Moab 2017 - Bucket List Trip - Cross Country Rock Therapy Adventure

Yeah, we camped right there. It was pretty amazing, especially being the only ones there with an awesome sunset that night.

As the crow flies, its pretty close to HITR. That's Navajo mountain in the background of my picture, you can see in several spots on that series of videos you posted. We took dirt the whole way in between, with lots of stops, so we ended up there a few days later. Looks like if you drive payment you could get there in 4-5 hours from the end of HITR.

 

Thanks for sharing this trip Mike. I’m still getting caught up and really enjoying the read, photos and videos. I nearly shit myself watching the video of you on z-turn on Moab rim.

 

Thanks man! And so did I I gotta get back out there so we can catch up.

@Reh5108 @Squeaky Penguin @Wishbone Runner Cliffhanger video is done.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_lQNqmidsM

Definitely one of the most challenging trails I ever ran, and had a great time doing it.

 

Nice work, title should be “A lesson in clutch start cancel crawling”.

 

It looks like some trails should actually be rated by how many boxes of Depends a guy would need to run it.

I'm a noob, I'd need at least 3.

 

@cynicalrider Great trip report. Looks like an amazing trip. Now i feel like I need to build my truck up way more to hit some of those trails next time I get out there.

 

Great trip, would love to do it one day

 

Looks like a great time!

 

Day 8: Driving the scenic Million Dollar Highway

I woke up the next day at around 6 AM, knowing full well I had a full day of driving ahead of me, with the goal of getting to my next camp site before sun down. I packed up all my shit, hopped in the truck, and gassed it towards Needles Overlook. To my surprise, there were already people at the overlook at 7 AM, and I woke up only 20 minutes away from it.

Needles was so expansive and breathtaking. I very much so want to come back to Utah to go explore these areas. So remote looking.

IMG_0493 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0496 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0500 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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And to get an idea of how high up the overlook is, here's a truck. Though I likely zoomed in for that shot too.

IMG_0507 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I was unable to stay long, as I had a solid 13+ hour driving day ahead of me. I learned that between Colorado mountains are vast spaces of nothingness. It's so weird driving down a mountain into a basin, and seeing a road go straight for miles into unknown. Eventually I came to see some gorgeous mountains in the distance which I can only guess to be Mt Sneffels, Dallas Peak and a bunch of other peaks according to google maps.

IMG_0508 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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I stopped in Ouray long enough to stretch my legs and snap a photo or two, and continued onto the Million Dollar Highway.

IMG_0516 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0518 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

For those of you who do not know it's history, check it out here:

http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/635-million-dollar-highway-usa.html

From here it was pull-over after pull-over for good photo's before quickly hopping back in the truck.

IMG_0524 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0525 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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So cool watching these logging trucks run this insane road.

IMG_0533 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Though getting stuck behind a truck or two was not fun.

IMG_0534 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0536 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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After I completed the highway I was full speed ahead to my next destination, Red River, NM. I did pass a bunch of other cool mountains winding in and out of the Carson National Forest. After going through the mountains of Carson, I got to an extremely flat long piece of desert stretch before seeing more mountains pop up in the distance. Those mountains were for the Taos Ski valley, and part of the mountain range I would be making camp at. I had two GPX tracks saved that I wanted to explore and camp at. The one easier one was going to be the one I went for because it was about 8 PM and I was losing sun behind the mountains. The other one required a water crossing according to Trails Offroad and I was a little nervous to risk it solo. I decided to check this "water crossing" out just out of curiosity. I saw it was nothing but a small creek, through caution to the wind and said fuck it. I knew this trail was about 7.6 miles long, and the sun was going down, but I figured I am here, let's see where it goes. It was a tight woods trail, some shelf roads, with creeks and streams running through it.

IMG_8324 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Eventually I made it to the top of the trail, which was Goose Lake, at around 9:15 PM. I looked at the Gaia app on my phone and it said I was at 11,656 Feet! I never camped at such a high altitude before. I was also surprised to see another vehicle up there. It was a pretty built FJ Cruiser no less, with TN plates. Their camp looked pretty dead so I figured they were sleeping. I tried to quietly setup my tent, build a fire, etc. I had some struggles lighting my fire because of the altitude I assumed, but got a small enough of one going to keep me warm and enjoy a beer. Eventually I packed it in and headed to bed. I knew I had another big day of driving the next day along with some exploring to go with it.

 

Awesome stuff, Mike!

Dallas Divide is one of the most picturesque spots I’ve ever seen. Makes me really want to get back to southwestern Colorado.

 

Ha I had no idea it had a name. Speaking of which, the wife and I just booked an Air BnB for Breck in the end of June! We are super stoked!

 

Excellent! Hopefully she falls in love with the West like you did!

 

She already fell in love with Cali which I wouldn't mind either, it's just so damn expensive. Any of the mountains on the west are much nicer than the east.

 

Million dollar highway is a great drive. I did it last summer and found some cool mines around red mountain.

Can't wait to get back out that way.

 

Just was in Red River with my 7yr old in March. Took him Skiing for his first time. Been there many a time. Some nice areas around there. Luckily its only about 8 hours away for me, lol. It was a boys trip, momma hates skiing, lol. Lucky for us... Moab is on my list, just have to build something worthy first

 

Red river was really really cool, I got to explore more of it the next day which I will go into more on this post. I figure now that I just did another trip to Virginia, I really need to get my shit together and wrap this report up.

Day 9: Exploring Red River, NM.

So one of my favorite things of rolling up to a camp site after dark, is really being surprised when you see your surroundings when you wake up. I knew I was in a cool spot, on a mountain with a lake next to me, but I could not imagine how beautiful it was until the sunlight hit it.

IMG_0554 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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After packing my stuff up to set out on an exploration trip on the trails I already had GPX files for, I stopped and chatted with the two guys who had the FJ Cruiser that I saw when I arrived at the mountain the night before. These two were well into their 60's, saying that they always make a big trip once a year to get together, camp and enjoy nature. They were from Tennessee and after looking at their vehicle in the daylight, something incredible hit me.

I passed these guys on my way out to Moab... on the highway, somewhere near Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois. I remember when I was driving I saw a built FJ, with a wounded combat vet sticker on it and TN plates. I asked them about it and they said they were on their way out around the same time. I thought it was awesome that our paths crossed days earlier, only to roll up on them in such a remote location. We bull shitted, they gave me some amaretto for my coffee, and had some good story swapping. We said our good byes, and I started my way down the trail I had come up the night before. It was much more enjoyable coming down in the day, with little breaks in the trees to look around the valley.

IMG_0572 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0576 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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I also came across some old log cabin structures that are still sanding on the trails:

IMG_0582 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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Eventually I made it down the trail and back to the road. The entrance for the next trail was only a 1/4 mile away and I started my way up a bunch of switchbacks on some shelf road.

IMG_0591 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I made another awesome discovery coming up this road, and that was I could see the area I camped at the night before from there. You can see it really well from this photo, the ridges near the top is where my camp site was.

IMG_0595 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0601 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

And that was zoomed in using the telephoto lense. It made me realize how epic of a camp site that really was, and I wish that I could have spent a couple days there.

Here it is zoomed out for perspective:

IMG_0604 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0605 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

That kind of stuff gets me so excited, finding cool spots off the beaten path, and seeing them elsewhere on my journey.

IMG_0611 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0617 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I continued down these trails doing one large loop back to the main road with awesome views throughout.

IMG_0619 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

There were some sketchy off camber sections on the way down that had me a little worried. Off camber doesn't typically bother me, but rolling solo, you are much more concerned about such things. Eventually I made it down, and went into town for a cup of coffee. I drank it while I aired up and got ready to hit the road. At this point it was already past noon and I knew I had a ton of driving ahead of me to get to my next spot in Arkansas. I left NM with a heavy urge to want to return one day and explore so much more.

From here I pounded pavement from NM, through the top of TX, and Oklahoma. I came to the sad realization that I was not going to be exploring the AR trails like I originally had wanted to as I was crossing into AR at 1 AM at this point with another 4-5 hours just to get to the places I had planned to camp. Setting up camp at 4 AM is just not realistic and I had to break down and grab my first hotel of the entire trip.

Aside form sleeping at @jubei's house on my way out, this was my first real bed in 10 days. It was kind of strange. I was not used to creature comforts and was blown away by hot water/shower on demand, a bed, a tv etc lol. It is cool knowing I can go without these things for a long time, but I also appreciated them more as well. I knew I had a ton of ground to still cover the next day so I hit the bed and passed out, recharging for my next day of driving.

 

Day 10: Pavement pounding and a sketchy end.

Day 10 was relatively uneventful with a ton of driving ahead of me. I had two potential camp spots picked out in Tennessee to try to get me nice and close to the Jack Daniels Distillery, which was my next major destination. One was the Laurel Hill WMA, and the other was the Franklin State Forest, both being about an hour and fifteen minutes from Lynchburg, and about 2 hours from each other. I had done a bunch of research the night before to try to find free camping and everywhere I read said that the WMA allowed camping. I hit the road with that being the destination goal.

The WMA was located off a weird highway/roadway called the Natchez Trace Parkway (really only a major road) and cell service was scarce. I entered the park away from the lake around 6 PM with plenty of daylight and it looked like a very nice place. I was trying to find a place that is suitable for camping. Nothing really showed as previous used campsites, so I saw some people who were fishing on the backside of the lake and asked if they was camping. It was then that I started getting a weird and creepy vibe from the locals. They were unhelpful and looked at me like I just ruined their day by bothering them. Alright, no worries I'll keep driving to find someone else I thought, maybe they were just having a bad day. As I was trying to get to the main part of the lake with the fishing shop, I had two dogs run out in the middle of the road and literally block my truck barking at me. At this point I had no cell service at all, the sun was going down, and I just wanted to set up camp. The worst part is the owner was just standing in their yard just staring at me and their dogs. I thought they would call the dogs back, but nope. So I just inched forward till I thought the dogs were on my sides and just fucking gunned it. I have a dog at home, and don't want to kill anyones dogs, so I was extra careful, but what the fuck? Call your dogs back. Whatever.

I finally got to the fishing shop and there was an old lady and man drinking cokes on rocking chairs out front. Alright, getting some horror movie vibes now. They just stared at me as I walked in to the shop, not responding to my friendly hello. I walk in to a guy about my age, maybe a few years older and a teenager. They were playing COD on their older xbox. I asked them if it was okay if I camped in the camping area, I read it was free to camp there on the website. He said that it's really a camp site for those who are actively using the WMA, who are fishermen essentially. I was like oh okay, I really was going to stay the night, I was going to hit the road again in the morning. The way he spoke to me, it seemed like he really didn't want to let me camp there, and I was fine with that. I was like, alright no worries I have a back up spot in mind anyway. He then starts saying that "He can't let me go back on the road since it's so late already" and that if I stay there and pack up early it's okay if I stay there now. I couldn't tell if he wanted me to like throw him a couple bucks to stay there or if it was something else. The whole situation kept making me feel more and more uneasy with every word he spoke. He was like are you going here? or here? rattling off other places. I was like no, I was going to go to the Franklin State forest. He's like that's so faraway, you should just stay here, I promise it will be okay... yeah nope nope nope. I thanked him got in my truck and hit the fucking road. I had zero cell signal, and knew if I camped I would be a sitting duck to get murdered/robbed, and fucking drove in whatever direction I felt was the right way. I didn't get service till a good half hour of driving in which I set up navigation towards Franklin State forest and called my wife in a panic. She told me she's really happy I didn't stay there and glad I went with my gut, and I was glad I did too. Nothing felt right about that entire interaction.

We talked about it and I told her I think I am going to break down and force myself to get another hotel for the night right outside of lynchburg. I have been driving since 8 am, at least 12 hours at that point, and setting up camp/cooking was the last thing I wanted to deal with at that point. I got a hotel 20 minutes from the distillery, checked in, and ordered a pizza. I was happy I was safe, drank some beer, ate some pizza and went to bed excited for tomorrows tour.

 

Day 11: Jack Daniels Distillery Tour, and home at last.

I booked a 10:30 Flight of Jack Daniels tour with the intention to drive straight home afterwards. The tour was a really nice one, going through the process of making whiskey, why they chose that location, and it ended with a tasting at the end. I found it really interesting since all I have ever done are brewery tours. If you ever are in the Lynchburg area, I highly recommend this tour. I am hoping to come back with my wife one day and do their Angel's Share tour.

Here are al the photos from the tour:

IMG_0625 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0626 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0627 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0630 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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IMG_0652 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0653 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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The safe that killed Jack:

IMG_0658 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

IMG_0664 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0668 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0670 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
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At the gift shop you can buy a bottle and get it engraved. I wanted to get some to commemorate my trip and to enjoy when I get home. So on one side I got it remembering the trip and the truck:

IMG_8384 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

And on the other side I dedicated it to my wife, for putting up with the all the money spent on the preparation for this trip and on this trip, all the time I had to put into the truck to prepare, and for holding down the fort while I was gone.

IMG_8383 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

As much of this trip was solo, it honestly could never have been made possible if it wasn't for her unending support.

From there I got back in the truck and booked it the last 13 hours I had to get home. I got home somewhere between 3-4 AM, showered and crawled into bed. I was very happy to make it home in one piece, and aside from an occasional squeak of some belts, not needing a single spare part I brought even after wheeling some of the hardest trails Moab had to offer. It was an epic adventure that lasted from 10 PM Thursday night on October 10th, to 3 AM Saturday early morning October 27th, 2.5 weeks of amazing times with awesome friends and I will remember it for a lifetime.

 

Great trip report!