The wife and I decided December 30th around 10pm that we wanted to bring in the new year with a new adventure, even if just for the night.... we set our eyes on Shivwits Plateau along the AZ strip. This was a trip we originally had planned for a three day vacation because of the complexity of planning it takes for a trip into that area but the wife thought it would be fun for New Year's Eve.
December 31st I got off work at 5:30 pm, headed home to load up the xterra.... offline gps set up and trail mapped out we set off around 7:30 for mesquite. Along the short hour drive there it began to rain, this had me nervous for a few reasons:
1. We've never done this drive
2. We were alone (people had our trip itinerary and emergency service numbers)
3. Of all the reading about this trip the number one thing was to be cautious during wet weather.
As we pull into mesquite to fill up and check fluids, it rains a little more.. we discuss the dangers of the weather and decide to press on till we feel it gets unsafe.
9:30PM ish- we get on trail (oh yeah this is all at night. I get it isn't the most safe thing to do but we are experienced and have food and water for 5 days on board so we felt ok)
We push the first 20miles and nothing but low laying clouds and some wet conditions. About the 23 mile mark we get rain....then snow...then comes the mud. Having never driven these roads I wasn't expecting the clay mud or the depth of it. We get to the 30mile mark and come upon a stretch of about 1/4 mile of deep deep watery clay...down pour and snow set in and things get hairy. We make it about 49 miles in, we've spent half tank of gas and the ground is SOAKED no traction and pitch black conditions. We decided for safety sake to pull off and camp in the back of the xterra. It's about 2am we're 50miles in and it clears up, stars shining bright, we take it all in.
Next morning we wake up and set out to head back to mesquite as the roads were still too dangerous to attempt alone...
This trip while only about 15hours total. Was a learning experience...being prepared to handle weather and trails isn't easy, knowing when to call it..isn't easy, understanding that adventure isn't always about the end point but the road to it, is learned along the way.
Here's some pics from the drive back.
Can't wait to make the whole drive in safer conditions!
December 31st I got off work at 5:30 pm, headed home to load up the xterra.... offline gps set up and trail mapped out we set off around 7:30 for mesquite. Along the short hour drive there it began to rain, this had me nervous for a few reasons:
1. We've never done this drive
2. We were alone (people had our trip itinerary and emergency service numbers)
3. Of all the reading about this trip the number one thing was to be cautious during wet weather.
As we pull into mesquite to fill up and check fluids, it rains a little more.. we discuss the dangers of the weather and decide to press on till we feel it gets unsafe.
9:30PM ish- we get on trail (oh yeah this is all at night. I get it isn't the most safe thing to do but we are experienced and have food and water for 5 days on board so we felt ok)
We push the first 20miles and nothing but low laying clouds and some wet conditions. About the 23 mile mark we get rain....then snow...then comes the mud. Having never driven these roads I wasn't expecting the clay mud or the depth of it. We get to the 30mile mark and come upon a stretch of about 1/4 mile of deep deep watery clay...down pour and snow set in and things get hairy. We make it about 49 miles in, we've spent half tank of gas and the ground is SOAKED no traction and pitch black conditions. We decided for safety sake to pull off and camp in the back of the xterra. It's about 2am we're 50miles in and it clears up, stars shining bright, we take it all in.
Next morning we wake up and set out to head back to mesquite as the roads were still too dangerous to attempt alone...
This trip while only about 15hours total. Was a learning experience...being prepared to handle weather and trails isn't easy, knowing when to call it..isn't easy, understanding that adventure isn't always about the end point but the road to it, is learned along the way.
Here's some pics from the drive back.
Can't wait to make the whole drive in safer conditions!
