Black Dragon/Goblin Valley.

[AxleIke]

Went with my family out to UT for a few days.

Weather was beautiful, 50's on Sat and sun, but completely clear, 70's on Mon and Tues.

I managed pretty well on my gimpy leg. Well enough I suppose. I got about 6 miles total hiking in with a knee brace and one crutch.

Stats for the trip:

105 miles of unpaved, dirty goodness.

Lots of rubber left on the rocks, and several 60mph baja moments. Made me long for long travel.

Anyway, onto the good stuff.

Me and youngest bro:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2757.jpg

First up was Black Dragon Canyon. This canyon starts out pretty mildly, up to the sweet pictographs.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2759.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2765.jpg

But quickly gets rougher.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2768.jpg

Not too many pics as we were losing light, and had to get up to set up camp.

Campspot hunting:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2769.jpg

The next day was a pretty slow drive up to jackass benches. This is where the crawler shined. I was able to get back my stock low range, which was perfect for this road.

Anyway, the benches were appropriately named:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2777.jpg

Those are wild donkeys sitting next to the road. We saw a whole herd of them, but the picture didn't come out, as they were far away.

Views from the hike out to Swaesy's leap:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2790.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2820.jpg

The next day, we packed up, and headed out for Goblin valley via the back roads.

First was exiting Black Dragon the way we came in:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2833.jpg

Crawler in action. If you listen, you can tell that the engine is running at 2500 rpm's. Yeah. Slow.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/th_MVI_2835.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/?action=view&current=MVI_2835.flv)

Next up was some high 4, baja style running.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2836.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/th_MVI_2844.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/?action=view&current=MVI_2844.flv)

Getting into the goblin valley area.

Red dirt:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2849.jpg

Beautiful country:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2855.jpg

Hiking down into Chute Canyon:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2864.jpg

Gimp:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2865.jpg

Weird tree

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2858.jpg

More of the canyon:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2873.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2878.jpg

Gimp stopping point. Not going down that with the bum knee.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2879.jpg

Baja to Rock Crawl. I love it. Unfortunately, no shots from the other cameras, as my family stayed out there, I came back because I had to get back to work. So, I don't have their pics yet.

Anyway, two lockers and 206:1 can be fun, but also bad.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2890.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2891.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2892.jpg

Made it, but left behind plenty of rubber and paint. Thank goodness I got those babies retubed:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2893.jpg

More fun fast driving

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/th_MVI_2884.jpg (http://s29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/?action=view&current=MVI_2884.flv)

Just a great view I had to stop and look at:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2888.jpg

End of the trip:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2894.jpg

And, the best reason for having a 4 cyl truck. I filled up in green river utah. I drove 330 miles, back to golden. No stops. That is corrected using the 3% difference in gears and tire sizes that I have.

Here is my gas guage, which works perfectly:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c263/AxleIke/IMG_2897.jpg

25 miles per gallon. I love it.

It was a blast, truck drove great. I'm tired, dirty, and happy. Good trip.

[garrett]

looks fun! cool pics

[04 Rocko Taco]

Great pics, cant wait to see the rest, looks like a good time, you gotta take me there if I ever get out west. :)

[all_terrain17]

Does that Hi-lift mount not drive you nuts?

Cool pictures.

[AxleIke]

No. Why would it? Its extremely accessible, and easy to use. Doesn't block my view at all.

Thanks all, HIGHLY recommended area. Black dragon could be WAY harder, we took the easy routes, as my mom's taco is stock, as is my brother's 4runenr. It could easily be a 4 out of 5.

[neliconcept]

sweet area, where is this at? would it be recommended for me to do it in one truck or should i have someone else tag along?

[AxleIke]

One truck would be fine. As I said, we had stock trucks up there. There are harder lines, but you can go easier too.

It is literally right off of I-70 about a mile or so west of the exit to hanksville.

[neliconcept]

One truck would be fine. As I said, we had stock trucks up there. There are harder lines, but you can go easier too.

It is literally right off of I-70 about a mile or so west of the exit to hanksville.


further then moab im assuming, or closer, i dont remember hanksville when i went through.

ill have to check the map.

nevermind, see its the exit past green river.

same highway that hits up Lake Powell (something id like to hit up one of these days as well)

[Cheese]

Looking good dude.

I have never really done the back country part of Moab, just the rocks and the town. Neat pictures.

[AxleIke]

Thanks.

Back country is amazing. when you are less busy, you should make a trip. Its worth it for sure.

[neliconcept]

Thanks.

Back country is amazing. when you are less busy, you should make a trip. Its worth it for sure.


very true, and its relaxing at that!

[slosurfer]

Cool pics :thumbup: That is one area that I can't wait to get some time to explore.