Another visit to Mexican Hat Rock and now in Moab area.

 Sunday, April 10

Today's ride was to see how much gear oil is being leaked out by the failing seal at the front of the Final Drive on Scarlett.  I rode perhaps 30 miles and it seemed to leak out more at speeds higher than 45 mph!  The drops that fall, stain the right side of the pusher wheel, making a bit of a mess.  Still, when I checked the dipstick afterwards, there wasn't an appreciable loss of fluid.  Hmmmm.  

I rode towards the Mexican Hat Rock area, choosing to explore some BLM land to the north of Mexican Hat Rock first.

Next I cruised down to Mexican Hat Rock itself and checked out the campsites to the rear of the main rock formation.

One of the smaller campsites I found behind

Mexican Hat Rock

Then, back to the front side, as that's where the sun was shining....mostly...whenever it could get past the gathering clouds.

Colorful rock formations visible from Mexican Hat

Rock's campsites.

As the skies became fully overcast, it got a bit chilly so I headed on back to camp.  I would spend the rest of the day reading inside the VRRV.

Monday, April 11

So there I was, just sitting outside after breakfast at my campsite in the Valley of the Gods (VOTG).  The plan had been to leave on Wednesday, which would have made it 13 nights in the VOTG.

The weather outlook was cool and overcast both for the area I was in and in Moab, UT as well, my next destination.  So, as I said I was sitting there....saw the tent and figured, what the heck pack it up now instead of during a forecasted chilly and windy day tomorrow.

One thing led to another, and pretty soon I was breaking camp!  I figured I'd travel today instead of Wednesday, so that I'd be all set up in the Moab area before the crappy weather got here.

I left the valley at around 10 AM I think, dumped tanks and took on water in Bluff, UT and then made my way without incident to Moab.  I cruised through the town's main drag and it was as crowded as ever.  Lots of Jeeps in evidence though, and it reminded me that I'd forgotten Martha's warning that it was Jeep week in Moab this week!

Oh well, at least the Willow Springs Road BLM area wasn't full like the last time I was in Moab.  There were some spaces remaining, especially further in from the highway.  The winds were blowing quite strongly, stirring up large clouds of sand and dust.

Found me a spot that was somewhat sheltered from the wind, somewhat level and with some distance between nearest neighbors.

I expect more Jeepers will be showing up tomorrow....the Jeep events run till the 17th.  Should be fine, I was done with the VOTG area and had almost reached the usual 14 day camping limit published by the BLM.