OCTOBER 2019 jpmagazine.com Jp 35
Photo location), the Hanging Flume.
Built in the late 1880s to take water from
upr iver to wash t he gold f rom g ravel beds
downriver, all that’s left is but a fragment
of the f lume system that was hung from
the sides of the canyon. Using 1.8 million
board feet of lumber, the open wooden
water chute was 6 feet wide and 4 feet high.
It was suspended by supports attached to
t he ca nyon wa ll w it h bolts d r iven 18 i nches
into the rock, anywhere from 100 feet or
more above the canyon f loor.
From Bedrock, our route took us
through Paradox (a town with a shady
Old West reputation created by water
rights squabbles a century ago), over the
southern spine of the La Sal mountain
range, and into the lower Spanish Valley,
where Highway 191 led us north to Moab.
We rolled i nto tow n just i n t i me to clea n
up a nd t hen meet up w it h ever yone at
the Spanish Trail Arena in Moab for a
(100-plus) Jeep parade through town on
the way to the BBQ/party/raff le at the
Canyonlands by Night & Day event center.Trail’s End, BBQ & Prizes
Like all Jp Dirt ’N Drives, the 2019
event was capped off with a party. We
had enjoyed a good deal of fun, friend-
ship, and adventure during the last few
days, and now we had arrived in Moab.
It was time for a BBQ feast, ample bever-
ages, and prizes. Bellies were filled, and
goodies ranging from Jeep accessories of
all sorts to full sets of tires from sponsors
Jeep, General Tire, JKS Manufacturing,
KC HiLites, and Rugged Radios were
handed out to lucky raff le ticket winners.
Throughout the entire trip, there
were both clues and exact locationsThis 2019 JLU fell victim to the sliding
and slippery rocks of Calamity Canyon
when it became momentarily high-
centered. Some pushing from fellow
participants had it moving again quickly.
The Jeep was a week old with no more
than a 2^1 ⁄ 2 -inch lift and 37-inch tires
added before the trip, but Gene and
Marshella Hicks were here to wheel!
Although there could be long highway
stretches to cover between trails during the
2019 Jp Dirt ’N Drive Presented by Jeep, there
were definitely no boring days. The beautiful
scenery of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado,
and Utah kept everyone wide awake.
Soon after leaving Fruita (another one of our gas and snack stops),
we turned off Highway 141 onto Y11 Road (dirt) and followed it all the
way along the San Miguel River to its confluence with the Dolores
River. The dirt road then veered west, tracing the Dolores through a
small valley to the town of Bedrock and our final stretch of highway
to Moab.
A fragment of the Hanging Flume can be seen just above Y11 Road
along the San Miguel River. Built in the late 1880s, the flume carried
water to wash the gold from gr avel beds downriver. The 6 -foot-
wide, 4-foot-tall wooden flume system was suspended by supports
at tached to the canyon wall with bolts driven 18 inches into the rock,
anywhere from 100 feet or more above the canyon floor.Some tr ails designed to give even bone -stock
Jeeps something fun to play on were included
in the event route. The driver of this brand-new
Jeep JKU Rubicon upgraded the rig with some
33-inch General Grabber A/Ts before joining us
for the 2019 Jp Dirt ’N Drive Presented by Jeep.