Tent, food and at least an extra 5gal. fuel required. We will cross two mountain ranges, hit elevations in excess of 12,000', encounter all manner of wildlife and have an awesome time. Who's coming along? You will need an ATV of 50" or less width.

Fillmore to Marysvale (or further).

Over Memorial weekend, we made the 5 hour journey South-East (30 miles from the Colorado border), just off I-70 at exit 131. Our goal was to enjoy a new section of the San Rafael Swell (the Swell) and camp along the North side, instead of our usual location near Temple Mountain and Goblin Valley. The North side is chock full of great off roading adventures, to include :The Devils Racetrack, Buckhorn wash/draw, Head of Sinbad and many others. The most enjoyable and challenging area of riding was easily the Devil's Racetrack. Although I knew about this location, we didn't plan on riding it until we stumbled upon the trailhead. With us were my 15 year old son (Alex), my 12 year old son (Nick), my nephews (Zach, Skyler), my neice (Megan) and my brother-in-law and his friend Jeff. I decided to ride up for the first 3 miles or so to determine if the kids could make it. There were a few rugged stair climbs and slick rock sections, but after that, it seemed to level out. I turned around and indicated that we could probably get the entire group up. What a mistake that was... A few photos from the trip:

Camp

 

This guy was stinking up the area and completely blocking the trail. I had to winch him off the trail.

Underneath him were frogs, apparently eating away at the underside of this sheep. Carnivorous frogs?

Our first planned ride and Zach’s machine blows out the CVT belt less than 2 miles from camp!

The “Head of Sinbad”

Rest break along Coal Wash:

One of the many natural arches we encountered:

Zach and GF climbing the rock pile.

Spectators at the top of the Devils Racetrack.

After having taken our new rig out three times since May, I’m now thinking we may have bit off more than we can chew. On my first real outing, I went out alone to hold a campsite for two days while friends and family arrived. Since I was alone, I had to navigate the RW395 by myself. Unfortunately, a tree jumped out and grabbed the entire right side of the rig, punching a small hole in our front door. After getting back home and backing this beast into our driveway (RV spot), I pulled forward just a little and somehow the rig grabbed our gate and got wedged. The only solution was to cut that entire side of the gate down.

Camp (Wickiup area, San Rafael Swell)

Ouch!

A basic timeline on this experience:

 

May 2009: Via the auto auction, we purchase a used 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 (Quad Cab, Big Horn Edition, 6.7L)

October 2009: After having my truck inspected for 5th wheel readiness, we start shopping for a 5th wheel trailer

October 2009: We enter an agreement to purchase a 2010 Road warrior 395RW

 

October 2009: 3 days before we take receipt, I back out after determining my truck would have been insufficient.

January 2010: We begin shopping for a larger truck – a Ford or Dodge Dual Rear Wheel (DRW) heavy duty

January 2010: After hitting every dealer in an 80 mile radius, we find a suitable truck: 2009 Ram 3500 MegaCab

February 2010: One day after purchasing the truck, we’re back at Sierra RV re-negotiating our trade-in and purchase. We come to closure and again sign papers. The new RV is slated for pickup on February 5th.

The big challenge now is to ensure I can back this rig into my RV space. Based on measurements, I’d only have 2 inches to either side of my gate. My sawze-all is ready.

Those of you that know me, know that I've recently been looking to trade-in our 31' Jayco Class-C motor home (31SS).

A few weeks ago, we signed a promissory note ($73k) for the above trailer. What I didn't know at the time (before we took possession) was that my 2008 Dodge Ram 2500 (6.7L Turbo Diesel) simply didn't have the GCVRW to manage this 18,000 pound triple axle trailer.
2010_RW_Literature_web.pdf

My truck has a GCVRW of 20,000 pounds, of which the truck = 7500#, leaving me almost 7000 pounds over weight on the rear axle and frame (trailer=18,000 + truck=7500).

Knowing my engine could easily haul the weight, I was still concerned that my brakes, frame and rear suspension would be massively overloaded -- we backed out of the deal.

We've now started to look for used (2001) Diesel OTR rigs. We've found Volvo's with 10-19 gears with over a million miles on them for under $5000 and we're tempted.

Road trips just won't be the same after trading out a 31' Class-C to a detachable 42' toy-hauler.

..to be continued!

Without much planning, the family packed up the RV and ATV's and joined a caravan of friends and family en route to the San Rafael Swell.

Our destination was Temple Mountain Road. We've camped here a few times already within the last 2 years and this location never disappoints. While still quite warm outside, once into the canyons, you were comforted by shade.

Some of our group decided to pursue slot canyons and hiking while the rest of us wanted to further explore the trails and areas between "Behind the Reef", "Temple Mountain", "Lil Wild Horse" and areas around those locations.

Although we left home around 4:30pm, we didn't arrive in the reef until late that evening. In the dark, I drove slowly with a flashlight out the window trying to identify camping locations that would accomodate 2x 31-34' RV's w/trailers and one truck with a bumper-pull camper.

Our camp spot:




View from our camp spot - Temple Mountain:

For the first time, my oldest had an interest in taking my 2005 Brute Force 750i for a ride. He's not ridden much, so I was worried the machine might be too much for him (even though he's 15). I gave him some guidance on how to ride, control power, switch into L or 4WD and off we went.

Wife and son riding down the trail:



We decided to explore a dry wash just opposite our camp location. According to our map, the wash would take us toward additional trails.

3 miles of riding took over 2 hours along this very washed out trail. Not only were there plenty of fun obstacles, but my nephew's 2stroke sport quad kept stalling, he killed the battery and I need to tow him to drop the clutch (to start the machine).

One of the obstances: The Steps:

Between my brother-in-law Kenny (pictured above) and I, we managed to get all the machines over without actually needing to use a winch.

My mother flew into town to stay with us two weeks. Before week one was through, we were packed and loaded for Flaming Gorge. The plan was to get there early Wednesday morning (of last week) and stay through Sunday.

By Thursday, a cold front had blown in, changing the average day-time temperature from 95F to 75F and cooler by Saturday. In addition to the changing temperatures, we encountered high winds (+75mph), rain and constant rolling thunder. Most of the poor weather started in the mid-to-late afternoon, so during the day we were still able to play.

With us, we brought: 2x JetSki's, fishing poles, 1 x 4 person raft, 1 x 750i ATV (mine), swim gear and 2 x newly purchased tents.

To get setup, we first had to unload the JetSki's and ATV. Since we had a beach front location, this made it quite easy:

So, I've been on vacation for over a week now. The first half was spent driving the family (in our 31' motorhome) to Seattle.

While there, we got to enjoy seeing my sister and brother. My sister had her first baby and was now 3 weeks into being a parent.

I also got to enjoy a bit of ocean and Puget Sound fishing.

Today, I drive out to Fillmore with my ATV and ATV Tent/Trailer to do a bit of riding and camping from Fillmore to Marysvale.

Photos and additional updates after my return or during if I can get an Internet signal.

Although we've never been big fans of the sand dunes, we somehow found ourselves there this weekend. Going with friends (even after spelling out our dislike for the dunes), they nonetheless still found a camp spot right in the sand (White Sands camp ground).

The weather was terrible. We only had half a day without rain, snow, sleet or hail. We had to make every minute count and went riding and exploring as much as the cold wet weather would allow.

While on a quick morning outing (30 mile round trip), those of us riding discovered an abandoned settlement of some kind. It must have been hastily abandoned a few years ago, because clothing, books, bills (some in Dutch) and two pickup trucks were still there.

En route to Eureka (or so we thought):
Wife, youngest son Nick, Neice (Megan) and her friend


The lovely wife (she hates cameras and is very camera-shy):
Me, of course:


One of the abandoned trailer homes found:

Now, it's not unusual to find abandoned dwellings in the desert, but it is unusual to find them still loaded with clothing and other personal effects. These still had toys, kids bikes, clothes, food, kitchen-ware and two pick-up trucks. Also scattered throughout were books on astrology, generating solar power and various science studies.

Closets still full of clothes. Vermin have thoroughly invaded the location:

Note: I've ridden (and geocached) this location quite a few times. This used to be one of my favorite ATV/Camping locations -- until Chief Mining (our of Eureka) fenced off the area to the South/East of Little Moab.