The DeTour Trip Report-As told by Blackdawg

Thanks!

 

But.....

12 + 1 != 12

 

say what?

Did i screw up the chapter numbers? Cause..id believe you if so haha

 

It's okay, just write chapter 14 tonight! hahahahahahaha

 

counting is hard apparently haha

Doubt it! haha but will start it.

 

That last campsite, simply amazing. I'm moving there to become the Dome Plateau troll for the rest of my life.

 

Well its not always super nice there. But even so. Be a killer place to live haha

 

Get in line behind me.

I'd say "please," but I wouldn't really mean it. hahahahaha

 

Man I just spent the last 2 nights in the hospital with my wife and her collapsed lung.
This thread helped me keep my sanity.

We are going home today and I'm ready to see my truck and kiss it and take it on some trails this week after seeing this thread!

 

Wow glad she is okay! Sorry to hear that.

Glad to help you pass the time in a hopefully joyous way during a not so happy time. And glad it's inspired!

 

Being confined indoors is a great way to be inspired to do shit outdoors!

 

So freaking true. I don't even have a window at work. Which is ironic as I work at a huge ranch with the mountains like 15 miles away haha

 

I kinda understand that. I work at a rehab center in the foothills of the ozarks in the ouachita national forest. It's in a beautiful setting with great hunting and fishing and offroading opportunities in the area. But I gotta come to work and smell bodily fluids and work under florescent lighting all day.

 

Looks like a pretty epic trip! Those views are so fn dramatic! You should submit the photo with dan n your truck and the stars into the calendar for this next year.

 

Say what?

And it was great! Still another day to go too. Then on to writing about this year's trips haha

 

My english not so good haha this photo though you have a ton to choose from, the asian woman posing next to the rigs would be a good one too ha

 

That campsite is incredible!! I need to find that before our next Utah trip.

 

ha didn't konw that was going. Short period to submit stuff. Missed it, oh well.

It is a great place. Would recomend! Its a ways out there too so shouldn't be a crowded place by any means.

Well worth it. Still one of the best places I've ever camped.

 

Chapter 13: Full Circle​

The Sun blasted through my tent early in the morning. But not enough to get me out of bed. The view from the tent window was epic enough I just stayed in.


Dan of course didn’t. At least for a bit and crawled out even earlier as was normal to capture the first light.


2017-09-30 - 00004 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00001 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

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It was an amazing sunrise to say the least.


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2017-09-30 - 00007 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr


Eventually the light lured us all out and we enjoyed the morning.


The DeTour.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4241x by mike digirat, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00008 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

The DeTour-2.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-3.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Dan got one hell of a view during his morning stroll I’m sure.


The DeTour-4.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00011 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

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The DeTour-5.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The pure cool factor of the site captured our attention yet again. Not a lot of places you can camp on a cliff with a view like this!


The DeTour-6.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-7.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


It was this kind of morning:


2017-09-30 - 00014 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr


Sit back and take it all in.


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2017-09-30 - 00019 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr


There was only one thing missing.









Bacon.


Which was easy to remedy! I fired up the stove and set about cooking everyone my favorite. Bacon and Eggs with some potatoes.


Wasn’t such a bad place to cook. Just watch your step!


The DeTour-8.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


As I was cooking and we were enjoying the morning, the weather started to change. It had rained just a tiny amount early that morning. But we had hoped that would be it.


Mother Nature had different plans..


The DeTour-9.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


A storm was upon us and closing in fast. As Devin packed up the rest of the truck I finished up breakfast and we all woofed down our food to finish packing before the rain hit us. Was awesome to watch it roll into the valley though.


The DeTour-10.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00020 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

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IMG_4244_phone by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4243 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4244 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-11.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


I swear to god I put the tail gate up with the last of the stuff and all hell broke loose right at that moment. The heavens didn’t open up, Hell did. Water pour down so heavily it was hard to talk to Devin in the truck. The wipers barely kept up as we made our way back up the hill to the main road which was almost flooded at this point. I began to think that we would have some serious problems with flooding potentially.


When suddenly, it stopped. Just as soon as it had come.


Half the sky opened back up and there was blue sky even. The land was soaked with puddle everywhere throughout the desert ground.


2017-09-30 - 00022 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

The DeTour-12.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Which of course meant we were back in the mud!


The DeTour-13.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4245 by mike digirat, on Flickr


It was nothing though compared to what it could have been, and with the sun back up we quickly found ourselves at La Bocca arch.


IMG_4246 by mike digirat, on Flickr


The arch was pretty cool honestly and much larger than I had anticipated.


The DeTour-14.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-15.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The weather was still there though, and that’s where we were headed for the day too..


IMG_4247 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4248 by mike digirat, on Flickr


But we didn’t care, the sun was out right now and Devin, Dan and I climbed around the arch for a good while checking it out.


The DeTour-16.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-17.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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IMG_4252 by mike digirat, on Flickr

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It's amazing what some wind and water will do to stone throughout time.


The DeTour-18.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


We of course had to go up and around the back side too!


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IMG_4262 by mike digirat, on Flickr


Rain was in our future again..


The DeTour-19.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4263 by mike digirat, on Flickr


Makes for dramatic photos though!


The DeTour-20.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-21.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-22.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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IMG_4268 by mike digirat, on Flickr


Before the rain caught back up with us, we got back in the trucks to go check out Cave spring, whatever that was. We had no idea but it was marked on the track and decided to go check it out hoping we’d stay in the pockets of sun seen through the distance.


The DeTour-23.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-24.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00029 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

IMG_4267 by mike digirat, on Flickr

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It’s like we were being chased by the rain, or rather the mud we all had come to hate..


The DeTour-25.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


As we wound our way through the brush a hill climb presented itself.


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Quick inspection showed it would not be a problem and we climbed up a hill similar to what we had descended down just yesterday.


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The DeTour-26.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-27.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-28.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-35.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


We then found ourselves out of the twisting washes and the landscape opened up. The surrounding area dramatic with weather the rain finally catching up to us slowly sprinkling on us.


The DeTour-36.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-37.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4273 by mike digirat, on Flickr


As much as bad weather can be annoying, it sure is dramatic.


IMG_4275 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4276 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4277 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-38.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-39.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The rain picking up to a drizzle we head towards Cave springs.


IMG_4285 by mike digirat, on Flickr


We soon were up against a cliff and got out to walk around.


2017-09-30 - 00033 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

The DeTour-40.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


There were lots of cave like features here. Though none of them went very deep, still was fun to look into though.


IMG_4287 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-41.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-42.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4288 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4289 by mike digirat, on Flickr


We then made our way down to what was marked as Cave Spring. A fence clearly there to help protect it from the cattle.


The DeTour-43.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Once inside there was another gate.


IMG_4292 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-44.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The actual spring was...well..nothing super special.


The DeTour-45.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Not sure why it was capped off or it they open and close it as needed for cattle. Not certain there. The cave it was in was much more interesting though.


IMG_4296 by mike digirat, on Flickr


This place with its offering of water was speacil to those passing through. Not sure who Leo was but he’d been here long ago.


2017-09-30 - 00034 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

The DeTour-46.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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It was nice to be out of the truck and out of the rain. But we had a long road ahead to make it back into Colorado today and headed back to the trucks.


The DeTour-47.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Water. Ever important out here.


IMG_4298 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4302 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-48.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-49.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-50.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


We then continued down the road which traversed the cliff side showing us more and more caves and future caves.


A couple were intriguing enough for Dan and I to jump out and go inside.


The DeTour-51.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


It was once again not a bit one. But obviously used heavily by cattle for shelter. Can’t blame them, i bet its nice and cool in here in the summer.


The DeTour-52.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-53.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The cliff side had numeous places like this, but we alas had no time to fully check them all.


The DeTour-54.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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IMG_4305 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-55.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4309 by mike digirat, on Flickr

 

Water does interesting things out here..


IMG_4312 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4313 by mike digirat, on Flickr

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We then started to cover ground faster. Enjoying the smooth compacted sand from the light rain which still had not gotten muddy.


The DeTour-56.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4318 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-57.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-58.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Freakin Dan ruining pictures with opened doors


The DeTour-59.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-60.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


The rain had let up a bit and it was chilly but we still were having fun being out in the middle of it all.


IMG_4320 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-61.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-62.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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After a few miles we pulled up on an old homestead or mine site. Little bit of both likely and walked around the couple of structures for a bit.


The DeTour-65.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4323 by mike digirat, on Flickr

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IMG_4324 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-66.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-67.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Was always cool to see these kinds of things. Would have been hard to live out here.


The DeTour-68.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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Dan noticed that the wood of the walls were railroad ties and hammered together will rail spikes it looked like.


The DeTour-69.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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IMG_4332 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-71.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The rain started back up though and we got back in the trucks still heading north.


The DeTour-70.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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IMG_4335 by mike digirat, on Flickr


Not long after the road entered a wash. It looked like it had flowed pretty well possible. The water was going pretty good but didn’t look deep. We weren’t exactly worried about a flash flood at this time either and continued on through the water.


2017-09-30 - 00041 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

2017-09-30 - 00042 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr

The DeTour-73.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-74.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The road continued going in and out of the wash, a classic road feature of many roads in Utah.


The DeTour-76.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-77.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Then something amazing happened. The water disappeared!


I think realized, that the wash had just started running and we were now infront of the flow! This somehow was very cool to me. And I stopped at the next point it would cross through us and waited.


The DeTour-78.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-80.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-83.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4345 by mike digirat, on Flickr

IMG_4346 by mike digirat, on Flickr


It was very cool to see the start of a wash flow. Now granted this can be very dangerous, but seeing has now we had driving through the wash for a few miles before here we knew a tidal wave wasn’t about to slam into us.


From here we climbed out of the wash and once again broke out into a wide open area. Alas, the bentonite mud was back with vengeance and we slopped our way back towards the highway.


2017-09-30 - 00043 - The De-Tour - Day 14 by Dan, on Flickr


The mud was back.. Damn.


The DeTour-84.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-85.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-86.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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Traction was a slight issue in a few spots. But didn’t stop us from climbing the hills back to the highway.


The DeTour-87.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


We them popped out back onto highway 128 and turned south back to Dewey bridge. Now a pinicale point of the trip.


A quick stop at the restroom and another photo(not sure why, I have like 6 of these photos now) before heading out.


At least the sun had come back out for a moment to smile on us.


The DeTour-88.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


We then headed up and over toward the Dolores Triangle route. Took us through a nice area that was very popular for camping. And then got to the river crossing of the Dolores River.


Didn’t seem too bad and I took off across.


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Thankfully it was not deep and Dan and Mike followed with ease.


The DeTour-89.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4348 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-90.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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The DeTour-95.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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Now of the north side of the river we followed it for a while the road conditions so far fine but muddy in spots.


The DeTour-96.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-97.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

The DeTour-98.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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Then we started to climb and the road got quite mukky.


The DeTour-99.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr


Once up the seemingly larger hill I asked if it would be cool to go check out a potential overlook for a lunch spot. Everyone now hungry agreed since we were for the moment back in sunshine and the views were worth it!


The DeTour-100.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

IMG_4351 by mike digirat, on Flickr

The DeTour-101.jpg by Monte Nickles Photos, on Flickr

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