THE WHITE RIM TRIAL

We left San Diego at a bright and early retirement time of 8:30 and headed north on I-15.  We pulled into Cedar City in time for dinner and decided to hold up in a motel for the night.  The next morning this is what we woke up to.

Several inches of snow fell during the night and it was cooooold.  We drove in the snow until Richfield, Utah, and with the wind behind us we made good time to Moab.  We stopped and picked up our permit at the Canyonlands Visitor Center for our campsite, at White Crack, on the White Rim Trail.  The exit route was still closed so we would have to drive in and return the same way.

THE WHITE RIM FROM ABOVE



The next  morning we started on the trail at 9:00.  The first part of the trail is on the Shafer Switchbacks which drops down from Islands in the Sky at 6,000 feet to 4,500 feet. It's on a very pretty road.  It's pretty steep, pretty narrow, pretty rocky and pretty scary.  The road hangs on the side of the sheer cliff the entire way down.  We made the bottom of the grade in one piece and started out on the Rim Road.

SHAFER SWITCHBACKS

MIKE ON THE SHAFER

THE SHAFER ROAD

It was 37 miles to our campsite and the ranger had told us to expect it to take 5 hours.  That seemed pretty slow to us until we were actually on the road.  Although 4-WD is not required everywhere, the road is so rough that in order to traverse many sections, 4-WD low range is the better way to go.  The views were sensational as the road hugged the edge of the rim.  At times the drop off on the edge went down 1000 feet, so it was best to pay attention.  Along the way we stopped at Musselman Arch, and while Nancy and I remained on solid ground, Mike and Cathie walked across the arch.  The top of the arch is about 4 feet wide and if one was to decide take a dive off the edge, you would have about 500 feet to think about the decision.

CATHIE ON MUSSELMAN ARCH

VIEW FROM THE EDGE

LUNCH ON THE TRAIL

It took us about 6 hours to reach our campsite, having traveled at a respectable speed of 6.7 MPH.  Our camp at White Crack is the most popular campsite on the trail and there is only one site, so we had it all to ourselves.  It is located on a point of land overlooking the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers.  The views were  unmatched.

VIEW FROM CAMP

After setting up camp in a strong wind, and rain showers, the sky cleared and we had dinner of ham and beans, which hit the spot.  Because of the cold, it was about 40 degrees, we hit the sack early just to keep warm.

The next morning we woke to calm wind conditions and sunny skies.  I got up before sunrise to make coffee and enjoyed to sunrise and the solitude.

WHITE CRACK CAMP

After a breakfast of warming oatmeal, we broke camp and headed out about 10 am.  We spent another six hours driving out, and enjoying the sites the entire way.  This was one fantastic road and we only saw only half of it.  The washout was expected to be repaired a couple of days after our trip.  At dinner that evening in Moab we talked about another trip on the White Rim to see what we missed.  It was unanimous, NO WAY, it's just too damn bumpy.

MIKE ON THE EDGE

JUST ONE OF THE VIEWS