Out of Utah and into Colorado - How to Waste Money Fast!

Back on tarmac after our jaunt into the mountains, we made swift progress though the undulating desert to Lake Powell. We stopped at an overlook to admire our first view of this huge body of water, created when the Colorado River was dammed in the 60s, flooding the Glen Canyon and numerous side canyons. At the easternmost corner, which we were driving past on highway 95, the water looks less like a lake, and more like a widening of the river; nonetheless it is an impressive site with the huge red rock canyon walls.

The level of the lake is clearly considerably lower now than it has been in the past, and many of the roads that lead down to the water’s edge, now terminate half a mile from the water. The place that we chose to stop for lunch was the terminus of White Canyon, where the dry canyon that forms Natural Bridges National Monument (40 miles south east) meets Lake Powell. The spot turned out not to have the waterside view that we had intended, but was nonetheless a beautiful place, if stiflingly hot.

Back on highway 95, we continued east to Natural Bridges, but arriving too late to make best use of the park, we headed up into the mountains of the Manti La Sal National Forest. A steep dirt road took us from the hot desert floor into a cool alpine oasis several thousand feet up. In less than 15 miles, the terrain changes from red rock and scrub, to tall Ponderosa pine forest and grassy meadows filled with wildflowers.

We spent a night amongst the trees, and in the morning walked several miles into the Dark Canyon Wilderness, down the Pea Vine trail. We returned the way we had come, and spent the afternoon driving and walking around Natural Bridges National Monument. By the time we had seen everything we wanted, it was almost dark, and instead of driving back into the forest, we spent the night in the Natural Bridges campground. At $10 the campground is cheap, but the site has no water, dump station or electric. We don’t often stay at paid for campgrounds, and when we do we always try to take the opportunity to fill Jim’s 450 litre water tank. There is a public tap at the visitor centre, but with no threads to screw our hose onto, we had to make do with what was left in the tank.

In the morning, we returned to the highway and continued east. We passed Blanding and Monticello, and soon we were into Colorado. It had been a while since we stocked up on food and fuel, and so we stopped at Cortez, the first sizable town we had passed through since leaving Cedar City over 500 miles ago. Pumping diesel into Jim’s 400 litre primary tank takes a while, and so I often take the time to do a quick walk around check; it was at this point that I noticed that the inner tyre on the back right hand side was flat. I got the tyre gauge out, and discovered that the tyre had no pressure in it at all. The flat tyre was the same one which I had had the valve stem replaced on in Mexico, and so I suspected the problem to be with the valve. With the weight that Jim runs at, a single tyre per side on the back axle remains within their rated maximum load, and so despite the flat tyre, we were safe to drive to a tyre shop.

Stealing the internet from another generous local business, I quickly found a local truck tyre shop which was still open on a Saturday afternoon, and we drove to the Cortez branch of Four States Tires. The fitter who helped us quickly found the problem, and it was neither what I expected nor wanted. On one of our many recent dirt road excursions we had picked up a rock between two of the tyres on the back axle, and on our drive from Natural Bridges, the rock had spent more than 100 miles rubbing on the sidewalls. At some point on the journey it had punctured the inner tyre, this released the pressure and the rock must have been ejected. Unfortunately the outer tyre was not far behind, and it was sheer luck that we had not had a double blow out, leaving us stranded on the roadside. Not only did this mean that both tyres were ruined, but sidewall damage is irreparable, meaning that the carcases were worthless and cannot be sold to retreaders. I regularly check for rocks, but clearly I do it neither frequently enough nor thoroughly enough. This lesson had cost me two tyres with only 25,000km on them, and $1,100 for two replacements.

Heavy truck tyres in the UK are almost always on 22.5 inch wheel rims; the large 315/80 size that Jim wears is not the most common, but all commercial tyre shops will sell a decent range in his size. In America, 24 inch rims are more common, and the trucks which do wear 22.5 inch tyres are more commonly on smaller rubber than Jim. This meant that the tyre shop which I was at had only a limited choice in Jim’s size. Thankfully they had a matched pair of on/off road tyres from a decent brand; the tyres were neither a brand, nor tread pattern that I would have chosen, but I was grateful to be able to get back on the road without having to purchase unsuited tarmac-only tyres, or waiting several days for tyres to be ordered.

The tyres we ended up with are made by Roadmaster; not a big name in the truck tyre industry, but Roadmaster is the heavy commercial brand of Cooper Tires who are a respected US manufacturer and sell a lot of tyres in the states. Jim was fitted with RM230HH tyres, which are an all-position tread pattern; this means that whilst the tread is thick and the lugs chunky, the tread cannot be too aggressive as it is designed for use as a steer tyre as well as a drive tyre. The tyres have a closed shoulder, and so I expect that if I find myself in mud, I will particularly notice the reduction in traction compared to the open shoulder of the two ruined tyres. I would have preferred a dedicated mixed use drive tyre such as the Michelin XDY2, but I would have spent four hundred dollars more for such tyres and waited several days for them to be ordered.

Feeling somewhat dejected after such a large and unnecessary outlay, we drove a few miles down the road to the local KOA campsite where we spent the night. In the morning we filled up the water tank, skyped home on the fast internet connection, and drove to the Mesa Verde National Park.