Trip Recap - Moab/Utah/Arizona 2017

[STX4Runner]

Just got back last night from another Moab trip, but this one was different than my usual. Met up with a college friend and camped the whole time. Usually I go and meet Colorado friends and we stay in a condo. I'll keep adding photos as I go through them.

 

[STX4Runner]

Drove from San Antonio to Albuquerque and met my friend who lives in Amarillo. We continued on to a campsite near Farmington, NM where we spent the night. Went to bed at 2AM after getting situated and having a few beers.

Woke up to cold rain (35 deg) and clouds but the forecast called for sun in Moab.

 

[STX4Runner]

Holy cow. My first attempt at posting a hosted photo is not working. I usually upload images, but figured it'd be better if I linked to hosted photos this time so I could provide some better details on each photo. Anyone know if there's a trick to using Google Photos with this site? Thanks.

Edit. Figured it out. Thank Google for making what should be a 1 step process into 5 steps.

Now that that's done, I'll keep uploading.

 

[STX4Runner]

The forecast was correct.

Looking at the La Sals coming down from Monticello.

 

[STX4Runner]

Went to town, got a few odds and ends, gassed up, walked around downtown for a minute then went to the brewery got a bite to eat, beer and then hit the road for our first trail and campsite; Top of the World.

My friend needs to send me his photos from the trip, so a lot of these trail action shots will be of his Lexus LX 470. It's stock except for slightly larger tires and sliders (more on those later). It has an adjustable height suspension, so for the trail he hits a button and gets about 2 inches of lift. This worked great on the trails.

Lexus doing work on the trail.

Obligatory

Camped about 30 yards down off the top on the most level ground we could find. This cut down on the wind as well. It got down below freezing over night and we had flurries most of the morning while descending.

 

[Dravur]

Did you get the Calamari at The Moab Brewery??? I get it every time. The Blu Pig is another fave.

Moab is one of my favorite places.

 

[Riverfisher]

The Blu Pig is another fave.

I can second this recommendation. Dude, you drove from Texas! Makes me feel guilty for living just four hours from Moab. Be safe!




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[STX4Runner]

I can second this recommendation. Dude, you drove from Texas! Makes me feel guilty for living just four hours from Moab. Be safe!




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Hell yeah I drove from here! It's not that bad. One long day gets me to the Farmington area, then it's only 3 hours the next day. I've been 5 times in the last 5 years.

 

[Riverfisher]

Hell yeah I drove from here! It's not that bad. One long day gets me to the Farmington area, then it's only 3 hours the next day. I've been 5 times in the last 5 years.

You definitely picked the right time of year!


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[STX4Runner]

Came down from Top of the World, went to town to shower and then headed out to find a new campsite for the night. Ended up camping south of town off the Picture Frame Arch trail. Was worried about RAZR and other traffic on this road keeping us up late, but it didn't turn out bad. Had a nice view of the La Sals from camp.

Hit Hell's Revenge the next day. I like this trail a lot because it's fun to climb the steep angles and be amazed at the traction sandstone provides. You have to pull over a lot for RAZRs and other vehicles, but I enjoy seeing other vehicles on the trail and also generally being one of the more mild vehicles on the trail.

Once I get photos from my friend I'll post some of the 4Runner. Here's the LX again. It did great on the trail again. I was worried about his rear bumper getting damage, but as with the Trail Edition, the hitch provides a lot of protection. He got some minor rash on the lower corners and didn't even drag the hitch as much as I thought he would.

It was a cool, windy day up on Hell's Revenge, but once we we're down in town it was 10 degrees warmer, sunny and beautiful. There was a classic car gathering going on and people were sitting along the street watching the action all day, so we got pizza from Paradox and set up chairs and a table and ate pizza, drank beer and enjoyed the warmth.

Headed back to camp after pizza and ended up in the same spot again. We had a good view of the mountains and we got some more flurries at dusk while setting up. The mountains were shrouded in clouds all day getting snow dumped on them.

More photos and story to come...

 

[STX4Runner]

You definitely picked the right time of year!


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The weather was perfect. I prefer cold weather camping and this made up for our lack of a winter (even by South Texas standards it was very mild). The nights were cold/cool and the days were nice with mostly sun, some clouds and even some flurries on Friday and Saturday. I'm 2 for 2 for snow in Moab in April.

 

[apollo]

nice photos. the classic cars along the side of the street in moab make for some great visuals.

i'm going to consider making another run at top of the world soon maybe this summer...we made it 98% there three years ago, but i elected to turn around at the foot of the steps, which were just too tall at the time to pass with no damage in stock configuration

 

[AZ Craig]

nice photos. the classic cars along the side of the street in moab make for some great visuals.

i'm going to consider making another run at top of the world soon maybe this summer...we made it 98% there three years ago, but i elected to turn around at the foot of the steps, which were just too tall at the time to pass with no damage in stock configuration

I've read that it's actually gotten a bit easier in the last year. I ran it in October 2012 in a stock Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited and beat the crap out of my under carriage before having my lift on it. Some of the ledges were just down right massive at that point and I actually had to lock up my axles to get back up one covered in sand near the top.

We had a guide book that rated it as an intermediate trail at that point also, but I think it's been jogged up to an expert now.

It was kind of depressing to see how the UTVs had been carving out all sorts of additional trails up there also in the areas with the ledges they couldn't get over easily at that point.

I honestly think it's a bit over-rated if you like hiking since you can get to so many amazing spots around Moab, but it is a pretty neat spot to drive up to (and you have to love the photo op).

 

[jbstrd]

This thread is really making me miss Moab. I've been 5 times in the last 7 years. Hoping to go again next year. Well worth the 1000 mile drive for me.

I'm with you in that I absolutely love the Hells Revenge trail. It is iconic Moab. Running Hells Gate gets my adenaline going every time too. Best feeling in the world!

 

[urbancynic]

Where are you heading to in Arizona?

 

[STX4Runner]

Where are you heading to in Arizona?

I've already completed the trip and am back home. Just slow in uploading photos and recapping due to the pile of stuff to do once I returned. I'll hopefully upload some more this afternoon.

 

[STX4Runner]

After three nights in the Moab area we headed down to Canyonlands NP where we had reserved a backcountry site at Devil's Kitchen along the Elephant Hill Trail. I had never done Elephant Hill before and was looking forward to the switchbacks up and back down the hill and the backcountry scenery. We were not dissapointed

Drive to Needles District from Moab.

Elephant Hill trailhead

LX climbing Elephant Hill

4Runner on the backside of Elephant Hill

LX on the trail

 

[STX4Runner]

Made it to Devil's Kitchen campsite #3, which is the best one IMO. No pit toilet next to us and great views from our table. The pit toilets were out of order so we brought WAG bags and packed out our solid waste.

The view from our campsite.

 

[STX4Runner]

Left the Lexus at camp and drove down Devil's Lane and Chesler Park to the Joint Trail.

Views along the trail.

 

[STX4Runner]

Then went back to camp for steak, potatoes, wine, beer and smores.