A Swell, Winter daytrip.

January is a great time of year to be in the Utah Desert! Hardly anyone else is out and if you choose the right day, temperatures can be just right.

We loaded up some water, snacks, the dog and hit the road, destination.... the San Rafael Swell. After a quick stop in Green River for fuel we hopped back on I70 for a few miles. We bailed off the freeway past the San Rafael River and quickly drove thru the gate, towards the mouth of Black Dragon Canyon. I took a break to drop the tire's air pressure down to 15 PSI before entering the rocky canyon.




We stopped to look at the rock art and the Black Dragon itself, sadly there's been a lot of idiots that decided they needed to add to the Native American art.














We continued on West, thru the rest of the canyon, finding lots of ice in the bottom of the canyon. The day was warming up quite well in the sunny parts of the canyon. We decided to head towards the Head of Sinbad and Lone Warrior, crossing under I70 a few times to get to those destinations. Getting there involved breaking the trail, busting thru many snow drifts over 2 feet deep.

After some fun driving over washed out, off camber roads filled with snow drifts, we found the Head of Sinbad and the Lone Warrior.
















It was starting to get late in the afternoon and we were debating the next move. We had thought about driving down into Eagle Canyon, but were questioning how wise that would be. That said, we were up for an adventure, so we headed to the canyon and decided we'd at least give it a look before committing to dropping down into Eagle Canyon. The snow was almost a foot deep at the top of the canyon and nobody had been down there since the snow. We decided to go for it, sending Daisy out ahead as our depth gauge. The trail wasn't bad, a few washouts on the shoulder that required cautious driving and a couple spots where the trail was covered with deep ice, but other than that, the trip was uneventful. After some great driving and scenery, we reached the Eagle Canyon bridges of I70.














We arrived at the freeway bridges and decided to backtrack, since we knew what the trail was like. It was starting to get dark and we were getting hungry! We began the climb back out of the canyon, stopping for a few pictures of the icy trail and the Eagle Canyon Arch.












After 75 miles off the pavement, seeing a couple coyotes, several deer and many cattle we hopped back on the freeway headed home, only stopping to air up the tires in Green River and get dinner. It was a great way to spend a winter Saturday, very satisfying!

Fun trip, how long did you stay for?

NM, Just saw the second post. Even better! That's pretty cool, I like the pics.

Awesome! A friend at work and I were just talking about Eagle Canyon tonight.

Never been to the Eagle Canyon bridges--looks awesome!

Great pics and report. How are you liking the 80 these days Greg? Did the lockers come in handy on this trip?

^ You were 5 minutes away from them when we camped out near the Lone Warrior last winter.

Awesome day trip Greg.

Rot Box said:

Never been to the Eagle Canyon bridges--looks awesome!

Great pics and report. How are you liking the 80 these days Greg? Did the lockers come in handy on this trip?

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The bridges are well worth the drive, it's an amazing sight and being down in Eagle Canyon is so breath taking... being under the bridges is cool, even more so when traffic is passing by on the freeway above and they have no idea there are vehicles down in there!

I'm quite happy with the FZJ, it just went into Safari Ltd in Grand Junction to have the leaking power steering pump rebuilt. Other than that, it's been great. There are a lot of things that it's not, but I've learned to be happy with what it is... and it's a very capable, reliable vehicle.

I need to finish the rear bumper, then start on the front bumper and add the winch and lights I have sitting in the garage. One thing at a time!

I did use the lockers a couple times on this trip, just to get out of snow-filled rutted roads. It had no problems clawing it's way out, I do love having factory lockers that can be activated with the turn of a switch!

I'm so jealous. I cross those bridges often. I usually slow down to 40 for the breathtaking view. This trail is at the top of my list in the spring.

Greg said:

...We stopped to look at the rock art and the Black Dragon itself, sadly there's been a lot of idiots that decided they needed to add to the Native American art...

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The VIDA and Della Ms? I'll have to dig out my goods but I believe their too have some historical provenance. Newer stuff has been cleaned up in the past but they did leave those in place it seems. When is it old enough to deserve to stay? At the popular Buckhorn Panel they removed what I consider historic names when they did the panel restoration as part of the centennial program. :-\

Great pics, looked like a fun trip!

Fantastic adventure and pictures! I've got to get my wife and myself up Eagle Canyon hopefully in 2011.

For the time being, I'm in Grand on Mondays and Tuesdays.

cruiseroutfit said:

The VIDA and Della Ms? I'll have to dig out my goods but I believe their too have some historical provenance. Newer stuff has been cleaned up in the past but they did leave those in place it seems. When is it old enough to deserve to stay? At the popular Buckhorn Panel they removed what I consider historic names when they did the panel restoration as part of the centennial program. :-\

Great pics, looked like a fun trip!

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There is usually what I consider historic cowboy writing around most panels you find in the San Rafael Swell. Usually the "true" cowboy stuff is between the late 1800's and the mid 1930's. One of my friends has been chasing names all over the desert from Price down to as far south as Ticaboo for a book he is writing on early Cowboy history in Utah.

Hickey said:

I'm so jealous. I cross those bridges often. I usually slow down to 40 for the breathtaking view. This trail is at the top of my list in the spring.

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Do it! I've often thought about stopping on the freeway, just for a good look down, but that would be unsafe and probably illegal!

cruiseroutfit said:

The VIDA and Della Ms? I'll have to dig out my goods but I believe their too have some historical provenance. Newer stuff has been cleaned up in the past but they did leave those in place it seems. When is it old enough to deserve to stay? At the popular Buckhorn Panel they removed what I consider historic names when they did the panel restoration as part of the centennial program. :-\

Great pics, looked like a fun trip!

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I thought there was more, in addition to those? Last time thru I thought I saw more. It does bother me that someone in the last 100 yrs would think it would be neat to write directly over the images left by Native Americans hundereds of years ago, if not much older. Anyone with half a mind, IMO, would at least find a nearby empty panel to write on.

roverrocks said:

Fantastic adventure and pictures! I've got to get my wife and myself up Eagle Canyon hopefully in 2011.

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Thank you kindly. With all the traveling you've done, I'm surprised you haven't been there already!

TRNDRVR said:

For the time being, I'm in Grand on Mondays and Tuesdays.

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That does suck, any idea when that will change?

Greg said:

It does bother me that someone in the last 100 yrs would think it would be neat to write directly over the images left by Native Americans hundereds of years ago, if not much older. Anyone with half a mind, IMO, would at least find a nearby empty panel to write on.

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Exactly! There is no shortage of rocks in the swell.

anderson750 said:

There is usually what I consider historic cowboy writing around most panels you find in the San Rafael Swell. Usually the "true" cowboy stuff is between the late 1800's and the mid 1930's. One of my friends has been chasing names all over the desert from Price down to as far south as Ticaboo for a book he is writing on early Cowboy history in Utah.

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Then in the Maze (Horseshoe Canyon), the names of early ranchers in the area (Baker, Bittlecome) were left in place, often next to and over the top of Native American art. It seems there is little continuity in how they are dealt with. Keep in mind I am by no means advocating ANY new name tagging. We know better, a trapper or cowpoke did not. For all they knew the Native art was from yesterday? Remember the social interactions Native Americans and early settlers were having at the time, again we know better, they did not.

I'd be really interested in your buddy's book when its ready, sounds right up my ally

Looks like a great trip!

:thumbs: fun day on the trail, thanks for sharing.

Super sweet! Love the 80...

What did Safari charge you to rebuild the PS pump?

Thanks for posting. Love the the report and the pics. Your rig looks awesome.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, it was a good day to get out and explore the desert!

MOODY said:

Super sweet! Love the 80...

What did Safari charge you to rebuild the PS pump?

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I looked at the receipt for the exact numbers, $60 in parts (seal kit and O-ring) and $260 in labor, $320 total. The pump seems to be working fine, no leaks.

A new pump from Toyota costs $450 or so, plus install cost. I could do it myself, but the tall pig doesn't fit in my garage! And I didn't want to be swapping PS pumps outside in 20* weather.