We’re back at it! We’ve done north-to-south and south-to-north in the state. How about west-to-east? This dream started when I visited the 3-corners monument (Nevada, Arizona, Utah) last year. I am very familiar with the 4-corners area and love hiking and riding over in San Juan County. Upon the visit to the 3-corners, I thought – we should ride from the 3-corners to the 4-corners across southern Utah. We’ll call it the “3 to 4 Corners Trail”. I knew the ride wouldn’t be a straight zip because of the geography of the Colorado River, Lake Powell, Capitol Reef National Park, and the Navajo reservation.
Nevertheless, I got to planning the route. After mapping it out, it would be just over 600 miles through some of the most remote parts of Utah.
Day 1:
Just outside of Colorado City our blue razor, driven by my two sons, blew a belt. It was completely destroyed into little pieces. We put a new belt on and continued into Cane Bed Road and the Barracks trail. Dropping into the river we hit our first major mud. We sent the blue razor first to test the river crossings, and on the exit of the first one we got it stuck in a mud bog. Our red razor had a winch so we winched it out pretty easily. For the rest of the 6 or 7 crossings, I walked ahead and scouted the entry, river, and exits of suitable routes. We made it out and into Mt Carmel Junction without any other troubles, other than wet and muddy shoes.
South on 89, we dropped into the Kanab Creek crossing and on to the Hog Canyon trail system. I love the sandy trails here! They are so fast and flowy. We exited into Johnson Canyon with only one mud bog adventure. The blue razor entered the mud with a lot of speed, and the muddy soup rushed up and over their frontend and coated the entire front of the machine in thick, sticky mud. Of course my boys loved it!
Before we headed into Nephi’s Pasture, my son remarked that the belt on the blue machine sounded funny. I took the machine for a spin, and yes, it felt funny. We took our chances and headed up towards Nephi’s Pasture. Not more than a mile in, the blue razor went into limp mode. We turned around and went back to Johnson Canyon road and pulled the belt. It was already missing some teeth after less than 100 miles. I took some time to inspect the clutches and noticed the secondary clutch was making a bunch of grinding noises. I knew at this point the secondary was probably toast. We put a new belt on and nursed our way up Johnson Canyon road instead of Nephi’s pasture and over on Skotumpha road towards our stop for the night in Cannonville. Once in Cannonville, we pulled the secondary clutch off and sure enough, out dropped pieces of the inner rollers and other debris. The clutch was toast!
We took an hour to discuss all of our options. We decided to put the blue razor on the trailer and continue on. We would rotate drivers the rest of the trip and continue on in Red Dog.
Our awesome chase crew had warm pizza ready for us and we ate it heartily, showered, and went to sleep.
Day 2:
Day two started out with my two sons driving the Red Dog towards Escalante. They stopped at Grosvenor Arch for a picture and soldiered on. The trail from the arch towards Escalante is slow going. But they arrived and we met up at the Phillips 66. We switched teams to my Dad and I. We drove the old Hells Backbone road through the pine forest. It was a nice break from the crazy heat. We met the chase crew outside of Boulder and continued driving to the entrance of Capitol Reef National Park. At the entrance, we trailed Red Dog, and my brave daughter drove us all down the Burr Trail switchbacks. (editor’s Note: SXS, even street licensed, are not allowed in any National Park in Utah and we respect that) Even without pulling a 26’ trailer, it’s a scary drive! But she kept us all safe and sound and we arrived down and drove south to outside the park, where we unloaded Red Dog. We sent my mom and daughter away on the razor to hunt for petrified wood while we drove down the Burr Trail road to the Bullfrog Creek crossing to check the conditions. This is the crossing that skunked me a few weeks prior. This time the crossing had been freshly graded, but there was still plenty of water and mud. We made a conservative plan to get everything across – the red razor towed the broken blue razor across, while we drove the truck and empty trailer across. We knew the trailer would drag, so offloading the razor helped reduce the drag. Everything worked perfectly, and the red razor took off towards Ticaboo and the chase truck headed off as well. We met up at the Ticaboo Lodge, microwaved a bunch of noodles and passed out for the night.
Day 3:
Day three started with my sons heading north from Ticaboo into the Henry Mountains. I had modified the route to skip Poison Springs to the Flint trail because it is so remote. And with the dirty devil running high, I was worried about sending just 1 razor out. The chase truck continued towards the Hite bridge crossing. We stopped at a small slot canyon for a quick hike. As we got moving again, the red razor flew by on the highway. We were surprised to see them so early. We met up at the Hog Springs rest area to chat. The boys told us how they got two flats going down the Henry’s. Then there was a dry wash and in the process of crossing the river bed, a rock slammed into their rear wheel and busted the valve stem! I’m proud that my boys figured out a solution to keep the valve stem from leaking by rigging a shoe-lace around it! They made a good decision to cut some of the route off and head to the highway to look for us.
We don’t carry spares, so we sacrificed the blue razor wheels and put two of its tires on the rear of the red razor. The blue razor runs 32” tires, and the red runs 29”. So it was fun to see the red razor with 32’s in the back and 29’s up front.
Back on the road, we changed drivers at the bridge crossing the Colorado River at Hite. My dad and I hopped in and flew towards our finish line in Bluff. Elk Ridge road was a blast, and the drop down Comb Ridge was scary as ever. Everything worked great and we made it across the finish line in quick time.
We celebrated with a great steak in Blanding, followed by a quiet evening at the Desert Rose hotel in Bluff. Our logged mileage was 570 miles. I figure with a few route changes, we cut 40-50 miles off the original planned route.
Day 4:
In the morning, we hopped into the chase and my wife’s minivan and drove to the actual 4 corners monument. We didn’t razor here because just after Bluff you hit reservation land, and UTVs are not allowed off the main roads. We didn’t want to run the razors on the road the whole way, so we took the easy and air-conditioned trip in the chase.
All in all, this was an awesome trip. It was our most logistically challenging trip. It was also our longest by time (2 nights). It was disappointing that our blue razor unfortunately kept its reputation and broke down. I guess that’s what you get for having over 8000 miles on it. Our red razor continues to shine, running almost 3000 miles on its original belt. I am a little disappointed in it’s Tusk Terrabites. We’ve now how 3 flats in under 1000 miles running them. Whereas, the ITP Coyotes we run on the blue razor have never had a flat in 8000 miles. After this trip, I’m trying out the 10 ply Terrabites on the blue razor, as well as dropping down to 30” tires, hoping to slow down the wear and tear on the drive train. For the riding we do, 32s are overkill anyways. We need reliability above all else. Coyotes aren’t available in 29”, so we’re sticking with Terrabites on the red razor for now.
The unique geography of Utah continues to amaze me. It’s hard to wrap your head around how hard it is to cross so many river drainages and canyons. I’m continually impressed with how the ancient people and our pioneer ancestors navigated such rough and unforgiving terrain.
Lastly, thank you to our reliable chase crew (my mom and daughter). They are expert truck and trailer drivers. They always welcome us with food and smiles when we’re done. Also shout-out to my 77 year old dad who tackles these adventures with me. He starts out each day with a goal to drive the first 100 miles, and always does it safely and swiftly. Even after a hip replacement earlier this year! And finally, my two sons are rock stars. I’m so thankful I get to spend this time with them.
Stay tuned for our next adventure. I’ve got a few different trips in the planning stages.
