Utah Expedition - 2007 Pics....

[AZKJ]

We're back from our "Utah Expedition - 2007". For those of you who have never been to Southwest Utah, it's an awsome place. Most of the trails are easy to moderate and the scenery ranges from high desert to aspen forests to lunar landscapes and everything in between. We spent six days up there. We were constantly on the trails and only saw a small fraction of the trails in that area. Looks like there may be a Utah Expedition - 2008 in our future.

As promised, here are a bunch of pics I took:

Our first stop, Page, AZ. We traded in the KJ for a "Shake and Bake" tour to Antelope Slot Canyon with the mandatory Navajo guide....

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Playing on the hills above Lake Powell....

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Smokey Mountain Road, 74 miles of dirt (Massey & Wilson Utah Adventures #C-18)....

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The Grand Wash and Capitol Gorge....

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Notom Road and the Burr Trail (Massey & Wilson Utah Adventures #SW-39/40)....

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Wild Horse Mesa (Massey & Wilson Utah Adventures #C-17)....

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Dixie National Forest....

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Coral Pink Sand Dunes....

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Toroweap Overlook (Wells Arizona #1). The far west end of the Grand Canyon, one mile wide and 3,000 feet deep. It's a 122 mile round trip on a primitive dirt road. Less than 5,000 people a year visit this spot....

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Well, that's it, our final expedition of the year. We'll most likely head back to Utah next spring and would be happy to lead a trip up there. If anyone is interested in doing the trip with us, now is the time to start saving some vacation time and making plans....

 

[BillyBones]

Looks damn fun. Thanks for the pictures

 

[rkeegstra]

Very nice!

Unfortunately our vacation schedule for next year is probably already set with various commitments all over the country (Florida, Michigan, maybe California) or we would try to join you.

 

[o8k]

man that looked fun! you guys always sneak off and do the coolest trips when no one else can go.... =D

 

[minimedic]

We're back from our "Utah Expedition - 2007". Our first stop, Page, AZ. We traded in the KJ for a "Shake and Bake" tour to Antelope Slot Canyon with the mandatory Navajo guide...
QUOTE]

Hey, beautiful pictures!! How long did it take to get to Antelope Canyon? How long did you stay and/or would you suggest to stay? Thats a place I've been wanting to go for the past 5yrs. I know you can hike it, and thought you could camp out, but wasn't sure on the ins and outs. Glad to see y'all had a wonderful time. Wish I could be there on Saturday!!

 

[AZKJ]

Hey, beautiful pictures!! How long did it take to get to Antelope Canyon? How long did you stay and/or would you suggest to stay? Thats a place I've been wanting to go for the past 5yrs. I know you can hike it, and thought you could camp out, but wasn't sure on the ins and outs. Glad to see y'all had a wonderful time. Wish I could be there on Saturday!!

Thanks...

From Queen Creek, it's a five hour drive to Page not counting any stops along the way.

The Antelope Canyon trip itself has to be done with a Navajo guide as part of a tour, which gives you one hour in the canyon (not really a hike as it's not all that long). Most of the time is spent taking pics. It's only a 15 minute ride from town and the cost is $28.00 per person (gotta provide a living for the Navajo's you know).

No camping in the canyon area.

If you want to do a three day weekend, drive up, do the tour and a Lake Powell boat tour the second day and drive home the third day.

You need to talk Sam into coming with you this weekend and pig out on burgers and dogs!!!

Oh, Beth got your e-mails, just hasn't had time to write since we got home. I liked your new pet....

 

[cameraflage]

Greetings AZKJ

Great photos of the boondocks. I have a few questions for ya...

How was Smoky Mountain Road? I've always wanted to drive it since it looks like it heads up into the serious boonies. My college roommate and I almost drove it some years back but got talked out of it by someone at Antelope Canyon Tours in Page who said it wasnt very scenic and was a pretty rough road (we took Cottonwood Canyon Road instead.) Would you say it was worth your while? Any parts that would pose a problem for a schlub from Cleveland with a stock KJ?

Similar question about the road to Toroweap. I'd like to try that sometime with camping gear and stay at the campground near the rim. It looks like a hell of a drive.

Next time you go to Page, sign up for the photographer's tour that Antelope Canyon Tours offers. You spend about 3 hours total in the canyon (any longer and the Navajo Nation assumes you're a commercial photographer and charges you a hefty fee to shoot there) and the guide helps out with shooting angles, composition and exposures. Its well worth it if you have the time.

Last but not least...where the heck is Wild Horse Mesa?

 

[AZKJ]

Greetings AZKJ

Great photos of the boondocks. I have a few questions for ya...

How was Smoky Mountain Road? ...said it wasnt very scenic and was a pretty rough road (we took Cottonwood Canyon Road instead.) Would you say it was worth your while? Any parts that would pose a problem for a schlub from Cleveland with a stock KJ?

Similar question about the road to Toroweap. It looks like a hell of a drive.

Last but not least...where the heck is Wild Horse Mesa?

Thanks for your comment....

All of the trails we did were rated no more than a 3 on a scale of 10. For the most part they are graded washboard roads. A stock KJ would have no problems at all, but I would recommend skids due to a few rough spots.

As for scenic, some roads more so than others. All the trails we did are rated 8 to 10 on a scale of 10. Parts of any given trail can be boring until you come upon a spectacular area.

Toroweap is a long boring drive on a washboard road. The last few miles are on rock and a little bumpy.

The biggest thing about any of the trails is not their difficulty, it's that they are remote, very remote. You may go hours or even days without seeing anyone else.

Wild Horse Mesa is 29 mile trail that travels through lunar landscape, pictures do not do justice to the vastness of the area. It is located on Hwy 24, 10 miles west of Hanksville and ends at Goblin State Park. It is a 3 rated trail because of Muddy Creek. In our case the trail quickly turned into a 10 rated trail at the creek crossing. We had to turn back and find an alternate way back, which also ended at a water crossing we would not attempt as we were traveling alone. We ended up going out the way we came in after exploreing the area for the most part of the day.

Looking down into Muddy Creek. No big deal, right?

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Looking up out of Muddy Creek. A big deal had we been driving fast...

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