'Nite Run'
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Trip Leader--Hobo Willy
On an early Friday evening around 6:30pm May 27th, we set out from camp and headed north on Hwy 191 towards the Sevenmile Rim trailhead. This was the second night run leading this trail, and when it gets dark, was a challenge to explore. I had my trusty 'Wells' Moab book, and was following the turns every way. Only problem was, I was doing the trip backwards from the book, so a bit tricky. I wanted to run it this way to be able to see a lot of the turns and the many scenic Buttes and Towers of this farthest most northern of Moab trails.
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Cool Air Photo of Sevenmile Rim Trail area (Zoom in or out, use Topo to see the trail) |
With myself (& Molly) as Trip Leader were Hobos: Paul Weisz & son Brett (CJ7), Jeff Simmons (CJ7), Pete Rameriz (TJ), and Scott 'MadMax' Maxwell & Son Tom (TJ). Heading north out of camp a few miles away, I took a few wrong turns to find the east end of the trail. Once I found it we were up on slickrock and ledges climbing onto SevenMile Rim. The scenery around there was beautiful! With sunset at 8:30pm, the low sunlight was shining off the sandstone cliffs.
I followed white markings on the slickrock. It was taking us south towards them, so I stayed on it. Once the sun and dusk was gone, it became harder to find my way.
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A break before it gets dark... |
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As darkness approaches, the towers silhouette the sunset... |
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Pete is all lit up.. |
Now on track (Sevenmile Rim Trail-with painted strip), we headed south towards and around Corral Canyon. Staying east, we followed the rim to a turnoff to check out Uranium Arch at night. With the sunlight gone and dusk fading, the lights went on. I was able to find the Rim trail to follow it to the edge with a great view of Hwy 191 & 313 below. We lined up, and shined all of our lights out to the highway. We shined all our lights out to the busy highway, wonder what that looked like?? With a nice cool breeze (remember, the days are toasty 90's), we moved on along the rim. Now the 'nite run' navigation skills (or lack of) kicked in.
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Gatta love nite runs.. |
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Shining our lights off towards Moab.. |
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Group Photo at the Rim (left to right): Pete, Julie, Paul, Brett, Kim, Jeff, Bill, Scott, & Tom... |
The Sevenmile Rim Trail in the book looked pretty simple once we hit the rim. Just follow it. Except, there were many side roads to viewpoints. So the key was to look for the painted strips. Once on them, we knew we were on the main trail. But just as quickly, they disappear, and a rock cairn leads you down the wrong path.
Finally, going off a rough map from the 'Wells' Moab book, we found some sandy roads off the rim that headed north and eventually the main road on the north side to the highway back to Hwy 191. We got back to camp a few minutes before midnight! A fun 'nite run'! The trail was challenging, the temps cool, and the views spectacular! Great trip with great friends is what it's all about! Next trail in 8 hours??---ahhhh, Moab!!
Storyline, web design, and captions by:
Bill Hallinan HoboJeepers
Here are some other Sevenmile Rim Trip reports:
Sevenmile
Rim Trail
2003 by HoboJeepers:
Sevenmile Rim Trail by Flatlander:
http://www.4x4now.com/mtsmr.htm
Sevenmile Rim Trail by Red Rock 4Wheelers:
http://www.utah.com/offroad/sevenmile_rim.htm
Sevenmile Rim Trail by 4x4u.com:
http://www.4x44u.com/pub/k2/am4x44u/trails/moab/mt005.htm
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