DiscoWeb in Utah 2012 - Trip Report and Photos

chris snell

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Aug 15, 2005
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The drive out...

It was the standard haul across Central Colorado and fifth crossing of Monarch Pass for this old yellow horse.



Since my drive to Utah follows one typical route, I like to look for new variations to get there. I left the pavement and the Paradox Valley behind and ascended high onto the Uncompaghre Plateau. From this vantage point, you could see Paradox, the farmlands around Norwood, and the San Juans beyond.



I crossed into Utah high on the backside of the La Sals.



Heading high at Paradox was impulsive and I hadn't planned a route beforehand. It was still early in the season and there were many downed trees and snow banks to deal with.

I finally descended from the La Sal's flanks on a gnarly 4WD trail above the Castle Valley. From Paradox to the Sand Flats Recreation Area, my tires didn't touch pavement for almost 110 miles.





I met up with Ben and Jason that evening and we made a beeline for a nice little spot north of town on public lands with a grand overlook.

We slept under the stars on a sandstone chimney, sleeping bags and Thermarests laid out on the rock.



The next morning, we headed south to the eastern rim of the Colorado River canyons.



The plan was to camp here but the windy prelude to a massive Pacific storm was blowing in as we arrived. There were 50 MPH sustained winds with gusts over 70. We followed a 4WD trail out to a point to take in the view. You could barely make out Lockhart Basin below.





After bagging on that camping plan, we decided to head south for Comb Wash, since it's a little more sheltered down there. While exploring for a campsite, I--unintentionally--took us up the Comb Ridge dugway that lies south of the highway. It was 11PM as we started the ascent up the very rocky and very exposed trail. I considered turning us around when I saw what we'd gotten into but with three trucks already on the narrow ledge, there was nothing to do but commit. We hauled ass up that thing and set up camp in a sandy wash above the ridge.

The next morning, we broke camp and headed for the redezvous with the rest of the group in Blanding.



After the meet-up and some quick grocery shopping, we headed for Cedar Mesa.









We set up camp in the afternoon and the festivities began.







 
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chris snell

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Aug 15, 2005
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Peter grilled a delicious feast of lamb ribs for the crowd.





Kevin made some fancy quinoa.




It was one of those magical afternoons where you wish you could freeze time. The weather was beautiful and we didn't want the sun to set.







The next day, we broke camp and headed for Dark Canyon and the Abajos.



The plan was to cross into Beef Basin and camp there.



We stopped on Elk Ridge and circled the wagons for some lunch.



The brunt of the storm system was moving through and it was getting colder by the minute. We decided that we needed more firewood.



We started the day in t-shirts and shorts but it was time to change into warmer gear. Jason, sporting his Russells.



Ben cooked Cheddarwurst in beer for the group.



Peter opted for ramen.



After lunch we continued down the backside of Elk Ridge, skirting Dark Canyon. Life was too easy and we were making good time when...



We scouted for alternate routes around the downed tree but the brush was full of the small stumps of recently cut small trees. It would be a nasty, time-consuming slog to get around the blocked road. We decided to move the tree.







 
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chris snell

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Aug 15, 2005
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Right after the tree was cleared, Ben broke a shock and got a flat. It was the Curse of Beef Basin for him once again.

We pushed on, nursing the leaky tire with the PowerTank.







When we got to Beef Basin, good camping spots were hard to come by. With such a large group, the usual stashes were too small. We needed to push on for Canyonlands, where we could squeeze everyone in and fix the broken shock.



We finally made it to camp.



I had brought a couple of my old Bilsteins as spares.



Sexy blue booty.



Peter went to work on the broken shock with his Anton Chigurh CO2 tank.





I had almost left spare bushings at home but decided to bring them at the last minute. I should have pressed them into the spare shocks before I left.



After trying hammers and the strength of lesser men, Steve stepped forward to be our human press.





With the spare shock installed, Jason made a nice dinner of NY strips for the crowd. We huddled around a fire that couldn't quite keep up with the freezing temperatures that had moved into the Canyonlands.

We awoke the next morning to threatening skies. With fuel running low, we decided to make a push for Moab.





Fuel consumption is quite limiting down here. My truck has a 15 gallon tank and I carry only two fuel cans; after two days of driving, I was bumming fuel from the rest of the group. Jason, on the other hand, arrived in Moab with diesel to spare. His Tdi truck was a champ in the Canyonlands; it handled the tough sections effortlessly. I really want a three hundy now.





Shooting photos is a lot of work. I learned to drive fast and to handle tough obstacles without a spotter in order to stay ahead of the group.



My Blunnies took a beating from climbing rocks.

 

chris snell

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Aug 15, 2005
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We finally made it to Moab that afternoon amid thunderstorms and winds. After dinner at Milt's, we decided to rent a house for the night. We stayed up late drinking tequila and telling stories. Ben and Jason departed for home early the next morning. The rest of the group stuck around and enjoyed a beautiful day of classic Moab trails under the warm sun.

We ran Fins 'N' Things. The last time I ran this trail was on my first trip to Moab with Marc O., Steve, and Rob. I remember approaching this obstacle and getting all fucked up on my line, almost driving off the ledge on the driver's side. I was totally gripped and Rob had to pull me back from the edge using my truck's tie-down points. I had no other recovery points.



This time around, the trail seemed ridiculously easy. It was the perfect final run for a wonderful trip.

We celebrated with trail coffee before saying our goodbyes and heading back to our home states.



The drive back to Colorado Springs.



Monarch #6.



Happy memories of a great trip with a fantastic group of guys.

 

benlittle

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Jul 18, 2005
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Draper
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p m

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Apr 19, 2004
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Discounting an occasional P0340 code, this was pretty much the first long trip in many years when nothing broke on my truck. Chris' insistence on keeping the shit together paid off!

And, as soon as I came home to San Diego, I took the truck back to Discount Tires to rebalance the tires - before I started confusing that steering wheel shake with Parkinson's. They found a huge old balance weight inside one of the rims that was somehow not accounted for, and balanced tires anew. The guy who was handing me the keys was pretty ironic with his question about who balanced tires the last time - and that was the same shop, three weeks earlier.
Now the truck rolls so smoothly that I am running into the risk of getting a speeding ticket in it.
 

Roverrocks

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Jan 18, 2009
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Montrose,CO
Great adventure! Great Photos! SE Utah and SW Colorado are terrific places. Did you visit some of the ruins in Beef Basin? Post some of your ruin pictures if you did.
 
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p m

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chris snell said:
Hey Peter, that link doesn't load any pictures in either Chrome or Safari on Mac. Is there another way to view them?
It's a pretty large mosaic - will drop it on the server tonight and send you a link. BTW, Firefox on a PC does it fine :)
 

p m

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Apr 19, 2004
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Roverrocks said:
Great adventure! Great Photos! SE Utah and SW Colorado are terrific places. Did you visit some of the ruins in Beef Basin? Post some of your ruin pictures if you did.
P1020235a.jpg


Oh wait... when was it?
 

nosivad_bor

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Mar 27, 2004
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Pittsburgh, PA
Looks good guys. Wished I could have made it, even if it was just to defend myself from the campfire ribbing.

Devil dog its easy to post pictures to dweb if you host them on another website and link the url.
 

jrose609

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Feb 10, 2009
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Boise, ID
Great trip with a great group. Hope to meet up again!

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