White Rim Trail - Canyonlands NP - April 2017

[Bosque Bill]

I joined fellow Wander the West members Cayuse, Steelhead, and Canyon Dog for an epic journey along the White Rim Trail. It was a pop-up camper expedition extraordinaire!

I broke the WRT into 4 parts for easier digestion. These posts are heavy on photos, light on commentary. Don't forget to click a photo to see larger versions.

I wrote a separate post on my trip to the trail and a short foray into the San Rafael Swell with cayuse.

White Rim Trail:

Day 1: http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2017/05/white-rim-trail-day-1-april-2017.html

Day 2: http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2017/05/white-rim-trail-day-2-april-2017.html

Day 3: http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2017/05/white-rim-trail-day-3-april-2017.html

Days 4 & 5: http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2017/05/white-rim-trail-day-4-and-5-april-2017.html

Prologue and Epilogue, includes San Rafael Swell:

http://bosquebill.blogspot.com/2017/05/white-rim-trail-trip-prologue-and.html

 

[Vic]

Great Trip and great detail for planning my own sometime in the future. This trip is on my list.

Sounds like Hardscrabble is the pinch point for larger rigs - is that correct?

 

[ski3pin]

Bill. I much enjoyed your trip report, nice and informative for someone contemplating a trip on the White Rim Trail! It is also wonderful to see the camaraderie develop among members of Wander the West. Thank you!

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Wonderful trip report!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[iowahiker]

Thanks, nice pictures.

All your vehicles looked stock, can a relative novice 4x4 driver without stock skid plates make the same trip if they are familiar with low range?

 

[Cayuse]

All your vehicles looked stock, can a relative novice 4x4 driver without stock skid plates make the same trip if they are familiar with low range?

First thanks for the Write-up , I never get around to doing those, much more interested in planning the next trip. I hear The Maze calling my name

I had the largest rig and never scraped. I do have air bags on the back and maybe slightly oversized from stock tires but no lift. There are a couple of turns that are tight and but the sag wagon pictured in the report was much larger and was able to make it though they drive the trail several times a year and know all the nuances.

 

[Tuff Guy 62]

Great report Bill. The WRT has been on my bucket list for some time. Thank you for taking us along.

 

[longhorn1]

Bill, great trip report. What a wonderful time for the pop-up crew. Thanks for sharing and thanks for some awesome photos. jd

 

[takesiteasy]

Bill, I enjoyed the report. Saw the WRT from the Canyonlands overlooks last fall and resolved to drive it some day. Your report will be a good reference for that. It's cool you guys got together for a trip. Great photos too.

 

[nikonron]

Love the WRT, need to do it again, but much slower. Ron

 

[Bosque Bill]

Sounds like Hardscrabble is the pinch point for larger rigs - is that correct?

Thanks, Vic.

Yeah, Hardscrabble is the narrowest, steepest, and roughest, plus the north side has lots of clay to make it super slick in the rain. However, you saw the bike tour sag wagon is fairly large and it makes it up fine. I also saw a YouTube video of a guy in a hard side camper do the road.

 

[Bosque Bill]

Thanks, nice pictures.

All your vehicles looked stock, can a relative novice 4x4 driver without stock skid plates make the same trip if they are familiar with low range?

Thanks. Yes, as Cayuse said, stock vehicles can do the trail fine. I was amazed that my little Tacoma could grind up some of those hills with the loaded camper on the back. That said, you should have enough experience with your rig to know exactly where your wheels are at all times - there is little room for error in some places. It would have been a mistake for me, personally, to do this trip the first year I was driving my truck, as I'd only driven passenger cars for many years prior to getting the truck. No problems now with experience.

 

[Bosque Bill]

Love the WRT, need to do it again, but much slower. Ron

Yeah, I'd recommend folks who drive to spend 3 nights on the trail, if they can. There is so much to see and some cool hikes, too. Thanks for your comment.

 

[Bosque Bill]

Thanks for your nice comments: Vic, ski, Wandering Sagebrush, iowahiker, Cayuse, Tuff Guy, longhorn1, takesiteasy, and nikonron.

 

[ETAV8R]

Wonderful trip report Bill.

I did the WRT around 2010-11 when I had my flippac. At that time my truck was fully stock suspension and the road was pretty easy but I've spent a lot of time in Death Valley. My trip took us in the opposite direction. I wish I had known about the indian site/hike as we would have done that for sure. We camped at Labyrinth too but also Taylor. Camping at Taylor is like being alone in the world as there is only one site...and they provide a pit toilet too. The hike to Zeus and Moses was amazing. There is one section we called the tightrope as only one person should traverse it at a time. Not sure three vehicles could officially camp there though. We did three nights on the WRT but I agree it should be four days minimum. Being able to savor it is optimum.

Taylor Campsite





Hike pics to/from Zeus and Moses.


The "Tightrope"

 

[Foy]

A very nicely written and photographed report, Bill. Thanks for the considerable effort to share it. I had the pleasure of looking up at the WRT during a 5-day float from Potash to Hite in June 1994. I schemed on a road trip to it with the wife and small sons in 1995 and 1996 but we had only summertime to work with so never pulled the trigger. It had been brutally hot during the float trip, and I didn't think a WRT drive without the (surprisingly) cold river to jump in to would be an enjoyable 3-4 days.

Foy

 

[GroovyDad]

What an EPIC journey you had. I'm sooo jealous. Thanks for sharing this and inspiring me to book mark this on my bucket list.

The plant that you didn't know the name of kind of reminded me of a turquoise zia (I liked the shape of it too).

 

[Occidental]

Great TR and photos. I enjoyed following along. WRT is on "the list" and maybe something I can pull off in the next couple years.

 

[Bosque Bill]

Wonderful trip report Bill.

I did the WRT around 2010-11 when I had my flippac. At that time my truck was fully stock suspension and the road was pretty easy but I've spent a lot of time in Death Valley. My trip took us in the opposite direction. I wish I had known about the indian site/hike as we would have done that for sure. We camped at Labyrinth too but also Taylor. Camping at Taylor is like being alone in the world as there is only one site...and they provide a pit toilet too. The hike to Zeus and Moses was amazing. There is one section we called the tightrope as only one person should traverse it at a time. Not sure three vehicles could officially camp there though. We did three nights on the WRT but I agree it should be four days minimum. Being able to savor it is optimum.

Thanks and thanks for sharing those photos of your experience!

Bill

 

[Bosque Bill]

A very nicely written and photographed report, Bill. Thanks for the considerable effort to share it. I had the pleasure of looking up at the WRT during a 5-day float from Potash to Hite in June 1994. I schemed on a road trip to it with the wife and small sons in 1995 and 1996 but we had only summertime to work with so never pulled the trigger. It had been brutally hot during the float trip, and I didn't think a WRT drive without the (surprisingly) cold river to jump in to would be an enjoyable 3-4 days.

Foy

Thanks, Foy. You are right, you don't want to do the WRT when it's hot. No river to jump into up on the rim rock.