Syncro Solstice | Moab, Utah

Annual gathering of Vanagons. Rather than a separate page for each event, they're all listed here.

May 9-19, 2012

Day 1 - Prescott, AZ to Goosenecks, UT: Picked up Mom and Dad in Prescott and headed for Utah, staying the night at Goosenecks State Park after driving through Monument Valley.

Day 2 - Goosenecks to Moab: Ventured onward to Moab, where we picked out a camp spot in the Lone Mesa Group site.

Day 3 - Moab: Mountain biking day! We drove to the ride's end point, where Coyote shuttle picked us all up in their stretched Vanagon and dropped us off at the Gemini Bridges trailhead.

Day 4 - Moab: Driving tour to Deadhorse State Park and Canyonlands National Park.

Day 5 - Moab: Driving tour to Arches National Park.

We then drove up the Colorado River to camp out for another couple of nights.

Day 7 - Moab to Fishlake National Forest, UT: Leaving Moab, we drove through Capital Reef National Park and found our way to Singletree Campground for the night. After setting up camp, we hiked the short trail to the nearby Singletree Falls.

Days 8-10 - Fishlake National Forest, UT to home: We left Singletree Campground and headed for home via Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Lee's Ferry.

Total miles: 1,669

Avg. MPG: 18.03

May 14-24, 2013

Day 1 - Prescott, AZ to Goosenecks, UT: Picked up Mom and Dad in Prescott and headed for Utah, staying the night at Goosenecks State Park, just like last year.

Day 2 - Goosenecks to Natural Bridges National Monument, UT: Ate breakfast, packed, and headed up Highway 261 to Natural Bridges. Going via 261 meant going up the Moki Dugway, a 3-mile dirt road made of switchbacks built into a cliffside. Upon rounding a corner about half way up, a motorhome was seen headed down. Since the road was only a lane-and-a-half wide, I pulled into the turnout to let them get by easily. Only two other vehicles were on the road, fortunately, making it a relatively pleasant drive up. Old Blue had zero problems.

At Natural Bridges, we checked in at the ranger station, just barely getting a camp site. After lunch, we set out on the mountain bikes to ride the nine-mile loop around the park, stopping at all of the bridge vistas to soak in the unique landscape. Being relatively out of shape, the almost all uphill climb back to the van was rather grueling!

After dinner, we walked up to the ranger station to partake in an astronomy lesson. If it hadn't been for a near full moon, the sky would have been pitch black, making for grand views of stars and planets. Despite the bright moonlight, we were able to see the rings of Saturn, among other wonders of the galaxy.

Day 3 - Natural Bridges to Moab, UT: We arrived in Moab relatively early. After filling the water tank near the river, we drove up to the Lone Mesa campground, which was nearly empty.

Day 4 - Sight-seeing: In the afternoon, we went out to Dead Horse Point State Park to do some mountain biking and sight-seeing.

Day 5 - Day trip: A group of vans gathered in the morning to take a trip down the Shafer Trail. Old Blue's brakes weren't up to the task, but Bob S. offered to give Dad a ride in his Subaru-powered Syncro. Mom and I drove out to the overlook to get photos of the group going down. After the group left the fork in the road, we decided to go down to the end of the trail to meet them.

After lunch, the group split up: Some went back to camp, some went into town, some went swimming, and we went up into the LaSals, where it rained once up at the top. It was suggested that we return back to town via the Sand Flat dirt road, which we did since the inclement weather was staying up top and the road looked pretty good.

The brakes were getting hot, so we pulled off at a popular trailhead. In doing so, I heard a click-click-click-click… fridge was trying auto re-ignite, but wasn't able to. Turned the fridge over to DC mode, stretched the legs for a bit, and motored onward.

Upon arriving back at camp, I immediately tried relighting the fridge on propane, but it was a no-go. I then tried lighting the stove: Wimpy little flame, even on "high". Thinking the tank was empty (which would have been odd given that it started out full), we rushed down to the Shell/RV park to get a refill. Problem: Attendant said that the tank was still full. Hmm. We bought a 1-pound can of propane/butane for the emergency camp stove kept in the cabinet, just in case. Back at camp, tools were borrowed so that Dad could remove the tank regulator, which he attempted to clean out. After reinstalling the regulator, everything was back to working as normal.

Day 5 - Moab to Kanab, UT: Packed up, said goodbye, and hit the road, taking the long way home via highway 70 (Wasatch Plateau) and down to Kanab. In Kanab, we stayed overnight at a friend's place.

Day 6 - Kanab, UT to Valley of Fire, NV:

After breakfast and taking measurements of our friends' wood boats (for a future build), we left Kanab for Zion National Park, a place we had not been to for a couple of decades. Our first stop were the campgrounds, which were booked solid. We parked and hopped the tram, riding it to the very end, where we hiked the trail along the Virgin River. Zion is a gorgeous place; would have loved to have spent more time there, but, alas, too many people!

We drove onward, stopping for the night at Valley of the Fire State Park, another picturesque place we had not been to in many, many years.

Day 7 - Valley of Fire, NV to Willow Beach, AZ: After a leisurely breakfast, we spent the morning touring the park.

En route to Grandma's house in Henderson, we took a detour down to Echo Bay on Lake Mead to see what remained of the now-closed marina. The place was a near ghost-town as a result of the marina closing due to low water levels. However, in typical government fashion, brand-spanking new pavement had just been laid down on the road going into Echo Bay. Garmin has not kept up with the declining lake level, thus showing the Bus vehicle icon sitting in the middle of the bay, when in reality we were parked at the end of the boat ramp. One nice thing Nevada has done in that region is to create a desert tortoise preserve, complete with tortoise road signs.

We stopped at Taco Bell to pick up some high-quality food and delivered it to Grandma's house. After lunch and a nice visit with Grandma, it was getting dark so we motored onward to the newly constructed campground down at Willow Beach along the Colorado River. The following day, we ventured home, ending another fabulous adventure.

Total miles: 1,570

Avg. MPG: 16.41

May 15-20, 2014

Day 1 - Prescott, AZ to Goosenecks State Park, UT: Packed the van, loaded up the parents, and hit the road to our annual stopover at Goosenecks (which now charges $10 to stay there, if you're an honest camper). Drove in at dusk to find our usual spot taken, so had to opt for the next spot down, which provided us with a table for a change. While eating dinner, beautiful moonrise was viewed on the horizon.

Day 2 - Goosenecks State Park to Moab: Dad awoke at 2am to find another Vanagon parked up the road. Come to find out, it was Joseph's Syncro and Joseph didn't even see Old Blue when he and his wife left at around 6am!

During the night, woke up to hear the fridge trying to re-ignite itself. It was a cool night so I simply flipped the fridge off. After a leisurely, but early-for-us breakfast, tried lighting the stove and… nothing. Cracked the vapor valve and, sure enough, out of propane. We packed up and drove onward to Moab, making a dual gas stop (propane and gasoline) in Banning.

Drove into Lion's Park to have lunch and fill the water tank. One problem: In walking over to look at the river, couldn't help but notice that the water spigot was locked up. Hmm, now what? The spigot over near the outhouses was still operational and it appeared that there was just enough room to drive the van through the "park" over to it. So I did!

Arrived at Lone Mesa Campground to find a handful of vans already there. Parked in the B Group area since there was a good pad for the gear tent. One by one, vans rolled in.

Day 3 - Tusher Tunnel/Mill Canyon and Dead Horse Point State Park:

While checking out Jeffrey C.'s Syncro in person, Johnny gave me the Syncro Solstice gear and recommended a few places to go see, one being Tusher Tunnel. We decided to go check it out since it was relatively close and sounded interesting. Drove down Mill Canyon Road to the ATV unloading area where there was a map of the region, which was rather cryptic; no pinpoint of where the tunnel was. We continued on, arriving at the wash fork where Johnny said to hang a left. I looked down there and saw nothing but boulders and deep red sand… not a route for Old Blue. Took the right-hand, main road for a couple more miles to where a side road went off towards the canyons, with a sign saying "Bartlett Wash". Going on instinct, we hung a left only to come to yet another fork in the road, this time the left road being marked as "Tusher Tunnel". We wound our way up and down the rolling hills, over rocks and boulders, while wondering if this was a good idea. Arriving at an uphill rock garden, Old Blue was pulled off the road and parked. We hiked to the top of the hill, seeing the route down to Tusher Tunnel… definitely not a two-wheel drive section. After watching all of the ATVers explore the cave we couldn't reach via wheels, a Jeep Wrangler nearly getting stuck in the sand, and taking in the beautiful views, we hiked back down to the van. When we were about halfway to our destination, a dirt biker asked, "Did you lose your Jeep?" LOL! We hung a U-turn and drove back out the way we came in, a little nervous about the potential for getting stuck at one particular uphill. Our nerves were eased when Old Blue motored out to the main road without a single hitch!

Once back at the unloading area, we continued on down Mill Canyon (with Determination Towers in the background) to see the fossilized dinosaur bones, an old stage stop, remnants of an 1800s copper mill, and to eat lunch. Funny, the van was filthy after this jaunt, but still looked pretty!

We had just a few hours until sunset, so we decided to spend them out at Dead Horse Point where we spotted a Vanagon Syncro headed up to the Shafer Trail, as well as a motorhome parked out at a viewpoint off Potash Road.

Back at camp, it was apparently van tour time ~ a dozen or so vans had crowded together in the Group D area with their doors open and engine covers off (sorry, no pics). Awhile later, Bob S. walked up, jokingly tossing me his keys, but seriously asking again, this time in person, if I wanted to drive his van. I told him, "Something easy!" and we decided to hash out the details in the morning.

Day 4 - Tusher Tunnel/Bartlett Wash & Dead Horse Point: While eating breakfast, Bob returned, this time with maps in hand. He suggested going back to Tusher Tunnel, but via the Bartlett Wash road. An hour later, I was handed the keys and told to hop into the driver's seat… away we went on my first ever Syncro drive, one with a Subaru engine at that, with Joseph and his wife coming along in their Syncro too (to capture any of my screw-ups, LOL!). Missed the first turn and had to hang a U; missed the second turn thanks to crappy signage and had to make another U-turn. Once on the Bartlett Wash road, we went over rocks and boulders, through sand and mud, up and down hills… nothing stops a Syncro! Ironically, we ended up on the same road that we took yesterday in Old Blue. When I pointed out where we had stopped, Bob said, "Let's stop here then" and proceeded to explain the Syncro's "granny gear". I engaged Granny Gear and we seemed to float up the rock garden without any effort. After the steep downhill, we hit the deep sand, which was no problem for the Syncros. We parked to tour the tunnel and its surroundings.

Once back at the vans, there was a big decision to make: Go back the way we came, or go out via the main road in. I decided to take the main road to see what we didn't get ourselves into yesterday. Upon driving down this road, I realized the right decision had been made the day before: The whole road is nothing but sand hills, deep in some parts. Reaching the end, there was a fork in the road; I made the wrong decision to go left, which ended with a few big boulders blocking our way. Thankfully, to the left was a go-around, but it required some dexterity… up a steep, short ramp followed by a 90° right turn around a tree, with a rock or two in the way. Phew, made it! Disengaged Granny Gear and we were off to the unloading area where I handed the reigns over to Dad for him to experience a Subaru-powered Syncro (I won't mention that he stalled it way more times than I did!). After this trip, do I want a Syncro? Well, who doesn't want a Syncro? But I'm certainly not giving up my lovable 2WD Westy for one. If anything, I want that Subaru engine! That Syncro drive did make me much more appreciative and amazed of just where my "lowly" 2WD can go!

Very special thanks to Bob and his awesome rig for the incredible opportunity to see and feel what a Syncro can do.

After an ice cream treat, we all headed back to camp. Bob took a nap, while we ventured back out to Dead Horse Point where I took a walk and the parents went for a bike ride.

Day 5 - Moab to Goblin Valley State Park: A lot of folks left late last night and during the early morning hours, so the campground was was pretty sparse by the time we got up.

Said our goodbyes and were the last ones to leave, behind Jeffrey, Dave, and Rich, who were destined for the Shafer Trail. We headed for Goblin Valley, since we had never been there (drove right on by two years ago when we went to Capital Reef). We had a nice tail wind going up highway 191, but once on highway 70, the wind was all over the place: tail wind, head wind, cross wind at any given mile. At one point, I had to turn the flashers on since my foot was on the floor doing 47… on a highway whose speed limit is 75! Watching the GPS, I was counting the miles until the turnoff to highway 24. Highway 24's wind wasn't much better, but at least there wasn't much traffic and the speed limit was more reasonable for an old VW.

Pulling into the State Park, the ranger station was closed, so we headed straight for the campground, thinking that we might stay the night. All of the individual sites had reserved signs, while just a couple of the walk-in tent sites were blank, usually meaning they are available. After making one complete circle, we pulled into tent site #6, filled out the self-pay form stub and stuck it on the sign. While filling out the information, a familiar vehicle pulled into site #4: a 1987 Titian Red Westfalia! We waved to them and they walked on over to talk Vanagons. They were headed home to Oregon after visiting, ironically, Waterboxer-builder Chris in New Mexico before he went to Moab for Syncro Solstice. They were given site #4 when they drove in, but were rather unimpressed with the park; they were showering and driving on. Anyway, we then went to see the fascinating "goblins", with the San Rafael Swell as the backdrop. Walking among these amazing natural creations, I couldn't help but think they are giant versions of the mud "drip castles" I made as a kid.

After wandering among the sandstone "mushrooms", we returned to the ranger station. The law enforcement officer on duty stated that site #6 was already taken and that there were no sites available. Oh, really? Then why not put "claim tags" on the signs, you lazy, good-for-nothing government officials?! Anyway, we mentioned site #4 and the officer said that it too was unavailable. "But those people aren't staying; they showered and left." "Well, they paid the entrance fee, not the camping fee; so, if they left the site is yours." Great! We then camped in site #4's two parking spots.

Day 6 - Goblin Valley to Sand Island: The young lady in site #6 left just as dawn was breaking (thank you very much), so we were awake rather early, but remained in bed drifting back to sleep among all of the car alarm beeps, car doors slamming shut, engines, and generators. At around 8am, an older retired couple from Montana arrived and backed into site #6. The old guy was having a hard time disconnecting the trailer; I made mention of it to Mom, who in turn told Dad to go help him out. Just as he walked up, the ball broke loose. Dad took a look and the ball was close to falling off the guy's hitch. He dug out my wrenches, since the 'ole guy didn't have any, and tightened up the ball. Later, as we were packing up, the old guy came over and said, "Before you leave, I want to give you something." Long story short, he's a photographer who had recently gone on an African photo safari and had a pile of beautiful photos of numerous African animals. After looking at them all, Darrell said, "Pick one, it's yours as my way of saying thanks". No, Darrell, thank you for being so generous!

On our way out of the park, we went down a dirt road that wound into the San Rafael Swell. There were no signs anywhere saying so, but there were a bunch of free camp sites down this road. We went as far as Temple Mountain, where uranium and vanadium were once mined.

We ventured on, stopping at the Philips station in Hanksville for gas and refreshments, which was built into a giant boulder.

The drive on highway 24 took us through a gorgeous sandstone canyon, through which North Wash flows, making its way to Lake Powell. Speaking of Lake Powell, we stopped at the official viewpoint to see what the upper end of Lake Powell looks like now. What a shock from what we saw back in the mid '80s. Hite Marina is no longer a marina; its launch ramp ends where a couple hundred feet of silt begins. Very sad to such a beautiful canyon, that had once been flooded with blue water, now filled with silt. In fact, there is so much silt, it is creating a dam at North Wash.

Driving on, I couldn't help but notice that the GPS was still showing a lake where water hasn't been seen in years, and the old shoreline outhouses now serve hikers rather than boaters.

Although it was late in the afternoon, we decided to give Natural Bridges a try for a camp spot ~ we lucked out last year, perhaps we'd be lucky this year too. Nope… missed it by two hours. After driving the bridge loop anyway, we drove through the campground thinking that if there was a Vanagon, we could stop and ask if they'd be willing to share with a fellow Vanagon. Amazingly, there was indeed an Orly Blue Carat across from where we camped last year! We waved to each other and drove on (the parking spot wasn't quite wide enough for two vans) to Sand Island, a launching point for San Juan River trips, where there happened to be a couple of spots available right on the river (and just up from the highway 191 bridge… yes, it was a Z-Quil night), and where there are lots of petroglyphs, some ancient, some relatively new.

Day 7 - Sand Island to Prescott, AZ: Just as we were getting ready to make breakfast, Colorado River friends went floating by on rafts! What are the odds?!

After bacon and eggs, we were off towards home with another windy day ahead of us. We stopped in at Mexican Hat for SlushPuppies, where the fuel gauge read above 1/4, but below 1/2… plenty to get to Kayenta. Hmm… driving down the road towards Monument Valley, the gauge quickly went to 1/4, then to "reserve" line, then dropped into the red zone, and hovered around the "empty" line for miles. And, of course, the wind is raging, red dirt blowing. I kept the speed at 55, hoping to make it to Kayenta, keeping one eye on the GPS-calculated miles to go, and the other on the fuel gauge. Finally, Kayenta Chevron was in sight. When the pump shut off, it was revealed that there were 1.5 gallons in the tank… just made it! Should've filled up in Mexican Hat though!

Driving on to Tuba City, we witnessed some insane passes by a few idiotic drivers: Nearly a head-on with a semi, passing in a double-yellow section (twice!). We also saw rental motorhome after rental motorhome… travel season is in full-swing! It was a long, windy 70 miles to Tuba City, but thanks to the new stiffer suspension and proper tires, it wasn't as white-knuckle as it could have been.

Out on 89, the wind calmed down; just a couple of sections with a head wind, and a cross wind just here and there. Made it to Flagstaff where it was still windy; because of that, it was decided to take 89A down through Sedona and up through Jerome. Bad idea. On I-17, the overhead sign read, "Road closed at Mile Marker 262 due to fire". Cruising down 89A, a sheriff flew by with lights and siren, followed a bit later by a forestry truck. Cresting the hill at the viewpoint, we could see smoke rising in the distance. Going down the switchbacks, my instinct was to turn around at the first pull-out, but Mom hinted that we keep going. Should've turned around. We reached the road construction flag man, with cars backed up and ash falling. Long story short, the Slide Fire broke out just 45 minutes to an hour before we arrived, at which time Oak Creek was evacuated. We had to turn around where the flag man stood (thank goodness for our mini-motorhome!). We ended up taking I-40 anyway, which had some bad gusts, but the entire trip down that highway was not as bad as I thought it would be (wind-wise; the pavement is another story). As I type this, the fire has exploded up to 4500 acres and is en route to Kachina Village and Forest Highlands, just south of Flagstaff. On the other side of the state, a fire broke out near Woods Canyon Lake (where we were a couple of years ago)… this is going to be a bad fire year, unless monsoon season comes early and actually produces a lot of moisture.

Aside from the wind and pound of dirt inside the van, it was another fun trip. A total of about 1200 miles traveled with just a bit of coolant added. Waved to two other Westies on the road (who weren't in Moab), but didn't get any waves back.

Total miles: 1,536

Average MPG: 17.1

May 13-23, 2019

Day 1, 13th - Phoenix to Flagstaff, AZ:

Spent the night at the Flagstaff KOA, the rendevous point with Mom & Dad.

Day 2, 14th - Flagstaff to Goosenecks State Park, UT:

Up early as we had a breakfast "date" with friends across the road at the Flagstaff Mall. After parking and while Dad chatted with said river-running friends, I couldn't help but notice a problem: Coolant leak. Retrieved my work-on-the-ground towel and crawled under the van to find the leak coming from the rear connecting hose on the radiator feed pipe. Tightened up the clamp and issue resolved (or is it? )

Day 3, 15th - Goosenecks State Park to Natural Bridges National Park:

Left Goosenecks and ventured onward to Natural Bridges via the infamous Moki Dugway. Once at the National Park, we drove through the campground to see it full, except for a handicap-designated site. I pulled in to save the site, while Mom & Dad drove back to the visitor's center to inquire within. Site was available, so we took it (parents have a handicap placard due to Mom's Parkinson's).

While setting up camp, couldn't help but notice another coolant leak. Crawled under to see the leak coming from the same location. Dad got under there and muscled the hose as far onto the pipe as he could get it, and added a second clamp. Leak resolved (or is it? ).

Day 4, 16th - Natural Bridges to Moab:

Uneventful, but, as always, scenic drive to Moab. Sorry, no photos.

Day 5, 17th - Moab:

Writing this years later, I don't remember what we did this day!

Day 6, 18th - Moab:

Mountain biking with Bob at Dead Horse Point State Park.

While Bob and I were getting exercise, Mom & Dad went for a drive up the Colorado River on highway 128.

Treated to a beautiful full moon night (Dad's photos).

Note to self: Invest in full-suspension bike! The 30-year-old 26" hard-tail ain't cutting it on Moab trails!

Day 7, 19th - Moab:

More mountain biking with Bob. Rode the trail near camp, taking the highway (uphill! ) back to Lone Mesa.

Day 8, 20th - Moab to Otter Creek Reservoir, UT: Drove through Capitol Reef National Park again, this time stopping at Panorama Point to view nature's splendor, despite the inclimate weather.

Arriving at Otter Creek Reservoir, it was cold and wet. Plenty of camp spots available and got a waterfront location. Due to the weather, I kept the roof down. Despite that, it was a freezing night.

Day 9, 21st - Otter Creek Reservoir to Lake Powell: Awoke in the morning to see a dusting of snow on the nearby mountains!

Day 10, 22nd - Lake Powell to Dead Horse Ranch S.P.: A very windy day of driving! Being too worn out to drive all the way home, I stopped in at the state park in Cottonwood, AZ. Only sites available were up on top of the hill in the primitive section. Provided I kept the roof down (due to the National Park next door having height restrictions, allegedly), I could stay up there. Because of the wind and chilly ambient temp, I was keeping the roof down regardless! After a good night's sleep, left for home the next morning.

Adding the second clamp onto the coolant pipe hose resolved the leak issue for the remainder of the trip.

Total miles: 1,396
Average MPG: 17.8

Updated: 1-Jan-2024