Desert SW travels and 3 weeks on the Green River

[Guest]

Praise for the Tacoma

Praise for the Tacoma

A couple of folks have asked about the new truck. The Tacoma was magnificent as a long distance tripping truck. We ate up a lot of non-stop miles, Baltimore to Palo Duro in Texas on the way out, Green River Utah to Baltimore on the way back.

We had it on 100’s of miles of dirt road, some of it so bad that we were rockhopping at 1mph with Joel out front directing the wheels or walking ahead to make sure there was a last ditch spot wide enough to turn around. I wouldn’t have done that alone.

BTW – that hood is hard to see over when you are climbing over slickrock at a 45 degree angle and wondering what’s on the other side.

Mind you the worst of the dirt road travel also saw us carrying the heaviest weight. On the absurd bucket recovery trip into Escalante we probably had 20 gallons of potable water in the back (and more than just a beer or two). We expected to be there for a while. And if we hadn’t finally turned around and driven back out the dry (and in some places, wet) wash before the rain hit we might still be there.

The truck outfitting continues to evolve. I added additional tie down points to restrain gear in the rear seats (so we could recline or adjust the drier & passenger seats) added new strap points under the cap for stacked gear, and added another hanging hammock basket at the rear (for shoes).







One thing it still needs is a KISS easily deployable sun awning off the passenger side of the roof racks. Beyond shade that cover would also allow for opening a side window in the rain. I have a plan.



Even with two open boats racked and an excess of gear the Tacoma averaged 23.2 MPG, with a high of 27.88 (cruise-control 60 mph on the flat inter-State with a good tailwind) and a low of 19.36 (mountain passes and lots of creeping along bad dirt roads)

As a designated travelling and tripping vehicle I’m glad I went with 2wd 4-banger, and have kept the “outfitting” lightweight instead of adding winch, spare gas can, deep cycle battery for reading light and excessive shelving under the cap as in past traveling trucks.

MPG counts more now than ever. And I still pine for a small, fuel-efficient diesel truck.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Hey Mike you are saving me lots of typing though I have tons of desert flower pictures. We hit the Horse series except the last.

Horseshoe, Horsethief and Deadhorse. The first is a beach site and was occupied by three who were upset that we did not camp with them on the beach. We opted for more solitude in the huge flat bottom.

Horsethief aka Mothers Day Killer was where we had a layday and froze. It is another huge site or actually four that I found.

Deadhorse had to have room for a Boy Scout Jamboree. The guy was being a jerk. We had another couple stop and we said to camp where we were as we weren't using a fraction of the room.. Nope they went upriver and camped perched on a rock.! Its probably the same craphead that wrote HI next to the petroglyphs or an uncle of that monkey.

 

[Guest]

We hit the Horse series except the last.


Horsethief aka Mothers Day Killer was where we had a layday and froze. It is another huge site or actually four that I found.

The sandbar sites under the cottonwoods at the back of the Horsethief Canyon are easy access and spacious, but I really like the cleft rock site there. The carry-up to the site is a steep banked PITA, but there are a half dozen great tent sites in the immediate vicinity.

All of them are probably illegal; I believe that camping within 300 feet (or maybe it is yards) of a petroglyph is verboten. If it is the latter distance half of the ledge sites along the river are illegal.

Note the faint bowman at the bottom.



While I would not remove any artifact or deface a wall of rock art I will bend that rule to set up a tent, especially on what is a frequently used site. I leave every campsite cleaner than I found it, but the only thing I remove is modern day trash. All else stays where it is untouched.



Speaking of trash I am impressed with the near utter lack of trash at sites that are heavily used. I tried to do my “Find 10 pieces of trash” when breaking camp along the way and usually failed. The only things I could find were the usual nemesis of LNT - wee tear-off pieces of plastic packaging, and the twist ties and square plastic bread wrapper closers.

Seldom did I find any egregious trash. One thing I did find disturbing was the number of people, even otherwise pleasant camp company, who ignored the “Pee in the river” edict.

Because of the soil composition (lacking phosphates?) waste does not readily break down, and campsites would soon smell like a urinal if too many people skipped the trek to the river’s edge.

I got overly graphic last spring in describing our DIY toilet system (which again worked better than the heavy diamond plate Tex’s/Tag-a-Long rentals), but I’ll say this about urine disposal – bringing a pee bottle or container is almost as critical as bringing a toilet system.

It can be a long and awkward hike down to the river’s edge, especially at the ledge sites, and if you are a beer drinker that’s not a walk you want to do 5 times a day.

Even if you are not a beer drinker; staying hydrated in desert country is a daily challenge and being able to quantify your overall urine output is helpful.

How’s that for a graphic hint?

The flowers were spectacular, and lots of stuff was just ready to pop when we departed.



I’m looking forward to your trip report, both for the Green (where, like the Everglades, we just missed - our confluence take out was only two days prior to yours) and especially for the Missouri.

That trip was been long on my bucket list, but this has me wondering:

We did the Missouri.. at one point we were 75 miles from the SK border. It was 90 degrees. Mihun I was thinking the same thing yesterday when we did 46 miles on the river. A black cloud formed at about mile 30. I wondered where we would take cover. With the recent flooding and bank erosion on the Missouri, the banks were high and the cottonwoods on top of the banks were intermittent. Only every few miles would a stand appear. Those would be up ten feet of vertical mud.

 

[Guest]

What Worked II

What Worked II

I overlooked the thing that worked best of all over the 22 days on the Green – travelling on separate permits. The cost to benefit ratio was well worth the price - $50 for separate NPS Permits.

Compared to the shuttle/jet boat fees ($180 per person and canoe for trailer drop off and jet-boat take out) this was a pittance that allowed us to make, break and move camp(s) at will.

Parties travelling on the same permit are supposed to stick together on the way down the river and camp together, although parties traveling on separate permits are allowed to camp together within permitted group size limits (I think it is 8 max per group in the downriver Nat’l Park areas, and more like 25 in the BLM parts upstream).

Travelling on separate permits, sometimes together, sometimes apart, allowed for a myriad of choices in when to move, where to camp and what to do.

The change in dynamic, from paddling and camping with a companion to going solo to meeting strangers and new friends (back to solo, back to companion, back to new friends and etc) made for a most memorable trip.

Highly recommended if you have the right companions.

 

[yellowcanoe]

http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/info/newsroom/2014/march/flooding_affects_blm.html

Addressed more in its own thread.

The larder is empty.. Have to go to the store. Just got home.