Didn’t post anything for my second try last October (a wicked-fun Boys trip!), so figured I’d check in with a quick Trip Report from last week’s run. This will be multi-page, in order to space out the pictures with the text…

[A quick aside, the reason I’m posting here is that it was Jeep Safari Week in Moab, and I ran into three rigs sporting identical BILSTEIN paint jobs. Bunch of nice guys, we chatted for about 15 minutes and I got to pick their brains (and they gave me some schwag!).

Speaking of that, since I built my ’16 I've been convinced that the TRD front suspension is physically identical (size/travel-wise) to Bilstein 6112s, other than slightly different valving and the lack of additional spring perches. I got to talk with the Tech Rep for those products, and he confirmed that they are indeed identical (other than said slightly different valving and the lack of additional spring perches), and that my approach of adding the Toytec Spring Seat Spacers both on the top perch of the TRD suspension is identical to the 6112 setup on one of the higher perches. So for all of you worried about an 'aftermarket spacer' lift for your TRD Pro, it's no different than adding Bilstein 6112s to your front, set on an upper perch.

The Rep was really interested in my Cooper AT3 tires, and they all were interested in the load that my Rola was sporting. Several of them had been interested in the rack but dubious, but after seeing how the low-profile mounts work and how solid it makes the rack, they were pretty impressed. I just wish it wasn’t such a hack-job every time I wanted to attach something new to it, but it’s working for me.]

Anyway, back to the White Rim run. Last trip was boys’ debauchery, this one was work. I first spent a day up in the Park photographing all the overlooks and hiking, then headed down for my first stay at Shafer CG, at the end of Potash Rd. It’s actually quite a nice site with some great hiking, although it felt a bit like the low-rent district of CNP’s White Rim Trail. When I got there someone was poaching the spot (a permit is required), and when they returned to their tent, they sheepishly avoided looking at me and packed their $hit and got. Being Jeep Week, there were quite a few rolling through, a couple stopping to use the can, but it was otherwise a great campsite.

That is, until midnight, when a couple of boneheads pulled in next to my 4Runner, got out, and started to act like they were getting comfortable. I popped a 500-lumen spotlight toward their melons and advised them that they needed a permit to camp here. The driver proceeded to outline how he’d tried to go see a ranger to get a permit but was too late, and figured he’d just pay the fine if he got caught. I basically told him he could do whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t do it here. He wanted me to explain to him how them camping in my site was ‘affecting my experience’, as if our midnight conversation weren’t obvious enough.

I finally pretty robustly asked him to leave (not quite those words), and then just stared at him, light in his eyes the entire time, while he kept trying to engage me, argue, and whine (for a full 3 minutes!). He finally gave up, got into his sedan muttering, and warned me about the “creepers around here at night”, then drove off blowing his horn for dramatic effect. [eyeroll]

Note to self: no more Jeep Week/Spring Break White Rim runs.

[PICS: Buck Canyon Overlook, Monument Basin from Grandview, Soda Springs Basin from Green River Overlook, Milky Way at 4am from Grandview, and Shafer CG at night]

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The next morning I talked with a couple who was coming back from having their new-to-them Ford Diesel 4x4 van’s Colorado Camper top installed. Bad-ass van. They could have stayed had they asked.

Anyway, since I had 7 nights of spots to myself, I invited friends to share the campsites, so a couple of buddies came with their boys and rode, though this time I didn’t directly support, as I was off shooting most of the day. My son showed up with my buddy’s older son (both at CU Boulder), as well as my son’s roommate for next year. Fun stuff. A 20+ year-old Jeep Cherokee thus joined me and cranked it out in awesome fashion.

Camped at Airport the next night and they all showed up before dark, with pizza from Fruita (unfortunately the Hot Tomato was closed!). After people started retiring I headed out to play around with some new LED light panels I picked up for low-level-lighting landscapes, and ended up dashing around the rocks until well after midnight.

Murphy CG was next, and unfortunately we had “B”. To add insult to injury, the people who had “A” camped way up in the trees near the road, as opposed to setting up camp in the fantastic mini-amphitheater that sets on the cliff of Murphy “A”. Oh well, at least no pack-rats crawling around in our engines this time.

Long day shooting and hiking on the way to Hardscrabble the following day, and I spent quite a bit of time in Soda Springs Basin, including checking out Black Crack, a 1/4 mile crack that varies up to 3+ feet wide. Pretty cool spot. Since I puttered around there for 2.5 hours, I finally realized it was getting dark, and better start rolling toward Hardscrabble. I’d forgotten how long the slog is around Candlestick, and arrived at the base of Hardscrabble Hill basically in the dark. Hardscrabble is by far the most fun part of the WRT for me, as it’s a very dynamic climb with twists, turns, and high walls on either side. I’d hate to be anywhere near there during a rainstorm, but it was really fun to roll at Blue Hour. I got to the campsite where my son and his future roommate had showed up, and then convinced him and my buddy’s son to ride up Hardscrabble with bike lights so that I could get a star-trail image with them riding it. Luckily they were game, but the clouds rolled in for the latter portion, rendering the latter half of the sequence unusable.

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Next, the jewel of the trip (for me, as a photographer): Taylor Canyon. Since Taylor is right near the end of the WRT just before exiting at Mineral Bottom and it is 5 miles up a dirt wash road, few people bother to go there. Huge mistake, as it’s like having your very own mini-Monument Valley all to yourself.

All the boys showed up about the time I’d gotten the sun canopy up in a 15 mph wind, and unfortunately the winds kept up all afternoon at 20+, gusting 35+, requiring us to pull the windward side of the tent down low, as well as tying the crossbar to a car for support. Wicked wind, and supposedly it was windy everywhere that afternoon and evening. We used both fire sticks and white gas to get the briquets going in the Cambridge Welding Firepan that one of us bought in order to be able to legally grill steaks, $85 of Costco Tenderloin, in this case. Then, all of a sudden at about 11pm it got quiet, and that was the last we heard of the wind.

The next morning they all took off for Denver even though I tried to get them to stay, and half of them ended up getting stuck at Vail Pass which was closed due to a snowy wreck (my son made it through as the last car just before they closed I-70). They should have stayed.

Another couple of buddies came up from riding down Sedona way and spent the last two nights at Taylor with me, taking off to ride during the day, while I shot the early mornings and downloaded and edited images during midday, along with some location recon hiking. We went on a full-moon night hike up Moses and Zeus, a super-cool, big bang-for-the-buck hike right near the campsite.

Side note, this trip was a sort of shake-down trip for me to prepare for going out for 9 days at a time, often off the grid, and I now realized I had a power problem once I stayed in one spot for 3 days. The camera batteries were the biggest problem (as they charge slowly), so I ended up idling the truck in order to be able to charge up to shoot the last night. I guess I need to evaluate either a portable solar system to a backup battery for the 4Runner, even though it will probably be unusual to not move the truck for three days.

The last night found ourselves lounging in chairs with Upslope Imperial IPAs, watching the sky unfold a show like I’ve never seen before: A sheet of altocumulus clouds quickly undulating overhead and past us, while lenticular clouds appeared and moved around Moses and Zeus. It was as if the sky was alive and those undulations were like seeing the sky breathe, while the lenticular clouds rapidly meandering around in front of us reminded me of War of the Worlds, for some reason.

In any case, three days well-spent at Taylor, my wait well-rewarded on that last night.

The White Rim is a cool place, and you should check it out if you haven’t.

;)

[PICS: Hardscrabble at night, track stand with M&Z in background, our trusty Sequoia's first trip down in, my solo camp setup, a sunset, and 'The Big Show' with Jupiter rising in lower-right corner]

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Awesome trip!

Wow!!




On another note, **** the east coast lol.

Wow+