Trip Report Freeze Your Tail Off 2020

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Anxious for another great trip and unable to sleep any longer, I awoke Friday morning at 6:30 am and decided to get moving. Having loaded the truck the night before, a quick shower was all that was needed to be ready to hit the road.

Traffic was light and I was able to make good time from home to Snowville. I topped off my tank, bought some firewood, and cruised across the street to our designated meeting spot. As folks arrived, we got all the waivers signed, registration packets handed out, and prepared for our drivers meeting. For the early group, we had 21 vehicles. It was a great group!

The early group assembling for the Driver's meeting.
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Everyone paying attention to instructions during the driver's meeting.
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Having answered questions, and excited to embark, we left the parking lot and set course for Dirt roads! About 30 miles from our meeting spot, we made a left onto the dirt highway we would take first, and started making dust on course for City of Rocks.

The open dirt road and looming snow storm...
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What an awesome convoy!
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About the most snow we would see the whole trip.20201211_105626.jpg

Weaving our way on the high speed dirt roads, we arrived at City of rocks around 11 am. We crept through the reserve and made our way to our lunch spot.
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It was a bit windy and humid, making the lunch spot fairly chilly, but with restrooms available and warm comradery, it made for an enjoyable spot to stretch our legs.
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After a quick lunch, we hit the trail again. Turning north towards Oakley Idaho, we soon hit Rural Rush Hour. The cattle drive delayed us a few minutes, but it wasn't too bad. Not being in a big hurry we let the ranchers drive the cattle without disrupting them too much.
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More high speed roads, and 25 or so miles later, we were at the only "tough" part of our journey: a creek crossing at Coal Banks Creek. We paused again to water the vegetation, stretch our legs, and prepare for the slower trails of the day. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the creek crossing, but I believe Jared (@backroadexploration) got some. Being first, it finally dawned on me the meaning of the term "break the ice."
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moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
As I started across the creek, after getting the whole cruiser into the hub deep water, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a sheet of ice. It took at least 2 try's (maybe 3, I can't remember now) and shifting into low range to get through and up the other side. I don't think anyone else had any trouble after that.

We slowly wound our way towards, Dave's Pass (honestly, that's its name on the map). This is when we heard my favorite quote of the day: someone asked @DAA on the radio if he had ever seen the TelleTubbies. The question arose from the name @Rot Box has chosen for his truck. Can you spot Tinky Winky in the photo below?
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The snow had ceased, and the patchy clouds made for some beautiful vistas!
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The convoy making their way down from Dave's Pass.
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Having made our way a bit West, we turned south and set our sites on the Idaho/Nevada/Utah Corner. The roads were dry and dusty, but the low speeds made for decent visibility.
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We got everyone to pull in tight at the monument, and spent a few minutes mulling around, taking pictures, and enjoying the views.
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With daylight slipping, we made tracks for the Bedke Ranch. I had made arrangements prior and was granted permission to lead the group across the private property on our way out. A huge thanks to the Bedke family for allowing us to pass across their land! It took us 90 minutes to get from the main road to the corner via public access, but only 30 minutes to get back to the main road across the ranch.

After everyone was back on the dust highway, we set course for Grouse Creek to top off some fuel tanks, and make one last stop prior to arriving at camp.

Purple Mountains Majesty...
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As the sun set, the colors in the sky were amazing. Being in the lead, I had no idea it was extremely dusty for those in the back of the group. I was following another vehicle, but managed to stay out of their dust trail for the most part.
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After crossing the highway, we gathered again to ensure everyone could find all the turns between that point and camp, then set our final course for the night on the Sun Tunnels.

The dark and dusty arrival.
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With the early group and a few that made their way on their own in camp, we dropped our firewood, setup camps, and began making dinner. Not too long after that the late group arrived.

@Kevin B. treated us with phenomenal dutch oven cobbler as we stood around the roaring fire.
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moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
With full bellies, and time to warm by the fire, we kicked off the camp lighting competition. We had 12 entries, and a few really stepped their game up from last year.

Here are your winners for 2020:

1st Place - They won an inverter to power more lights for next year, and a jump pack to start their truck after the battery dies from running all the lights!
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2nd Place - They won a tent heater that they ended up using because their diesel heater stopped working.
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3rd Place - They won more lights to improve their chances of winning in 2021. Rudolph is probably jealous...20201211_213343.jpg

And here are the others in no particular order:
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And @DAA with his camp lights (bah humbug).
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With the official festivities over for the night, many called it early seeking the warmth of their sleeping bags while a few lingered to burn some more wood and socialize around a VERY warm fire.

We were hoping to see the Northern lights, but clouds had rolled in after dark, obscuring the vista to the north, and keeping temps on the warmer side.
 

moab_cj5

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
As morning came, the skies cleared for the most part, except to the Southwest where the sun was rising through the tunnels. The curse of FYTO struck again as the sunrise was obscured. It was still a beautiful morning!

There was more ice on the inside of my windows than the outside.
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A blurry pic of all the camps.
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With camps broken, we separated into 2 groups: A southern departure group and a northern departure group.

I led the North group out to the Emigrant trail. We made our way north before veering to the west to take the road a little less traveled. We made our first stop at an old mining camp to wander a bit.

This cracks me up. Not sure I would want to cop a squat with 2 of my closest friends, but hey, when ya gotta go, don't squeeze the Charmin.
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The silent majesty of a winter's morn...
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We continued up the trail to Rocky Pass, stopping to decide which direction to take next.
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@2wheelbob Bob wanted his mom to see Devil's Playground, so we made the right and cruised down to my favorite gulch. We dropped into the gulch and circled the trucks for another quick stop for folks to explore the rocks and take some pictures.

Peek a boo!
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We made our way through the playground and set our sites on the Stargazer Ranch, the home to Element 11, or Utah's Burning Man. We made our way to Terrace on the Transcontinental Railroad grade, then cruised east to our faint 2 track connecting road.

I am stoked this historic tressel didn't burn in the fire that happened in the area this summer. Such cool history!
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The rock formations you find in the NW desert are something else. Beauty is found everywhere if you are paying attention.
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We pulled into the ranch and marveled at the new installations. Those folks take their getting weird seriously... I will leave it at that...

Gazing south, I saw lots of dust trails. Someone was out exploring on the west side of the Hogup Mountains. It was another incredible view!
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Leaving the ranch we turned north, and opted to stop in the old Russian Settlement. You can read more about it here: https://www.expeditionutah.com/foru...host-town-russian-settlement.6395/#post-80208

We visited the cemetery where it appears the headstones have been updated. At this point the Oberg's split from the group to go wander more dirt roads to celebrate their anniversary (Happy Anniversary Oberg's!). The rest of us made dust to Park Valley where we aired up and said our goodbyes.

It was another fantastic trip! Those that followed me covered around 220 miles of dirt for the weekend.

Huge thanks to @cruiseroutfit for sponsoring the event and leading the later group into camp on Friday, @Kevin B. for making the cobbler and helping organize the event and mid gunning on Friday, Ryan Berg for leading the South group out on Saturday, Sammy Oberg for designing and ordering the logo and stickers this year, and @notajeep & @DAA for trading off tail gunning on Friday for me. Also, thanks to all that came out and made the event so fun! It is always more fun when the participants buy in with great attitudes and enjoy the journey!
 

DAA

Well-Known Member
FYTO is always a good time. Thanks for all you do to make it happen @moab_cj5! And @Kevin B. that cobbler rocked!

Few of my pics...

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- DAA
 
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