Jackson Hole

hatchcanyon

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May 29, 2013
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Not to cause confusion.... this is not Wyoming!

The Moab area has its own "Jackson Hole" named after a John Jackson, an early pioneer cattleman. Actually it is a rincon of the Colorado River. And its most important feature is rock redness. At least partially.

Lets start im Moab. Kane Creek Blvd on the south bank of the Colorado River, later the name changes to Kane Springs Road. Pavement ends earlier and the road up to Hurrah Pass is no longer a graveled one. Simply dirt and some minor rocks.

After driving over the summit the trail is named Lockhart Basin Rd and we will use it to travel down the western slopes of Hurrah Pass. After a little less than 3 miles from the summit the trail crosses a shallow wash (12S 0617875, 4258725) The main trail goes straight, the right one into the wash leads to Jackson Hole.

Years ago a so called "Camelot Adventure Lodge" had some buildings down there and at first it looks like that the trail ends there, but there is a detour to circumvent this private property. After taht you can't go wrong, there is only one trail.

Therefore it is not necessary to bore you with a trail description for this easy stretch. You have co come back the same way.

The landscape is impressive! Red, dark red and brown hues are mixed together, green is sparse. (Except on the Colorado River bank, wher the trail ends.) A number of pictures:

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Jackson Hole Trail - Hurrah Pass in a distance

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Anticline Overlook high above on top of the cliffs

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Rocks, simply rocks!

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The real Jackson Hole - a rincon

There must be a faint trail around the mesa in the middle. We tied it a short distance with our Hummer H3, but did not the whole thing.

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One of the legs of the circumventing trail

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Circumventing trail and a power pole on the brink of Amasa Back. The transmission line powers Potash Mine.

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A rock with a hole

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The helmet

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Aliens?

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We have been to Chicken Corners, which, to our standards, gets definitely rougher a while after Hurrah Pass.
On the way back we had a quick look at the Lockhart Road and decided that, from this side, it is not for us.

Is the road to Jackson Hole (i.e. right turn at 2) comparable to the road to Chicken Corners or is it worse?
Do you know anything about the road that Wells mentions on his map as "Alternate route with nice views of the river"?
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We have been to Chicken Corners, which, to our standards, gets definitely rougher a while after Hurrah Pass.
On the way back we had a quick look at the Lockhart Road and decided that, from this side, it is not for us.

The road conditions to Lockhart Basin vary from year to year. We made it through in 1993 with a simple first generation Ford Explorer, couldn't do it in the early 2000nds with a Chevrolet Blazer. Some pictures

Is the road to Jackson Hole (i.e. right turn at 2) comparable to the road to Chicken Corners or is it worse?
Do you know anything about the road that Wells mentions on his map as "Alternate route with nice views of the river"?
View attachment 23416

The road to Jackson hole is comparatively easy except if you try to circumvent the central mesa of the rincon itself. But I don't know about any alternative route to Chicken Corner. I have a first and a second edition of the Wells, both don't describe at a first glance any alternatives. What is your source of information?

Be careful, Wells is not always right.
 
The map i attached is from Wells 1st Ed. The text in the book mentions that the right turn at the point marked 02 is the Jackson Hole Road.
On that map a wee bit further, just after what is marked as "toughest" spot, there is an additional road that gets close to the river marked as "Alternate route with nice views of the river", it seems to rejoin the Chicken Corners trail after about a mile or so.
That's the road i meant. Wells doesn't mention it at all in the text.
 
Everything changes year to year fast down there. One year went the entire Kane Creek, piece of cake, two years later I thought I'd die trying to get up the hill out of the wash..... haven't been down past Hurrah to Lockhart tho.
 
The map i attached is from Wells 1st Ed. The text in the book mentions that the right turn at the point marked 02 is the Jackson Hole Road.
On that map a wee bit further, just after what is marked as "toughest" spot, there is an additional road that gets close to the river marked as "Alternate route with nice views of the river", it seems to rejoin the Chicken Corners trail after about a mile or so.
That's the road i meant. Wells doesn't mention it at all in the text.

Oh I see!

Have never recognized a second trail there, but at a time 20 years ago with less knowledge we might have been there. Seems to me if then it was not that impressive. At least I don't remember something special. But this is a long time
 
Maybe we will check it out next trip in case we get an acceptable 4WD
 
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