Myself along with Dave from Maxgear Armor and our wives decided to head down to Capitol Reef National Park, Utah for Fall break.

We met up at a Maverik gas station in Orem, Utah at 8am Wednesday Morning. We topped off the fuel tanks and got snacks for the trip, then headed south on I-15. Our first stop was less than a mile down the road, so Dave could attach his CB antenna. Oops.

Back on the road we headed to State Highway 28 just on the South side of Nephi, Utah. This route is more direct and leisurely way to our destination than staying on the Interstate and we were in no hurry to drain our gas tanks any faster than needed. This route took us though little visited small towns of Levan, Fayette, and Gunnison Utah and a few others that if you blink you might miss. We made a quick stop in Salina, Utah to top off the fuel tanks and empty the “other” tank.

We then headed East on I-70 to the Highway 10 junction. While on I-70 we noticed the Frontage road was all Dirt and looked like a much cooler drive than an interstate. We made a mental note to use the frontage road on the next time down.

Arriving at the Highway 10 Junction on I-70 we turned off and headed south again, with a brief pause to check maps and air down the tires to a more comfortable pressure for the ruff corrugated desert roads ahead. The only traffic we encountered was a couple of dump trucks doing road maintenance and a road grader and SUV in Cathedral Valley.

Our route was taking us though the Last Chance Desert around Solomans Temple, and into the Cathedral Valley area of Capitol Reef National Park.

While stopped on the side of the road taking pictures of the amazing views, my wife noticed something leaking from under the front of the Xterra. Looking you could see a green liquid and smell the sweet smell of Radiator Fluid dripping out from under the vehicle. So we popped the hood, and started to look for the source of the leek. Not seeing anything obvious we checked the fluid levels which were all full. We decided not to remove the skid plates for a more detailed check, in the soft sandy desert road, so we pushed on into Cathedral Valley with plans on stopping at the first auto part store we found in the next available town to buy some radiator stop leek and more fluid.

We stopped for lunch in the Empty Cathedral Valley Campground over looking the desert valley below, then continued onward over and around Thousand Lakes mountain to Highway 72 to find a town with an auto part store. Thousand Lakes Mountain, 11,000 plus feet, has amazing views to the East and South overlooking Capitol Reef National Park and surrounding desert. If it were not for the radiator leek we would have spent more time exploring this area.

After brief stop in Bicknell, Utah at the Auto Parts store, for the needed supply’s, we pushed on into Torrey, Utah, which would be the base for our weekend adventures.

Since it gets really cold at night this time of the year in the desert, and to make our wives happy. We opted to stay at the Capitol Reef Resort in Torrey, Utah, (I know this trip was not about the camping part of overlanding) which lies on the western edge of Capitol Reef National Park along Highway 24. After checking in to the hotel we parked the vehicle to let it cool off before we started working on it. While we waited we relaxed on the porch in front of our room taking in the amazing views.

After taking the skid plate off and doing a more extensive search we determined the most likely cause was the water pump had a small leek, so we added the stop leek and more radiator fluid and put everything back together. Making a note that it would soon be time to replace the water pump, fan clutch, and since it would be all torn apart anyway the radiator as well. The Xterra is well over 100,000 miles so it is about time for all that to be replaced anyway.

Since it was about dinnertime we headed across the road to a little pizza place for Dinner, and to plan out the remainder of the evening.

Evening plans took us in to the Western side of Capitol Reef National Park to watch the sunset. Then into Capitol Gorge where we got to drive though a narrow Canyon with all the lights on.