Pre-RT15 Lockhart Basin Loop > RT15

So, instead of having all of my pics lost in the depths of the main picture thread, I am starting my own! We were out there for 9 days, and this will make it easier to for me to log my thoughts, share pics, and have discussions on the trails, particularly the Lockhart loop which I got many questions about on the route and difficulty.

The route we planned to take was Hurrah Pass>Chicken Corners>Lockhart Basin>Lockhart Canyon>Elephant Hill>Devil's Lane>Bobby's Hole>Beef Basin Loop w/ Salt Creek Overlook. We planned on three days and two nights, leaving Denver Saturday and being in BFE Monday evening. The mileage was estimated at 100-200 of dirt, depending on how many spurs and times we had to back track. Most of the trip could have been done in 2WD, navigation was done almost entirely with the Charles Wells Moab book.

I headed out from Denver early Saturday morning before RT with @teamhypoxia, and met @Squeaky Penguin along the way, arriving in Moab around noon. From there we gassed up and headed down Kane Creek rd, and up Hurrah pass, passing swarms of people that were in town for the holiday weekend, making me quite happy that we were headed out into the Moab backcountry instead of hanging around town and hitting the local trails. After passing over Hurrah Pass and performing some rally passing of a Jeep, we made our way down Hurrah and to the Chicken Corners trail, and out to the Chicken Corners, which is an out and back to the turn for Lockhart Basin.

 

From there, it was back to the chicken, and hang a right, up the most difficult section of Lockhart which climbs out of a canyon up to a rim that you follow for most of the trail, passing endless sandstone features and incredible views. Ended up making camp for the night with an incredible view.








Brett: That's neat.

Sure is Brett, sure is.

 

Day 2 plans were to make it through Lockhart, Elelphant Hill and into Beef Basin. Sunrise was spectacular, then headed off. Drove up a sandy Michelin hill where Eric nearly exceed his tires abilities, and down through Lockhart canyon which is more of a wash, and came upon an old truck for a photo op. It wouldn't start. Then finished out Lockhart basin to exit near the Canyonland's Needles District entrance for the start of Elephant Hill and through the famous Hummer Filter.

















Which of these is not alike?

 

Nice.

More?

 

X2!

 

Yes, working on the pics and text! Stay tuned for more!

 

After heading out the double track to the Colorado and Green river confluence overlook, doubled back to exit Elephant Hill and the park through Devil's Lane, which was one of my favorite sections of the trip, lots of sandy double track through the unique needle formations. Up the washed out Bobby's hole (insert joke), which wasn't near as bad as it had been made out, but I saw the potential for it to be, and made camp near Ruin Park where many old Anasazi ruins can be found.

 

So awesome!

 

looks like a great trip. I would like to do a similar trip at some point. Are there any camping regulations i should be aware of.

 

Day 3 began checking out crevasses for pumas, then the "ruins", which we later came to find out had been reconstructed, still cool to check out. There are a ton of them in this area, and you could spend days exploring, but we didn't have the time to do so. On to Beef Basin which is a fun high speed loop, again with many ruins that you could explore for days. Departing Beef Basin takes you over a high pass, over 8300' if I recall, then back down to the Salt Creek overlook, which was one of my favorite on the trip. The overlook lets you see though time, millions of years and sandstone layers, with assorted canyons, nooks, spires, plateaus and just about every geographical descriptive word you could think to add, you could only scan the area and hope to take some of it in. Simply amazing.



The last part of the trail headed back though some twisty sections around the southern end of the park, and back to civilization, dumping out near newspaper rock, covered in ancient art. We covered 175 miles of dirt in three days, one of the more memorable trips I have ever taken, Eric and I made it all the way back to Moab on one tank, we each carried 5 gallons or so spare, Brett needed to top off to make it back. We all then headed to Area BFE for the main event, RT15.

 

Once you get past Chicken Corners, I believe you can camp anywhere you please, all BLM land with the exception of the Park, I am not sure of the exact regulations there, but I know there are some in regards to where and having to pay.

 

I was about to ask how many pictures you had of me pointing at things, and than I realized just how many neat things there were to point at along the way. Excellent run, absolute highlight of the trip.

 

For sure lots of neatness.

Day 4 was a rest day for me, hanging out in town and getting some work done.

Day 5 plan was Behind the Rocks, one of the more difficult trails in Moab, with @Squeaky Penguin @teamhypoxia @wrmathis

I was leading and made it a 1/4 mile into the trail to the first named obstacle, Guardian Hill, a big ass wall. Two attempts in I hopped to the rear too much and grenaded my rear diff, game over. We pulled the driveshaft and limped back down the trail and back to BFE to inspect the damage. Coming back to camp we came upon the rollover on BFE, after making sure everyone was OK and there was nothing I could do to help, parked the truck on Diff Row and pulled the diff to check the damage, a bunch of busted teeth. Called ECGS right away and had them get working on a new third, with the addition of a locker, my run of open/open had finally ended.

 

The rest of Day 5 was spent riding bitch with Brett and drinking heavily to ease the pain of $2K dropped on a new diff. We decided to run Strike Ravine, which was one of the trails I had wanted to do this trip, unfortunately I would not be behind the wheel. Set off with a larger crew, then most of them decided to skip most of the trail to check out some other shit. @Squeaky Penguin and @Tonto27 ran Strike backwards from BFE, descending Minor Threat, then joining the rest of Strike through the wash and back to BFE.

 

Day 6 was Metal Masher, where again I was riding bitch with @teamhypoxia, joined by @wrmathis @Squeaky Penguin @Flboarder @Night Eagle. Suffered some carnage on this run: driveshaft for Night Eagle, licence plate abuse, a busted radiator for wrmathis as well as crawl box issues, and a few turtles thrown in. Finished the run with a stop at the Gemini Bridges, a super cool spot.

 

Turtles...Turtles everywhere, haha. Seriously sweet pictures James wish i could have tagged along for Strike!

 

Such awesome pictures and narrative... makes me wish I was there.

Oh, I know I was there. I mean I wish I was there NOW instead of here.

 

great report

 

More coming, many pics to go through still.

 

Nice! sorry about your dif, but glad you're upgraded now!

wished I could have connected with you guys for a trail or two