Moab Expedition Trip April 17-25, 2012

[Martinjmpr]

Reservations have been made

(CROSS POSTED FROM EXPO)

Ok, I just got off the phone with the Ranger at Canyonlands. Most of the permits are gone (Lesson learned: White Rim permits go fast so get your requests in early!)

If you haven't done so already, go to this web site:

http://www.nps.gov/cany

And click on the button that says "View Map." This will bring up a PDF of the map so you can follow along.

OK, The only permits available were for the following campsites:

4/18/12: Airport - 2 campsites available

4/19/12: Labyrinth - 1 campsite available

4/19/12: Potato Bottom - 1 campsite available.

Labyrinth and Potato Bottom are about 6 miles apart.

Because they were going fast (only 1 permit was available for Friday the 20th on the whole WRT and no permits were available for the weekend) I jumped on it and reserved those campsites.

This means we will be running the trail South to North, or Clockwise around the rim. The Ranger explained that this was actually preferred because it meant that the cliffs would be on the driver's side for better viewing.

2 permits means 6 vehicle max.

This means we have the following confirmed:

Martin (me) with 1 vehicle
Sib (Scott's dad) with 1 vehicle
Ted with 1 vehicle
Scott with 1 vehicle
Mike (MJMacdowell) with 1 vehicle
Brian1 with 1 vehicle.

Right now if anyone besides those named above wants to come along, you will have a few options:

1. Try to get a camping permit when we get there for the 18th and 19th. Apparently the permits have to be picked up in person at the visitor center so it's possible someone may have reserved a campsite and then later on they backed out, so there could be permits available.

2. Pack into another vehicle. I will have my back seat out so I can take 1 person, however, as I sleep in the back of my 4runner you will have to make your own sleeping arrangements (tent should be fine that time of the year, though.) Not sure if any of the other guys will have extra space.

3. Skip White Rim and join us afterwards. White Rim will be the only part of the trip that requires advance reservations/planning. Everything else we should be fine just flying by the seat of our pants and picking a campsite as we go along.

I realize this throws a bit of a monkey wrench into Scott and Ted's planning, but it's the best we can do.

Airport is fairly close to the East end of WRT (about 12 miles from the start) so we don't need to rush down there on the 18th. We can leave Green River and head down towards Moab, take UT313 down to the Canyonlands visitor center to pick up our permits and then take a leisurely drive to Airport. We can probably even take a tour down Lathrop Canyon, which starts right at the Airport campground.

Next day we'll have a drive of about 47 miles to Potato Bottom and another 6 to Labyrinth. The road between Potato Bottom and Labyrinth includes a narrow and steep pass, Hardscrabble Hill. My recommendation is that we meet on the morning of the 20th at Labyrinth and continue on out of White Rim from there.

That's all I've got for now.

 

[KegMountain]

Black Mesa UT Launch Site

I came across this Blog while looking up Black Mesa. I was in the Army and got to be at a Pershing Launch in 1970. Attached are some photos. I visited the site a few yeasr back and could not find a trace of ANYTHING. It was like nothing was ever there. My best guess as to the main camp location is here (I couldn't attach a Google Earth .kmz file), you can see some of the camp streets:

37°30'14.28"N

109°35'18.33"W

 

[KegMountain]

Another picture and Google Earth snapshot

 

[Happy Jack]

I agree that there is nothing on Black Mesa like there is in Green River. But it is on my to do list of places to explore. And when I see them roads that look like a can of worms I just have to drive them. Did you drive on roads in Cottonwood Wash? How wet do you think Cottonwood Wash will be in April?

 

[Scott B.]

I came across this Blog while looking up Black Mesa. I was in the Army and got to be at a Pershing Launch in 1970. Attached are some photos. I visited the site a few yeasr back and could not find a trace of ANYTHING. It was like nothing was ever there. My best guess as to the main camp location is here (I couldn't attach a Google Earth .kmz file), you can see some of the camp streets:

37°30'14.28"N

109°35'18.33"W

Thanks for the pictures!

 

[Martinjmpr]

Crossposted from ExPo: Email from Canyonlands NP

At this point I think all of us who are going are on both forums, but in case there's someone who wants to join us for our trip, I'll post this, crossposted from ExPo:

I emailed the Canyonlands office yesterday to ask about where/when to pick up the permits. This is the reply I just got:

Martin,

The two applications were received and processed yesterday, and letters of
confirmation have been mailed to you. Those you should receive in a few
days. In terms of getting your actual permit(s), you'll simply need to go
to the Island in the Sky Visitor Center when you arrive. The staff will
need to enter your vehicle information (make, color, license plate #), so
you'll want to have that on hand, and they'll also make any changes that
might be necessary, group size most typically. As well, you might want to
ask whether any other sites had become available as a result of a
cancellation. If another of the sites at Potato Bottom has become
available, the staff will be able to revise your friends' itinerary such
that your two groups can camp in the same area. You can pick your permit
up either the day you begin your White Rim trip, or the afternoon before if
you want to get an especially early start.

You can see the location of the Island In The Sky (IITS) visitor center on the *.PDF map at the Canyonlands web site, it is near where the Shafer Trail switchbacks hit the paved road that comes down from UT 313. Distance from I-70 to the Visitor Center is 29 miles according to the map which makes it approximately 62 miles from Green River (all on pavement, so call it an hour to an hour and 15 minutes max.)

From the Visitor Center we can jump right onto the Shafer Trail Switchbacks, or, if we want, we can tour Island in the Sky a little bit. It will depend on what our plans for the day are.

Island in the Sky does offer some nice views of the White Rim trail. Here's an example:

That curved road that follows along the edge of the plateau is White Rim Trail.

Here's a shot of the Shafer Switchbacks that we'll descend on our way down to WRT:

In February of 2009 when I took these photos, Shafer Trail was closed but it will be open by the time we get there.

This is my wife out at Grand View Point, which is a half-mile trail off of the very tip of Island In the Sky:

You can see WRT in that photo too. One thing I'm curious about is the arrow-straight dirt road you can see that runs to the right of the WRT. I don't know what that road is or if it's open (I assume it's probably an old mining road and is closed.) Anybody know?

Anyway, these photos don't do it justice, if you haven't seen it, it's an amazing area. In fact, in terms of scenic attractions, I'd put it up against the Grand Canyon!

Less than 3 months! I'm getting really excited now!

 

[KegMountain]

Another Utah Pershing Launch Site

This one's new to me - right next to Goblin Valley State Park!

http://www.corpsfuds.org/reports/INPR/J08UT0898inpr.pdf

 

[Martinjmpr]

This one's new to me - right next to Goblin Valley State Park!

http://www.corpsfuds.org/reports/INPR/J08UT0898inpr.pdf

I drove right through the location of the "bivouac area" in 2008. The road that goes to the East of UT24 is the same one that leads to the Hans Flat ranger station which is the Western entrance to the Maze District of Canyonlands NP. In fact, Hans Flat is located within the "abort and safety area" on that map.

Needless to say, there's nothing left of the military presence. I would imagine there are hundreds of sites throughout the Western US that were used as military camps during the Cold War that are long gone.

 

[Scott B.]

I just updated the itinerary - Post 156.

 

[Tbars4]

I just updated the itinerary - Post 156.

..That can be found in the middle of page #8...

 

[Tbars4]

..Less than 2 months to go..

..and the weather as been getting nastier..

 

[Scott B.]

And the engine is not in my truck yet...

 

[Tbars4]

..I will work for gas money...

..Btw, I need your mailing addy for your parts you wanted..

 

[Scott B.]

You can bring them to Utah - unless you really want to ship them.

Do you want me to ship the fuse block (that I forgot to give you in Cali last year)?

 

[Tbars4]

...I was going to drive over to your place and help you but I can wait till Utah...

..Sorry I took so long to answer as I am recovering from the horrendous weather we had to endure out here yesterday (rain).

...I had to go to the store and get a big ol steak and BBQ it before the totally awesome sunset now that the weather is back to sunny and gorgeous today..:

 

[Tbars4]

...6 week bump..

 

[Happy Jack]

Sorry folks but I am out this year. Folks are still welcome to stop over at my place on the way out or back. I hope to be there but if something else comes up then one of the boys should be at the house. Have a good time. Best of luck on the weather.

 

[Scott B.]

Sorry to hear that Jack...

We'll try for a Colors run later this year.

 

[Tbars4]

..Sorry to hear that x2..

 

[Happy Jack]

I hope to be up and running this fall. Don't know about the mountians though. Them alti tudes don't like much these days. We'll for sure get to gether on some thing. I'm iching to get Sissy out on something.