Yellow Cat Flat
We didn't know what to expect from this trail. It went through some spots that looked really flat on the topo map, but you never know. Sometimes trails can surprise you. We ended up having a good time on Yellow Cat Flat.
It was very easy to find, with a large airdown spot next to the trailhead. We aired down, ready for a bumpy ride. It was bumpy in spots, but not because of washboards on wide roads. There were actually some small obstacles to tackle.
Matt broke his Jeep the day before on Steel Bender so he was riding with Terry. He still had a good time hanging out and watching the fun.
The important right turn came right away and it wasn't marked. We stopped at an intersection with a small trail that went up and over a hill and then looked to see that it was already part of the plan. We went over the hill and immediately enjoyed how isolated we were. The trail hadn't been used very often but it was easy to follow most of the time.
We even found a fun section that went down into a large wash and back out the other side. Both sides were steep and rocky.
At one point the trail went up the side of a hill. We could see a large patch of tumbleweeds draped across it. A few of us wandered around in the tumbleweeds to find where the trail was and Matt got on top of the hill to spot Monica as she pushed through the tumbleweeds. She couldn't always see the trail or Matt, but Walt relayed Matt's instructions on the CB. It was a rare thing and we all laughed as Monica made her way to the other side, clearing a path through the rolling tumbleweeds.
We found our way to the Ringtail Mine fairly easily, and we left the main road again at the Blackstone Incline. Then the trail got weird and we had some issues following what we intended to follow. Still, we found our way around and had a good time doing it. We eventually stopped wandering around and had some lunch.
After lunch we picked up our main trail again and worked our way through The Poison Strip. Everyone survived. We even found a little side hill that was a fun climb to the top of the mesa just to the north of the trail. We came back down after a bit of exploring.
When we got close to the edge of the cliff according to the GPS we found a wash to use in order to walk out to the edge. The views were really nice and we could see trucks on I-70. It felt like we were the only ones who had been there in a really long time.
After The Poison Strip we headed down into The Highlands for some more mellow wheeling. It was nice, though, driving through such a remote area. We avoided the cows and found our way to the end of the trail.
We had daylight left so we headed off to the Dome Plateau Wash for some fun. This time we started at the bottom and worked our way up and out the top. Everyone made it look easy and didn't have any issues until Monica was the last one up. Her stock JK Rubicon is still shorter than the other Jeeps in the group but she found her line through it.
We hung out to explore the mine area on Dome Plateau and then we headed out. We took Highway 128 back to Moab with plenty of time for dinner. What a great day!
