Bogley

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

With spring approaching the roads in the San Rafael Swell and Robbers Roost area can get "interesting". Here are a couple pictures of the Factory Butte road in less then ideal conditions.

As you can see from the pictures there is nothing for several miles in ANY direction that you can use to get un-stuck. You dig out with what is in the vehicle so go prepared.

Just for the record..... this is about 10 miles in on the Factory Butte Road. The road was in great condition and we were cruising along about 60 mph and came over a small rise just before the tee and the bottom fell out of the road. The best part about cruising at 60 mph is the car slides on the belly pan for a couple hundred yards through the mud before coming to a complete stop.

Fun, fun, fun....... :roll:

Mtnbiker · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 324

How on EARTH did you get out of there?? :roflol:

I went through a road like that a few weeks ago and after three trips to the car wash the mud is still caked 1" thick on the underside of my truck!

sure was fun while it lasted though.. fortunately we never got stuck like that :lol8:

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

It was ugly.... we had to dig out. It was 10" of wet concrete type mud. The mud was caused from dirt blowing over the road. The only good part was under the mud was a good all-weather dirt road used by a local mining company so we just had to dig two tracks out that were about 10" deep and 18" wide. The biggest problem with digging was our shovel consisted of a cooler with the lid ripped off.

I was pretty worried. The nearest paved road was a 15 mile hike. The nearest town (Hanksville) was an additional 15 miles after we reached the pavement. I figured it would take at least a day to hike out. Lucky we were able to dig out.

accadacca · Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 8055 Location: 1n73rw3b

Not a good place for that little Corolla. :lol8: I took my Prius to the swell and it wasn't bad. But I wont take it back....it's a freakin' low rider. :roll:

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

accadacca wrote: Not a good place for that little Corolla.

That was my thought..... exactly..... as we were sliding through the mud on the belly pan :roll:

Sombeech · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 13012 Location: The Rubbish Bin

so did you end up hitting the canyon?

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

This was the first time I tried for Cable and didn't make it. Later in the day we were able to do Five Mile in Capitol Reef.

marc olivares · Joined: 19 Jun 2005 Posts: 614 Location: sugarhouse

me and a few buddies did buckskin gultch via wire pass last spring, it had rained pretty hard a few days before we got there and the road was, as the sign says "impassible when wet".
(3) landrovers w/ 33" mud tires and lockers all buried up to the axles.
we put the winches to some good use that day. i was wiped out before we even go to the trail head...
note to self "impassible when wet" means just that... :haha:

Sombeech · Joined: 09 Dec 2004 Posts: 13012 Location: The Rubbish Bin

Man, that really sucks. I have a tendancy to really get depressed when things go wrong on trips like that.

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

marc olivares wrote: we put the winches to some good use that day.

You would have been hosed at Factory Butte..... there was nothing to winch to. I was thinking about this after and the only thing that might have worked was some type of a deadman anchor.....

Just look at the pictures..... nothing.... of miles, not even a stick or rock.

Scott P · Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 1800

On a different note, have you ever done canyons when they are filled with that stuff? Yeck.

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

I did Leprechaun once when it was filled with slimy mud.

The scary part was the section below the junctions had chest deep quicksand. I stepped into it and thought I was a goner. The really scary part was my kids were with me and the quicksand was over their heads!

This was quicksand like you see in the old African movies. I noticed it was caused by the water flowing over a chokestone and liquifying the sand below. Kind of like a giant pothole filled with a a mixture of sand and water. It was really hard to escape and I think could have been deadly for midgets.

.

accadacca · Joined: 02 Dec 2004 Posts: 8055 Location: 1n73rw3b

Iceaxe wrote: I think could have been deadly for midgets.
:lol8: :lol8: :lol8:

Kyrell · Joined: 26 May 2005 Posts: 132 Location: Salt Lake City

About 12 years ago I got my truck stuck up to the axles in the "Muddy" on our way out to the Factory Butte road. We were out of food and ill prepared for the night we spent in the mud. It's amazing how you can stretch a can of tuna and some power bars between five people. :haha:

Fortunately, we were able to hitch a ride the next morning into Goblin Valley and get some assistance. My truck never ran the same after that. From then on I learned to always expect the unexpected.

I've got some pics of that fateful weekend I'll have to dig up and post. I laugh about it now but at the time, I was really worried.

Iceaxe · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 7963 Location: Local Bordello

We stuck a Jeep to the axles in the Muddy. We built a dam around the Jeep to keep the river away. We were then able to jack up the Jeep and place rocks under the tires so we could drive it out. I know a bunch of people who have stuck vehicles in the Muddy.