Utah 4Wheeler Trails - Looping The Chair

Immediately after the Car Park, the road climbs abruptly to reach an elevated bench land. Roped along a series of "dugways" and upward-tilting strata, the trail calls for careful work in Low range. It slips by ravines nipping at the deteriorating shoulders and dodges rocks that have tumbled to the roadbed from rocky slopes above. The going was slow as the trucks grinded along the side of the escarpment. This portion of the loop passes the closest to the towering heights of Jacob's Chair itself, and its colorful slopes displayed their full range of colors in the bright morning sun. We paused to check out some of the old tunnels and digs in the layer once suspected of harboring the elusive radioactive ore.

Scenic vistas beckon at every twist and turn of the trail. Almost the entire 30-mile-long loop travels along a high, narrow ridge of land that encircles Jacob's Chair and Long Canyon, a major tributary of White Canyon. This lofty perch for the roadbed ensures fantastic views - first to the east across Gravel Canyon and later to the west down the long slopes leading to the Colorado River. Throughout it all looms towering Jacob's Chair - at first near and orange and overwhelming; later, more distant, mystical, and mysterious in the faded blues and purples of the deepening twilight shadows.

We slowly crawled along, stopping frequently to take in the incredible views and to look for a good campsite for the evening. We settled on a previously used spot shoehorned in among the pion trees and perched on a high promontory. Our field of view encompassed a full 360 degrees, promising a delightful color show both at sunset and sunrise. We were not disappointed. We watched the subtle chromatic changes as the sun slipped below the Henry Mountains to the west and then enjoyed the bonhomie around a crackling fire of aromatic wood. By the time we were wordlessly contemplating the glowing embers of the dying fire, our cluttered minds were emptied, purified, and freed.

The day dawned bright and crisp with the first rays of the morning painting the tips of the distant peaks a brilliant pink. It took a long time to pack, even for the camping minimalists among us - partly because of the early morning chill that numbed our fingertips, and partly from genuine reluctance to climb back into the trucks that we knew would necessarily take us back toward the pavement and civilization.

We stopped at a flimsy, abandoned structure thrown up rapidly during the uranium boom. The desert is hard at work reclaiming the site - it already had a decidedly forlorn feel to it as it slowly melted back into the eternal red rocks and dirt. We continued our travels along a narrowing spit of land with incredible views in all directions. Suddenly, we ran out of room and the road dove off the constricting peninsula and dropped steeply down a huge dugway blasted and bladed down the side of the cliff. Once again, our 4WD attributes and skills were needed as the road threaded its way down and around erosional challenges left by the infrequent rains. Soon we were back at pavement level and crossing under the highway via the culvert at Ducket Crossing.

Wow... pavement! The spell this desert always casts on us was broken as we pulled onto the shoulder of the pavement with our hoods pointed toward home. We had come to our favorite part of Utah to lose ourselves in the hugeness and splendor that is southeastern Utah. The loop circling Jacob's Chair had brought us another quality backcountry experience. We had come seeking renewal, and once again we had found that and more.