Leg 1: Sacramento to Hollow Mountain, UT

Back in April, the Elevated Trail Squad team embarked on a week-long 2,600-mile road trip taking them from their home base in Sacramento through sites in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and back. Because the team only travels with the best, they brought Old Trapper along for the ride. The first leg of the trip takes us on a thousand-mile trip from Northern California to the desolate beauty of central Utah. Follow along on this three-part journey now.

Badlands, Utah

If there's a more evocative name than The Badlands, we haven't heard it. Images of roving bands of marauders bent on mayhem quickly spring to mind. 

In reality, this area is filled with... nothing. The eyes take in vast expanses of desert, rock formations scoured by prehistoric floods, and very little else.

However, this place is astonishingly beautiful, and sitting with the natural silence here will help you find a new level of peace. 

 

Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel

Leaving The Badlands, the crew drove east for more than 200 miles along I-70 until they reached the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph panel near Green River, Utah. 

Nearly 4,000 years ago, prehistoric nomads drew red ochre pictographs depicting humanoids, animals, human-animal hybrids, and spirits along these massive walls. 

Hollow Mountain, Utah

With the haunting pictograph images set firmly in their rearview, the Elevated Trail Squad crew headed south adding a quick stop in Hollow Mountain for gasoline and some much-needed nourishment. Even though this terrible lizard was a bit standoffish, he allowed the team to refuel without interference. 

Leg 1 Miles Covered: 1,027

Beef Jerky Consumed: Infinite

The Journey Continues

• Elevated Trail Squad Road Trip Part 2
• Elevated Trail Squad Road Trip Part 3: Coming Soon