Our plan for the day was to finish the White Rim Trail and take the Shafer Switchbacks ending this part of our trip at Park HQ. Our group still consisted of

Jonathan Kalmes (member), yellow '06 LJ Rubi on 35's
Rob Kizer and Paul ?? (non-member), LJ Rubi on 35's
Doug and Robin Masnick (member), 93 Forerunner 32's?
Scott and Renee Corliss (member), red 2000 XJ on 35's?
Rich Martinez (member), 2011 JKUR on 35's

We started the day packing up camp and comparing notes on our gas situation. Doug had some rook rack problems since day 1 and was reorganizing his load. In doing so he already emptied his gerry can of gas into his tank so he was in good shape. The rest of us estimated that we "might" make it to Moab on fumes but it would be very close. However, I was carrying 20gal in gerry cans for the group so we were not concerned about someone not making it.

We headed up the White Rim Trail towards the intersection with the Shafer Switchbacks and Potash Rd. The Potash road was closed at this intersection due to road maintenance. So we had to travel up the Shafer Switchbacks. If you have seen pictures of Canyonlands NP, you most likely have seen pictures of these narrow switchbacks on the side of a cliff. The road itself is smooth dirt but the 1000foot drop gets your attention, especially when there are dump trucks coming at you downhill.

We all made it to the top and met at Park HQ where we took a short break and assessed our gas situation again. We all needed to air-up and add a couple of gallons to be sure we could make it to town. Our plan was to get to town, re-stock on supplies as needed and have a driver's meeting 3 hours later. We needed to get to Elephant Hill, a 90 mile (?) drive from Moab to begin our next trail and make it to our assigned camp.

Rich Martinez