2 rated graded dirt road but I happened to be there at a great time of day which brought out the amazing colors of the various buttes and rock formations with imaginative names like Setting Hen, Rooster Butte, Rudolph and Santa Claus.

I decided then that I would make time to head a bit more south than I originally planned to pass through Monument Valley, although I didn't have time to stop by the visitor center and drive the 17 mile loop road. I did get some nice shots from the Trailblazer as I was approaching.

As an aside, while I was working on this post an image kept popping into my head of a very thin spire in the middle of nowhere with Clint Eastwood climbing it. I realized that this was from the movie "The Eiger Sanction" where his character is training for a climb of the Eiger in Switzerland, noted for its dangerous climb. The spire is in fact in Monument Valley and is called The Totem Pole. What does all this have to do with my trip and overlanding?

Well nothing directly except that through some side research and linking, I came across a still from the movie that shows the vehicle Clint Eastwood's character was driving in the area, which led me to this site:
http://imcdb.org/

The Internet Cars Movie Database. So if anyone wants to know for example:

What SUV was Clint Eastwood driving in The Eiger Sanction?
What offroad-equipped car was Pierce Brosnan driving in The Thomas Crown Affair?
What did that crazy river jump in Romancing the Stone?
What snorkel-equipped truck crossed that deep water in Dante's Peak?

Its all in the database. Sometimes the Internet still amazes me!

OK, back to the trip. As the sun was setting I was driving east through Arizona and then onto New Mexico.

As was the case earlier with Yellowstone and Grand Teton, some very worthwhile areas would unfortunately have to be missed on this trip. Places like Canyon de Chelly National Monument in Arizona and Santa Fe National Forest in New Mexico which I passed through in the dark on my way to Espanola.

Utah Expedition - Day 15 - Sep 18 - Part 1

2009-11-14T14:16:00.004-05:00

This day started with absolute clear skies, the ominous weather from the night before seemed to just disappear. As I leave the hotel and out to the Trailblazer I see this sitting in the parking This was a melancholy day for me as it was time to start to head back home. Originally I planned 4 days for the trips out and back so that I could stop here and there at interesting places instead of just tearing along the Interstates. However, Utah has so much to offer that I decided to reserve half the day for one final set of local exploration and the other half would be the beginning of my drive back east.

So early that morning I got out the Massey/Wilson Utah book and worked out a route that would start close to Blanding and make its way south and then east. To maximize my time the trails needed to not be return trails (i.e. ones with a dead end).

Comb Ridge was close by so I started at the north end of Comb Wash Trail (Southeast #46, page 202 of the book), it's rated difficulty 2 and scenic 9. Comb Ridge is a monocline which is a type of ground upheaval.

The first picture is of the cut made for the highway that allows for travel across the ridge. The book provides a historical perspective:

To the 1880 Mormon Hole-in-the-Rock Expedition, Comb Ridge appeared an impassable barrier as they descended from Cedar Mesa. They were forced to swing south and eventually succeeded in crossing Comb Ridge at San Juan Hill near where the San Juan River cuts through the ridge.

The trail follows parallel to the ridge on the west side and crosses through Comb Wash several times. Recent rains left many of the crossing wet and muddy although with good momentum, I did not have any issues.

Almost at the end of Comb Wash Trail, there is a turn-off for Snow Flat Road (Southeast #45, page 199 of the book). Snow Flat Road is described as a little more difficult rating a 3 due to a section of exposed rock with climbs and drops called "The Twist". After making a right turn, the road starts heading back north but fairly quickly heads east.

At about the halfway point, the trail heads up through the rocks. Its easy to follow but definitely slow going as there are many areas where wheel placement is key.

The drive west on Cedar Mesa was a smooth one as there were not many areas of washboarding. There was one short area of exposed rock to traverse and then close to the highway a long, fairly deep, and muddy stretch that ultimately posed no problem.

As I headed south on State Route 261, I basically ran out of plateau. The highway turns into a wide graded gravel road and descends the cliffs, known as the Moki Dugway. I tried to snap a few photos heading down but could not stop as these switchbacks are trafficked quite a bit since the road has been made wide enough for 2 way traffic including campers and RVs.

The last picture shows an area where it is quite narrow, definitely room for only 1 vehicle. As I headed in, I met up with a motorcycle coming the other way. We exchanged greetings and he indicated that he was scouting ahead for his wife and their pickup. He then headed back and I followed. A little while later I passed by their pickup and told them they should not have any problems as long as they take is slow and are careful with wheel placement.

After clearing "The Twist" you end up on a plateau called Cedar Mesa. I should note that this whole area is rich in Native American ruins, Petroglyphs, and Pictographs but unfortunately I could not explore on this day as I still had one more area I wanted to get to plus the drive starting back home.

Utah Expedition - Day 14 - Sep 17 - Part 2

2009-11-10T02:22:00.001-05:00

Map References - Day 14 - Sep 17

September 17 track:

Shafer Trail:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 17 track in larger window.

Once at the bottom, the trail widened and became mostly a graded dirt road. There were some wash crossings which combined with the steep, narrow descent rates the trail a 3 in the Utah book, with a scenic rating of 10 of course. The washes were quite a bit drier than over at Reds Canyon trail so this area must not have experienced that much rain lately. The first picture below shows the Shafer Trail overlook, its that outcropping with the little point at the top. The Google terrain map indicates a vertical drop of about 1400 feet.

Very close by was the turn off for the White Rim Trail. The Utah book shows the trail as 68.4 miles and strongly suggests a 2 day drive with camping. Particularly if one were to explore some interesting spur trails like Lathrop Trail which takes you right down to the Colorado river, and Taylor Canyon Trail which takes you to Moses and Zeus rocks.

I was considering reserving a camping site (reservations are mandatory) and doing the entire White Rim but in the end, time was against me and I'm not sure if I would be comfortable tackling this trail by myself with my current set up. But it gives me a beautiful excuse to come back and give it a try!

A bit past the turn-off, Shafer Trail leaves Canyonlands NP and continues east. The scenery just keeps going, its incredible.

After taking some photos of the Shafer Trail descent, it was time to head on down. For the steep switchback parts, I was basically in 4LO - 1st gear all the way. This resulted in a nice slow descent with the use of the breaks kept to a minimum. I had one vehicle coming the opposite way so I pulled to the side of wide switchback and waited till they passed.

The trail continues along a cliff and comes up close enough to the canyon's edge to see the Colorado river below.

The next grand overlook was at the Goose Neck where the Colorado river almost doubles back on itself. Several vehicles were stopped here with a group of young Germans taking pictures and horse-playing awfully close to the edge. On the Colorado River below there were 2 separate river trips on opposite sides of the Goose Neck. So I got out my 500mm lens and took some photos. I believe both were setting up for the night.

The final quarter of the Shafer Trail heads into private land, owned by a Potash producer. The border is right around Chimney Rock.

After this point the trail winds around the potash ponds and signs ask drivers to stay on the main road as other roads are private.

The Shafer Trail ends on Utah 279 which follows the Colorado River and heads into Moab. Just before pavement, there is access to the Colorado River, mainly for raft put-ins. I finally was able to dunk my toes into the mighty Colorado.

Its along this scenic byway where I spotted a rally of EarthRoamers set up at a campsite. It's feasible that I crossed paths with Scott Brady from the Overland Journal and his Jeep JK EarthRoamer. The thread on this board places him at Valley of the Gods right around the day I was there, the 18th. Small world!

You may ask why I didn't end up staying in Moab? Well it seems it was filling up for the weekend and I could not find a hotel at a decent price at all. So I ended up down in Blanding. On the way I ran into the tail end of some of those Utah monsoons.

Utah Expedition - Day 14 - Sep 17 - Part 1

2009-11-09T22:58:00.003-05:00

Now that is a real Expedition Vehicle! A bit more on this later.

After I gassed up and headed east from Green River, I noticed an interesting sign by the side of the road (no picture) and then snapped a few photos while driving.

This day started with absolute clear skies, the ominous weather from the night before seemed to just disappear. As I leave the hotel and out to the Trailblazer I see this sitting in the parking lot:

Nothing special right? Except that the Interstate passes right through the Green River Launch Complex, an annex of the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The U. S. Air Force, built the Green River Launch Complex, just out of Green River, 1964. It was an annex of the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range. From 1964 to 1973 the U. S. Air Force launched 141 Athena Missiles from the Green River launching area, near the Crystal Geyser. From those firings research was done to improve nuclear missiles.

My first stop today was Canyonlands National Park visitor center and ranger station. To plan my day and decide how much time I would spend on the Island in the Sky and when I would head down the Shafer Trail (Southeast Region Trail #1, page 108), I spoke to a ranger and asked about the storm clouds to the east. He looked up weather radar on his computer and said I should be OK today as the storm did not look to be heading west from Moab, only south.

So I decided I would head south first and check out the Green River overlook. The views were spectacular to say the least.

If you look carefully you can spot the White Rim Trail winding its way around the canyon drop offs on the plateau. This may be where Roadie took his photos.

I decided against heading further south to Grandview Point, and instead drove back towards the beginning of the Shafer Trail. But first I grabbed some photos at the overlook.

You can see the summer monsoon storm I was worried about in the distance in the first photo. But true to what the ranger predicted, the rain didn't even come close to me that day at the Canyonlands, although I did encounter it later on in the evening.

The overlook is an interesting place to watch the traffic go up and down the Shafer trail (mostly down). The trail itself starts north of the overlook, winds its way around it, and then heads seriously down into the canyon using the switchbacks you can see. Part of the entertainment is watching how drivers pass each other. Sometimes there's room for two vehicles, other times not. Its up to the driver heading down to pay attention and to decide whether to wait at a wide switchback for the driver heading up, because as everybody should know, uphill drivers have the right of way, so says proper trail etiquette.

Utah Expedition - Day 13 - Sep 16 - Part 2

2009-11-07T15:31:00.002-05:00

Map References - Day 13 - Sep 16

September 16 track:

Reds Canyon:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 16 track in larger window.

My last stop for the day was Goblin Valley State Park and the very interesting Valley of the Goblins.

Here's how the book describes the natural formations:

These unique rock formations have been carved out over millions of years by wind and rain and are thought by many to resemble little goblin-like creatures.

I arrived there just before the sun started to go down so I stayed a while waiting for the sunset to really light up the valley. Here's a series of photos showing the wide view and some close ups.

Reds Canyon Trail ends back at Temple Mountain Trail, which then continues east back to pavement. Along the way it navigates around Temple Mountain, into a canyon, and finally ends back on the flat.

I snapped a picture of myself next to a goblin and on the way out of the park I saw the "Three Sisters" formation.

As I was leaving a great sunset was shaping up with the Henry Mountains in the distance. This remote range were the last mountains to be mapped in the lower 48 states (in 1872). In between me and the mountains were some great rock outcroppings that just lit up in the setting sun.

I then headed north to Green River for the night. I could see heavy thunderstorms shaping up in the distance, and when I was driving into Green River the skies looked ominous in the dark, but the rain stayed away all night. Good news because the next day was going to be a big one.

Utah Expedition - Day 13 - Sep 16 - Part 1

2009-11-04T03:23:00.004-05:00

The day started off with perfect weather as I headed east on I70 through Fishlake and Manti la Sal National Forests and onto the swell. My starting point was the northern terminus of the Temple Mountain Trail (Central #12, page 466 of the book). This trail is rated a difficulty 2 with a scenic of 7, so I was really using it to get to more interesting areas.

Five miles in is the turn off for Swasey's Cabin Trail (Central #13, page 468) which is a short track to what the book calls one of the oldest remaining structures in the desert as it dates back to the 1920s. It stands in front of a unique and striking rock formation. The Swasey's used a cool cave in that formation as a year-round meat locker.

I planned this day to head into the San Rafael Swell area of Utah. This area is covered in the Trails of the Central Region part of the Massey/Wilson book. I decided to explore the area south of I70 because I liked how I could tackle 4 or 5 trails with one trip. As usual, this area of Utah has an abundance of interesting areas to explore and trails to conquer. Some of the places I really would like to see but had to miss on this trip were:

The 7 hour Cathedral Valley Trail
Three Fingers Petroglyphs
Black Dragon Pictographs
Robbers Roost
The Black Box of the San Rafael River

I then backtracked 1 mile to the fork where Rods Valley Trail (Central #14, page 470) heads south . This trail is rated a 3 because it crosses through the wash in Rods Valley several times as well as some rough rocky sections. Its a good shortcut down to the trail where I would spend most of my time this day - Reds Canyon Trail (Central #15, page 472).

Reds Canyon is a 2.5 hour loop trail that starts up on the plateau as a graded dirt road and then drops into the canyon where it follows the wash for about 75% of the northern part of the loop. Its difficulty is rated a 3 and scenic a 10. Here is how the book describes it:

The road's rating of 3 is contingent upon the amount of erosion from recent rain and/or how long it has been since the road was last graded. If graded and dry, the road would rate a 2. However, if there have been recent washouts, the trail could be considerably more difficult, perhaps even impassable without some road repairs.

As I was there in the tail end of Utah's monsoon season, the road was about 50% washed out from a recent heavy thunderstorm. By this I mean that half the time I could tell where the road was but the other half I had no clue. Except for 1 set of tracks that I was lucky enough to be able to follow for the most part (see the third picture). Using the tracks and the road as it was displayed on my GPS, I was able to not drive astray the entire length except for 1 place, where both the person there before me (the tracks) and I ended up missing a turn-off and driving down the wash too far. I reversed in a three point turn when I noticed the tracks I was following did the same.

As for the trail, I would rate it a 5 or 6 when I was there. The recent water created several high and soft dirt mounds to get over. I think a non-lifted vehicle would have had problems on some of those. I didn't have to use my shovel anywhere but I did need to stack rocks in 2 places where the drop and climb were significant.

Once the trail leaves the wash for good, it heads towards Tomsich Butte which looks monolithic from a distance. Its the one in the background in the picture with the abandoned pickup cab and engine block. At the very far end of the loop, the road drops down to Muddy Creek where there is a great viewpoint for Hondoo Arch. I parked the Trailblazer here in the shade under a big Cottonwood tree and had some lunch.

On the way back to the southern part of the loop, I took some photos of the abandoned uranium mine at the foot of Tomsich Butte. The trail then climbs up to McKay Flat and becomes a 1-rated road that takes you through rolling grassland and Sagebrush back to the Temple Mountain Trail.

Readers' Rigs - Winter 2009

2009-11-03T22:44:00.000-05:00

After a good off-road and modification season in 2008, I sent in my Trailblazer specifications at the time to the quarterly "Readers' Rigs" magazine published by Petersen's 4Wheel & Off-Road.

The magazine is not available online so I scanned the 2 pages where my Trailblazer was featured. The first picture is in the section heading, I guess they didn't know where to put me (I'm definitely not in the west). On the page I'm the little pic up in the top left.

The second picture is the page itself. I received a half-page write up. Most of the specifications are accurate although some were left out for space requirements I presume, such as the custom bumper.

The great action shot was courtesy Mike Lascut at MikePhoto.com.

Lighting - Lighting It Up!

2009-11-01T19:00:00.002-05:00

Alright, now for the moment of truth. The pictures below are of the auxiliary lights activated with various combinations. From left to right and top to bottom:

fogs in bumper
fogs in bumper + on roof rack
long range driving on light bar
long range driving on roof rack
long range driving on light bar + roof rack
long range driving - side view

So how were these on the road? I would have to say excellent! I used the roof rack long range PIAA's quite a bit on the Big Western Trip. The first time they came in very handy was leaving Badlands National Park in Wyoming at night on a gravel road that would take me back to pavement. Because of the extra light down the road, I was able to spot and avoid a deer that bolted across in front of me. Without them I probably wouldn't have been able to stop in time.

Then heading south in Idaho, I was on pavement and going around 65 when I was able to spot another deer way down the road just standing there. The extra distance allowed me to slow down in time and honk to get it off the road. Without them ... who knows. So I ended up using them quite a bit on those long, straight sections of highway through the desert, particularly when signs warned of animal crossings.

Lighting - Wiring It Up II

2009-11-01T18:45:00.000-05:00

Finding a switched power lead under the steering column or at the lighting switch proved to be a challenge. There was something preventing me from finding the high-beam power although I don't remember what it was. Fog light power was a weird one as it seem that the power at the switch is reverse to what is logical - there is 12V when the fogs are off and 0V when they are on. So I decided to use the engine bay fuse panel.

The Auburn Ected Locker switched lead is from the 4.56 gear and axle work. It uses a switched ignition circuit. The long range driving piggy-backs to a high beam switched circuit. The fog was more difficult because the leads at the fog fuse were not switched (always 12V). So I used a fuse tap from one of the kits and tapped into the fog relay which obviously would be switched. The fuse for this lead is back in the cabin behind the panel next to the lighting switches.

And finally, I wanted to locate a set of fuses and relays somewhere they are going to be easy to access. The engine compartment was one option but then you have to worry about the elements, and also I could not really see where I could put the amount of fuses and relays I needed in a neat and orderly fashion. To help out, I decided to go with a fuse/relay combo from Painless Performance. Its the CirKit Boss®™ Auxiliary Fuse Block/3 Circuits, part #70103:

I got 4 of these to be able to handle all the amps that are going to be needed. The distribution is like this, each group having its own relay:

2 x 130 Watt KC - front light bar
2 x 130 Watt KC - front light bar
4 x 55 Watt PIAA driving - roof rack
2 x 55 Watt PIAA fog - roof rack

I found a perfect place for these and that is underneath the rear seats in between the seat swivel mechanisms.

If you look at the close up you will see that I used some stainless steel threaded rod for the mounting points. I drilled the required holes in the seat swivel sides, then bolted the rods on 4 sides (outside and inside of each metal end surface). I then used heavy duty zip ties to attach the Painless kits to the rods.

All ground leads (these are for the relays only and don't carry the high amps) go to a couple of bolts where the OEM Jack used to be (I took all of its components out). All power leads are taken from the 12V power lead/post which is under the grey cover. The positive leads from the lights come out from the firewall, then under the floor carpet and plastic covers at the door openings, then out under the left rear seat, and finally across the rear under-seat platform to the appropriate relay/fuse block. Very easy to get to by just lifting the rear seats.

Lighting - Wiring It Up

2009-11-01T18:40:00.001-05:00

OK, time to update this topic ... finally.

I was embarrassed last year, particularly at Carlisle that I went the whole year without wiring up my lights. It was mainly because I wanted to do it properly with no shortcuts so I procrastinated. Well this year I still didn't get it done for TECORE/MORA but there was no way I was going to Carlisle and then my Big Western Trip without getting it done!

First some catch-up pictures of the lighting with the covers on (got to stay legal) and off. Sorry about the focus, still learning the new camera.

If you notice on the front light bar close-up, you can see my solution for to stabilize the bar. In general the bar was OK except on very bumpy trails and on very windy days. It would bounce around quite a bit. My solution was to get some wire clamps that were 1.5" inside diameter. No easy task as they are very difficult to find, particularly ones that have an some sort of padding on the inside. Luckily James Downing pointed me to an amazing online resource - McMaster-Carr - with over 480,000 products, you can't go wrong.

Here is the page on their catalog, I ordered 4 different kinds to make sure one of them would work out. I bolted the clamp to one end of a threaded stainless steel rod, and the other end to holes drilled into my aluminum filler plates between the bumper and body. After driving around with this set up for a while, I am happy to report that the light bar is very sturdy.

Next for the wiring. The light bar was actually the easiest as I found a great place to permanently attach the Deutsch connectors - right on top of the plastic grille. When the hood is closed, you can't even see them. The negative lead goes to a body post in the engine bay while the positive goes through the firewall and back to where I make the battery connection.

The roof rack wiring was more difficult because I didn't want to drill through my roof and also there are more leads - 12 of them. The solution actually came from my great fabricator at National4WD who suggested I try running the wires behind the door trim/seal and into the engine bay. Because I would need 6 wires per side, I had to find a wire loom that would be as small as possible and yet hold the 6 wires. For this I used a special type of braided loom that I happened to find in a car-parts store. It is much more compact than the corrugated plastic type.

So from the roof rack Deutsch connectors there is a removable section of 6 wires that has another Deutsch connector in the engine bay. When I remove the roof rack I also remove this section of wiring. Running this section behind the trim/seal has not presented any problems so far. Again, the negative leads go to the body post and the positive through the firewall.

Surco Safari Roof Rack - Revisited

2009-10-30T11:56:00.004-04:00

All right, big time update to the Safari Rack info. I did several changes and enhancements this year and have basically had it on the vehicle starting from my TECORE/MORA trip up until writing this. It will soon need to come off though in preparation for winter.

I purchased the great Camping Lap 70" awning last winter. With their price and free shipping, you can't go wrong. It is very sturdy and stood up to fairly high winds on the beach at the Outer Banks.

It has a very simple mounting system. You get 2 large L-brackets made from stainless steel with several holes in them. How these bolt up to any given roof rack is up to the user. I ended up buying an extra light mount kit from Surco and used the mounting brackets from the kit.

The other end is drilled to match the channels in the extruded aluminum frame of the awning. You slide the provided bolts into the channels (which stops them from spinning) and bolt the frame to the brackets.

Hi-Lift Removed & Awning Added

I was on the lookout for a better way to mount the axe and shovel for quite a while. The Surco mounts are OK, but their real problem is that you needed a socket wrench to remove the axe or shovel. Unfortunately most mounting systems work this way, until I found this really great solution.

It is from GOBI Racks and designed for an H2. The locking mechanism is great and removing the items is now much faster and easier. Here are some close-ups of the mounting brackets.

Here are a couple of shots with the mounts in use.

Scepter Military Gas Cans

* !Orange! * !Orange! * !Orange! *

Did you notice the shiny blaze orange gas cans instead of the red ones? The short story about this is that over the past couple of years (leading up to the new CARB laws making it illegal for dealers to sell Scepter Military Fuel Canisters in the US to the public) Scepter has been phasing out all colors for their fuel cans except for olive drab and sand.

They first phased out blaze orange cans that were mostly used by firefighters and other emergency personnel. Then just recently they got rid of the red ones. I have been looking for orange cans for the past 2 years now. I finally decided to put an ad on Expedition Portal in the classifieds offering to trade my unused red cans for orange ones. Well, somebody in California was actually looking for 2 red cans and had been using the orange ones but really wanted to trade. A few weeks later and we had a perfect exchange through couriers. Wow, the power of the Internet!

New Rack Mounting System

As described in an earlier post, Roadie and I started to question the sturdiness of the original mounting technique due to the fact that there were only 4 bolts holding the rack in place in the roof channels and that I actually bent the aluminum tabs that the bolts use when over-tightening them.

So since last year I have been trying to come up with a better way of mounting the Safari rack, but not the permanent way that Roadie has implemented.

Solutions do come in the strangest of ways! Those Gobi axe/shovel locking mounts described earlier, along with the Gobi Hi-Lift locking mounts I have implemented (future thread) come with powdercoated steel backplates with 2 threaded holes each for mounting to the Hummer H2. They were not required in my solution but lo and behold ... they are the perfect size to slide into our roof rails!

So in these pictures you will see 2 larger grade 8 bolts above the roof channels. These are the ones that bolt to the backplates which are inside the channels (you can make out the backplate in the left picture). To make sure of no slippage, I purchased some rubberized matting surface and stuck it to the plate using 3M heavy duty double sided tape.

One bolt uses the original mounting hole that was previously drilled into the cross member (see previous pictures). The second bolt uses the axe/shovel mounting brackets on one side and a metal plate bolted to the rack on the other side. Once all 8 bolts are tightened down, the Safari Rack is not going anywhere!

I am glad to report that I have had absolutely no problems this year with the new system. This includes the Spring TECORE/MORA trip, the August CampNL weekend, the late summer Big Western Trip, and numerous other shorter local outings. The next upgrade for the Safari Rack will be to find a better way to mount the removable items - water cans and surplus ammo cans. I am currently using ratcheted tie downs and elastic cords but tying down and untying is a bit of a hassle and usually takes longer than I would like. So I will be looking to attach some anchor points to the Safari Rack and use some kind of semi-elastic cords (not as stretchy as the bungee-type) which will be easy to hook and unhook, but still very strong so that I don't get anything flying off the top of my Trailblazer!

Here is a picture of the whole package for now.

Locking Axe/Shovel Mounts

Utah Expedition - Day 12 - Sep 15

2009-10-29T01:09:00.003-04:00

Map References - Day 12 - Sep 15

September 15 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 15 track in larger window.

It seemed to be looking up by the time I got to Richmond which is the starting point of the trail so I headed up into the red hills hoping that the weather would hold up. Unfortunately as I got to the top of the first crest I could see heavy rains straight ahead. I stopped to consider this for a bit as the trail is that typical Utah red clay dirt, which turns into heavy, gooey, slippery mud when wet. What finally convinced me was a column of about 10 ATVs heading down back into Richmond (where I came from) completely plastered with red mud, head to toe. So I decided to play it safe and turned around.

As I was heading back down even more ATVs passed me. What was the deal ? Well, it seems that Richmond is ATV central in Utah that time of year as the 275-mile-long Paiute ATV Trail (PATVT) passes through it ... AND ... the Rocky Mountain ATV Jamboree was in full session!

After my outstanding day at the Grand Canyon and Tuweep Overlook, this day was about getting closer to Utah's canyons.

The plan was to head north to Salina which would be my starting point for the next day's foray towards the San Rafael Swell. I chose Salina because the next town west of it is Green River, 100 miles away and too far past the starting point of the trails I chose.

I did have time to incorporate an offroad trail today on the way north so I read through my Peter Massey Utah Backcountry Adventures book and chose the Richfield Pioneer Road on page 509. It is rated at an easy 2 (on a scale of 10) with a scenic rating of 9 and a driving time of 3.5 hours.

The weather this day started out great but unfortunately grew worse as I travelled north along the eastern edge of The Great Basin to the point where I hit some pretty heavy showers going over the mountains and Fishlake National Forest.

Well, I gassed up and continued north to Salida. That evening I had a really good Mexican dinner in the restaurant right across from the Super-8 where I was staying. This is also where I spotted the blue Ascender - see picture way back on Day 1.

Utah Expedition - Day 11 - Sep 14

2009-10-28T00:02:00.005-04:00

Map References - Day 11 - Sep 14

September 14 track:

Grand Canyon NP - Tuweep Overlook:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 14 track in larger window.

So on this day I set out to that challenging area of Grand Canyon National Park called Tuweep and the Toroweap Overlook. Here is some advice from their website:

No one should attempt the trip without ample preparation and knowledge of the hazards associated with remote desert travel. Travelers should carry extra WATER, FOOD, and GASOLINE; GOOD TIRES including at least one USABLE SPARE; and PARTS and TOOLS to handle vehicle and tire repairs.

And just to underscore this warning, I found this press release on the National Parks Services site. It seems that just a week after I was at Tuweep, a hiker had an accident on the treacherous and dangerous Lava Falls Hiking route which descends 2500 feet from rim to river in a distance of just under 2 miles.

That morning I headed out to the BLM office in St. George to pick up a detailed map of this area of Arizona. I also filled my 2 Scepter gas cans, and checked the tires. My plan was to use the 90 mile Main Street Route for the trip there, and the shorter 60 mile Clayhole Route for the trip back to pavement.

The road then took me up and around Mt. Trumbull. A really nice drive with some great overlooks. I ran into a Forestry Dept. controlled burn on the slopes which was interesting.

Initially the driving was slower than I liked it as the graded gravel road was terribly washboarded. I ended up trying to drive on the softer parts of the road which was usually down the middle. At one point it looked like rain was coming in from the North which worried me a bit, many areas on this route become impassible with wet weather. Luckily, it stayed away. After a while the road got softer and clay based and I passed some abandoned homesteads.

The next stop was the Mt. Trumbull Schoolhouse. It has been beautifully renovated after some asshat vandals almost burned it to the ground some years back. There was a lot of interesting information inside.

This is the day I have been waiting/planning for, but first a little background. When I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to have a cool Dad that would occasionally take me on business trips (conventions, seminars, etc.) with him to all parts of the U.S.A and Canada.

One of those early trips was to a convention in Phoenix. This was our first time out west so we combined a drive to Las Vegas with a stop at the Grand Canyon South Rim. For those of you who have been there you know that it is basically impossible to put into words.

Many years later, when I had my own business and I was headed out to Las Vegas for the CES (Consumer Electronics Show), I invited my Dad along to retrace our earlier route. However, this time I decided to check out the more remote North Rim of the Grand Canyon. At the time, I thought it was "way cool" because it was not as "touristy" as the South Rim, and you were able to walk out to areas that were much closer to the canyon walls.

Little did I know at the time that there was another access point to the Canyon, one that only offroaders or expeditionists would be interested in due to its remoteness and vehicle requirements.

There was plenty of the tall plant growing after the fire. I remember seeing a picture and write up of this plant somewhere but I cannot find it now. If anyone knows, please chime in. On the slope down there was plenty of Prickly Pear Cactus. I read that the fruit on that cactus is edible, but I'm no Survivorman so I left it alone.

After more driving you enter Grand Canyon NP with its ranger station right next to the road. There is a pit toilet and some information to read. One prominent sight warns of Sand Bogs along the road to the rim.

These are areas of very soft and deep sand. The notice asks drivers to NOT circumvent them by going off the track, but to slowly and carefully plow through them, preferably in low gear. I thought about airing down but didn't. A couple did feel quite deep but as long as I kept moving, there was no problem.

Shortly after the picture above, the terrain changes to barren rock with a few tricky climbs but nothing too radical. The exposed rock continues all the way to the Tuweep overlook parking area.

As I arrived, another vehicle was leaving so I got the place all to myself. It was windy but also eerily quiet. Once you shut the engine off you get the sense that there is no human around for thousands of miles, even though you will see that it is not the case.

Now, I am not particularly afraid of heights, but a sheer 3000 foot drop I do respect! So here are some pictures from as close as I dared to venture to the rim. To get a picture of me with an interesting background, I wedged myself between some rocks that were pretty close to the edge.

I dicided to get out my 500mm lens to see if I could capture any wildlife. No luck there but I did get a couple of shots of a rafting trip down on the Colorado River.

As the sun was starting to get lower on the horizong I headed back north to get to pavement, the Arizona-Utah border, and ultimately to Cedar City Utah. Was it as awesome as I dreamed it would be?

Absolutely! And more! The pictures only give one sense of this narrow area of the Grand Canyon. The sounds (and quiet), the smells, driving 150 miles away from civilization, it all ads up to an unforgettable experience.

Utah Expedition - Day 10 - Sep 13

2009-10-25T13:39:00.004-04:00

Map References - Day 10 - Sep 13

September 13 track:

Red Rock Canyon NCA:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 13 track in larger window.

The temperatures were still into the 100s so even though Red Rock Canyon is very close to the city and there is usually quite a few tourists there, I made sure I had plenty of liquids with me and lots of sun protection.

With clear skies above, the colors in the canyon were incredible. Reds, oranges, yellows,
greens, browns ...

Red Rock Canyon seems to have something for everyone, even offroaders although ATVs are not allowed (along with driving off marked roads). The Scenic Drive loop road is paved but very nice as it takes you up close to the rocks, then higher in elevation to overlook the entire area, then back down into the flat parts. There are many parking areas that allow for great pictures as well as hiking into the rocks. The trails have varying levels of difficulty and length, plus there is rock climbing allowed in certain areas for those so inclined.

About half way through is a turn off to Rocky Gap Road. It starts as a graded gravel road that leads to some nice shady picnic areas. Past that it is marked as a high clearance 4x4 road. I followed a Pink Jeep Tours vehicle up into the mountains and at a turn, he let me pass as they were going slowly to allow for pictures I guess. I asked the driver/tour guide wether the trail was a dead end. He indicated that their tour turns around soon but that the trail itself continues on, but deteriorates. He also said that if I used my GPS I could probably follow it all the way to Pahrump on the California border.

Later that evening I took a look at Google and my GPS Topo maps. Even though the trail is not marked on Google, using the satellite images you can see that it does make its way to Lovell Canyon Road, which leads to Lovell Summit road, which ends up in Pahrump. That would have been an interesting drive through Toiyabe National Forest but unfortunately, not on this trip.

After reaching where the trail becomes quite rocky, I decided to turn around and take some pictures at what looked like a nice back country camping area.

I then headed back into Vegas, north-east through Arizona, and into southern Utah, all the while hoping that the weather would hold up as the next day was going to be a big one, something that I had been looking forward to for many years.

As I drove along the back half of the Scenic Road, I tried to get some pictures of the western mountains (Bridge Mt, Mt. Wilson) as the sun was starting to set behind them. And finally at the exit to Red Rock Canyon, there is another great overlook.

OK, so I blew it in regards to overland adventure around Vegas. I would have really liked to have gone to Death Valley and seen The Racetrack with the moving rocks, or the Valley of Fire, or Mount Charleston.

So this day I decided to at least go visit Red Rock Canyon which is just outside of Las Vegas.

Utah Expedition - Days 8 & 9 - Sep 11, 12 - The Lost Days

2009-10-24T13:18:00.006-04:00

Oh the shame ... warning, this post has no overlanding value whatsoever.

So I arrived in Vegas the night of September 10th with big plans. But first I had to find an all-night car wash to get rid of all the mud and dust from the past 10 days, and to re-arrange some items in the back so that it would be easy to check into the hotel.

Then I headed up Las Vegas Blvd. (The Strip) towards my hotel. What I didn't anticipate is that there would be 2 separate areas of road construction (they obviously work during the night) which made a 10 minute drive into a 1 hour painful crawl. Well, at least I got some nice shout-outs from people admiring the Trailblazer.

When I finally arrived at the Flamingo, I ended up tipping the valet so that he would park the truck right in front of the entrance. Plus with the Safari rack, he said it would probably not be able to make it into the garage.

Stupid me, I ended up not getting a picture of it sitting in front of the entrance.

So what were my big plans? Well, because of past visits, and the economic downturn (Vegas needs visitors!), I was able to get 3 nights for free at the Flamingo. So I was going to use this as my base to go explore places around the area. Things on my list were Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley, and the Grand Canyon at Tuweep as a start.

I should have taken the construction as a warning as several things started to make these 2 days in Vegas the Lost Days, in terms of overlanding that is. I go to check in and their room booking inventory system is down. So thats another hour and a half in line waiting to check in. So to speed things up they are scrambling and offer me a better room for the 1st night and $50 credit ... but I would have to switch rooms the next morning. I didn't want to wait anymore so I accepted.

Well now that I was here, I wasn't going to just go to sleep so I decided to walk across the street to my old stomping grounds, Caesar's Palace.

I make a bee-line over to the Seahorse Lounge where my favorite bartender is the supervisor and we catch up on old times over several Martinis. Needless to say it was a long night.

Next morning (Day 8) I have to transfer rooms so there goes half the day. I decide to use the rest of the day to recover a bit and plan for the next day where I wanted to head out to Death Valley. At night I decided to head over the Caesar's again for a couple of drinks and bit of time at the tables.

Big mistake #1. Instead of Martinis I start up on Mojitos, my bartender makes killer ones. I then take my pre-planned gaming budget to the tables and the worst thing happens. I don't start to win right away, but I don't lose right away either. Six hours later I stumble back to the Flamingo, pretty much breaking even, but now its 5 in the morning!

I somehow wake up at a decent hour on Day 9 and scramble to get ready for Death Valley. Oh, did I mention that Vegas was experiencing an unseasonable heat wave? Temperatures were reaching 105 for the past week and there was no let up in sight. They should have been in the high 80s this time of year.

So it dawns on me that I should at least check the temps in Death Valley. I go online and the forecast was for 140! At this time what is left of my better judgement kicks in and I decide to not take a chance with a solo trip to Death Valley in 140 degree weather. I think a bit about heading over to Tuweep and the Grand Canyon, but looking at the maps I see that there are over 150 miles offroad through varying levels of graded gravel and dirt road. I decide that it is too late in the day for that and that a trip out to the nearby Red Rock Canyon would be a better choice. OK, let me go grab lunch first.

Big mistake #2. I head down to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville right in the Flamingo. The food was great, but the Margarita's were outstanding! All six of them. Well, there goes my afternoon trip out to Red Rock Canyon. I wake up later that evening and head over to Caesar's again for a small dinner. The rest as they say "will stay in Vegas".

So that is how I ended up with 2 days of my Big Western Trip with absolutely no overlanding whatsoever. Oh, and I didn't end up even taking any pictures. OK everybody, feel free to let me have it!

Utah Expedition - Day 7 - Sep 10

2009-10-22T00:31:00.002-04:00

This day was a long travel day south, through the Great Basin and into Las Vegas.

First, I would like to re-iterate how awesome and interesting Idaho was. Not that Nevada-Arizona-Utah are not going to be outstanding, but Idaho was a total surprise once I got there. I would love to go back. OK, now onto the day's drive.

You enter the Great Basin area shortly after leaving Twin Falls, ID. First over some small hills, and then flat, straight, flat, straight, etc. etc. The saving grace is that there is always something interesting to look at in the distance.

Map References - Day 7 - Sep 10

September 10 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 10 track in larger window.

The temperature climbed into the 90s very quickly (sign of things to come) but my temps remained at good levels with the transmission cooler and deep pan working excellently. One casualty of the hot temperatures however was my windshield. A rock must have hit it somewhere on the trip and when it got into the 90s it started to crack.

Oh, did I mention that the road was flat and straight?

A few times the road gets closer to the mountain ranges that are for the most part, off in the distance.

As I got further south, the distance between the ranges to the East and West became less. I was still quite a ways from Vegas when it started to get darker so I stopped and uncovered the PIAA driving lights. They definitely came in handy again on these long and straight roads. I was also glad I used them because towards the very end, the road borders the Desert National Wildlife Range where the signs constantly remind drivers to watch for crossing deer.

And then finally I turned onto Interstate 15 which has a great descent into Vegas, particularly at night. I planned a stop before checking into the hotel and that was to a car wash. The Trailblazer was quite muddy and dusty from the past couple of days. Plus I had to re-arrange a few things inside to make it easier at the hotel.

Utah Expedition - Day 6 - Sep 9 - Part 2

2009-10-18T00:27:00.003-04:00

Challis National Forest is right next to Targhee, so as soon as you crest the pass and start down, your are in Challis. There were a couple of tricky spots in terms of navigation as the main trail down was not immediately evident. But after a couple of false starts, I got on the main one and headed down to the next flat. Going down was a little better then going up, but still pretty bumpy!

Map References - Day 6 - Sep 9

September 9 track:

Spring Mountain Canyon:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 9 track in larger window.

The next destination required me to go a bit more north in the flat and then west into the Lost River Range, page 169 in the book. This is where it all started as the original SUV magazine's article described the Upper Pahsimeroi river and the foothills of the Lost River Range of mountains. The reason this area has a nickname of "Little Switzerland" is because bunched together in this range are 7 of Idaho's 9 peaks over 12,000 feet. The trail (as described in the book) takes you right up close to this concentration of peaks.

Unfortunately, I misjudged the amount of daylight I had left so when I got to the turn off to head south towards the river and Borah & Leatherman Peaks, I made a judgement call to not go. Going that way would require a return trip back to this turn-off spot in order to then head over the pass to come out at the next flat. Even though this pass road was described as drivable 2wd road, I didn't want to try it in the dark.

As I headed towards Doublespring Pass over the Lost River Range, I pulled off on a side trail to get some sunset pictures. I was still learning the intricacies of the Nikon D200 so some results were better than others.

As I crested the pass and started down, I noticed some movement to my left far in the distance. A short while later I noticed what it was. Two Pronghorns were running in parallel to my Trailblazer, about 400 yards away. When I stopped to take pictures, they stopped. When I started up, they galloped along, it was pretty strange. Luckily the gravel road was very smooth here and I could truck along at a pretty good pace.

I finally got out to the Highway 93 just before it got totally dark. And therefore I had to cut my original plan short by 1/3. I was going to take Trail Creek Road (page 205 in the book) over the last "finger", the Pioneer Mountains, come out at Ketchum, and then drive south to Twin Falls. And even thought this graded gravel road was definitely rated as 2wd, I didn't see a point trying it in the dark, even with my PIAA's operational.

Ahh, forgot to mention that I had used the 4 PIAA long range lights on the Safari rack a few times up till now. You can see them uncovered in one of the pictures above. On a side note, back on day 7 after leaving Badlands NP, and on this night, driving to Twin Falls, they definitely saved my skin with wildlife crossing the road.

I always wondered if they would be effective since they are on the smaller side (I like how they fit well with the height of the rack). I am pleased to report that after I aimed them to light up ahead of me longer than the low-beams, but shorter than the high-beams, they are outstanding. In both instances some kind of deer bolted across the road at a point that would have been difficult to see with even the high beams. With the PIAA's, I was able to see the deer and slow down in time to avoid any carnage.

Even though it was dusk and getting pretty dark, I decided to get out my 500mm lens and try to snap a few shots (it needs a lot of light). These are the least blurry.

Utah Expedition - Day 6 - Sep 9 - Part 1

2009-10-17T22:56:00.005-04:00

So why Idaho you may ask? The story goes back a few years.

There used to be a magazine called "Truckin's SUV" which is since defunct. I started reading it as I was planning to get my original (blue) Trailblazer. I guess that is the genesis of my "expedition/exploration" bug as they tried to include an offroad adventure in every issue. The December 2001 issue had a write up of what is called "Little Switzerland" in East-Central Idaho.

It intrigued me at the time because it helped me realize that it wasn't only Colorado that had the Rocky Mountains, they must of course pass through other states as they make their way north to Canada. Plus the magazine had pictures of river crossings, remote 2-track trails, everything that was exotic to me at the time.

Luckily I kept the magazine stored away and when this trip was taking shape, I dug it out and decided to work Idaho into my itinerary during my northern route going west.

During my research I decided to do a bit of online searching to see if there was a guide for the area similar to the great Peter Massey books I used for my Colorado trip 2 years ago. Luckily there is a guide by a local brother & sister, the Howard's, that is on par with the Massey books ... Backcountry Roads - Idaho. Leland Howard is a professional photography so the imagery in their book is spectacular. The guiding and GPS info is not as detailed as in the Massey books but still more than acceptable.

I ordered this book and picked it up at my mailbox in Niagara Falls on day 1 of this trip. Reading through it makes me want to come back to the very scenic and very interesting state of Idaho!

Heading north out of Idaho Falls, I first crossed a wide basin that is situated in front of the Rocky Mountains. This basin along with how the mountain ranges I was heading to are situated prompts the writers to say this:
"Gas stations are distant from the expedition starting points. There is no cellphone coverage."

Another interesting fact about this area is that it qualifies as a "cold desert", receiving most of its moisture in the form of snow during the winter months. It definitely looked very dry when I was there.

My goal for this day was to head north into the mountains, cross 3 ranges which come down like fingers with flats between them, and then head south to Twin Falls, ID. The first was the Lemhi Range and the historic Charcoal Kilns, page 187 of the book. To get to the Kilns you take one of a multitude of roads and tracks that crisscross the flat, this is where the book comes in handy as it has exact mileage and GPS coordinates. Crossing the flats here always means that you will probably encounter cattle herds. The trick is to drive through slowly and honk the horn if necessary.

The charcoal kilns are on the eastern edge of the Targhee National Forest. There is a small parking lot with some historical information and a water well, but I am not sure if it is potable water. The book explains that 16 kilns were built in 1883, only 3 remain. They were designed to process the local wood into charcoal, that would then be used at the nearby Viola lead mine's smelter.

My next destination was Spring Mountain Canyon and the pass road that would take me over the Lemhi mountain range. The road tops out at 10,007 feet near Big Windy Peak and is the highest road elevation described in the book, on page 181.

At the point where I picked up the route from the book, I stopped to talk to a couple who were out hunting Pronghorn Antelope in the NF. Although all I saw were cattle, the gentlemen said that he had spotted a couple of bucks with his high powered binoculars, but they were really waiting for dusk when they come out in the open more.

The Spring Mountain Canyon trail started up the mountain right away, and it got extremely rocky and bumpy right away too! It was definitely slow going all the way up to the pass. In fact, the book warns the reader about this as well. The trail got very scenic after clearing the tree line and reminded me of the great trails in Colorado.

To get to the start of the trail, I decided to use my GPS and cut across the flat going north instead of backtracking all the way back to the main road. After opening and closing a couple of gates (as requested by the National Forest signs), I stopped to take a picture of where I came from. You can make out the long, lonely track all the way back to the last hill. The mud is from a couple wet areas of the track, but it was mostly dry going.

Utah Expedition - Day 5 - Sep 8

2009-10-16T18:00:00.004-04:00

On this day, bad weather finally caught up to me. But I decided to drive up to Devils Tower National Monument anyways and give it peek. On the way there a fine mist started to fall and it got dramatically colder, enough for trackpants and a sweatshirt.

When I got there, the mist gave the tower an eerie feeling, sometimes visible, sometimes shrouded by a thick fog.

Map References - Day 5 - Sep 8

September 8 track:

Sage Creek Rim Road:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 8 track in larger window.

I read about how the tower was formed, since its the only such outcropping of rock for hundreds of miles. It seems that millions (billions?) of years ago, a massive amount of magma (molten rock) thrust itself up towards the Earth's surface from deep down, but it never broke through. Basically a failed volcano. Over the millennia, erosion took away the softer earth around the volcanic rock and Devils Tower is what is left.

As I headed west towards Idaho, the weather cleared up nicely and I found myself driving through Bighorn National Forest and the Bighorn Mountains which are a sister range of the Rockies.

I used my Garmin GPS and looked for some forest roads that would take me away from the pavement, and return me back to the pavement further west. The first one ended up being an easy gravel road but with some nice views at various clearings.

The second one was more interesting but had a dead end. There were a few turnoffs and I probably missed the one I needed to take. Bighorn is a very nice area of Wyoming and would definitely warrant a lot more exploration and camping.

US 15, it drops into Ten Sleep Canyon as it leaves Bighorn NF. As I was descending into the canyon I saw a gravel road on the opposite side (to my left) of the canyon that looked interesting. Using my GPS I realized it was Old Hwy 15 and parallels the paved road all the way down and out of the NF.

Totally miffed at myself for having missed it at the top. I decided to turn onto it at the bottom, take it back up, and then take 15 back down again! I'm glad I did as there were some spectacular views all along Old Hwy 15.

The next major landmark on the way to Idaho was Wind River Canyon. This one came up unexpectedly as all I saw in the distance was what seemed like a wall with no way through (Please excuse the blurry pictures, it was getting late in the day and the exposures were long).

But then as I got closer, a sharp cut started to appear and it was apparent that this is where the road was going to go. The road follows the Wind River closely and exits to the south at the Boysen Reservoir.

As darkness came I started to regret that I was not even able to get to the Grand Tetons before nightfall. I knew from when I started planning this that I was going to pass by Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks at night, or at least late in the day. This area has so much to offer that it warrants a dedicated trip, so for my planned destination of Utah, they would have to be missed this time around.

One last incident this day was encountering very heavy construction through Teton National Forest. As I was approaching, the traffic warning signs were flashing so I tuned into the AM info station. The road was completely closed to 2-way traffic all night. What they do is provide a "guide car" which takes a column of vehicles (including construction vehicles) through the zone. The problem is that you have to wait for the guide car to come back (bringing opposing traffic through) and that could be as much as 2 hrs the radio said! Luckily, my wait was only 20 minutes and off we went.

Utah Expedition - Day 4 - Sep 7

2009-10-13T04:16:00.008-04:00

So far I was really lucky with the weather, but remembering 2 years ago, I also had great weather. It must be the season - mid to late September.

This day I had a loooooooong straight drive ahead of me across most of Minnesota, all of South Dakota, and then finally into Wyoming. A few things broke up the monotonous, flat, straight driving.

A huge wind farm in South Dakota, something strange by the side of the Interstate, and crossing the Missouri River.

The day's saving grace was that my plan was to visit Badlands National Park in the afternoon. I got there towards the end of the day when the colors just go wild.

Map References - Day 4 - Sep 7

September 7 track:

Sage Creek Rim Road:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 7 track in larger window.

Entering the park from the east, you follow the Badlands Loop Road which takes you down and up the cliffs a few times. There are many great overlooks.

Just before the loop road exits the park, there is a turnoff onto the Sage Creek Rim gravel road, it continues along the rim and then drops down before exiting the park to the west. Its around this area where there is the most wildlife activity. I got shots of Prairie Dogs, Bighorn Sheep, and Bison. Some up close and others with my 500mm lens.

I had planned to go to the western part of the park (the Stronghold Unit) and explore Sheep Mountain Road. This is the only road in the park where 4WD is recommended. It takes you onto Sheep Mountain Table that has some stunning overlooks, but unfortunately darkness caught up to me quickly and I would have to miss it this time.

Afterwards I headed northwest to Rapid City and the Wyoming border. Mt. Rushmore in Black Hills National Forest was close by but again, not on my itinerary this trip. An unexpected pass-through was Sturgis just before the border, with various motorcycle and related ads on billboards.

Utah Expedition - Day 3 - Sep 6

2009-10-10T21:53:00.002-04:00

I woke up again this day to excellent weather. Mackinaw City is an interesting town right on the water with the predominant landmark being the Mackinac Bridge which crosses the straight between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The photos I took are interesting in that they demonstrate how the bridge takes on different colors depending on the light and the weather. As I started to cross it heading north with clear blue skies ahead of me, it was a glistening alabaster and green. As I took another photo heading on the downside of the bridge it started to look darker with the clouds behind it. And then finally after taking some photos from the shore it looked even a darker gray.

Please note that I took a new DSLR with me on this trip. The background to this is that I finally decided to resurrect some old (but high quality) Tamron non-autofocus lenses I used to use. I ended up buying a used Nikon D200 from eBay which allows me to use the lenses with adapters. Because of its programming, it also allows using the lenses in semi-auto exposure mode.

So the 4:3 photos are from the Sony point-and-shoot and the 3:2 photos are from the DSLR. I'm still learning the finer points of the Nikon so some photos will be better than others.

A quick shot from the truck driving towards the sunset.

Map References - Day 3 - Sep 6

September 6 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 6 track in larger window.

The day's drive took me across northern Michigan, into Wisconsin and by Green Bay, then west to the Minnesota border and over the Mississippi River to Rochester.

Utah Expedition - Day 2 - Sep 5

2009-10-10T12:23:00.011-04:00

Day 2 started with my side visit to Columbiana to pick up the jack cover. The weather so far was perfect - sunny and not too hot. I really like 4Wheel Drive Hardware's system. When you purchase from their online store, you have a choice for delivery or pickup. Pickup is at over 60 affiliated stores across the US (although they are skewed slightly towards the west).

The plan today was to head west around Lake Erie and then north between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron all the way up to Mackinaw City. MI. Not much to report from the Interstates in general. The first picture is notable only that it shows the sign for Sandusky, OH. Sandusky is where the ferry crossing is from Leamington in Ontario. I have always wanted to get to the US using that ferry, on another trip I guess. The second picture is from a bridge at Saginaw, MI. Its over the Saginaw River that empties out to Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron.

Since there wasn't too much excitement on this day, I do want to mention something important that I noticed on my whole trip. What I noticed was that there are a whole lot of Trailvoys out there! Driving along the Interstates, particularly through what is called "Middle America", I would notice a Trailvoy (GM Trailblazer/Envoy platform) passing the other way a shocking amount of times. Definitely disproportionate to other SUVs (Tahoe/Yukons, Explorers, Durangos, Pathfinders, Cherokees, etc.)

GM sure cranked out a lot of GMT 360s/365s over the years. Which makes its cancelling even more a kick in the *****. After coming home I finally ended up seeing the "The Last Truck: The Closing of a GM Plant" documentary all the way through. I would encourage everybody here to seek it out and give it a viewing.

After I noticed this, I ended up trying to capture each Trailvoy that passed me along the trip. The set of photos below are from the entire trip (not just this day) but make an interesting (to us anyways) case study. I managed to get all the versions except for a Saab and SS (one did pass me but I was not quick enough to get a photo), even the elusive Ascender!

Map References - Day 2 - Sep 5

September 5 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 5 track in larger window.

So you can see ... Trailblazer, Envoy, Rainier, Bravada, Ascender, I6, V8, with trailers, even being pulled by an RV ... I saw them all.

Utah Expedition - Day 1 - Sep 4

2009-10-10T01:43:00.009-04:00

Well, I was finally able to coordinate 2 contiguous weeks away from work this year so I decided to go for the trip I had planned last year but that got put on hold.

The general plan was to head further west than my 2007 trip to Colorado and explore areas west of The Rockies. Areas of interest were Idaho (why Idaho? more on that later), the north rim of the Grand Canyon, and of course, Utah.

So logically it would be best to start in the North out there and head South and hope for somewhat cooler weather into later September.

As usual, a successful trip by any Canadian traveller should always start at Canadian Tire.

For readers that may know a little about my Trailblazer, you may notice a few new things on there. The roof rack actually has the PIAA light wired up!

t sure took me long enough but I finally was able to get the wiring done (fuses - relays - switches) in a nice clean install using the rear power lead next to the rear fuse panel (under the rear seats). The full write-up is here.

On the Surco Safari Rack itself, I now have the the Camping Lab awning instead of the Hi-Lift jack. The awning worked great earlier this year on my TECORE/MORA trip. The jack is now on the new rear spare tire carrier from C.B.I. Offroad Fab, the supplier that James Downing worked with.

Both the axe/shovel mounts and how the Hi-Lift mounts to the tire carrier use cool locking hardware (originally for an H2) from Gobi Racks USA. More on that and the new (much more sturdier) way I have mounted the Surco Safari rack to the Trailblazer rails is here. There are also some cool powder coated surplus ammo cans up there for storage.

And finally the new wheels and tires. I got an itch last year to update them. The American Eagle rims and Mickey Thompson Baja MTZs were from my Old Blue Trailblazer that got crunched by a tree. The MT tires have always been outstanding, getting me through lots of different kinds of terrain. But the wheels started to look somewhat ragged (paint chipping, constantly cleaning the rust from the caps, and the fake beadlock ring getting duller and duller).

What I really wanted were the Teflon coated rims that American Racing produces. And when they released a new design called the Predator earlier this year I decided to go for it. I also decided to go up to 17" rims, stay at 33" diameter tires, but go from 11.5 width to 12.5. As for tires, I decided to give another manufacturer a try since I needed a whole new set for the 17" rims - Nitto Mud Grapplers.

Map References - Day 1 - Sep 4

September 4 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Sep 4 track in larger window.

So the logical choice to get across to Idaho would be to head north in Canada, probably to Sault Ste. Marie, cross the border there (Northern Michigan), and head west south of Lake Superior.

However, a couple of things forced my plan to crossing at Niagara Falls. One, I had a few things waiting for me at my US mailbox that I would need for the trip. And two, I really wanted the neoprene Hi-Lift jack cover (which I could not find anywhere locally). Since I was heading south anyways, I decided to order the jack cover from www.4wd.com and pick it up on the way in Columbiana, OH.

Camp NL 2008 - Video

2009-06-05T21:49:00.030-04:00

On the Sunday, Mike, a friend of mine joined me with his Canon HDV camcorder and digital SLR and took some great photos and videos of the day's trail ride. We had over 3 hours of material from which to choose from. I edited this video down to various interesting shots of my Trailblazer, stills of which are in Parts I - IV.

You can see more of his great work at his photo/video site: www.mikephoto.com

The video really shows how wet that summer was and how many deep water crossings had to be negotiated. It also shows how great everybody was, particularly the trail guides, when they had to cut the sheared anti-sway bar off of my SUV.

What's an off-road weekend without some trail carnage!

Music

A Million Vacations
by Max Webster

Swamp Boogie
by Skydiggers

We'll Go Too
by The Tragically Hip

All music © by respective holders.

This non-commercial video includes the transformative fair use of copyrighted material as part of a personal reportage.

High Definition Versions

File Size: 398 MB
Resolution: 1280 x 720

Video codec: H.264
Audio codec: AAC
Duration: 9:54

File Size: 210 MB
Resolution: 852 x 480

Video codec: H.264
Audio codec: AAC
Duration: 9:54

Learn more about QuickTime 7.

Reynolds County Courier - April 2009

2009-05-30T22:18:00.002-04:00

After attending the MORA weekend in south-eastern Missouri, we received word that the local newspaper ran a story on our club get-together and the events for that weekend.

The story talks about various aspects of what happens at these kinds of events, how far attendees travelled to get there (California and Ontario, Canada), and provides some pictures.

TECORE to MORA - Video

2009-05-25T15:39:00.005-04:00

This was the first extended trip where I shot some HD video on my Sony HVR-A1U. Its a great compact HDV camcorder with an outstanding workflow for processing, editing, and outputing the video. Apple's Final Cut Studio can work with the files directly in real time so there is usually no need to transcode to a different video format. More on this in an upcoming Equipment section.

The video has 3 parts:

scenes from TECORE in Virginia
some shots from the beach at the Outer Banks in North Carolina
and finally verious clips from MORA in Missouri

Some of the shots were taken when I was experimenting with the Fat Gecko suction cup mount.

Music

Ride Like Hell
by Big Sugar

High Road Easy
by Sass Jordan

All music © by respective holders.

This non-commercial video includes the transformative fair use of copyrighted material as part of a personal reportage.

High Definition Versions

File Size: 383 MB
Resolution: 1280 x 720

Video codec: H.264
Audio codec: AAC
Duration: 9:28

File Size: 202 MB
Resolution: 852 x 480

Video codec: H.264
Audio codec: AAC
Duration: 9:28

Learn more about QuickTime 7.

TECORE to MORA - Day 11 - Apr 27

2009-05-20T02:00:00.000-04:00

I was hoping to wake up early on the final day and make it to Allegheny National Forest for some afternoon exploring, but I guess I was very tired. I slept in and left the hotel around noon.

I stayed on the smaller Highways for about a third of the day, bypassing Columbus to the south. But soon after I joined up with I-70, headed over to Pittsburgh, north to Erie, then Buffalo, and finally home.

Some random shots from earlier in the day.

Map References - Day 11 - Apr27

April 27 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Apr 27 track in larger window.

Overall it was a great trip with mostly great weather. I got to see quite a diverse set of scenery. And most important I got to meet up with lots of fellow Trailvoy owners, particularly theRoadie.

My next expedition was going to be to Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada beginning of July, but that is now in question due to various things.

Carlisle at the beginning of August is still pretty much a lock. And I am really trying to make sure I can make my BIG expedition to Utah starting Labour Day weekend.

TECORE to MORA - Day 10 - Apr 26

2009-05-19T23:46:00.000-04:00

After an adventurous and interesting Saturday, I started packing up camp getting ready for the one and a half day trip home. The Roadie was staying an extra day so we decided to go down to the river to take some pictures.

Map References - Day 10 - Apr26

April 26 track:

* large files - 1800 x 1200

View Apr 26 track in larger window.

Then we went on a trail that Roadie and ToyBlaze scouted out a couple of days before which at first impression, seemed it definitely needed a lift and 32s or 33s. It was quite interesting with some creek crossings, a drive through the creek, and some hill climbs. There was no mud though as the area seemed to have dried out a bit.

Here's the farewell shot.

One of the decisions I had to make for the trip home was how to get over the Mississippi. Looking at the map I realized that there was no abundance of crossings ( well duh! ) Its just that its easy to forget the magnitude of the river and that there's not going to be bridges everywhere.

I really didn't want to go all the way up to St. Louis and if you look closely at a map, you will see that there is no other bridge for around 60 miles south, down at Menard.

Ahhh, but wait a minute, there's a ferry crossing right on my way back home. When I got there it sure was interesting ... a little 4 or 5 vehicle ferry that zips across the river for 10 bucks.

After the ferry it was north to Hwy 50 and east to a Comfort Inn just outside of Cincinnati.

I mentioned at first impression because Roadie later told me that he went back to the trail with a stock Trailblazer and they had no problems. So that leads to thinking whether all your mods are justified.

I look at it this way:
All my mods are functional and are ready for that one time when the trail or the conditions or the circumstances actually end up requiring them ... for peace of mind if you will.

TECORE to MORA - Day 9 - Apr 25

2009-05-19T00:40:00.002-04:00

There was good attendance in Ellington, local and from afar. The farthest being theRoadie form southern California. I think I was second being from Southern Ontario, Canada.

Lots of interesting discussion, great to have met so many Trailvoy owners, some curious locals came out, there was the BBQ, and the raffle. A good cross-section of Trailvoys was represented.

Map References - Day 9 - Apr25

April 25 track:

April 25 track zoomed: