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White Rim in a Day

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#21 ·
The White Rim is white sandstone... not granite. :)

The other thing I'm curious about - are there some logistical issues with parking the cars at the BOTTOM of Mineral Bottom? I always hear of people finishing the WRIAD with the climb out of MB. Why would anyone do that if you could park at the river? :confused:
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
honkinunit said:
All good things must come to an end, apparently. NPS is proposing that one day use of White Rim be a permitted activity, with a limit of 50 bicycles per day. This means gauging the weather and road conditions and choosing your day will be a thing of the past. You'll have to scramble for a permit on a specific day, and go with what you can get. Oh, and pay extra $$$$$.

NPS proposes permit system for White Rim and Elephant Hill - Moab Sun News: News
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I saw this a few days ago. It looks like there is a lot of opposition against this plan. I obviously hope that this new rule does not go into effect. The simplicity of planning a trip like this without much notice is the beauty of it.
 
Discussion starter · #23 ·
SkaredShtles said:
The White Rim is white sandstone... not granite. :)

The other thing I'm curious about - are there some logistical issues with parking the cars at the BOTTOM of Mineral Bottom? I always hear of people finishing the WRIAD with the climb out of MB. Why would anyone do that if you could park at the river? :confused:
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Thanks for the clarification.

There are no logistical issues that I am aware of regarding parking at the bottom. We opted not to park at the bottom so that we could take in some of the final views while on the last climb. The idea of climbing that road in the dark, first thing in the morning seemed like a bummer so we decided against it.
 
#24 ·
drmurrow said:
Thanks for the clarification.

There are no logistical issues that I am aware of regarding parking at the bottom. We opted not to park at the bottom so that we could take in some of the final views while on the last climb. The idea of climbing that road in the dark, first thing in the morning seemed like a bummer so we decided against it.
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I've camped down at the bottom, near the campsite for the boat launch at Mineral Bottom. For a vision quest November 19, 2009, I set up camp with my popup truck camper, got myself up for a 5 AM departure and started out with the Horsethief Bench climb and the Mineral Bottom road. Dropped into Shaffer just at sunrise.

I rode the whole lap seeing only a park ranger actually riding counter-clockwise on a bicycle. I finished just as dusk was coming on, got back to the camper just in time to not need the lights I had with me.

My pack was the size of a german shepherd that day. The photos I use for my blog heading came from that day.

Team Velveeta?: WRIAD Nov 19, 2009
 
#25 ·
I've done it clockwise and counterclockwise and I think I'd rather do the mineral bottom climb than the Shafer climb whether it's to start out of finish up. I'm sure it's all mental because they're probably not all that different as far as statistics go, but I enjoy climbing Mineral and Shafer just kicks my as$
 
#26 ·
zrm said:
I've done it clockwise and counterclockwise and I think I'd rather do the mineral bottom climb than the Shafer climb whether it's to start out of finish up. I'm sure it's all mental because they're probably not all that different as far as statistics go, but I enjoy climbing Mineral and Shafer just kicks my as$
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First time I did WRIAD in 2007 I parked where the Mineral Bottom Road meets the highway. Then I took off up the highway and dropped into Shaffer to do CW. Climbing Horsethief at the end wasn't bad, but that 11 or 12 miles of constant false flat with nothing to look at up Mineral Bottom sawked.

It just happened I also documented that day:

Team Velveeta?: White Rim in a day

Finishing with the Shaffer climb is tough (I've done that too), but that Mineral Bottom road can be a soul-sucking beeatch. I think I'd choose Shaffer compared to finishing where I did that time or at the ranger station. At least Shaffer is beautiful while you suffer.

EDIT: Correction. What I've been calling Horsethief Bench is actually known as the Horsethief Switchbacks. Not to be confused with Fruita's Horsethief Bench.
 
#27 ·
TomP said:
...What I've been calling Horsethief Bench is actually known as the Horsethief Switchbacks. Not to be confused with Fruita's Horsethief Bench.
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For clarity on this Horsethief Switchbacks .vs Horsethief Bench deal:

On topo maps you can see that the whole area is all Horsethief. Mineral Bottom is actually around a mile north of where the switchbacks reach the bottom. The road from the White Rim goes into Horsethief bottom and then climbs out on the switchbacks.

The road is probably called the Mineral Bottom Road because for years it's been how boaters have gotten down to the Green River to the Mineral Bottom boat ramp to launch for Grand Canyon trips.

Image


Click for full-size map:
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=977009&d=1427726715

(Back in the cowboy days, SE Utah and Western CO must have been lousy with horse thieves.)
 
#32 ·
TomP said:
For clarity on this Horsethief Switchbacks .vs Horsethief Bench deal:

On topo maps you can see that the whole area is all Horsethief. Mineral Bottom is actually around a mile north of where the switchbacks reach the bottom. The road from the White Rim goes into Horsethief bottom and then climbs out on the switchbacks.

The road is probably called the Mineral Bottom Road because for years it's been how boaters have gotten down to the Green River to the Mineral Bottom boat ramp to launch for Grand Canyon trips.

Image


Click for full-size map:
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=977009&d=1427726715

(Back in the cowboy days, SE Utah and Western CO must have been lousy with horse thieves.)
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Correct. Mineral bottom is a popular launch for Stillwater canyon and Cataract (not Grand, you gotta go the length of Foul Reservoir to do that, wish I could have done Glen Canyon) and take out for labyrinth canyon.
 
#33 ·
The two times I've done it we parked at the top of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks and started with the heinous washboard climb to the Hwy when we did it clockwise or at the top of the Shafer and started with the heinous washboard from hell when we did it counter clockwise. There's a perverse aesthetic to finishing a ride like WRIAD with a grueling climb as long as it's a beautiful one. That section of road to Mineral bottom is one of my most hated pieces of road anywhere. Might as well get it out of the way in the dark. If I were to do WRIAD again, I might cheat and shuttle that section, leave a car at the to of the switchbacks and one at the top of Shafer.
 
#35 ·
SkaredShtles said:
...Why would anyone do that if you could park at the river? :confused:
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There's actually a quite lovely place to camp at-large down there. If you take the fork over to Mineral Bottom, you'll see the campground/boat ramp. In season it will be lousy with boater dirtbags. Make sure not to mix with them if you haven't had your shots.

Just about the time you get to the boat ramp, a very good road goes off to the right, up into a Canyon (coincidentally, it's called Mineral Canyon). You can go pretty far up in there, or you can just go far enough to be out of earshot of the partiers at the boat ramp.

For people who would like to experience the White Rim without getting a permit, it's helpful to understand that when you get to the Horsethief Switchbacks you aren't in the National Park yet. It's BLM land and you can camp at-large. The Parks boundary is maybe two miles south from Horsethief Bottom (bottom of switchbacks). There are not great places to camp along that stretch of road closer to the Park Boundary--Mineral Bottom/Mineral Canyon is about the best.

EDIT: to get to Mineral Bottom you do not need a 4x4. A Prius could make it. The switchbacks have some steep places, but the road surface is more or less smooth. I once saw a clapped out Dodge Neon with 5 people in it sliding the corners on the way down. I was amused, my GF was horrified (she was insisting that I keep both hands on the wheel and eyes straight ahead).

EDIT #2: don't try to take your Prius into the Park. The road is pretty good at first, but eventually you'll hit beach sand then some steeper and rubbly -er road. Set up camp and then ride into the Park. Making it to at least Candlestick is pretty easy, and when you're there you get some of the huge overlooks.
 
#36 ·
TomP said:
EDIT: to get to Mineral Bottom you do not need a 4x4. A Prius could make it. The switchbacks have some steep places, but the road surface is more or less smooth. I once saw a clapped out Dodge Neon with 5 people in it sliding the corners on the way down. I was amused, my GF was horrified (she was insisting that I keep both hands on the wheel and eyes straight ahead).

EDIT #2: don't try to take your Prius into the Park. The road is pretty good at first, but eventually you'll hit beach sand then some steeper and rubbly -er road. Set up camp and then ride into the Park. Making it to at least Candlestick is pretty easy, and when you're there you get some of the huge overlooks.
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Actually, if it rains or there is snowmelt on the switchbacks or the road back to 313, you not only need a 4x4, but you need damn good tires, too. I still have mud caked on the underside of my Jeep, 18 months after coming up out of there after some snow had melted. We drove my Jeep on the Potash Road which was completely dry, and went around White Rim; the road got progressively worse as the morning went on, because there had been unexpected snow the night before on the higher sections, and it was melting. By the time we got to Murphy's, the road was goo, and turning around wasn't going to make things any better. We forged on, but if I hadn't been running brand new BFG Mud Terrains and had lockers, we would have been stuck. The worst part was the Mineral Bottom/ Horsethief road from the top of the switchbacks back to 313. It was literally 6 inches deep with wet adobe. I had to straddle the crown to keep from sliding off into the ditch.

I don't know how much rain it would take to make the road like that again, but I have been on the Blue Hills road about 10 miles north of there after a standard summer rain, and I had trouble in my 4Runner with good tires.
 
#37 ·
honkinunit said:
Actually, if it rains or there is snowmelt on the switchbacks or the road back to 313, you not only need a 4x4, but you need damn good tires, too. I still have mud caked on the underside of my Jeep, 18 months after coming up out of there after some snow had melted. We drove my Jeep on the Potash Road which was completely dry, and went around White Rim; the road got progressively worse as the morning went on, because there had been unexpected snow the night before on the higher sections, and it was melting. By the time we got to Murphy's, the road was goo, and turning around wasn't going to make things any better. We forged on, but if I hadn't been running brand new BFG Mud Terrains and had lockers, we would have been stuck. The worst part was the Mineral Bottom/ Horsethief road from the top of the switchbacks back to 313. It was literally 6 inches deep with wet adobe. I had to straddle the crown to keep from sliding off into the ditch.

I don't know how much rain it would take to make the road like that again, but I have been on the Blue Hills road about 10 miles north of there after a standard summer rain, and I had trouble in my 4Runner with good tires.
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That's very true, good point. Weather is super important any time you're taking to dirt around Moab. It takes quite a bit of rain to saturate the clay, but once that happens it truly is mostly impassable. I've heard of people being stuck on flat ground with a 4x4 on the Mineral Bottom Road.

If it's rainy/snowy or there's rain/snow in the forcast don't leave pavement inside the Island in the Sky district. And if it starts to precip, get yo' azz out quick like.
 
#38 · (Edited)
After many WRIAD trips I have settled on starting at the top of Mineral Bottom climb and rolling clockwise as my preferred route . Typically start early like zrm and get the 10 miles of road out of the way in the dark or semi-light. Hit the park entrance just before 8:AM and drop into Schaffer.

Did this last Wednesday the 25th with a great headwind almost the entire ride. The sand from Hardscrabble climb to the base of Mineral Bottom was sublime. The Mineral Bottom road in the AM was like riding pavement.
 
#39 ·
32x18 said:
After many WRIAD trips I have settled on starting at the top of Mineral Bottom climb and rolling counter clockwise as my preferred route . Typically start early like zrm and get the 10 miles of road out of the way in the dark or semi-light. Hit the park entrance just before 8:AM and drop into Schaffer.

Did this last Wednesday the 25th with a great headwind almost the entire ride. The sand from Hardscrabble climb to the base of Mineral Bottom was sublime. The Mineral Bottom road in the AM was like riding pavement.
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isn't that clockwise?

props to the guys that did it on cross bikes. that's painful.

knocked it out on sunday with a strong SW wind the whole way. the sand ~5 miles from the end was pretty crushing, and then finishing it out with the climb up mineral bottom was ridiculous. seriously, who likes finishing a ride like that? gashed a 1.5" hole in my rear sidewall at mile 68 too. basically as a remote a spot as you can get, and hadn't seen anyone in 10 miles. good thing for carrying duct tape and multiple spare tubes (popped the first one i put back in). was nerve wracking knowing if something else happened or the tire split further i'd be pretty screwed.
 
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