Cornering Consciousness

Showing up in Moab at the start of the Jeep Jamboree in a Hummer H3 is excruciatingly similar to showing up at a Harley Rally with a Blackbird. Reconnecting with an old friend was the inspiration behind this trip, along with the potential to explore the iconic tracks of the area, but they were all closed unless you happened to be part of the Jamboree. We were not. And that was probably a good thing. We slabbed to Moab on a Friday and were duly awed by the last quarter of the trip, that part of I-70 that cuts through the seemingly uninundated parts of the La Sal National Forrest area and the tip of the San Rafael Swell. We'll be back to explore their vacant backroads. We were disturbed a bit though, not by the beautiful vistas, but by the H3 that would slam in and out of neutral whenever I opened the throttle at freeway speeds. The slamming subsided along 191 as we made the descent into Moab. Camping along the Colorado was the appeal for us, so we took 128 east and wound our...

Cornering Consciousness is a record of our travels, but it's also the point of our adventures - elevate our consciousness , take in the moments on the land, the water, the trails and the highway. We've gone through a few vehicles along the way - kayaks, motorcycles, mountain and road bikes, an old Miata, a Yukon, a tricked-out third generation Montero , and a Hummer H3 , but for the time being we've settled into a purpose-built generation 2.5 Mitsubishi Montero  with the Winter Package for overlanding. Check out our two-wheeled adventures at UTADV . The corners  range from off-road , four-wheel drive adventuring , to mountain bike trails , lakes and the Pacific Ocean ; from the Pacific Coast Highway to what we've dubbed the Grand Staircase Highway , from St. George to San Simeon , from Monument Valley to the  Valley of Fire to Yosemite to  Zion National Park , and dozens of secret spots in between. We're hoping you might find some inspiration from the...

Our neighboring town of Virgin is home to the greatest mountain biking trails in the world and that's not just hyperbole, Red Bull will back me up on this one. Posted is a sampling from the JEM trail system in that area.

I've never had it all, haven't even come close and I don't ever expect to. I would, however, like to have my cake and eat it, too. That's what today felt like as I worked out what used to be irreconcilable - traverse overland with a fifteen foot kayak. We've been navigating lakes and the Pacific in roto-molded sit-on-top kayaks by Ocean Kayaks and loved every moment of the decade they spent on top of our trucks and beneath our soggy bottoms. Even though we put the road miles on them from here to the coast, they'd make off-road adventure impossible. Often in our overlanding we'd come across a body of water and damn the fact that we didn't have a kayak on board. And then an ad popped up on my Facebook feed (good for something) for Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks, the pic of which was their convertible tandem. I clicked to see if this was something more than a pool toy and ended up watching every YouTube video I could find. I also spent a...

If you're a fan of the Red Bull Rampage you've seen the crazy trail descents near Virgin, Utah. There's a great trail system along the same range west of that venue that offers world-class mountain biking. It began as the JEM (John, Ellen & Mike - creators) and has evolved into a network of climbs, multiple terrain, switchbacks, cliff hugging traverses, and high-speed cruises, all in the shadows of Zion Canyon. The network includes Dead Ringer - 5.2 mile, the JEM - 6.9 miles or 15.8 mile loop with Goulds, the Cryptobionic - 3.3 miles, and Goosebump - 3.6 miles, and More Cowbell - 2.7 miles. The network creates a number of loops making for several days worth of combos.  This post deals mainly with Dead Ringer.  There are a number of access points, this one is a junction of the JEM and Dead Ringer trails. The Dead Ringer continues to the right beyond the sign in the above image, skirts and climbs the two prominent flat mesas in the background, popping up ...

Track Stats Distance: 55 mile out-and-back Trail Rating: Moderate - Requiring high-clearance four-wheel drive Climb: Approximately 1300 feet Highlights: The Honeymoon Trail, fossils, incredible vistas Map:  Honeymoon Trail Traverse of the Colorado Plateau The Traverse The Honeymoon Trail is a popular track through Warner Valley, up the Colorado Plateau and southeast to Pipe Springs where it continued on to Lee's Ferry and beyond. It was the route used by turn-of-the-century Mormons making the trek to the temple in St. George for, among other things, to get married. Hence the name. Chastity never came at such a high price, considering the terrain and obstacles presented along this trail, not the least of which is its traverse of the edge of the Colorado Plateau. I've wanted to scout the upper part of this trail before I engaged the climb below. And I'm glad I did. There are a couple of ways to access the graded road that leads to the Honeymoon Trail...