Big Southern
Thousand Falls
T his trip was divided in two parts. The first half was to explore a little bit of Idaho and Northern Utah. The second half, we would meet up with a bunch of folks from back home and do some wheeling in Colorado. Our first major stop was somewhere in Idaho, I'm not even sure where, but it was really pretty. We crossed a deep stream, needed the doors on to keep the water from entering. The weather was fantastic, mid 70s and not a cloud in the sky. We went on this trail for several miles before we got to a road closed sign. Thanks USFS! After that disappointment we went up Big Southern Butte. Don't have any photos, just this one from Atomic City with Big Southern in the background. We toured the site where they developed the first atomic reactor and saw the 1950s prototype of an atomic powered airplane??!! (Yup - for real!) From there, we went to Craters of the Moon NM and then down to Twin Falls. The Snake River and Thousand Falls were really neat. We did a little wheeling up in the hills but nothing exciting. One Sunday morning we were up in the hills northwest of town and found some nice trails but they appeared to be on private land so we headed back.
Moab
Yellow Cat
A fter Idaho, we checked out northern Utah as a possible retirement location but decided that area wasn't for us, so we moved down south to Moab. This time we were armed with maps and a GPS so we went out looking for old mining camps and other trails that aren't part of the Easter Jeep Safari. Our first stop was a few days in the San Rafael Swell. This is quite a unique area. One problem is that it's so isolated. There's always a concern when traveling alone about having Jeep problems and not being able to get out. For that reason we stayed on most of the major trails. We'd like to explore others but that will have to wait until we can hook up with someone so we have at least two vehicles. We drove through a drainage opening under I-70 and made our way to Eagle Canyon. We had lunch under the spectacular twin bridges and then headed up to Swazy's cabin. None of this was tough wheeling, but was it a neat trip. We stopped at a number of old mining camps and did some exploring. From there we went to Moab and played for a few days, left, and went to the Yellow Cat area. It was fun to see the old mining camps, but damn, was it hot! We'll be back, but in cooler weather.
T he next major stop was to be Colorado, but on the way, we spent a few days in Grand Junction. This town is high on the list for a place to retire. North of the city is a lot of open land for OHV use so we took the Jeep out and played for a day. It's mostly clay (dry, thankfully) but there are some steep hills and tight turns. It's a great place to check out the articulation! Again, need to spend some time there again, it's a blast! Unfortunately, a lot of the other areas are being closed up - I wonder how long it will be before the greenies want this closed.
Hagerman Pass
Mosquito Pass
Iron Chest
Mt. Antero
Onion Creek
Crystal
Schofield Pass
N ow to Colorado. We were going to meet up with three separate groups from back home at three different times. As we pulled in to the access road to get to Gold Park campground, our first group from back home pulled in right behind us! Perfect timing. Steve and MaryAnn joined us as we headed up to Holy Cross as well as a few other trails in the area. Holy Cross was a fun trip. We had a little encounter with someone at the creek who was trying to get to Holy Cross but didn't have reverse gear. We " helped him out. " After a few days in the Holy Cross area, we set up camp in Leadville. Hagerman Pass was a two wheel drive road, but we were surprised to find this much snow in July. This day was warm, and nice as could be. The following day we went to Mosquito Pass, and the wind was whipping around. The tops were off the Jeeps and we were freezing our butts off up there. We got the obligatory photo and went down to where it was a little warmer.
On to the campground at Iron City. We pulled in with the motor home and the camp ground attendant said " Gee, we ain't never seen nothin' that big in here before! " I believe it. It took a while to jockey around and fit a 33' vehicle into a 20' space - all in the rain and hail, too - but we did it. The next day was Iron Chest. What a fun trail. We got up to the mine at the top, did the usual exploring, then headed back down. And who should be meet at the bottom, another friend from back home, Terry, who joined us with his stock Cherokee. The next couple days were spent sightseeing and doing the usual stuff, Hancock, TinCup, and Pomeroy. One day we did Mt. Antero. That was a kick, especially when we found out that Terry didn't like heights. All in all a hell of a lot of fun.
Steve, MaryAnn and Terry went on their separate ways and we headed over to Crested Butte and met up with a group of Jeepers that I work with. They had run out of time so didn't do anything exiting with them but it was fun to go on a short run before they had to leave. The next day we took off and did Schofield. This is always a fun, and really scenic drive.
A nd with this sunset, here ended a four week odyssey that rates as one of the best trips in many years!
