Rider/Driver wanted

[HappyJack]

It held together. I made it back yesterday just before 6:00 PM.

How are you going? Still sore from your spill?

[flip4ford]

My back kind hurts I had som idiot banker put a keybox on the inside door of the safe and next day it wouldn't open-- so wrestling a door all day didn't help any.

[HappyJack]

Right now I'm just going to plan one trip next year. Don't if I will make it or not but I'm gonna try. It will be to Utah. Colorado is just too hard on me. I will most likely camp at a different spot every night. Surface every few days for fuel and supplies and maybe a shower. It will be a spring or fall trip as summer is way too hot for me.

There is a side trip in the GS/ENM north of Hwy 89 between Kanab and Page, AZ north on Cottonwood Canyon rd. and over through Coyote creek to the top of Brigham Young plain and connect back up to Cottonwood Canyon rd. I really want to do that again and gets some pic's of Green dropping down to Cottonwood Rd. It is awsome

Right now folks are talking about the area know as the Arizona strip between Mesquite, NV and Toro Weep also known as the Grand Canyon/Parrashant NM. That route will be aprox. 260 miles from Mesquite, NV to Kanab, UT. Extra fuel may be needed.

Sundance did a write up on the Kaiba NF to the east of the above area. That area is near the tourist spot refered to the North Rim.

I welcome a driver. I like to set and watch the sites instead of the road.

I don't mind spending a night in a rooming house on the way out or on the way back long as it's under $50. The more under, the more likely I am to stay there.

Denver is a option for a stop over on the way out or back.

There are some NF campgrounds off of US 50 on the way out or back that can be stops also. Last time I was through Canyon City they had $34 rooms sun-thur.

No date at this time but some are trying for the last part of April so it's pretty much up to who wants to go and when. This will most likely change after it starts and where we go will depend on how folks feel when they get up in the morning on the trail.

I am also willing to go early and stay late to do others stuff in that area.

[HappyJack]

UPPY DATE!

K so I may do more than one trip. Larry wants to do HITR in April. Looks like that may be April 26th and 27th. He wants to do the whole trail from Escalante to Bluff. The section on the two dates listed will be the very difficult section between Cottonwood Hill and The Fort south of Halls Crossing. Don't know what the rest of the schedule is yet. I'm going to try to get Jr. ready for the trip. That means a new engine and AC stuff. If I can't get Jr. ready I'll just drive Green out and skip those two days. Just too much work and too hard on Green the way it is set up now.

[HappyJack]

More uppu date: Got this from Larry this mornin.



We have April built into the following house of shifting sand. So far, it is HITR (Hole in the Rock). For those of you who are not familiar with the trail, think about Hotel Rock and doing it over and over from daylight to dark. It is the most extreme trail I ever did in a factory equipped 4x4. On the other hand, I have been in there with all kinds of vehicles.



Fri April 23rd - Wander on out to Utah.

Sat 24th - Watch you (caveman) hike out to the arch.

Sun 25th - Wander on down to the Fort camp with time in Blanding to stock up on supplies. Will need enough for a few days.

The old route into HITR is said to now be gated due to flood damage. The new route uses the road past the half track. BLM says it is signed and easy to find the new route.

Mon 26th - wander on in to HITR. Boss and his group are supposed to be there. We may not travel at the same pace as they do. Happy Jack and I are figuring this to be our last trip into HITR so we plan to spend some time in there. He wants to visit the Rincon too. We plan to spend one or two nights on the trail behind the fort.

Tue 27th - Maybe still in HITR or maybe spending the night at the Fort. When we get out, we will be looking for a bathhouse.

Wed 28th - Drive to Escalante with a couple distractions or what we frequently call short cuts.

Thur 29th - Drive into Hole in the Rock on the west side. Not sure if we will stay overnight in there or go both ways the same day.

Fri 30th - Open but ending up back at the Fort on the east side.

Sat 1st - Drive the trail from the fort to Bluff.

Sun 2nd - Go home.



We are expecting the schedule will go nothing like the plan but gotta have a starting place. My objective is to collect enough info for three stories covering the trail from Escalante to Bluff. If you (Caveman) do not want to do the hike, we may do the Escalante side first. Might even leave on Thurs instead of Fri. Everything is built on shifting sands.

[HappyJack]

Afternoon uppy date. Looks like Caveman does not want to take his Heepie in HITR as he has not driven it in a few years. The hike Caveman wants to do has it's destination about 11.5 miles south southeast of Hanksville as the crow fly's. Halls Crossing is the closest thing to the roughest section of HITR and it is 63.5 miles south of Hanksville as the crow fly's.



Well, lets blow some more sand away from the foundation and turn the schedule around. What we could do is back the schedule up to the 17th. to look like this.

Sat: April 17th - run out to Robbers Roost.
Sun: 18th: Watch you and yours find the arch.
Mon: 19th: Take the short cuts to Escalante. Set up camp.
Tue: 20th: Go in HITR on the west side and camp at the end.
Wed: 21st: Back out and camp at the UFO landing site.
Thu: 22nd: Drive to the Fort with stops for showers and supplies.
Fri: 23rd: Explore the wagon route from the Fort to Bluff.
Sat: 24th This is a spare day. I would like to explore the idea of renting a boat and go across the lake to the bottom of HITR and Signature Rock. Probably costs too much. Otherwise, just kick back for a while or explore some other roads.
Sun: 25th Play around going in HITR. I would like to explore some side stuff once the new detour connects to the old road.
Mon: 26th Go on in and camp on Cottonwood Hill.
Tue: 27th Go back out.
Wed: 28th Go home.

[HappyJack]

Well this has changed a whole bunch. Larry was gonna go back east to see his mom the first of this month. That has been moved to the first of April. And he's looking for a different truck to take on this. Not sure if Mike still wants to do the hike to the arch on Robbers Roost or not. But right now it looks like we'll most likely start this with near the 26th of April. Maybe a guess would be for me to leave Wichita Thursday the 26th.

[HappyJack]

Right now the plan is to leave Wichita on Wednesday April 21. That is 3 weeks from tomorrow. Wednesday night I will get a room in a motel most likely in Walsenburg or Alamosa. Then thursdsy drive out and camp near comb ridge west of Blanding Utah. I'll be out that way for a while. Don't plan to start home till monday May 3rd.

Any takers?

[HappyJack]

Things are lookin good so far. Man I love this cool weather and wish I was leaving today. But I have more to do and will just have to wait two weeks. I put 95 miles on Jr. then filled up. The fuel gauge goes way over full when filled then shows empty just under 1/2 a tank so I use the trip meter and put another 230 miles on it. Looks like on that tank it made just over 14 mpg. Should be north of 15 on the next fill up when I change the oil again at 500 miles. Purdy good ifn ya ask me fer a rig thet is built for the trail not the highway. That heat the last two weeks has me worried. The AC on Jr. don't work. Hope to get that fixed this week. Along with the vent run for the tranny and the shifter adjusted. Really need to install a real temp gauge to see how hot the engine is really getting. Thinking about new fuel pumps before I go. The frame rail pump Clint says looks like oem. But the guage being off makes me wonder if someone replaced the intank pump before and miss adjusted the float. Kind of like to have the brakes power blead. They seem a little spongie to me. I have a bunch of little stuff on the list to do but those are not trip enders. The drivers side switch will not run the passangers side window. We replace the switch and thats not it. The speedo is set for the 235 tires and with the 33's it is running 59.5 mph when the speedo says 55. The back up lights don't work. The tag light may not pass inspection. Clint just put two led bolt lights to hold the tag on and there are no hoods to direct the lights down on the tag. They just shine straight back. The exhaust makes a funny noise to me and I don't know if it's a leak ur what. Not real bad just bugs me a little. Was doing the same thing before we rebuilt the engine.

I am sooooo ready to jump in the truck and head that way.

Tentative trip schedule for April trip. It can be changed in a heartbeat.

April 21 - Wed Leave Wichita, KS

April 22 - Thurs Drive to Comb Ridge and set up camp..Use that camp Thurs, Fri, and Sat nights

April 23 - Fri Larry will be working on a mag story so he will be covering the Hole in the Rock Trail from the Fort to Bluff, Utah. This is the easy part of the trail

April 24 - Sat Finish that same section.

April 25 - Sun We will be checking out the Fort and the trails around it. Weekenders can go home. We will find a place for showers and supplies along the way.

We will camp somewhere near the beginning of the Hole in the Rock trail. I am thinking maybe at the Half Track.

April 26 - Mon We will begin the Hole in the Rock Trail. Camp somewhere. Cottonwood Hill is the most scenic campsite if the wind is not blowing. We hope that works out. We expect to meet Boss and his group somewhere this day.

April 27 - Tues Spend the day filming the trail going out.

April 28 - Wed Finish Hole in the Rock Trail and drive to Escalante. Get showers along the way. Camp at Hole in the Rock Trail near Escalante

April 29 - Thurs Drive all the way in to Hole in the Rock, West side, and camp somewhere along the way back. This will go slow since a the filming will be going in this direction.

April 30 - Fri Drive back out of Hole in the Rock. This should go pretty quick. Get showers in Hanksville. See how tired we are. Maybe go to the Wedge to camp.

Us old farts may be exhausted by this time. If not, we will begin work on filming the Castlegate Getaway Route.

May 1 - Sat same trail

May 2 - Sun same trail

May 3 - Mon Go home.

We may be using CB radios if enough people have them. We use channel 13. If not, we will be using GMRS radios. Everyone should at least have GMRS. We use channel 15.15

[HappyJack]

Looks like I'm leaving a day early. So leaving Wichita tuesday April 20, a week from next tuesday and will spend the first night in Walsenburg, CO.

[HappyJack]

Seems there were some weather issues. So Larry moved his trip to May. Looks like maybe starting in Escalante on May 21st. And that is the one thing that is for sure is that is a maybe. Like as not it will change some but for now that is where the target is that we'll shoot for.

[HappyJack]

Wax on...........wax off. Seems there is now a little shortend trip kind of maybe thinkin about thing to go out this weekend. Still would return around the 3rd.

[HappyJack]

This is the newest sorta kinda maybe plan. It is 790 miles from my house to Sego, UT. I will leave a day early and spend the first night most likely in Canyon City or Pueblo, CO. That will give me about the same distance to drive thursday as Larry but I will be moving slower on 2 lane roads over Monarch pass. Just need to leave by mid morning thursday.

If I had a co-driver we could leave O dark thirty thursday and make it in one day. That would be 16 hours in the truck with stops only for fuel. Or on the road at 6:00 AM and pull into camp at 10:00 PM (9:00 PM mountian time). That is if Jr. will stay cool at 60mph. Might have to slow down a little.

Tuesday, wednesday, and thursday the 25-27 will be the most difficult section. This will be a nomadic trip with new campsites every night. Most if not all will be primative sites with nothing more than a peice of ground and a fire ring for a campfire. Carry everything you need with you.



May 20 - Thu Leave in afternoon. Drive to Utah and camp at Sego. 341 miles from Castle Rock, CO.

May 21 - Fri Drive to Escalante , UT. 195 miles

May 22 - Sat Begin work on Part 1 of the magazine series. This involves driving to the Hole in the Rock Historic site. We will camp somewhere near the end of that trail. 60 miles

May 23 - Sun Drive back out of Hole in the Rock to Escalante. Depending on time, we may camp at the UFO Landing site or begin work on the Burr Trail.

May 24 - Mon Filming Burr Trail. This is not a part of Hole in the Rock but could be a separate story. Depending on the time of day, we have choices whether to cross the lake on the ferry or camp on the beach near Bullfrog.

May 25 - Tue The work on Part Two of the Magazine series begins. The original wagons came across the Colorado River to Cottonwood Hill and continued toward Bluff. I will be doing most of the photographs on the way out.

May 26 - Wed Continue filming the original wagon road going East.

May 27 - Thu Finish filming part two and drive to Halls Crossing for showers and supplies.

May 28 - Fri Photograph route from the abandoned wagon to Comb Wash

May 29 - Sat Finish photographing route from Comb Wash to Bluff

May 30 - Sun Expect to drive somewhere near Telluride. The plan is to take Ophir Pass to Lake City on Monday. Hopefully, it will be plowed and we will have very huge snow canals.

June 1 - Mon Today, the plan is Engineer Pass. Hopefully, it will be plowed and we will have very huge snow canals.

June 2 Tues Going Home

[HappyJack]

The only thing that never changes is things change all the time.

I am now thinking about starting the trip out Memorial Day weekend in the snow canals of the San Juans. They usually have the snow plowed by then with walls of snow twenty feet high on the sides of the road. I can usually do Engineer, Cinnamon, and Ophir. Some years, the snow keeps coming and they don't get them opened so it will be necessary to call ahead.

Maybe go out there on Friday the 28th and set base camp at Rose's Cabin on Friday night. That would be a four day weekend for the weekenders.

[HappyJack]

I have a plan A and a plan B.

Plan A: If Larry and Mike go out on friday the 28 th I will leave Wichita that day and get a room somewhere friday evening. Might be difficult for a friday evening on a Holiday weekend. Then meet Larry and Mike in Lake City saturday evening and head up to camp. Sunday I will break camp and go with them over Engineer and Ophir and then head west for lower ground. Monticello, UT is just 115 miles from Ophir. Or about 2.5 hours.

Plan B: If Mike can't make it I will leave wednesday and get a room somewhere. Check out late thursday and make camp at Roses thursday night. Friday go back down to Lake City and wait for Larry. Then back up to camp for as long as I can make it.

So far it looks like it is a go. The weather looks to clear next week. First night I plan to get a room in Walsenburg. It's about 190 miles on over to Lake City. Or a bit over 4 hours. Looking like Plan A for now.

So far the plan has been unchanged for the last 10 days:
"Planning to camp at Roses Cabin Friday evening the 28th. On Sat, plan to go over engineer, back over Cinnamon and back to Roses Cabin. On Sunday, plan to go over Engineer to Silverton, then over Ophir and back over Engineer to Roses Cabin. On Monday, the plan is to leave for the Burr Trail camp. On Tuesday, the plan is to film the Burr Trail and end up in Escalante. On Wed, the plan is to run in from Escalante to HITR monument. On Thurs, the plan is to run to Bullfrog and maybe cross the ferry to Halls Crossing. On Friday, the plan is to begin HITR on the east side. Probably will take until Monday to finish. On Tuesday, the plan is to run the wagon road to Bluff. On Wed, maybe go home."

[HappyJack]

Plan was ta git a hair cut taday. Shop tea marrie. Load up thursday and leave on friday. Spend friday night in Walsenburg. Then saturday meet up with Larry an Mike in Lake City. But all thet changed. I'm leavin tea marrie looks like. Have ta git it all done taday. The San Juans have been washed out. Looks like I need ta be in Sago, Utah thursday night. I'll leave tea marrie and stop in Canon, City tea marrie night. Then head on over ta Utah thursday ta meet up with Larry. Below is his new schedule.

5-27 Thurs: Leave Denver on Thurs afternoon and go to Sego.
5-28 Fri: Finish Drive to Escalante
5-29 Sat: Run Escalante to Hole in the Rock on Sat
5-30 Sun: Run back to Escalante on Sun and begin Burr Trail
5-31 Mon: Finish Burr Trail and go to Halls Crossing
6-1 Tue: Go in to Hole in the Rock East side
6-2 Wed: Drive back out of Hole in the Rock
6-3 Thurs: Finish drive to Bluff
6-4 Fri: Run back to Denver

[HappyJack]

Looks like there is a trip to the San Juans in a couple weeks. Most folks will show up on saturday the 17th. Larry will be out a two weeks from today. If I go by myself I'll leave on tuesday the 13th. If you want to ride or drive in Green with me we can leave most any time. Sunday is the first day of trails. traills will be run for three days. Engineer/Cinnamon isw one day. Over to Telluride and back is another. Just depends on what is open. And maybe a light day over California and Corkscrew another.



After that Larry plans to follow the Rio Grande south.

[HappyJack]

Still on schedule. Bout 1/2 loaded. Have a bunch of inside stuff ta do this afternoon packing clothes, cookin stuff, puter stuff an such. If the weather holds off I can do a bit of loadin this evening. If not I should be able to get it in the mornin. Need ta dig out the spare tents ta set up to reserve spots fer folks.



Looks like I should get out of town teamarrie.

[HappyJack]

K. Here is the deal as of last night. Green is in the shop gettin worked on as it did not like the steep 4x4 climbs and 70mph highway speeds in 103 temps. If it gets fixed I may go back out to the San Juans Labor Day weekend with folks over on Rick's dite. After that I may meet up with Larry in Alamosa to finish where we left off last month folowing the Rio Grande to the border. Then meet an old friend in Arizona near Jacobs Lake and try to pre run the Temple and Honeymoon trails and other stuff.

[HappyJack]

K, this is the deal. There is a run Labor Day weekend in the San Juans. After that there is either a south trip that starts in Alamosa, CO on the 9th or another guy will be in the Breckenridge/Leadville area the 10th. After that is the Arizona thing starting the 14th. Looks like I'll be taking Jr. for this. Any takers?