Fun in the San Rafael Swell

March 16, 2010 by J.B. Washburn

On Saturday the 13th of March, the Lone Peak 4 Wheelers held their monthly trail ride. We had 8 Jeeps and about 20 people total. Our chosen ride for this month was the Devil’s Race Track trail in the San Rafael Swell. We had heard stories about how much snow there was and were not sure how far we would make it, but the trip was on!

We met at the Sinclair gas station on the south side of Price, Utah at 8:30 AM and at 9:00 AM we headed south to Ferron. There we turned east and then south and decided we would stop and “air down” while we were still on dry roads!

Airing down is simply the process of letting some of the air out of the tires for a smoother ride and more traction. How much you go down depends on your rig and tire size as well as personal preference. I have a 1994 Jeep Cherokee with 33 X 12.50 X 15 tires and I air down to 15 pounds for most off-road adventures. So with everyone aired down, we headed southeast into the Swell. We had decided we would go past the turn-off to the Devil’s Race Track and go to Slipper Arch which is a great spot for lunch. We were pushing a lot of snow to get there, but finally did with my Jeep a little over heated. As I was the trail leader, I did most of the pushing!

So there we were at Slipper Arch – lunch time – great temperature plus blue sky and sunshine! By the time we finished eating, it was getting cloudy and several degrees cooler.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcsak1Laojc


After lunch we headed back to the Devil’s Race Track turnoff and the trail immediately heads up a steep hill with a switch back and there was easily 8-12 inches of snow. It was a struggle and we had to winch a couple of the Jeeps, but we finally got everyone up. We decided we would take turns leading and pushing the snow so no one vehicle would get too hot!


After a long tough struggle we arrived at what is called the Devil’s Spine (or Backbone). After doing quite a bit of hiking and discussing, we determined that the time had come to turn around. The Spine get very narrow and very technical and there is just no room for error and it was getting VERY late. A couple of us decided to do the “little” obstacle at the beginning of the Spine – just down and back up!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kexgHlsRGOc


Then we headed back with 8 of the muddiest Jeeps you could imagine! I finally got back home around 10:30 PM and several of our group had further to drive than I did. We have pictures and videos as well as great memories of our great adventure. We all agreed that it might be our only chance to see the Swell under those conditions. They say thereare places that have 2 feet of snow that haven’t seen snow in more than 20 years!