Skyline Drive Trail / San Rafael Swell 9/2-4/06

[SAMI]

After getting my full doors back on and dealing with a series of blown fuses, it was time to skip town for the Labor Day weekend. On my way out of town I met up with Kurt Williams and his wife Candice. We then made our way down to the American Fork area to meet up with the beloved Steve Jackson in his all mighty International Scout. At some point during all this we gained the knowledge and experience that comes in the form of a bee lovin', fire wranglin' old coot named Richard, sportin' a two tone FJ62.

We made our way down HWY89 to Tucker, and then onto the Skyline Drive Trail. We climbed our way up to 10,000 ft, so high in fact, that the weld holding the drivers side spring hanger on the Scout couldn't take the extra altitude any longer . Steve turned around and headed to town to find someone to weld it back up... And on we went to our destination, campsite #1; Joes Valley.

With spectacular views and intoxicated bow hunters all around, we finally pulled down into the top of Joes Valley(if i remember correctly the road was marked 56) without falling off any steep cliff edges, or getting an arrow in the neck. We set up camp, ate some dinner, and took bets if we'd see Steve again. Night came, along with the cold and stories around the fire.

Day 2, Kurt showers like the little girl that he is, while Richard and I make contact with Steve via cell phone at the top of the mountain. Steve tried to locate us early in the morning, but ended up setting up camp farther down towards Joes Valley Res. as i understand it... could be wrong...

We meet up with Steve in Castle Dale after decending 3,000ft in about 10 minutes, ate some lunch, gased up, and head out towards the Swell...

We cruised out into the hot dusty desert in search of the Wedge and the MK Tunnels. And, we found em. The Wedge is like a mini Grand Canyon, worth the drive; check it out. The MK Tunnel is under plans to be shut down in '08, so we wanted to check it out for ourselves... It was fun to explore for abit. We messed around there for awhile, Kurt even giving a brief lesson in his marksmanship with his new Winchester 30-30... powe wascely wabbit...

We then went and found our site for camp #2, somewhere in the middle of nowhere... go figure. Set up camp, eat, talk for hours then sleep... you all know the drill. Next day we drove down into Buckhorn/Cottonwood road to gaze upon the Buckhorn Wash Panel; as well as Butch Cassidy's gangs' names on wall faces, and things of that nature. We also headed out to Mexican Mountain, which is not worth the drive unless you're looking to baja across any road.

Then, we headed home... gased up in Price(TacoBell / Chevron). Love the Tacohell...

Anyways, awesome trip. No need for 4 wheel drive this trip, but that's fine by me. Not everything revolves around the next big boulder that's gonna chomp on my drive shaft. I highly recommend to anyone who hasn't been out to see these places, to pack up and explore them for a weekend.

-Jason

[cruiseroutfit]

I love that photo of Jacksons Scout & the sunsent

[rasta]

Thanks for the picks. I'm headed to Joes Valley this weekend with the kids for a little camping, biking, hiking, and canoeing. Skyline may still have snow.