Delores Overlook and Others

By Jerry Smith

Yesterday, March 19, 2017, the majority of Grand Mesa Jeep Club participants headed for the Top of the World Jeep trail of Moab fame. Thirteen rigs left Fruita and assembled at the Dewey Bridge turn-off to air down. A 14th joined us there. Several other rigs passed by on their way to the same destination as trail preparations were made.

The Delores River from Delores Overlook

I had already informed trip leader Todd that I would not be doing Top of the World but would follow them to the trailhead, as that was on my way to the Delores Overlook trail and other area trails. Just before leaving the staging area, Tom asked if I would like some company, so Tom and Connie tagged along on one of my many exploration forays into the Great American BackCountry.

The short trip to the trailhead was one of severe dust. Judging by the way the thick, yellowish cloud hung in the air over the freshly bladed road, wind, or lack of it, would be a problem today. The line of intelligent Jeepers became strung out over great distances, the others, well… let’s just say they will need a new air cleaner.

The Delores River from Delores Overlook

As Tom and I passed the others, it was clear that their dust problems would be greatly lessened because their trail speed would be cut by about twenty miles per hour. The Red Rock 4-Wheelers rate the Top of the World trail as a 6 in their Easter Jeep Safari paper. When you drive the upper loop in a clockwise direction, you may think you’re on a 7 or 7+.

We, on the other hand, continued on the Entrada Road creating billowing clouds of choking dust. Except when stopping to pick up some O.P.T., I seldom saw Tom in the mirror. (O.P.T. is; Other People’s Trash). We did communicate on the CB so that there was some idea of where the other was.

The Sleeping Camel

Around 13-miles into the trip, we came to the first of two 4-way intersections. Continuing straight would eventually take you to the famous Rose Garden Hill. I had already descended Rose Garden twice this year. As obstacles go in the last few years, Rose Garden has gone from difficult to extremely difficult. On the first trip DOWN this year, we had to winch one vehicle that became hung up on a ledge. With the large rocks and ledges and all the loose rock and sand, ascending Rose Garden looks to be close to a Hammers type obstacle. You get a good mental and physical workout going DOWN.

The road to the left would take us out to the Delores River Overlook. This is a trail with some light challenges at first. Once you reach the mesa top below, the trail almost challenges you to see how fast you can drive.

The “overlook” is a spectacular vision. You are standing at the intersection of the Delores River and Cottonwood Canyon, only hundreds of feet above this eye feast. Today, the river was running a chocolate color liquid that contrasted with the red and cream colored cliffs reaching skyward from the milky waters.

Directly across the river is Steamboat Mesa. Steamboat is a massive flat top mountain setting on two sets of high vertical cliffs. From the top, the 360-degree views are just fabulous. If you are a bush pilot, you may land on the airstrip on top.

The Delores Overlook from a distance

Steamboat Mesa

The deep gorge of the Delores River is a sight all by its lonesome. The up-river view is hidden as the river bends back toward Beaver Creek and the Utah/Colorado border. Downstream is a wide and deep gorge with vertical cliffs rising to an arid Juniper and Pinion Pine forest. This is a wild and very remote country that demands respect. If you break or have a mishap, it may be days before you see anyone. In other words, come prepared or stay away!

About 11-years ago, I came across five people walking down the road toward Glade Park.  It was the middle of July and near 100 degrees.  They all looked tired and beaten although one was carrying a nearly full 3-gallon jug of water.  They were only in their second mile of walking what would have been about a 15-mile hike to the nearest occupied ranch.

Their car's starter had seized, so it wouldn't start.  We tried to jump start it with no luck.  I was driving a rental Jeep Wrangler and had no tools to help. So we loaded into the Jeep and headed for Glade Park where they happened to live.  Let me tell you, six people in a Wrangler is cozy, but they were extremely grateful for the ride.

After some short hikes to some better vistas, we loaded up to return to the Entrada Road and other trails. On the way to the Overlook, we passed some side trails that looked interesting. For me, ANY side trail has interest. Some of my club nicknames are “Side Track” and “Intrepid Explorer”. Hey, I EARNED those!

This formation is what I call the Sleeping Camel

At the first left turn, I had a feeling it would take us to the second 4-way intersection on the Entrada Road. After some sketchy “trail” following, we came to a familiar looking place where I confidently told Tom and Connie where we were. A while later, I was proven correct as we came to that 4-way as predicted.

As I had never explored the road straight ahead and this day was a day of exploration, we forged ahead. This road ascended to the ridge top and over the other side. Some pretty spectacular views graced us from the abrupt end of the road. The views off to the right toward Top of the World were very appealing.  Many times I had wondered about access to these points looking from the Delores Triangle.  The possibility that there was access was exciting!!

Tom coming down a small ledge

Returning to the Entrada Road again, we turned toward the first 4-way intersection and turned left up the hill again. This too was new territory to me. I had high hopes this would take us to one or more of the points along the same edge that the Top of the World trail takes you to. Top of the World is on a long ridge of an up-thrust mesa having a roughly 600-foot vertical cliff as the end point. The views from these points are indescribable. “Awesome” doesn’t approach the actual feeling.

The trail turned out to be a respectable Jeep trail. Just rough enough to keep you entertained, yet easy enough that a stock Jeep could make it with little trouble. With only one set of UTV tracks ahead, the trail didn't see much traffic.  

The panorama that revealed as we came to the first overlook made the trail pale on the one hand and made the trail a “MUST DO” on the other.  For a seldom used trail, this one is a real dandy!

From Top of the World, you get a sideways look into part of the Fisher Valley that is pretty cool with the La Sal Mountains over the south rim. From here, put those pictures away. The Fisher Valley will never look better. The ranch is fully visible in the upper end of the valley and the roads to Onion Creek and Rose Garden Hill are totally plain.

Slickrock is usually free of vegetation.  This tree has survived a long time on a hot rock environment.

The upper Onion Creek is also more spectacular from this angle. The upper creek wash is clearly visible and looks more rugged from here.

The trail begins to follow around deep gulches carved by eons of rain, wind, and snow melts to the next point that juts out into space. From here, views of the Fisher Tower begin coming into view. Add the Onion Creek canyon from the mid-point to your view along with the Colorado River and it’s quite breathtaking. Turn 180 degrees, and the view just keeps getting better. Now the Delores Triangle and all of its features are in view.

Looking over at Steamboat Mesa, the Granite Creek Gorge, Pinion Mesa, and all the other creeks and canyons can consume you. Knowing all the trails and sights over there make you yearn for more time to explore that world again. It’s an invitation.

We don't know which finally killed this ancient Juniper, but it appeared that lightning had split the trunk and it was in at least one wildfire in the area many years before.  I estimate the tree was 700 to 800 years old when it died.

Back on the trail again, we were again greeted by another overlook. This one required a short hike to the better vista point, but the walk was well worth the effort. Here, the Fisher Tower and Top of the World are totally visible and are absolutely incredible. The other views are equally mesmerizing. I think it was here that we decided to call this trail “Top II”. As far as we knew, the trail had no name up to now, and this seemed very fitting.

Now the trail continues over some slickrock type areas where it is followed using the “Braille” method. You must “feel” your way along as no tracks or trail are visible. Tom’s GPS was showing the road continued to a dead end, but there was a side road that appeared to loop back to the Entrada Road. On our way to the Delores Overlook, there was another side trail that someone had blocked with some deadfall. This is where I speculated we would return to the Entrada Road.

Tom braved a perch on an overhanging rock

But first, we traveled the dead end road to its conclusion. THIS road had some “interesting” obstacles that prompted us to discuss the difficulty of the return trip. Our speculation proved to be warranted as we struggled to climb the steep and rough obstacles on the return trip. Tom and I love trails like this.

Back at the first side road intersection, I built a cairn to mark the trail we were about to try. By now, both vehicles were showing an alarming lack of fuel, so concern for following this road was questioned. If it didn’t take us out to the Entrada Road, it could become a long walk out. Tom’s GPS and my nose made me confident we would be rewarded. Twice we came to places that put those guiding references in question. One place, the GPS showed us at a fork that wasn’t visible from the position we looked for it. After a turn in the trail, that intersection finally revealed.

The next alarm rang at a wash crossing. The wash was a wide slickrock bottom with no sign of a trail in sight. Going down the wash looked to end in a waterfall in the distance so my nose pointed me across and uphill where we found the trail resumed. A while later, we crossed over the downfall branches mentioned earlier and onto the Entrada Road.

Tom on a series of ledges

During this descent, we had been hearing CB chatter from the other group. We learned that Roy had a disabled Side-by-Side in tow and they were struggling to get back to the Entrada Road. We reconnected with the last of the group at that intersection finding trip leader Todd working on his transfer case linkage. At the trailhead, low range is no longer necessary, but his would not shift. Soon he had shifted from low to high range and down the road we went.

Tom and I had decided to cross the Delores River and go home by way of the back roads. At the crossing, we re-evaluated that notion. The sandbar normally visible on the east side of the river was well submerged in raging swift water. The docile river I had crossed only a week before was now at least 2 feet deeper and really rolling along. We would be returning by way of I-70.

Looking down the Colorado River Valley from "Top II"

Upon reaching the Fruita exit, we turned off looking for a place for a late dinner. The Mexican place had a parking lot full, so we went on to the Rib City restaurant. Surprise, club President Jeff, and friends were there already eating, but we joined them anyway.

It was a great day on the trails of eastern Utah. It was also a reminder of why I live by Yogi Berra’s quip; “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!” You just never know what you may find.

Finding a Jeep trail of this quality and length is extremely rare in this time of trail closures.  Cherish the trails we have left and FIGHT for access to them. As the Director of Environmental Affairs for the United Four Wheel Drive Associations, I spend about 30 to 60 hours a week researching and writing comments to the BLM and USFS trying to make them understand what each trail means to motorized recreation.  For over 40-years, this has been a passionate effort for me.  One more trail closure is one too many.

On the positive side, moving to Grand Junction has been a blessing like being given the world.  The passion for exploration and the area's history of mining have provided us with many trails to enjoy.  Since 2007, I have found and REopened five trails closed by Mother Nature.  Two of them required help and the others I did alone.  REopening just one trail is a thrill that most will never experience.

We are presently working to OPEN one trail segment on the Tabeguache Trail.  The trail has been built, but the access to it is still in limbo after over 30-years of efforts by the Grand Mesa Jeep Club.

We have proposed several extreme Jeep trails and another "connector" trail to land management as well.  This is what an active club with superior leadership can do.  Building excellent working relationships with land management DOES work.  It takes immense time and patience to make it work, but the payoff is definitely worth the effort.

So, when YOU come to a fork in the road, take it!!  It may become YOUR favorite trail.

Copyright Happy Trails 4wd, 2017. All rights reserved.

Fisher Tower is the dark red tower next to the "V" notch.  The terminus of the Top of the World trail is above the four short spires.

The ranch in the upper Fisher Valley

Looking over Onion Creek canyon.

The Fisher Valley

On the trail

Things Are Not Always As Presented!

By Jerry Smith

August 23, 2013

The following came to me today as one of those Emails that friends and relatives send.  It had more meaning to me than the usual article for a variety of reasons I will share after YOU have an opportunity to read and think about what these words and pictures mean to you.

67 years later!




What happened to the radiation that ”Will last thousands of years?”

HIROSHIMA  1945

We all know that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were destroyed in August 1945 after the explosions of atomic bombs.
 However, we know little about the progress made by the people of that land during the past 67 years.

HIROSHIMA - 67 YEARS LATER

DETROIT- 65  YEARS AFTER HIROSHIMA

Which has caused more long-term destruction- 


The A-bombs

Or 


Government welfare programs created to buy the
 votes of those who want someone to take care of them?

Japan does not have a welfare system.

In Japan, you either work for it or do without. 

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all are applicable to this experiment we call America:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Can you think of a reason for not sharing this? Neither could I. 

Those pictures and few words no doubt raised a “political” thought or two for most of you.  I must admit, me too.  Those pictures “say” a lot!

But after a few minutes of thinking a little deeper, it came to me that my oldest daughter and her family live not far from both of these cities in Japan.  Their safety is of course paramount to me and all seems pretty safe judging by the building that has gone on.

As my mind tends to do, we shifted gears one more time to a whole new train of thought. 

Who is Right?

As many of you already know about me, Jeeping and Land Use are nearly a constant issue mulling over and over in my sometimes-hard head.  My head and heart have been working on this issue since the mid 1970s.

You are probably wondering; what the devil is he talking about?  How does this relate to Japan and “who is right about what?”  Please stick with me a minute or two as I try to explain.

As we have just seen and heard, sometimes people are pretty much exactly wrong when they are really sure they are right.  Add to that the fact that a lot (probably millions) of people jumped right up and joined the thinking that “Radiation will last thousands of years!”  It’s my guess that they were absolutely sure they were right.  The same was said about Chernobyl even after knowing what happened in Japan.

In my 60+ years on this world we have gone through times where millions of people believed we were entering the next ice age and now, a few years later, it’s “Global Warming” that is the big “world ending” “man caused” event.

Seems like it would be easy to call a healthy “Boloney!” (a kinder way of saying ‘Bull Crap’) on people who buy into these “crisis”.  Time has and likely will again prove them to be on the wrong side of the argument… yet many will never admit they have been wrong under any circumstances. For these people, there is little reason to argue with them. They know they are right and you'll never convince them of anything else.  Save your breath.

Since about 1960, we have had a growing number of people who firmly believe that “preserving” all public lands for some unknown future use is the proper, noble, and right thing to do.  They argue that we need to preserve more public lands for future generations and that motorized use of these lands is detrimental in about every way conceivable.

They seem perfectly content to lock away all the natural resources… both renewable and nonrenewable. 

Renewable Resources

One of the renewable resources that they insist on locking away has to do with motorized recreation. This renewable resource has never been proven to be of any grave detriment to any lands that I have ever heard of.   Even where some idiot drives into a muddy area leaving deep tracks over time will heal.

Depending on the particular area in question, roads and trails normally are less than 3% of the total area. In many cases they can be less than 1% of the total area.

Taking these percentages into account, common sense should dictate that motorized use of no more than 3% of any given area should have little to no detrimental environmental impacts.

Shall we ban all windstorms?

Granted that on any given backcountry trail or road, the passing of motorized vehicles will raise some dust, but take into account that on any day with exceptional wind present, tons of dust will be raised and deposited some were downwind… sometimes thousands of miles from where it was raised.  During these dust storms more material is lifted into the air than all the vehicles that have passed by for dozens of years could have raised. Shall we ban all windstorms?

Preservationists claims of motorized use causing extreme damage to both land and water quality are not only false, but extremely false!

That is not to say that motorized use does not contribute to these problems, but the extremity to which this contribution is made is so grossly exaggerated, you'd think it was the only cause.

Shall we ban all wildfires?

Take for example just one small area burned by wildfire. Erosion from just a few acres of one of these burned areas causes far more pollutants and siltation than hundreds of miles of backcountry roads and trails.  Is this a good reason to ban wildfires?

What about river systems?

Rivers such as the Colorado River, the Green River, the Mississippi River, and many others carry thousands of tons of silt and debris every day. No one knows how many digits to the right of a decimal point one would be before being able to measure the impact use of motorized recreation on backcountry roads and trails contributes to this pollution, but it seems logical that you would be many zeros from that decimal point. Does this mean that we should ban river systems?

Whether your chosen recreation in the great American backcountry has to do with motorized or non-motorized uses, nearly all uses come down to utilizing a road and or trail at some point in time. It would seem that we all participate in some level of the pollution process.

Even a hiker or equestrian leaves behind a certain level of pollution. (How many pairs of shoes have you worn out walking backcountry trails?) How does that worn synthetic sole fit into the natural environment? How about the steel in a horseshoe? Does the trail you use contribute to any increase in siltation and erosion?

Again I Ask; “Who is right?”