2023 Spring Expedition Recap
Soouthern Utah
May 15-19, 2023
On this adventure, we had nine 4×4 vehicles: 6 Jeep Gladiators, 1 Jeep Wrangler JK Unlimited, 1 1958 Willy’s Wagon restomod and a Toyota 4Runner. We started in Bluff, Utah and ended this adventure in Hanksville, Utah. Along the way we saw incredible rock formations, amazing canyon overlooks, a petrified forest, and even went through a deep water crossing. It was an incredibly scenic adventure.
On Day 1 we left Bluff, Utah to start off on the Comb Wash trail. We then hit the Emigrant trail, which was fun with a few obstacles. After that we were on pavement for just a few miles until we exited onto Elk Mountain Road, which we took until we split the bear’s ears peaks. After that we took some very scenic back roads until we wound up at the abandoned marina at Hite. From there it was a short drive to camp, where the 4Xploring crew served up a fantastic dinner of manicotti.
Day 2 started with a delicious breakfast of egg, bacon and cheese sandwiches. Then we hit the trails, going past several stunning buttes and amazing rock formations. The highlight of the day was driving up a long, narrow shelf road with some really tight switchbacks, as it started to rain! Dinner was an excellent Mexican feast!
Day 3 started with some delicious breakfast burritos cooked up by the 4Xploring team. From there we hit the trails to see some incredibly vast valleys. After that we proceeded down some steep switchbacks to get down to the valley floor. From there we proceeded on the trail, passing incredible scenes such as Teapot Rock. We also got to see a historic relic: where Butch Cassidy carved his name into the rock at his hideout. But without question, the highlight of the day was crossing the Dirty Devil River, where the water was nearly 3 feet deep, and moving fairly swiftly. We all made it across without incident, but it was a unique challenge, for sure.
