WeBeJeepin’ Moab

Well, I came from the midwest. Indiana in fact. And all those years I lived there I used to hear about the incredible temperatures that could be reached out west, triple digits and all that. And….then I was told…..that doesn’t feel the same as the heat in the midwest because it is a DRY HEAT. “Oh”, I said to my self, “self, that’s a dry heat. That must make it okay.” Well, I’m sorry hot is hot and Moab in the summertime is hot so you need to wheel early. But, let’s tell the tale.

Those who have read my blogs like the one last week on Metal Masher or Melanie’s Moab Magic, Susan’s White Knuckle, etc. will be dissapointed as Flat Iron has to have something really special happen to make the news. I will tell you that our Sunday, July 26th (tomorrow according to the date) adventure was news worthy, check that one out on Moabfriendsforwheelin.com. It was the most interesting drive I’ve ever had on Kane Creek.

So, on with the story. Susan was elected the trail leader so I elected to be her tail gunner as occasionally we should mix it up by having lady leadership. It keeps things moving you know as men tend to start gandering under Jeeps, talking shop and all that. Susan kept the guys moving. A total of 8 rigs showed up at the Shell station or trail head and we were off.

For those of you who have never driven Flat Iron, it starts directly off of 191 south of Hole in the Rock tourist center. The first part of the trail winds its way through rocky sections with small ledges, and occasional slickrock shelves. After some exploring around, you work your way back to the county road and over to the second portion of the trail with obstacles like the Tilt a Whirl and Easter Egg hill.

Here’s Susan coming down Tilt A Whirl. I have heard of rigs having problems at this obstacle, even roll overs but our opinion toay was that this is a pretty easy option and we all worked our way down unassisted.

Larry said, “what hill?”

Gary Lee makes it look EZ in his truck OVER EZ.

This little fellow watched the whole thing and seemed pretty unimpressed. He or she was more interested in a suntan.

Next, we moved on to Easter Egg Hill. Jim takes a more aggressive line.

Next, Ber has a near miss and almost adds his red Jeep paint to the Easter Egg colored rock that Gary’s sitting on. Charlotte looks scared! Okay, maybe she’s just pretending for the camera!

Next, Matt takes a spot but doesn’t have any real trouble.

Here’s your author in my blue Jeep, Moab TJ. If you read my last post on Metal Masher, you’ll see that Redroxx is broken and might be down for a few weeks. So, old blue gets a chance.

The last little squeeze as the trail narrows down to the cliff edge. Chuck Well’s book calls this one “the Intimidator”. As you can see there’s plenty of room but it feels pretty narrow as that rock is pushing you around the corner. We didn’t see another soul from the time we left 191 until we got back to the county road. This is a rarely driven trail and really has some beautiful, grand canyon-like scenery.

A nice but hot day. Susan had us all off the trail before 1pm. Another great day!

See ya on the trail!

Melissa

Trail Reports

The evil blogger is repentant this week as we shall see in the following report. But, I digress…..so we start.

Here’s my favorite repeating character Jim. What could Jim possibly be doing and thinking here? He’s got a piece of metal in his hand, perhaps he’s:

a. seeing into the near future, realizing that metal is about to be mashed or mangled

b. thinking, “why are we out here wheeling in the 100+ heat?”

c. Saying to himself, “self, I could REALLY use a 10-100 right now”.

d. thinking, “I could use the axles off this cart for Melanie’s Samurai”

Here’s the group at the peaceful airing down spot. We realized that the last time we ran Metal Masher together, there was a snowstorm. Not today!

We worked our way up to the overlook. Here’s Jim……looking over.

Now it’s time for the Rock Chucker. Jim makes it look easy.

So does Susan. Who could possibly predict your future? Keep reading, you don’t want to miss it.

Gary Lee looks great. What Rock Chucker?

Melissa is not so lucky. Redroxx’s long wheelbase is usually good. Sometimes though, it can cause a hangup. After some rock manipulation, we made it.

Matt with his new long arm kit got it, no problem….

Very nicely done Matt. That splatman is bringing you luck!

Here’s Jeff with his new 38″ TSL’s.

Here’s Rick giving it a try. (I am being extra nice to him as he was very helpful on this trail). I’m not going to tell you that he didn’t make it. Oops!

After Mirror Gulch, we played with some of the bigger lines working up to the cliff side.

Gary Lee gets some wheel lift.

Redroxx cuts the corner.

So does Rick. He made this tough obstacle. Good job.

Now, we come to the sad part of the story….you know how someone describes that they “drove it till the wheels fell off?” Well, I’m almost there with Redroxx as she lost one tire. Just driving down the road too, not on any type of obstacle.

Now, what do we do? Well, let’s assess the situation. It’s 100 degrees, high noon, so let’s jack her up and fix her. Turn’s out the spindle nuts were all stripped or broken and when the wheel gave way, it took out the axle shafts.

Jeff mentioned that he had the welder onboard, so after lunch the decision was made to weld the spindle back into place.

After the welding job cooled down, we put the wheel back on. Not sure how that can happen when you’re wheeling on the surface of the sun but somehow it did. Here I am doing my racheting duty. After the wheel was in place, I turned around and drove back to the Widowmaker bypass in 3 wheel drive, with 3 wheel’s worth of brakes. Rick was kind enough to follow me while the rest continued the journey over to Widomaker where the second part of our story begins.

FYI-my plans are to put the Dana 60 under Redroxx. That was the last straw, the old Dana 44 was the weak link and she’ll sit until we can get the work done. Time to break out Moab TJ.

Okay, Widowmaker time. She is becoming one of the meanest obstacles out here and she was mad today. Here’s Jim making things look scary. Jim landed in a bad spot and needed a tug up. Rick is learning to be the tow vehicle since Redroxx is crippled.

Okay, I know I’ve only been wheeling for a few years but I can tell you I’ve never seen the likes of this. Susan was next up and gave it a good try. But, when she came back down, she unloaded and started rolling straight back. But, instead of a nasty flip, she ended up on her tail, nice as you please.

Not kidding. Her Sami is sitting on its tail and actually fairly stable. Time to get lots of photos, laugh, give her a hard time, and then provide a rescue.

I even got her to give me a very nervous “thumbs up”. I can imagine that this doesn’t feel very pleasant sitting in a wet seat waiting for help but we were having a ball.

Finally, rescue was on the way. Gary Lee provided a shoulder as a step ladder for Jeff to get a strap on her front end. Then Rick gave her a pull onto all 4 wheels and up the obstacle.

Next was Gary Lee’s turn. After all the events, he looked rather sick to be trying. Over EZ was so wound up, it fairly screamed up the obstacle. (Maybe that was Gary screaming, not sure.)

(Maybe that was the echo of Susan screaming, not sure.)

Anyway, Gary Lee made it. Not to give a foreshadowing hint but he was the only rig up that day. Congrats!

Next was Jeff in the DrtSqrl. You can see from this shot that he was at the top of the obstacle. His driver wheel hit a rock ledge at the top which stopped his momentum and turned him a bit sideways. He had to back down and knew it wasn’t going to be good.

Here we go. The first time I’ve seen Jeff flop and no, it’s not a lean.

Still in the process of falling…..

Other than a moment of being stuck in his seatbelt, Jeff was fine. Here he is looking at his truck. What could Jeff possibly be thinking?

a. Wow. That sucked.

b. Yes, my driveshaft’s a Woody.

c. Man, I’m sorry I laughed at Susan.

d. Anybody got a grease gun? Might as well lube her while she’s here.

After a little winching, (Rick’s learning all kinds of recovery skills today), Jeff jumped in and fired her up. There was a smoky start and Rick gave a tug while Jeff drove on up.

What are the damages you might ask? Well other than a slightly wounded pride, there was only this dent on the hood and a little yellow paint on the rocks.

I know that I always say “great trail day”. But, this is one that will be discussed for a long time to come. It was a full day and the group was ready for some A/C and the customary after trail barley pop. Next time, we’ll do the tip-toe route. We promise Rick!

See ya on the trail.

Melissa

Trail Reports

 

 

 

 

A group of 3 Samurai’s and one BFJ set out to run the Pickle trail. The previous club record for running these four obstacles is 20 minutes. We were hoping to beat it today.

 

This first obstacle, which we’ve always called the first obstacle, we gave the affectionate nickname of “bonecrusher”. Last year, a fellow broke his leg here during the EJS so although this is not a life threatening obstacle when you’re in a rig, it can be if you’re trying to take photos from the scrabbly rocks.

The second obstacle is called the Squeeze. Being the tailgunner, my photos of this obstacle aren’t very good as everyone went through so quickly.

Obstacle three remains unnamed. Any thoughts?

And, of course, obstacle 4 is “the Pickle”. We had the record made here as Jim scrambled right up.

Gary Lee didn’t have any trouble either. Dave G. and I blew it. In fact Dave only stuggled for a minute but BFJ always has a hard time fitting through the narrow opening. I have to start way left and still bang my flare. But, eventually all of us reached the top. 22 minutes, DANG!

Oh well, off to Mashed Potato trail. We are still doing a little bit of work up here defining this trail and separating it from a nearby horse trail. FYI, if you run it, the green paint is the Jeep route. White marks belong to the horses. I think our route is more fun anyway!

We get this awesome obstacle called the Gravy Bowl.

As you can see, the gravy is all dried up. Like most hot tubs, the dry ones are alot easier than the wet, muddy ones. We all hopped through pretty quickly.

Here’s Dave going up the most straightforward line. The farther left, the more tippy. Go really far left and it’s quite easy. Just watch out for that cliff right on the other side.

Gary Lee has no trouble.

Here’s Jim marking and clarifying the Jeep from the horse trail with a bit of paint.

After lunch, we checked out the Dugway. It’s an interesting, semi-controlled slide to the bottom.

Going back up is a real challenge. We all had to do it though. Then, we turned around and came back down again, making our way out to the county road.

Another great day on the trail!

Trail Reports

A group of 7 rigs showed up for the run up 7 mile rim on Sunday, July 5th. This is a moderate trail but we were planning a little play session at Wipe Out hill to make it more interesting. 

Here’s the group at the Overlook, stopping for a 10-100 break.

Next, Gary Lee decided to drive across the slickrock crack.

Nicely done!

Here’s a narrow squeeze. No one on the trail today had any trouble though.

Next came the trip down Wipe Out Hill. Here’s yours truly in my blue Jeep, Moab TJ coming down while Gene and Larry look on.

Next is Gene’s turn. It’s a long hill, really steep slickrock. Fun but easy, just let gravity bring you on down.

Here’s Larry in his Unlimited TJ showing a steep, somewhat tippy line.

Next, we all went back up taking the other line.

Here’s Larry making his way up with a small tire lift.

After everyone who wanted to go up went up, we all came back down again. Here’s Jeff in the Moab. Very scenic and beautiful.

Here’s a view of the Monitor and Merrimac after we left Wipe Out hill.

This was a good trail day. We were done shortly after lunchtime!

Thanks all and see ya on the trail!

Trail Reports

Ahhhh, the evil blogger is released! After several informative yet somewhat vanilla trail reports, the time is right for some nitty, gritty red dirt! AND………..the target for the day is………….Melanie. HURRAH!

Consider the trail, Moab Rim………and consider the driver, Melanie, in her JK Rubicon. Now, think of every big scary you’ve ever had, every nightmare filled with creepy crawlies, childhood monsters under the bed, wet pants and pucker factors. Now, you begin to understand the fear that Melanie has of………the Moab Rim. Fear, like fine wine, develops over time and Melanie had, in her past before we knew her, had a bad experience on this trail and had been diagnosed with what we call “post-traumatic rockcrawling syndrome”, PTRS.

I won’t say that Melanie is a pansy, she is a girly-girl at times but that’s okay. I will say that this trail has been on her radar screen at least 3 times and she’s used every excuse to cancel. Flimsy things like…..”I’m in the hospital”, “I have to work”, “It’s too cold, there’s ice on the slickrock”. Her latest was….”my rear locker is stuck”. Well, lockers are a good thing so get your A** up there! The only way to cure PTRS is to drive the trail again. So, she did. Today, is her tale…….

How beautiful the Portal is today as we see the line of rigs working their way up. Melanie made it handily up the Devil’s Crack. I think there was an audible sigh of relief echoing through the canyon.

Next, was the Z turns. By the time I took this photo, she was already up. Did I mention that she was my shadow? You know how your Mom used to say, “if Johnny jumped off a cliff, would you”. I think if I drove off the cliff, Melanie would have come with me, she was watching my line so closely. A couple of times I looked in my rearview and saw her eyeball filling the mirror!

Here we are at the top of the Rim, working our way over to tire test hill. The group is having fun here, few realize the terror developing in Melanie. Yeah, she’s at the top now but what happens when she has to go down?

Here we are at our hike to the Indian fort. It requires a climb up a narrow crack to get to the circle of stones. Not sure if this is authentic or if the boy scouts built it. Either way, it’s a nice way to stretch your legs.

Here’s our star of the show! After the drive up the Rim, this climb is child’s play. Luckily by this time, her pants look dry. She tried to blame it on sweat and the heat of the day. Whatever Melanie, always wear BROWN shorts on a scary trail day!

Next we checked out the petroglyph panels. Here are the dancing, happy Kokopellis! They distracted Mel and made her laugh……..for the moment.

Here’s Melanie trying to go up the sandhill. She really had the sand flying and made it the farthest up (for a Jeep that is). Today, the kings and queen of the sandhill were the lightweight Sammy’s with big tires. All of the Jeeps looked up in envy but we pretended we didn’t care. Here’s some news for you, “oh yes, we care”!

Jeff, you’re going to be building buggies for the next 10 years if you don’t stop showing us how great your creations are. Oh well, we’ll struggle on……somehow.

After a stop for lunch, it was back to Melanie’s nightmare! Now honestly, does this look scary? How beautiful is this picture with Susan driving tranquilly through the idyllic countryside? Susan’s not scared of this trail in spite of a serious roll-over on the Devil’s Crack a few years back.

Here’s Melanie descending the Z turn, the site of many a flip, roll, and bloody agonizing death. (Okay, just kidding about the last part.) When you look at this picture, you have to imagine the piercing scream coming from the driver’s seat. Now, what do you think comes next????

Nothing! Mel made it, no problem.

But, next is the Devil’s Crack. How many times has she heard the story of Susan’s roll-over here on this very obstacle? Such a roll over that Susan had to drive back up the obstacle as the ledge was too narrow to turn around. With the cliff just to the side, this is pretty intimidating. I hope her brakes work okay!

 Oh…….good. Brakes aren’t needed. The front bumper making solid contact with the slickrock stopped the Jeep completely. Nice work Melanie.

Okay, now what?              Stuck?               Stuck?             Don’t leave me Ralphy, don’t leave me!!!

Don’t worry, Jim is here to stack rocks!

Well, like all good stories, all’s well that ends well. Melanie and the rest of the group did the trail, no trouble. Ber even drove down with no front brakes!

Now, just for the record, Melanie is a good friend of mine and I’m sure the cell phone will be ringing with her giving me a piece of her mind for featuring her in the blog.

Here’s my last thought for this report. Melanie is a great driver, she’s conquered her fear of the Rim and she’s ready for tougher stuff. She’s a true off-roader and a valued member of the club. That’s why I know she’ll forgive my poetic license with her story! (It’s CLOSE to being absolutely true!)

Another great day and a very Happy 4th of July! See ya on the trail!

Trail Reports

Friday, July 3rd–Elephant Hill with 2 hikes!

Elephant Hill is a beautiful 4×4 road located in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. It’s a long drive to the trailhead though so a bathroom break was taken at Newspaper Rock. This is an area where thousands of petroglyphs were inscribed into the cliffside over hundreds of years. It’s fascinating to guess what these symbols meant and what they were trying to communicate.

Next, we were off to the trailhead. We had to wait for a few minutes as a truck was coming down Elephant Hill, then up we went. The climb up Elephant hill is alot of fun, narrow switchbacks requiring that the vehicle pulls forward and turns around for the next switchback or in one spot, you have to actually back down the trail.

Once you are over the hill (so to speak as most of us already are), its a beautiful drive combining sandy trail and some rocky slickrock sections. This trail is not very challenging, nary a locker needed but its very scenic and enjoyable.

There is one pretty narrow spot just before you reach an area called Devil’s Kitchen. No one had any problems here though.

Then we made our way to the Joint Trail trailhead where we parked the Jeeps and took a hike that was about 1.5 miles round trip.

Climbing up into the “Joint”.

Exploring some of the trail. Some of these cracks are so narrow that sunlight doesn’t reach all the way down.

Some of the side-cracks are so narrow they require turning sideways. Not a place to be if you’re claustriphobic!

Where are we again? Oh yeah, back to the Joint trail. But, let’s check our the View point first…..it’s only 500 feet away.

Wow! Pretty nice scenery of the Needles. Can anyone pick out Ber down in the canyon below?

Next, we made our way back to the Jeeps and after lunch we drove over to the Confluence Overlook trail which is about 1 mile hiking round trip. The confluence is where the Green and Colorado rivers come together to form…….well, the Colorado. Sorry Green, its the end of the line for you. This is also the divider for the 3 districts of Canyonlands. We are on the Needles side, straight across is Island in the Sky, and over to our left is the Maze. No bridges here so we’ll have to stay in the Needles.

We made our way back to Elephant Hill and went up and over back down to civilization. Of course, there had to be a break down, what would wheeling be without one?

Melanie nearly lost her license plate! After some extensive trail repairs, she was good to go. Apparently she had some screws ”loose” and a couple got lost during her trip. Don’t forget to replace those other screws.

Very fun but long wheeling day. We got back to Moab about 7:00pm.

Trail Reports