It’s in the San Rafael Swell in Utah. If you look close at the map below you will see I70 (red line) cutting left to right through the San Rafael Swell. Temple Mountain is south of I70, about half way to the bottom tip of the swell.
Source: Google Search Screen Capture
The swell is a beautiful geological formation of uplifting creating the swell. Along the swell north and south are canyons, many with wonderful hikes.
This post is about Exploring with Joanne in her Jeep with Susan and dog Cafe.
Source: Google maps App
Temple Mountain sits high above surrounding swell height and sticks out at a distance due to its white color.
What I didn’t know was there is a cut that goes through the swell that is a BLM road that is perfect for Jeep exploration.
Source: Google maps App
Joanne had asked for input on places to explore and by searching the maps for the area I found the BLM road through the base of a wash to the north side of Temple Mountain. Shown above using Google maps for routing our trip.
As you probably can tell, there is a lot of research and planning to exploration. Not to mention getting the weather right to avoid getting stuck.
Here we are driving the wash that cuts through the swell. It’s narrow and sandy then spots you need to climb rocks with the Jeep in 4x4 low. I always bring my backpack with plenty of water in case I was ever to hike out from getting stuck. There is no cell service in places like this. Joanne actually brings plenty of water, dried food and Jet Boil to cook it.
As we came though the wash to the other side of the swell we found this very tall hoodoo that was worth a stop.
Above is the rock face of the swell near Temple Mountain.
Our second stop off the side of Temple Mountain. My backpack on the ground. I sit with it between my legs in the front seat.
Above is Temple Mountain from the north side.
What you didn’t get to see is Joanne rock crawling with the Jeep along the base of Temple Mountain, as I walked the road and guided her over the rocks. In a couple places I put some good size rocks in place to prevent the Jeep from bottoming out.
As we drove west we gained elevation and we got to look back at the canyon we came through the swell, in the center of the photo.
As we drove west we gained elevation and we got to look back at the canyon we came through the swell, in the center of the photo.
Many of our drives included very bumpy, rutted, washboard roads. We will also do some with water crossings where Joanne gets out and surveys the way into and out of the river.
It’s all an adventure that takes hours and we all gain a great deal of satisfaction.
Why I live my adventures in the Southwest.
Brent
macaloney@hotmail.com
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