Moab 2013 – White Rim Trail Day 1 Trip Report
17 June 2013

After many months of planning we were finally going to meet in Moab. Our plan was to spend 3 days on the White Rim Trail, 2 days on Elephant Hill, and 3 days on Kokopelli. In order to follow the rules of OCC trailguide reporting, I will write a separate report for each 4-wheeling day. Our group consisted of:

Jonathan Kalmes, yellow '06 LJ Rubi on 35's
Rob Kizer and Paul ??, LJ Rubi on 35's
Doug and Robin Masnick, 93 Forerunner 32's?
Scott and Renee Corliss, red 2000 XJ on 35's?
Rich Martinez, 2011 JKUR on 35's with 1952 M-416 trailer and RTT

We planned to run White Rim counter-clockwise and camp along the way ending at the Schafer switchbacks. The trail is over 90 miles long running along the Green and Colorado Rivers. It offers deep sand, sandstone steps, and of course very unique scenery.

Jonathan drove all the way from Florida. He encountered some vibrations early and stopped in or near Atlanta for repairs. After some troubleshooting and wheel balancing (I think), he continued on towards Utah finally arriving very early in the morning on June 17th.

I had already arrived from North Rim Grand Canyon with Doug, Robin, Scott and Renee. They were staying in a hotel. I met Rob and Paul at the hotel parking lot, then went to find a campground. We ended finding a great spot at Moab Valley RV Resort. I would go back anytime I didn't want to stay in a hotel.

Doug had some vehicle issues that started on the drive out from VA. I adjusted his timing a little and that helped but didn't solve the problem. So early on the 17th Doug took his Toyota to a mechanic while we met at the Moab Visitor's Center for our 10am driver's meeting. At the meeting everyone received a welcome gift or two. We settled on our CB channel, made plans to meet Doug at the Canyonlands HQ at 1 pm. He would take the asphalt and the rest of the group would take the Long Canyon Trail from Potash Rd (Jug Handle Arch) through Long Canyon, up over Pucker Pass and then hit pavement to Canyonlands HQ. We hit the trailhead around 11am, aired-down and hot the trail. A few minutes into the trail, Scott reported higher than usual engine temps. This would prove to be a problem the entire time. We followed GREEN trail thru the canyon, up some switchbacks and came to a huge 3-story building size rock that leans against the canyon wall and over the trail. This is an great spot for pictures and we made sure to get everyone as they pass under the rock.

We arrived at park HQ as scheduled at 1 pm. (ok Doug maybe it was 1:05pm). There we checked in with the rangers, got our backcountry permits, received a quick do's/don't briefing, ate lunch, and headed for White Rim Trail.

We traveled north on 313 to Mineral Bottom Rd. then turned west. We continued for 10 miles on a dirt road and came to an intersection. Right led to Labyrinth Landing, a rafting launch and landing point. We took a little detour and went to Labyrinth to look around. We found a group of rafters that had just ended a trip and there some park service vehicles there. We got out to wet our feet in the Green River in the 100+ "dry" heat.

From Labyrinth, we headed south and on to the beginning of the White Rim Trail. We traveled about 4 miles across some spectacular scenery along the river and thru canyons to get to our first night's camp.

At camp we swam in the Green River for a little while, saw some strange man-eating rodent (according to Jonathan but I think the heat and beer was getting to him).

Rich Martinez