ZafaRi2001

I have wanted to do the White Rim Trail ever since I heard about it. The trail is a nearly 100 mile long 4wd loop in Canyonlands National Park that largely follows the rim overlooking the Colorado River on the east side and the Green River on the west side. Above the rim of the trail, are cliffs that tower overhead in the distance, so that the trail is the middle plateau of sorts in the midst of a huge canyon system.
	The White Rim Trail did not disappoint me. The beauty and remoteness of the area was astounding. We stopped quite frequently to look at the many beauties surrounding us. We took one short side trip to a Colorado overlook on the first day, and stayed a fair while at Musselman Arch. We were all pretty amazed by the arch, as it was quite thin in the middle. Our next side trip on the first day down Lathrop Canyon. The trail was first used by cattleman to water their livestock, but later was used by the Uranium miners. The trail goes through some beautiful canyon country before ending at the Colorado River. Although the temperature was rising, no one opted for a swim. Since the area somewhat crowded due to it's small size, we headed back up the road to a nice shady spot for lunch. After leaving the Colorado River, Steve took the lead for the rest of the trip. I was more than happy to finally relinquish the lead position and take a place at the very back of the pack. It gave me the freedom to go my own pace and stop more often for pictures.
I also let Jeff drive for a little while. I'm sure that didn't last as long as he would have liked, but I don't like being a passenger in my own truck, and I'm not very good at it either. Jeff was doing a good job, but I felt like my truck was getting beat up, even though I probably do things that are harder on it.
	Our next and last side trip of the day was a spur trail to White Crack, which is a place where uranium miners blasted a route through the White Rim to gain access to the area below, and the river. We then made our way to our camp sites at Murphy's Hogback. On the way several big horn sheep crossed the road in front of us, adding to the splendor of the journey. The final climb was definitely the toughest section on the entire trail, and everyone used 4-lo to surmount it. Our camp sites were immediately after the climb, which was a welcome sight. It had been a fairly long day on the trail, despite the many stops. We had Murphy A and B, with myself and two other vehicles in A, and the other two vehicles in B. Site A was definitely the better of the two, as it had a much better view. It also had a fantastic large rock right out near the edge of the cliff that Jeff, Eric and I chose to sleep on that night. That was probably the best sleep I'd had.
Once we got set up that evening, I went over to the edge of the canyon and just sat in silence for a couple of hours. I really needed the opportunity to relax. Planning ZafaRi2001 and the frenzy of getting things done before ZafaRi2001 really put the bite on me. That night, a few people started a little dance before everyone gathered around the citronella candles that Eric and Rick had brought (no wood fires allowed on the White Rim Trail) and talked.

If you're in the Tucson area, drop me a line and we can go wheelin' sometime.

Speaking of which, if you own a Highrider/ZR2/BlaZeR2, or want to find out more about the best little 4X4's around, check out these great sites:

http://www.zr2.com and http://www.zr2hr.org

There is also a ZR2 discussion group, which is very fun for talking about our special trucks and in getting ideas, help, and useful information. I have learned a great deal from the list. You can join by sending an e-mail to mailto:zr2@zr2hr.org with the word "SUBSCRIBE" (without the quotes) in the subject line.

ENJOY!

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