Here are some pictures that were provided by Joe Ruby, a good friend of mine from the Phoenix area. Aside from off-roading with our Jeeps, we also share another hobby, that being ham radio (his callsign is KC7GHT). Come to think of it, I guess we both kind of like to use digital cameras, GPS receivers, and laptops equipped with topo mapping software (http://www.OziExplorer.com) too. Anyway, here are just a few of the thousands (yes, I did say thousands) of photos that Joe has accumulated during his off-road travels. These were taken this summer (1999) while he was spending “quality time” with his Jeep in Utah (a couple of trips worth, which ran about 6 weeks).
The Paraia River Canyon Jeep Trail (Southern Utah)
Joe told me: “This canyon is 26 miles long and full of quicksand. We never knew for sure if we were driving the Jeeps into quicksand or solid (wet) ground for the whole 14 hour trip. We could see waves in the sand move out from under our feet (or tires) for several feet as we passed over some spots. I had nightmares that night after we finally got out of the canyon safely. Three days before there was a flash flood (a three foot high wall of water) and a backpacker told us she was on the canyon rim and anyone down in the bottom would only have 2 seconds to get to high ground before the wavefront would strike!”
A side cayon that takes off from the Paria River canyon.
This is a shot of the famous Hole-in-the-Rock (Southern Utah), where the Mormon explorers lowered their wagons and about 250 people down 1000 vertical feet to the Colorado. It is now a famous Jeep trail.
I believe the next 3 shots are of Widow Maker Hill, near the Moab, Utah area. This shot is out of the window of Joe’s Jeep.
I guess his Jeep was getting tired here so he pulled it up short, set the parking brake, and hopped out to take this picture. Needless to say, you can see the “footprints” of a lot of previous travelers on the surface of this rock.
Well, there you have it. I have to give Joe credit for hiking all the way back down to the bottom just so he could take a picture of his Jeep at the top. Way to go Joe!