White Rim Trail - Day 3 - April 2017

White Rim Trail Pop-up Camper Expedition - Day 3 of 5

April 4, 2017

For an introduction to this trip and an explanation of the White Rim Trail, see Day 1.

Click any photo for a larger version!

Day 3 began with glorious sunshine and a descent of the Murphy Hogback.

Our camp in the morning sun.

My shadow at the top of the descent.

The way down and a view.

As we drive down, Bob suddenly disappears.

There he is, down below.

Dan sneaks by some enormous rocks.

Bob took this photo as I was starting down a rough section.

Down, but not out.

Looking back at Murphy Hogback. See the road cut down from the top?

Looking ahead with Soda Springs Basin between here and the mesa top.

A little tilt to this curve.

The road on this side was a little rougher and longer than the stretch we drove up, but not too bad. Bob stopped at the bottom and chatted with some of the cyclists as he waited for Dan and I to catch up.

Beautiful morning for a bike ride.

Dan lets the last bike by.

Lots of sand as we cross Soda Springs Basin. That's Candlestick Tower on the left and the Green River Overlook, up on Island in the Sky mesa middle right.

I took this photo the day before we began our trip from the Green River Overlook on top.
You can see the WRT wind around the canyon rim, and Turk's Head in the meander of the Green River.

And we are back on the White Rim Sandstone.

We had let the bikes go ahead, but soon caught up with them where we all stopped to view the Black Crack. This quarter-mile fracture can be jumped across, but is so deep and dark that one cannot see the bottom.

Rush hour - trucks and bikes. Candlestick Tower, too.

John provides scale to the photo.

Turning around, you can see the crack keeps going.

There is a wide view of a gooseneck of the Green River with Turk's Head rising from the middle.

A single exposure taken with my widest lens.

The structure of the White Rim Sandstone here lends itself to numerous holes that capture rain water.

I tried to catch a reflection of Candlestick Tower.

The guys head back toward the vehicles.

One more look as I jump across the crack.

Interesting colors to the rocks, here.

Only a few miles farther along we again caught up with the bikes when we all stopped at Holman Slot Canyon. Bob had hopes to walk the length of this small, short slot. I thought I might be able to go a little way even with my bum knee. I was able to climb down, but not able to go far at all as I came to a drop off that was more than my knee agreed to take. Bob went a bit farther, but even he was stymied by drop-offs before long.

Holman Slot Canyon seen from the road.

Here's Bob coming back up. As you can see, it's just a little slot canyon.

We drove on admiring the canyons and cliffs.

Looking back across another canyon. I believe that's Candlestick Tower in the background.

More beautiful buttes.

In about 5 miles the road afforded great views of the Green River. We stopped for photos and to chat with a friendly South African bloke on his trail bike. There were folks in canoes on the river.

This chap was on his own, but most motorcycle riders were in small groups.

Lovely day for a canoe paddle, too.

WRT runs along side the Green River here.

It wasn't much farther until we came to our camp at Potato Bottom. Unfortunately, the salt cedar formed too thick a bramble to be able to reach the river. But it was a nice spot and, as always, with amazing views.

Here's our camp. Photo's a bit faded as the lens is in the sun.

From as close as I got to the river, looking back at camp and Bighorn Mesa.

The trees were just starting to leaf out.

Discussion group by our table rock. Photo by Bob.

Bob and I took a nice walk up the wash into Potato Bottom Basin that evening.

Looking up into Potato Bottom Basin.

Don't know what kind of plant this is, but I liked the shape.

This sandstone was forming leaves of a different order.

Greetings from Potato Bottom Basin.

Bob as Spiderman.

As we walked back to camp, the sun sank behind this formation.

This concludes Day 3. The story continues on Day 4 & 5.

White Rim Trail - Day 2 - April 2017

White Rim Trail Pop-up Camper Expedition - Day 2 of 5

April 3, 2017

For an introduction to this trip and an explanation of the White Rim Trail, see Day 1.

Click any photo for a larger version!

A strong, gusty wind came up in the middle of the night. Although the forecast had promised at least partly sunny skies, it was cloudy all day.

The sun tries to break through at dawn. The WRT can be seen descending the bluff

We begin to break camp. Airport Tower can be seen behind us.

On the road

As we drove the WRT, Bob stopped to point out Washerwoman Arch and later Mesa Arch.

Monster Tower on the left. Washer Woman Arch on the right.

Bob captured the moment I crested this rise.

One of the many times we played leap-frog with the bike tour sag-wagon.

A broader view of the Island in the Sky mesa from this section of the road.

A telephoto view of Mesa Arch up on the mesa. Yes, those are people standing around up there.

A view of Washer Woman and Monster from farther along the WRT.

Gotta love a parade!

We also paused for photos where the road lies above a giant drop-off.

You can see the White Rim Sandstone is about 20' thick here and the road is partially suspended out over the drop off way above the canyon bottom.

Bob has already traversed this slope and catches me showing Dan what I think is the best way down.

And here I give it a go.
When I saw this photo that Bob took, I jumped into my truck drove to the self-serve car wash to power clean the roof!

Looking off to the east are the La Sal Mountains beyond Canyon Rims Recreation Area

Here is a view of Canyonlands NP Needles District taken with my telephoto lens.

Another canyon that cuts right up to the edge of the road.

Dan takes a photo and John admires the view.

The White Rim Sandstone forms the caps for these pinnacles in Monument Basin.

I took this photo the day before we started the WRT from the Grand View Overlook on top.
You can see the road skirt around the canyons that lead to the Colorado River.

Dan follows along. I believe the cliffs behind are near the Grand View Overlook.

White Crack Road

We turned off the WRT to take the side road to the White Crack Campsite and hiked out to the point. The vistas were wide and wild. This was the closest point on the trip to the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers, but neither could be seen as they were deep in their canyons and we were too far away.

Miniature paintbrush growing along the trail out to the overlook.

Approaching the edge, the White Rim Sandstone is pocked with wet and dry pools.

A view of the La Sal Mountains from near the edge.

A panorama from the southern most point of our journey

Back on the WRT

Back on the WRT where it twists, turns and climbs.

Another view off to the side of the road.

Murphy Hogback

This was also the day we climbed the notorious Murphy Hogback formation. The climb was steep, but much smoother than we were led to believe.

As we reached Murphy Hogback, I took a photo of Dan coming up behind me.

Then I took a photo of Bob up above me.

Dan took a photo of me starting up the long climb.

Bob took a photo of me nearing the top of the climb.

A wider view looking back at the way we came today.

Our camp was the one closest to where the road descends the other side of the hogback. It was the prettiest campsite of the trip with great views, but the chilly wind kept us from enjoying it as much as we would have liked.

Beautiful campsite with fabulous views on top of Murphy Hogback.

This ends Day 2. Continue on to Day 3.