Friday, November 11/2011

Our Start

Across the desert

Right it is

Green river

Our destination- Crystal Gyser

Were it runs down to the Green river 

What it does to the rock

1

2

3

Heading home

What a day, I'm sleepy!!

What a day, I'm ready to party!!

It is Remembrance Day today and and time to stop for a minute and thank all those soldiers who have served and are still serving in the military.  To remember all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and to fight for the freedom that each and everyone of us enjoys today.  To each and every one of you, I say "Thank You".
It is chilly here this morning and cloudy as well.  The sun looks like it has abandoned me today.  I am not sure what is on the agenda for today however I would like to go into town and find some off road books that have GPS coordinates in them.  It would make it so much easier to find the proper trails when you are in the back country.  There are so many obscure little trails out there that it is easy to get off on the wrong one.  We have all the books for the Arizona trails and they work great so hopefully we can find ones for Utah as well.
We did not go into town and get the GPS books, instead just headed out to the trails - MISTAKE!!
We found Blue Hills Road easily enough and there was even a sign pointing us in the directions of Salt Wash Trail.  Signs are a good thing.  It wasn't too long before there were a number of different forks on the trails and no sign saying which was the main trail.  It became a crap shoot as to what trails to take and
which ones were dead ends.  We took several and turned around on several and went this way and that way and finally, somehow, someway and somewhere found a sign that pointed us to Crystal Geyser which was our ultimate destination for today - BUT - I am not quite sure how we got there!!!  I think we must have looked like a couple of losers out on the trails with all the backtracking we did.  Oh well, we did make it to the geyser.  I looked it up on Google and this is what I found ....
Crystal Geyser, located on the east bank of the Green River, is a rare example of a carbon dioxide driven geyser.  Geothermal activity (ie steam) does not play a role in this geyser's activity.  The ground water near the geyser has significant amounts of carbon dioxide, along with substantial gas accumulations in the surrounding area. Saturation of the aquifer with carbon dioxide creates enough pressure to force ground water through the geyser and out on to the surface.  This geyser can erupt to a height of 40 meters or more.  Between eruptions, the water level is about 17 feet below the surface of the geyser - at the water table.  The area around the geyser is covered with a thick layer of travertine which is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance (which is exactly what this was) and exists in white, tan and cream colored varieties.  Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals in ground and surface water.  The first record of the geyser was in 1869.  And that folks, is your science lesson for today!!
We got back to the bus (again in the dark) and I for one was glad to be off the trail today.  It was a rather rough ride today and at one point John had to stop and put the headlight back into place as we had lost the screws holding in in!! The poor old jeep looked like it had blown an eyeball with it hanging down like it was!!
Back at the bus and time to relax, have a drink and cook supper.

Thursday, November 10/2011

Slick rock

Dinosaur tracks

This is the trail on the slick fo ck

Old uranium mine

Heading down

Check out the video on Facebook

On the salt Valley

Another old mine

Unmarked grave

Moon coming up

Sun going down and we are in the middle

Old homestead

Get in

Time to head home

                        Oh the sun is shining through the windows again this morning and it looks like it will be another glorious day.  Sun means warmth so that means that the little lizards will be out to bug Hogan again today!!  They keep him entertained for quite a while.  He takes his "guarding" the bus very seriously!!
We are supposed to be doing some trails today so wish me luck.  I will be fine if there a no "shelf" trails as I just can not wrap my mind around hanging off the side of a cliff for any reason!!  I may have to call on the Four Power (God, Allah, Buddha and the Gitchi Manitou) at some point today!!
We headed out to do Klondike Bluff Trail, Yellowcat Trail and hopefully Dome Plateau Trail as well as one leads off the other.  With the jeep packed and ready to go, we headed out.  The Klondike Bluff Trail is considered an "easy" trail consisting of mostly packed sediment or drift sand and rough slickrock.  The jeeps share this trail with the mountain bikers and we met several of them on the trail.   We passed several abandoned uranium and copper mines and actually had the pleasure of seeing some dinosaur tracks as well.  It is hard to believe that dinosaur wandered this area so many years ago and left tracks for us to view today.  We travelled in The Little Valley for part of the trip then climbed up onto the bluff and eventually down into the Salt Valley where we met up with the Yellowcat Trail.  The travel down off the Bluff Trail was rough as the trail was strewn with various sizes of rocks and required some technical ability to traverse the area without any damage.  It was truly four wheeling at its best and why so many people come here to do just this.
The Yellowcat Trail is considered "easy" as well  consisting of graded dirt, packed sediments and drift sand with some slickrock, wash sand and rocky rubble.  It was a fast trail as you could really get some speed up on the graded dirt so that ate up alot of its 40 mile length rather quickly.  The eastern section of the trail is much rougher and more challenging and quite frankly the best part of the trail.. This trail also took us past several abandoned mines and outbuilding as well making one appreciate the history of this area.
We were hoping to do Dome Plateau Trail but it was getting rather late and time for us to get off the trails.  As it turned out, the sun did go down and the moon came up and we were able to get pics of both these events.  It gives one a whole different perspective on the trail when you finish it in the dark and unfortunately, I think we missed the best part of it because of the dark so we just may have to do that eastern end of it again - in the daylight!!

Back at the bus, it was time for me to make supper and watch a little TV.  Off to bed and maybe another trail tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 9/2011

The sun is shining through the windows again this morning and it looks like it will be another awesome day.
We are supposed to be heading into Moab today to do some shopping.  John needs to look for a rim for the spare tire so hopefully we are able to find that without too much trouble.   I am not too keen on going out on the trails without a spare tire.
We also need to find the BLM office so that we can pick up a Utah OHV sticker for the quad.  Unfortunately, Arizona does not recognize Utah's decal.  That would be too easy - right!!!  With all the reading John has been doing on Arizona and its OHV laws, it sounds as if our quad is in a rather grey area as our province does not require any sort of license plate in order to operate it.  Our province only needs liability insurance.

Utah beetle

Beautiful La Sal Mountains

Headed to Moab

Nice bum where you from !

Old 70's Chev Suburban 4X4

The new used wheel we found

While in town we will take a couple of water jugs and fill them with drinking water, there is a spring running right out of the rock just before town which is totally drinkable.  We used it two years ago when we were here and it was good.
We are back from town and the trip was very productive.  John found a used aluminum wheel for the spare tire and got that mounted and put on the fancy new tailgate thing on the back.  We were able to get the OHV decal at a gas station.  We stopped and got the few groceries we needed and also found a quick lube place and got the oil changed in the jeep!!  We stopped for water and gas on the way out of town then came home where John , once again, kicked my ass in Yahtzee!!  It was a good day!!
Being that the sun was out all afternoon, it was warm enough for a few little "creatures" to be out and about.  As you can see from the pic, the beetle that was a great concern to Hogan and of course the little lizards ( thought of Kim when I saw them - she likes lizards!!) that scurry around faster than lightening where also keeping him busy.  He is such an incredible watch dog and when I went to bed tonight I felt confident that no creature got close enough to the bus to get inside!!

Tuesday, November 8/2011

What a lovely day it was today.  The sun was shining all day and we were actually able to get the chairs out and actually sit and be warm!!
We finished the  rearranging in the trailer and now things are where John is happy with them.  There are no longer any straps to trip over when you go in as he moved the tool cabinet to the other side of the trailer (by the door) and parked the quad along the far wall thus using the wall anchors to tie it off.  An awesome idea if I do say so myself!!
With the wonderful temperatures we are experiencing today, John will bbq the deer steak that Dave and Shirley gave us.
As it turned out, the steak was awesome and I put a silent prayer out to the universe that they would have a successful hunting season this year.  They were busy all fall, baiting the deer with all the garden refuse so hopefully all that paid off for them.
Tomorrow we are planning on heading into Moab so must get my beauty rest tonight!!

Monday, November 7/2011

We did not use the heater overnight and I am surprised that it is not all that chilly in the bus this morning.  It had rained a bit in the night but the temperature stayed above zero.  Slowly, we are getting into the warmer temperatures.  We only have one more area of snow to travel through and that is in Northern Arizona around Flagstaff.   Hopefully we will not be bothered too much although the elevation is up in the 7000 foot range  just before we arrive at Flagstaff (which sits in the 5000 range).  It is all down hill from there and then the Sonoran Desert greets us with its big Saguaro Cactus and warmer temperatures!!
Today, John wants to rearrange the inside of the trailer.  He is not totally happy with the way things are in there so will move a few things around and see what kind of trouble we can get into!!
We also need to pack the jeep for the few trails we will be doing and make sure we have all the necessary stuff in it for the "just in case" scenarios.
It is provincial election day back home today so I hope that everyone cast their vote for whomever they feel would best lead our province for the next four years.
Well. we did get some of the stuff in the trailer moved and I think it will  look good by the time we are done.  Of course it is looking like it will be a two day job!!
We spent the evening watching the election results and as predicted, it was a landslide win for the Saskatchewan Party where they actually won seats in long standing NDP ridings.  It will be an entertaining next four years I bet and I only hope that the Sask Party continues to keep our province moving forward.