16 replies to this topic

[Durangotang]

Hello from Durango!!! Nice site you guys have going here (though I feel out of place without a slide in camper) I'm sure I may know some of you on here and I may have passed many of you on trails throughout Utah and CO. I drive a little Diesel Jeep that has proven itself to be an invaluable travel partner.

Anyways... here's a warm weather trip report to help with the midwinter blah...



This was written after a 4 day trip through the Utah desert. I met up with some folks from California and set off into the San Rafael Swell on our way to the Maze District of Canyonlands.

We met up in Moab and headed off to Green River...


We were behind schedule for the day as we headed off pavement...


Off into the desert we go...


The sun set while we were on the trail and we reached our campsite in the middle of the night.


We arrived at at camp atop a place called Panorama Point. It was dark so we couldn't see anything that night... Here are some shots from the next morning as the sun came up.


Then I saw where the name came from...






This campsite offers a 270 degree view of the maze district... you should make an effort to end up here at least once.


Cooking breakfast before we hit the trail...

[Durangotang]

Packed up and hitting the trail for the day... our destination was the Dollhouse in the Land of Standing Rocks.


The route: following the Flint Trail down to the Dollhouse... 40 miles of trail for the day


Red and Dolly heading down the Flint Trail


What it looks like from the cockpit...


Some easy cruising across the desert... you have to love a breeze just strong enough to move the dust off the trail.


Waaaaaaaaay back in the middle of nowhere...






The trail to the dollhouse does have some fun wheeling...

[Durangotang]

We carried on for a long day and finally arrived at the area called the Dollhouse... I've never seen anything like it.


Pictures simply can't capture the area...


Our campsite among the standing rocks...




Crazy rock formations...






We had a quiet night listening to bats flutter around overhead. You have to keep your voice down in the dollhouse as every little noise seems to be amplified and echoes on forever... the next morning it was back on the trail to Teapot Rock.

[Durangotang]

Heading out of the Dollhouse area...


Some of the slickrock sections...




Finally made it back to the Waterhole Flats Junction...


From here we had only a loose plan: to head into BLM land and find a cool place to camp. We headed up a couple of washes and small side roads... found some interesting stuff up some remote canyons...


We hit a big series of small trails that headed into the ends of various canyons...


One such canyon had this carved out waterfall from floods in the canyons above. We found a lot of different things below this waterfall crack. Petrified wood was everywhere... some pieces over 200lbs. My best guess is that is all got washed into the basin from the canyons above. I plan to head back there and take a look for fossils and whatnot...


Heading up another wash to a canyon rim where we camped for the night...


The following day we headed all the way out to Hite on Lake Powell...


And back to pavement...


Total for the trip... 196 miles of dirt. No complaints from me.

[K6ON]

Very cool pictures, THANKS and welcome aboard....
Now tell us about the diesel Jeep???

[Ted]

We haven't seen the sun for a week here due to fog. You either take Prozac or go on a killing spree. A trip report like this is well timed. Let's you know better days are ahead.

Welcome, Durangotang. Like Deltarat said, I've never heard of a diesel Jeep. More info on that would be interesting.

[Durangotang]

Thanks for the welcome...

The Jeep is a 2006 Liberty. There was a brief run of diesels that made it to the U.S. The engine is from the Italian company VM Motori. It's a 2.8L 4cyl common rail turbo diesel that puts out about 160hp and 300lb of torque. It's a pretty stout little unit that is generally used in industrial and marine applications in Europe... not really sure why they chose that one but I'm not complaining.

A few more pics of the setup (always changing though):

Trailer and Mombasa tent.


Rear storage, onboard air, and fridge:


Best part of all:


It's nice being able to run the White Rim on <5 gallons of fuel

[Phil]

nice shots,, welcome aboard.

[brett13]

Thanks for sharing. Was it cold at night? Does the tent trailer have a furnace? I need to get out there again, soon!

[marc]

Welcome Durangotang. Nice first write up and pics. Keep it coming.

marc