Hole in the Rock

Hole in the Rock trip

May 12-15, 2011

We went on 4 day trip to Hole in the Rock off-road trail in southern Utah. The trip was inspired from reading the book, Undaunted by Gerald Lund. Several of us wanted to go see the trail the pioneers took in some of the most rugged country in the U.S. Koby's dad wanted to come as well but couldn't make it due to an arm injury.


We set out on Thursday but didn't get very far before our first tire incident. With a lot of luck and blessings, Koby was able to figure out who to get our trailer to stop rubbing on our wheel, change out the wheel, and get us back on the road.



We finally pulled in to Monticello, Utah in the evening. We enjoyed a good swim and went to bed.

Friday we had a late start getting out. The group consisted of us, Koby's two brothers, Chris and Rhett and their families. We didn't' have much time to find a few landmarks such as some Indian cliff ruins but we finally got to the trail.

Then the 2nd flat tire incident occurred. Rhett decided not to worry about this tire until we finished our trip.

We headed out!

One Lexus SUV

One suped up Jeep

A motorcycle

An ATV

and 3 kids, all geared up with suckers, in our "truck".

And then....

Our 3rd flat tire incident. This one was on Chris' vehicle so by now, each family group had experienced a flat tire. I was wondering if it was a sign and that we should all head back.

I took a TON of pictures to document our adventure since it was turning into quite an adventure!

Maren was determined to have a sucker, binkie and rock in her hands.

We finally found a camping spot as the last sunlight rays disappeared over the horizon.
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of our sweet camp setup.

The kids LOVED exploring and being with their cousins. I think they had a blast.

The second day on the trail, we got out late (again) and had to hurry through to the end so we could get back before dark. I was bummed we didn't get to see some of the landmarks and other things like the pioneer wagon wheel ruts and old wagon wheel. We did get to explore a few other spots though.

I was so amazed at how rugged the country was and that pioneers actually took a large wagon train and cattle herds through seemingly unpassable country. It was hard enough with 4 wheel drive vehicles!

Group shot above the San Juan. It was awe striking!

The country brought back memories of off-roading in Moab. It has been years since we were on the trail.... I had to get over the white knuckle areas all over again.

And Finally....

Hole in the Rock!!
There was a trail you hike to the bottom in order to get a closer look but we didn't have time. I had to zoom in to get a better look. It is the shadow in the rock... yes, hard to believe they brought wagons down that steep grade!!!

The kids, and not so little kids took time to goof off for a bit.

This is what kept Maren happy for all the car time.


We got back to camp at sunset, ate dinner and made smores. I even got a shower from Rhett and Marlo's sweet camp shower! It was really livin'!

The next day, we packed up our stuff, had a little Sunday devotional and set out on the trail again.
We got half way there..... and Rhett's jeep ran out of gas. Chris' family had already gone ahead and Rhett had gone ahead on his motorcycle to fix his trailer tire. That left us with Marlo and her family and our family. The best thing we could come up with was Koby taking the 4-wheeler and going out to get gas while Marlo, me and our kids hung out to wait.

We made some lunch, hung out at the cars but decided it was too hot and windy so we found some shade... about the only shade around.

We played Catch Phrase and hung out until Koby came back to rescue us.... 3 hours later! Whew, we were happy to get back on the road!

I didn't get a picture, but I got to drive the rest of the way back with Marlo, Maren, Kallie and cousin Luke in the truck. It was so fun! Again, long time since I got to drive off-roading.

Van with his "socks" on.

We loaded up the vehicles onto the trailers and headed home. We stopped off and got some dinner and finally got home at 2am. The ride home was probably the worst part of the trip because Maren couldn't sleep well and cried a lot. I was so exhausted that I could barely keep my eyes open but I forced myself to stay awake so Koby wouldn't doze off. We were so happy to climb into bed when we got home!

All in all, I thought the trip was really fun despite all the crazy occurrences. The weather was great, not to cold or too hot, the kids did really well, the food worked out and our camping gear worked properly. I hope to see the Hole in the Rock road, on other side of Lake Powell, sometime in the near future.