Left Denver area late morning on Friday for the Utah backcountry with my wife Jean in our Super Cub. Due to 35+ mph winds at the Continental Divide, had to circle and try several times to get over Rollins Pass (11,671). Eventually we had to go up to 15,000' to safely make it over; the lee side down-slope winds were dropping us at over 1,400 fpm as we approached the pass. Once over, it was smooth. Though we had headwinds the entire trip, there were no issues. We landed at Mexican Mtn and camped. Surprisingly enough, had the whole place to ourselves. Mexican Mtn airstrip is in very good shape; There are a number of cattle grazing in the area; Watch out for any that could stray on the airstrip!

The next morning we flew over to Hidden Splendor. Light winds there. Hiked around.

Flew over to Happy Canyon & landed. Very stiff & gusty almost direct crosswind. Interesting landing; Even more adventure taking off. Cabin there and numerous artifacts are in good shape. Thankfully vandals haven't carted off the memorabilia. Main runway in good shape. Crosswind runway becoming overgrown with6"-8" weeds.

After fuel at Canyonlands, flew to Mineral Canyon to camp for the night. Runway has several ruts on the E side of the runway, perhaps due to vehicle traffic when too wet. Ruts are avoidable but would be a problem if one had like 8x6 tires and got into them. If one stays to the W side of the runway, the ruts are not an issue.

Met some interesting pilots--super nice folks--ferrying a Quest Kodiak--who stopped in at Mineral Canyon for a brief break on the trip Eastwards. Video below.

Very interesting (and odd) rock formations NE of Hidden Splendor (pic attached). Also interesting colors at the Potash plant outside of Moab (picture attached).

On the return today, we had anywhere from 25 to 45 mph tailwinds. A few big bumps over the "rocks" but not as bad as I imagined it could be.

Videos:

Mexican Mountain takeoff (gross weight):
Video shot with Sony FDR-X3000

Quest Kodiak @ Mineral Canyon, Utah:
Video shot with iPhone 6S

Great video and pics! Thanks

Last fall when I was at Mexican Mountain a Kodiak landed. Impressive machine.

I'm ready to get back out to UT for some camping. What were the temps day and night?

Nice, Ted! Thanks for the TR!

Looks like a great trip. Thanks for posting and making us all jealous, Ted!

Looks like a blast, and great report.

It was good to meet you at your hangar a couple weeks ago - that SQ2 is pretty recognizable.

-Asa

Thank you--everyone--for your comments! Highs were only in the mid to upper 60's; lows probably 45 ish. Not bad. Basically calm on the ground but a handful of wind in a few places along the canyons. Only heard one group of 3 planes on the radio all weekend (other than the typical parachute jumper planes at CNY that is).

Pretty good ruts along the E side of the middle of Mineral Canyon airstrip. Looked like perhaps some 4-wheeler's were in there when it was really wet.