12/14 - 12/15 - Off Roading in Sand Hollow, Utah

It's been a long time since I did some harder off roading trails, so I was all for it when my good friend Nick from Rogue Overland invited us out to Sand Hollow State Park for 2 days of hard wheeling. Sand Hollow is in St. George and only about a 2 hour drive from Las Vegas so the plan was to meet up with the Vegas gang early Saturday morning, drive out, hit John's Trail Saturday then hit Sliplock Gulch the following day before driving back home. 

Day 1 - Saturday

Saturday morning started dark and early as we meet up at 0600 at the gas station but we rolled out on time and meet up with the group in St George a little ahead of schedule! If you've ever wheeled with the guys from Rogue Overland then you'll know that you don't want to be the one guy running late. The early drive out gave us a good chance to enjoy the sunrise! 

As we met up with the rest of the guys, we headed out to Sand Hollow State Park, aired down, and started rolling down John's Trail. This trail was only about 3 miles long but took most of the day. It was also a bit of a kick to my confidence as I haven't done a hard trail in awhile. It took me awhile to get settled back in! Thankfully for me, I had some experts with me who were patient with me as I figured out how to wheel some of the harder trails again. I felt a lot better by the end of the first day! 

There were a few maintenance issues amongst the group so I started taking the bypasses. There's no ego on the trail and if you're concerned, then take the easy way out! I knew the Bronco was more capable than me that day but I'm okay with it. At the end of the day, it's my daily driver and I didn't take too many risks. 

As they say, a picture is worth 1,000 words. That means a video is worth 1,000 pictures. Check out Rogue Overland's video here: Video

After the trail, Nick hosted us to a great dinner as we hung out around the fire. Perfect way to end the day! 

Day 2 - Sunday

Next day was Sliplock Gulch. It was a little longer at 9 miles but had very similar to terrain from the day before and was in the same area. Nick's wife, Vicky, sent us off that morning with home made sourdough and I put them in the Bronco engine bay to stay warm. After the day before, I felt a lot more comfortable this time around. However, this trail was pretty gnarly so I still took some of the bypasses but still had plenty of opportunities to get some good wheeling in! 

Near the end of the trail, we stopped for lunch so I popped the hood to see how Vicky's bread was doing. It was still warm and delicious! 

After lunch, we finished the rest of the trail, aired back up, and headed out different directions back home. Another great trip in the books! 

Files:

John's Trail

Sliplock Gulch