"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
05/22/2014 at 13:00 • Filed to: TWBV, cruisin, truck yeah
10
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"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
05/22/2014 at 13:00 • Filed to: TWBV, cruisin, truck yeah | 10
| 25 |
This is part 2 of a 3 part series chronicling my adventures of driving/riding the White Rim Trial in Canyonlands NP near Moab, Ut.
Day 2
We left the amazing Gooseberry campsite after packing up both trucks again, a feat we would get quite good at, and headed out knowing that at some point today we would have to climb Murphy Hogback. Murphy was a hog farmer you see, trying to create a race of super hogs in the uranium mines as so this large ridge with a Tolken-esque road carved into it bears his name…rest his zombie sole.
Before that comes the mid point in the trail, a little 1.4 mile jut out into the expanse called white crack. I wish there was a lens wide enough or words elegant enough to convey the enormity of the site which lies before this point; you simply can't take it all in.
The most amazing part of this view is the endlessness of it, look in any direction with any power level zoom and all you will see is more amazing formations, spires, buttes, hoodoos and mountains. It's like standing in the epicenter of an enormous sandstone fractal with no start or end. I've said it before; I've seen a lot of high desert and this blew my mind.
It was about this point in the trail that I started to notice the amazing greenery of where I was, it seemed the whole desert had come alive to greet us with white blooms, blue bells, cactus flowers and these green/yellow cattails everywhere we went. Between that and the amazing places this trail takes you. The main trouble that I had, as a photographer was getting in close for the intimacy and getting wide enough to convey the size of this place; I carried a 15mm fisheye up to a 280mm zoom and neither were sufficient.
What's interesting is that, in good conditions like we had, you could drive this whole route in a Subaru outback, though the park ranger we met told us that his winch was used mostly pulling Colorado Subaru owners out of the mud on this trail, so bear that in mind ya Coloradan who believe deeply in the beauty of all wheel drive.
Murphy hogback in particular is one place I was glad to have low range. It's hard to show in pictures the steepness of this hill, but I can say that biking up it is enough to make you fall over backwards if you aren't careful. Because I don't like offloading liability or risk on others I made it a point to drive this section myself, saving me from riding it myself, but those who did were damn near dead at the top. We stopped at the summit to have lunch and realize what a great idea it was to rent a 50 quart ARB fridge with ice cold soda inside.
Seriously, for something that only draws 800 mA running and cost only $50 a week to rent, this was a no-brainer I would do again in a heartbeat. On a related note, eggs do freeze but are still edible afterwards. The trail down from Murphy hogback is just as exciting as the drive up, with the exception that because I was now downhill traffic and people tend to ride counterclockwise (we rode clockwise) we had to wait for uphill traffic. A fun side note was that while waiting halfway down the hill a fellow land cruiser owner on a bike used up one of his precious panting breaths to tell me he liked my truck, even near death a car lover is a car lover.
The second day was muddier in parts but never bad, a recent rain storm came through the week prior and put in a few pools here and there, which made for great fun in the cars and easily avoided on the bike. Having heard tales of difficult technical sections from various sources, I drove the last part of the days ride and…well this was about has hard as it got.
It was a bit of a letdown and a reminder that the trail, so long as its dry, wont present much of a challenge to even the wimpiest of all wheel drives. Seriously, you could take a Ford Flex on this trail if you were careful.
Our next site was Candlestick, named for the view of the Candlestick butte which if you look at is obviously named for the murder weapon used by colonel mustard in the front room.
This site, although lacking in shade trees, necessitating some ingenuity on our part, was ripe with amazing sights and we had exclusive front row seats to the sunset show.
If I was to be anywhere when the apocalypse started, I think it would be here. It was also here that we decided that we had brought too much water and decided it was time for some bike rack assisted showers on the rocks. One of the great things about vehicle based travel is eating well and tonight we had a fine meal of Hawaiian haystacks. We'd been eating well this entire trip really, pancakes and bacon or eggs and bacon with OJ in the mornings, sandwiches with chips, beef jerky and fresh cold fruit for lunch and tasty snacks throughout. My theory on camping is; why suffer. We didn't, for food that is, total Mileage for the days was just over 30.
Part 3 is !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
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cazzyodo
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 13:05 |
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DAT SUNSET
FJ80WaitinForaLSV8
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 13:49 |
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enormously jealous. I need to leave the east coast ASAP.
vicariousILive
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 14:33 |
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How much lead time do you need to rent that fridge?
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HammerheadFistpunch
> vicariousILive
05/22/2014 at 14:37 |
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2 weeks, needed less
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HammerheadFistpunch
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 16:43 |
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You're than man Andrew, thanks for sharing this.
My speed3 is happy
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 17:16 |
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What time of year did you go? Is this just recently?
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HammerheadFistpunch
> My speed3 is happy
05/22/2014 at 17:23 |
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Got back last sunday.
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My speed3 is happy
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 17:56 |
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Cool, great article and great pictures man. I sent it to my gf and we'll be researching/planning a trip this weekend.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> My speed3 is happy
05/22/2014 at 18:27 |
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you can ride it in a day, I wouldn't but people do and driving it in a day takes about 8-10 hours, just FYI.
Blondude
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 18:41 |
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Curse you for having access to somewhere where you can actually use your Land Cruiser for what it was born to do.
Friggin' Illinois...
Busslayer
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/22/2014 at 21:10 |
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This is one of the coolest places in the US to visit and one of the very best drives. Truly, photos don't do it justice. The White Rim Road is a "high-clearance" road I recall, not a 4wd road. It is probably passable in a CUV that doesn't sit too low.
It looks like a good time.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> Busslayer
05/22/2014 at 23:27 |
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you are right...on all accounts.
Lyle Petersminkle
> cazzyodo
05/23/2014 at 04:04 |
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You need to get out a lot more if you think that sunset is impressive.
BoulderZ
> Busslayer
05/23/2014 at 11:41 |
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Unless it rains. If it rains, you're staying put. Moab red mud is fantastic for eating vehicles, and quite slick. Fortunately, it doesn't take too long to dry, usually. Maybe a day.
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BoulderZ
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/23/2014 at 11:44 |
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Really enjoying the articles, looking forward to Part 3. I rode it in one day in the late 90s, solo. Took about 12 hours. Simultaneously the best and worst ride I've ever done, before or since. Wouldn't change a thing, but all that water was ridiculously heavy at the start.
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vicariousILive
> BoulderZ
05/23/2014 at 13:06 |
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what direction did you do it? Did you start at Shafer or mineral bottom?
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BoulderZ
> vicariousILive
05/23/2014 at 14:08 |
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I parked at the top of Shafer, right off of Island In The Sky Road, and went down Shafer, doing the clockwise version. While it would have sucked to have that as a climb right at the very end, the long, flat ride after climbing out of Mineral Bottom was really tedious. The scenery normally wouldn't be that great at that point either, but I had stupidly started mid-to-late morning, so it was night. The stars were more than bright enough to ride by, and Comet Hale-Bopp (I think it was that one) was stretched across the sky. So, that helped make up for the lack of canyon views at that point. I remember getting back to the truck and eating an entire pumpkin pie I'd bought at City Market, with my hands. I don't remember why I had that in the cooler, and all my utensils and stove and stuff back at the campground. As you can tell, my planning for this ride was a bit suspect.
Blind Willy
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/23/2014 at 15:31 |
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Yeah, I'm scared of heights too... but I'd totally crawl as far as I could on my belly just to take a photo over the edge. Great article, can't wait for part 3
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HammerheadFistpunch
> Blind Willy
05/23/2014 at 15:35 |
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part 3 is up . Yeah, I have to belly crawl to the edges, then I get all vertigo-y and crawl back. funny thing is, I love doing this.
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Blind Willy
> HammerheadFistpunch
05/23/2014 at 15:41 |
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Whoah!
I'll just check out the photos, HAHA
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cazzyodo
> Lyle Petersminkle
05/23/2014 at 22:16 |
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and you need to get that stick out of your ass. See? We both have something to do now.
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vicariousILive
> BoulderZ
05/23/2014 at 22:39 |
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makes for a good story though. If I were to do it in one day I would be on the trail by 5am, no later and I would do it November or February.
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BoulderZ
> vicariousILive
05/27/2014 at 11:22 |
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Yeah, I think I started at 1000. Can't really recommend that approach. The sun set as just as I got to the top of the climb out from Mineral Bottom, leaving me with a long, starry flat ride back on the top of the mesa. It was actually really pretty, in hindsight, and amazingly bright. Starlight is really bright (the comet didn't hurt either) if you can just get away from light pollution. Not a problem in Canyonlands! I'm definitely a fan of "shoulder season" in Moab. I don't know why anyone would go there over the summer, unless they were passing through, like on the Grand Tour (can't wait to do that with my son), or maybe if rafting was the only thing they were doing. We used to go to a seasonal kickoff over President's Day weekend, party hosted by Chile Pepper Bike Shop. There was snow almost every year, and it was still more pleasant than any day there in July/August, even including the ass-freezing ride in the open-top Unimog shuttle to the top of the Gemini Arches ride.
deugea
> HammerheadFistpunch
03/19/2015 at 22:14 |
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Your LC looks perfect in this location, like Toyota designed it just to go here for you. What a great shot.
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HammerheadFistpunch
> deugea
03/19/2015 at 22:23 |
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Thanks, It felt pretty right out there.