Jeeping the Dolores River

By Jerry Smith

Today, Sunday 11, 2018, seven Grand Mesa Jeep Club members and two guests had a superb day of Jeeping.

After leaving Fruita, we headed for Cisco, UT and Fish Ford on the Colorado River.  This was the end of the trail from last week’s trip where we ran the back roads from 16 Road to Rabbit Valley along the BookCliffs.  From Rabbit Valley we followed the Kokopelli Trail (which Is the usual Rabbit Valley spring trip) and then stayed on it to the junction at Cisco.

Due to a late day and a freshly modified Jeep on its maiden voyage that had some bad gremlins, last week’s trip was shortened.  Today we finished that trip to Hwy 128 down near the Dome Plateau trailhead.  From there, we headed to Dewey Bridge for a trip across the Dolores River.

On the lower Dolores River Crossing

Jeeping across a river for many is a first-time accomplishment.  We broke some cherries today and didn’t stop at just one crossing.

Because the Dolores River was so low, we did the lower crossing and then proceeded to the upper crossing.

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing

The lower crossing is considerably shallower than the upper crossing.  It is also a more conventional ford in that you take a direct route across the river.

The upper ford is not conventional.  From the north side of the river (that we were on), you enter the river and go upstream an estimated 120 yards to the exit on the south side.  The water is fairly slow and always murky, so “reading” the water is not easy.

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing.

Entering the water the as the first in line is always with some trepidation.  You never know what obstacle might be lurking in the bottom of a murky body of water… especially moving water. 

Sandbars shift, muddy bottoms can have deep holes and be slick.  Rocks tend to find new places to bring you to an abrupt stop.  The first guy in the water is hoping none of those little “presents” exist. 

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing.

Lucky for me, no “presents” were encountered on the way upstream to the small rocky island just below the exit and road out to the main road.  Shortly Jeep number 2 entered the water and made for the island.  Not far behind were the others that braved the brown waters of the mighty Dolores River.

Soon we were all on the island and had a need to return to the north side, so I traveled down and found a spot to face the driver side window toward the others as they came downstream.  Some of the pictures here were taken from that position in the river.

Snoopy Rock

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing.

After returning to the north side, we headed for the Coates Creek crossing for lunch and some great conversation.   There, we also decided to return by way of Cow Creek and Snoopy Rock.  Most had never seen Snoopy Rock so this would be another first.

Cow Creek Canyon begins very docilely and gains difficulty and beauty as you go up the canyon.  Snoopy Rock is best seen from the east side.  From there you can see both ears, the nose, and an eye and the outline of the head sloping down to his back as he lays down.  The size of the whole thing is enormous, but you have to be there to understand.

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing.

Not long past Snoopy, the trail becomes increasingly difficult.  There are steep climbs that gyrate your vehicle causing tires to lose traction.  Here, you may still crawl the trail in 2wd, but you will need a very flexible suspension and good momentum.  Otherwise, lockers or 4wd are a real blessing.

There are large granite-like boulders that protrude from the road surface and other places that have a white granite-like rock that has large quantities of mica that create flashes of light that make you wonder what is ahead.

Entering the upper Dolores River crossing.

The cliffs on the north side of the canyon rise in varying outcroppings that make your imagination wander to out-of-the-world realms.  Some of the small canyons in those cliffs make you wonder where they go and “how can I go there?”

Upon topping the trail we soon come to the road normally taken from Glade Park to Gateway.  This is a popular summer trail run.  There are some options along with it that can enhance the day of Jeeping into a “Wow”-like trip.  One of the favorites is to drive down Lost Horse Creek to the junction with Granite Creek.

On the island in the Dolores River

 The road down Granite Creek Canyon is often overgrown with brush and has some light duty obstacles, but the deep canyon walls are spectacular.  The tops are a craggy rock formation that hold threatening possibilities of giant rock falls if you sneeze too hard.  You also cross the Colorado/Utah border along the way.  Sightings of wild turkeys and bears are fairly common.

The way out of the Granite Creek Canyon is a steep shelf road that once had dozens of well placed large rocks that caused folks dread of driving this road.  The BLM did their 10 to 15 year maintenance in 2017 so those rocks were dozed over the steep mountainside.  As the years go by, they will be replaced, so not all is lost.  Good challenges are hard enough to come by without the land management ruining things.

People think I’m nuts when I complain that the USFS or BLM actually maintain a Jeep trail.  I would rather the users maintain what actually needs maintenance to OUR standards than to have a perfectly good Jeep trail butchered by a man on a bulldozer who doesn’t care.  Of course “our” standards must meet their minimums, but basically, we only want a “passable” 4-wheel drive trail, not some highway.

Special Jeep trails with good obstacles are treasures that aren’t found just anywhere.  I am thinking of creating more obstacles on a trail or two that have diminished in difficulty since I reopened them years ago.  Some of us enjoy a tough trail that doesn’t stray toward the extreme but scares the pants off of others.

Even today’s river crossing raises the pulse of most until the first in line shows it can be done.  I could see the doubt in quite a few eyes before I dove in and ran that second crossing today.  BTW, I have driven that crossing with about 20” deeper water.  Today, my front bumper barely got wet.  In other crossings, the water was up on the hood and fenders.

Any way you do it, a good day of Jeeping is better than any other I can think of, so go out on your next opportunity and MAKE IT an unforgettable day.

Truck or Treat and 16 Road to 21 Road

By Jerry Smith

October 26, 2013

No, you read it right.  “Truck or Treat” is an annual event put on in Fruita, CO where trucks, cranes, emergency vehicles, and tractors are the featured items that families (primarily the kids) come to see and “experience”.

No fun could be found in "Driving a Jeep"

What kid wouldn’t want to climb into the driver seat and pull the cord on an air horn in a class 8 truck? 

"Tooting" an air horn

Or they can go into the back of an ambulance, sit in the backseat of a police car, play in a cattle hauler trailer -- (no Bull Shtuff) or see one of the airport fire trucks up close.

Two "Desperadoes" 

Truck cranes with their booms up, a Grand Valley Power “bucket truck” showing the heights they may go to, and City of Fruita trucks were all on display.  Even school busses could be gone through.

"Little Farmers" 

Add some Halloween candy and how can you go wrong if you are young?

Well, this year the Grand Mesa Jeep Club, Colorado’s 2013 “Jeep Club of the Year”, took over nearly one city block displaying Jeeps and buggies and offering the kids candy as well.  It was an awesome sight.

The Grand Mesa Jeep Club at "Truck or Treat"

Kids, candy, and 4-wheelers 

16 Road to Upper 21 Road

With all the excitement of the Truck or Treat, one would think that would conclude the Saturday festivities… but that would be wrong. The 2013 Colorado “Club of the Year” hates to waste a good opportunity to go into the great American BackCountry.

A short trip into the Bookcliffs north of Grand Junction had been planned.

The Bookcliffs are a land of strange looking desert mountains topped with cliffs that resemble a shelf of books from a distance.  Nearly 200-miles long, the Bookcliffs begin in the northern De Beque Canyon and run through the Grand Valley following the I-70 corridor west to Green River, Utah where they turn north to Price, Utah.

Several dark canyons cut through the face of the Bookcliffs, some with large “bowl” watersheds hidden from view.  These “bowls” are homes to several species of wildlife including; mountain lions, bears, bobcats, coyotes, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, wild horses, bighorn sheep, and bison.

Three of "Red Jeeps" in Coal Gulch

Mainly due to the existence of great quantities of fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, many roads enter into these canyons and up on the ridges providing great exploration of the area in a Jeep or other 4x4.

Taking 16 Road north will eventually bring you into the Big Salt Wash as it exits the BookCliffs.  Further up the wash the road forks, and as you who are familiar with this writers’ practices, “when you come to a fork in the road, Take It!

“Right turn Clyde.”  

Soon we were skirting the end of the ridge that is the front of the BookCliffs and entered Coal Gulch that is directly behind this ridge. 

About halfway along the canyon road, Aaron’s YJ developed fuel delivery problems.  As tail gunner, I stopped to see if there was anything we could do to get them up and running. 

After a bit, he got it to run just well enough to turn around and head for town.  We would later hear that they were still running, though weakly, as Zane and Dale passed them on their way to catch-up to the group.

The road winds along the bottom of the gulch for miles before offering another fork in the road.

Technically, this fork is the beginning of a loop that starts and ends here, but we took the steeper road up onto Ross Ridge.  Several gas wells and their facilities dot the area with pads and short spur roads to each of them.

Sometimes we shift into "2-foot drive"

Following one such road, we came near the southern end of Ross Ridge overlooking Hunter Canyon… better known as 21 Road to our group.

21 Road is a nationally known “extreme trail” that draws people from all over the country to Grand Junction to try their buggies and driving skills. 

21 Road has a reputation for having flash floods that literally alter the trail from time to time.  This potentially makes it an unknown and different challenge every time you run it.  Nearly from the mouth of Hunter Canyon you are presented with one obstacle after another that will challenge you and your rig.

21 Road is known for many “rescue runs” to either bring needed parts to do trail repairs or for bringing a broken rig out by strap(s). 

People try to do this trail in stock or near stock Jeep Rubicons.  Many make the trip in and back out with big smiles and great pride… until they find bent axles, twisted frames, and “rock rash” were the ultimate outcomes.  Sometimes, the “automatic reject feature” of a trail is slow to materialize.

Three of these Rubicons that we know of were replaced not long after their experience on 21 Road.  The cost of repairing them was much too high to justify.

Most of our group hiked up to the overlook on the point of Ross Ridge where you look out over the Grand Valley.  Unfortunately, the air quality was rather poor spoiling the view.

Returning from a hike on Ross Ridge 

After turning around 14-rigs, we followed the road that drops you down into the upper end of Hunter Canyon up stream of the most challenging extreme obstacles. 

The steep road presents very sharp hairpin turns that were fairly challenging and fun.  Two of the hairpins were tight enough that even CJ7s had to back-up for a second attempt to make the turn.  Many fear turns like these while others approach them as just another “bump in the road”.

Sharp "Hair-pin" turns have you meeting those ahead of you. 

Not far from reaching the canyon bottom we found a long, wide, and flat spot that made for a good “Kodak Moment”.  Even with an extreme wide-angle lens, we had too many rigs parked side-by-side to get all in the one shot and not run the far end into oblivion. 

The Grand Mesa Jeep Club in Hunter Canyon (21 Road) 

From this parking area, most of the group walked to the overlook of the extreme obstacles down stream.  This view is quite awesome with no buggies in sight.  With one or more buggies in these boulders, it is hard to understand how they do what they do.

GMJC members looking at the upper extreme obstacles of 21 Road

Along the way back to the parking area, some were walking up the wash bottom when we encountered lion tracks.  These appeared to be from a medium size cat and became the discussion point for a while.

Sighting bear tracks in this canyon is fairly common.  Most of the Hunter Canyon area is quite steep and animals will use the road in the bottom as they move through.

Exiting the backcountry, it was decided that many of us would meet at “Munchies” in Fruita for dinner. 

Picturesque and steep canyon walls of Hunter Canyon

Not long thereafter, several of us were enjoying some good food and even better camaraderie.  It’s no wonder that the Grand Mesa Jeep Club is also the Colorado 2013 “Club of the Year”.

This turned into a really good day of Jeeping and showing community support.

And of course one last thought to ponder;  “When you come to a fork in the road… Take it!!

Happy Trails.

Copyright Happy Trails 2013.  All rights reserved.