A (San Rafael) Swell TR

[SCM]

Hi All. I thought some of you may appreciate a trip report from the southwest to help extend (at least mentally) the summer travel season. I also wanted to invite you to share in the celebration of my first long distance trip (about 1700 round trip) with my Westy.

Wifey and I have spend a lot of time in southern UT and CO on mountain biking/camping trips. Once we "discovered" Vanagon Westies we knew that we would aspire to use one for these trips. When we bought ours, I told my wife that "it will be a few years before we get it sorted for a southwest mountain biking trip".

Sure enough, 3.5 years later we found ourselves on the edge of Goodwater Canyon in the San Rafael Swell outside of Price Utah. I think the only reason this isn't a National Park is because UT already has a bunch of other ones.

There's a sweet 17 mile single track bike/hike trail around the canyon.

The left side of my neck got stiff from constantly looking at the scenery.
The plushness of the Westy bed was sure a nice change from the ol' sleeping pad and tent that I had been used to. There are only 8 designated campsites around the canyon. This one was one of only 2 available when we showed up on Sunday night. Not too shabby though.

The drive from this site to I-70 dropped us down through Buckhorn Wash, past a cool pictograph panel, and through some beautiful country. We got the best mileage ever in our van (19 mpg. We averaged about 15.5 over the course of the trip - the curse of the auto-trans).

From there it was over to the Rabbit Valley - right on the border of UT and CO. This is a campsite we stumbled on years ago and decided against trying to drive our Jetta to due to some clearance issues. It felt supremely gratifying to have the Westy up there in full camp mode. Notice the solar shower - no privacy issues in these parts.

Last stop was the 18 Road trails to the east - after a quick visit to the Palisade Distillery to "refuel". Many MTB riders know of this spot and there's really no reason to go otherwise - the same cool scenery can be had elsewhere in the area.

A great trip! The van ran perfectly with never a hint of needing attention to get us home. Although I may soon be ordering TK's heater core shut off valve or similar solution to the issue of having heat when I don't want it. Also need to give the brakes some attention. I'm a hero to wifey for getting the van in shape for this kind of trip. I hope to reap those reward this evening. Sorry, no more photos.
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'91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine

[singler3360]

Thanks for The Swell post.

[IdahoDoug]

Excellent report n great photos! Looking forward to getting out myself w bikes n my wife!!
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader