2017-04-12: Tip Toe Thru Hell

April 12:
Here is a run I absolutely refused to go on.  Vaughan rode back seat with Anton and Loro.  Hell's Revenge starts with your heart in your throat as you climb up a rock fin.

Seriously - they had to put a sign?

Heading into the "Bathtub" - Nooooooooooooo!

In the bottom - straddling the base.  Really?

Back in town later that day at the Moab 4x4 Outpost BBQ.

2017-04-11: Yellow Cat (Petrified Wood) and a BBQ

April 11:
I am a rock-hounder at heart.  Vaughan found a Jeep trail (an easy run for a change) that is made for rocking.  Yellow Cat Trail is just north of Moab.

Lots of cattle and wildlife and most of all, lots of petrified wood.

Salt Flats

Lots of petrified wood and petrified redwood.

Later we went to the Quadratec BBQ - Anton is displaying his colors.

One of my favorites - a Willys - check out the interior.

And here is a true steam engine -

2017-04-10: Elephant Hill

April 10:  

This is the day I dreaded.  Elephant Hill was on Vaughan's Bucket List - not mine!  This Jeep run is also rated 4 but we had heard horror stories about how many people have rolled their Jeeps or broke down.  

At least on the way there we passed one of my favorite spots - Newspaper Rock.

and so it begins - 

At this spot you come down a steep hill, pull your nose up to the rock wall, then back down another steep cliff because you cannot make the turn.

Going backwards - not my favorite.

This is a picture of us sent by a friend.

It's a wonder I have any teeth left.  We got bounced around pretty hard.

Another tight squeeze.  When you pull in your mirrors and can reach out your window and touch the rock wall beside you - it's tight.

Lunch break with Anton & Loro  (he looks like Harrison Ford and she could be my sister).

Our crew - 

The Confluence - this is the spot where the Green River meets the Colorado River.  You can see the different colors of the waters.  They don't fully combine immediately but run side by side.

and back on the "road".

Heading back to civilization - I must say that at the beginning of the trip I was in panic mode but by the end I was instructing Vaughan on where to safely place his tires to get over some of the obstacles. The drivers can't always see where they are going.  Sometimes all they can see is sky.   Old dogs can be taught new tricks (but you can't shake all the fear out, trust me).  It took over 3 hours to go about 12 miles.

2017-04-09: Sego Canyon and Crystal Geyser

April 9:
I am a lover of pictographs and petroglyphs as most of you know.  Sego Canyon is about an hour  north of Moab by Thompson Springs.  Back in 600-1200 AD it was home to the Freemont Indians.  It was also home to coal miners at some point in time.

Just south of Green River is Crystal Geyser.  The geyser was accidentally created when a drilling operation in 1935 hit a pocket of soda.  CO2 creates enough pressure to force groundwater through the geyser about every 8 hours.

We waited ...

and waited - but the most we got was a trickle at the top of the pipe.  Then it would go back down.

New friends of our sent this picture from the next day.



The area surrounding is covered in a thick layer of orange travertine. Near the river are substantial deposits of white travertine.