WeBeJeepin’ Moab

 

Could it be that we are back on Hell’s Revenge again? Well, it seems like everytime there’s a Jeeping visitor to Moab, we end up getting this as a trail request. According to my log book, this is #10 on Hell’s for me this year. But, who can beat the scenery? the friendship? the obstacles? Wonderful!

Hell’s is starting to get a little crowded again as it does in certain months of the year. Lots of bicycles, Jeeps, Hummer tours, etc. but that’s okay as we could show off at all the usual fun spots.

Here’s the group at the overlook. 9 rigs is a pretty good number. I had my Dad and my god-father visiting, as well as my first cousin. They were all having a blast.

After the overlook, it’s off to Hell’s Gate. I hope that I always respect this obstacle, it has never failed to increase my pulse rate and I think about Gene’s roll-over and wonder……is today my day?

 Not today, everyone came through just fine. Rick made his first go without a spotter and you could see him “feeling” his way through the obstacle.

Next it was up to the hot-tub section. Most went through the dry car wash.

Then the group took a loooooonnnnnnggggg look at the big hot tub. In fact Ber pulled out one of his tools, this time it was one that measures the angles like an inclinometer. He took various measurements along the tubs walls and some sections measured in excess of 55 degrees. This is a big, long obstacle but the more the guys look at it, I’m sure someone will give it a go at some point. SCARY!

After reluctantly leaving the Big tub, it was off to Mickey’s and one the group is more comfortable with.

Quite a few went through today while others watched. Yes Rick, yours truly did the Chicken Dance……watched and took pictures.

Next is the Escalator…….Jim shows the way and is quickly followed by Gary Lee and Rick. Folks watching at the top were starting to wonder what the big deal is on this obstacle. Well, Susan showed us what happens when you get slightly off line…….

Oops!

Oh well, a good poser shot and a big thumbs up. After the Widowmaker incident, this is no big deal.

After tip-over we went the long way towards Rubble Trouble and see Over E-Z climbing up the fin with a new driver.

It’s my god-father Howard. He’s a retired oncologist and is really enjoying learning the art of rock-crawling. Watch out Jeff or you’ll be building yet another Sammy!

We made it to the end of the trail and found how Jeff really ”builds” those Samurai’s! I think Drtsqrl has his sights set on Wmndrvr!! Another Happy Ending!

See ya on the trail.

Melissa

Trail Reports

 Well, here we are all in a Pickle again…..I guess I should say, we’re all out running the Pickle again. This is not the club’s favorite trail although it is fun, it’s just that we’ve been out working on GPS’ing, marking, and placing signage on our new Jeep trail, Mashed Potato. The Pickle is just an interesting way to get there.

De Von (I might have spelled the name wrong, sorry) was out on the trail today with his big green Jeep. He had some recent mods (new rear end) and wanted to try everything out. He got a good test as you will see.

Here’s the squeeze area. My little blue Jeep tried the more exteme line at the very end and ended up with a bit of body damage and a lightly torn soft top. Oh well, it’ll buff out, right Rick?

Here’s Gary Lee coming up the Pickle!

Here’s DeVon giving it a go. It took a bit for the right line to be found but eventually he got up the ledge.

Here’s Jeff making it up. After eveyone was up or bypassed the Pickle, we moved on to Mashed Potato. We installed a sign at the entrance (Jim will do a report on the work portion of the trail on the MFFW site) and then moved on to the Gravy Boat. At this point my blue Jeep was parked as the track arm bracket (see last week’s trail report) was starting to separate. I rode on with Gary Lee.

Here’s some fun Gravy Boat action. After getting the ice and water out, and figuring out the best line, Gary Lee wanted to pick a more extreme line. Jim went through first, fully loaded with all the implements of heavy construction.

Now, Gary Lee wanted to see if Over-EZ would climb it or fulfill it’s name.

Whew! It was close but by this point, Gary Lee is ready to give a big thumbs up. After Susan’s shaky thumb action on Widowmaker a few weeks ago (not sure if she wanted to stick it out or suck it), its become the new poser shot for the paparazzi’s camera.

Next came DeVon. This tub is small and DeVon’s long Jeep took a bit of manipulation to get lined up. Another nice poser shot!

And, he made it up too!

Susan’s thumb’s not so shaky on this one. Guess she figured Jeff wasn’t about to add another band-aid to Drtsqrl’s hood today. Yes, she was riding along today……

Okay, due to popular demand…….let’s have a “what could Jim possibly be thinking” photo?

a. the pionjar drill sounds eerily like Wagner…..makes me want to sing OPERA! (I was told to put this one in for Bill)

b. why the hell are all the Jeeps breaking? Oh, It’s a Jeep thing…..I understand……

c. I wonder how long until I’ll have my new Samurai, Chief 9? Will I get to tow everyone up Widomaker? YES!

d. Why the hell do I always drill with Gary Lee? His singing makes me want to go to church!

And……..speaking of broken Jeeps………..here’s #2 for the day. LARRY! Might be hard to see but that’s a broken axle stub shaft, “look ma, no ears”!

So, Larry went around on 3-D while the rest of the group went backwards on Mashed Potato. Gary Lee had noted that he’d never seen anyone do the Gravy Boat backwards. So………here we go Jim!

That’s steep stuff! Careful now, make that turn without tipping!

Okay Jim, now you’re just showing off!

Go Gary Lee! No problem! Jeff went through so fast I didn’t get a photo.

But, I did get another poser shot!

BEAUTIFUL trail day! Here we go with the standard blah, blah. Check out the trail schedule, wanna Jeep in Moab? Come on out and join us!

See ya on the trail!

Melissa

Trail Reports

A cold front came through Moab and gave us a beautiful day for wheeling. It was still hot, but we’re talking 80′s instead of 100′s. So today, we decided to take a tour of the Jackson Hole region to see the sights, scenery and look for a little bit of petrified wood.

Jackson Hole is found via the Kane Creek Road to Hurrah Pass. Today, your author is in the blue Moab TJ. If you remember from the Metal Masher, Redroxx is still recovering from a broken wheel and is awaiting an axle transplant.

Here’s the group at Hurrah pass getting an orientation to the lay of the land. Then after a 10-100 break, it was off to Jackson Hole. Following the Chicken corners trail, take a right towards the Base Camp Adventure Center (used to be called Camelot). After you pass the lodge, you’ll see the sign directing you towards Jackson Hole.

This is an easy but scenic trail. Some folks never put it into 4WD as we struck out for an old mining area and stopped to explore.

This strange structure is just a room, perhaps used to store explosives for the mine shafts up above on the cliffside. After this stop, we moved on to the area where petrified wood can often be found. I don’t know if you can see the guys up in the midst of these boulders, looking for wood?

After everyone collected a souvenier, or left one, we moved on. Lance, someday they’ll name a fossil after you!

The scenery was really spectacular, lots of interesting shapes of sandstone. Moab TJ started to act weird about this point and didn’t want to steer very well. After a big clunk, I decided it was time to investigate. It turns out that my track bar? (not totally sure) was broken. The bolt was sheared off. Here I am, broken again and down to my last Jeep too. But, Gene to the rescue. He’s the fellow standing at the driver’s side. He had a spare one back in Moab and ran off to fetch it, while the rest of us made the journey to the wind caves. In the meantime, we used some of Rick’s binding wire (3 kinds in bulk) and a rachet strap to band-aid it back together.

Off to the Wind Caves, aka Catacombs. This is a series of sandstone tunnels caused by falling rock and erosion. It’s pretty dark in here so my camera went into super exposure mode but it made for some neat action photos like this one of Jeff.

We spent a little while exploring and then some went back into town while the rest of us waited for Gene.

Gene finally showed up (after being lost) and told us a tall tale about getting directions from a man walking a turtle down the Chicken Corners trail. Anyway, that’s another story. The repairs were made and Moab TJ made it back to town.

Another great trail day.

Melissa

Trail Reports

I find it interesting in Moab that there are so many descriptions of absolutely gorgeous places in terms of doom and gloom. Fiery Furnace, Dead Horse Point, Widowmaker, Cliffhanger etc. Add Hell’s Revenge trail to that list. I think this is a beautiful trail but can see that in the wrong situation, it could feel like Hell’s out to get you. Today though, in the midst of the August heat, it was the trail of Rick’s dreams……now to the story.

A group of 9 rigs left the Cinema to run Hell’s Revenge. Gary & Deb had friends from Wyoming and A.J. and Sarah from San Diego, California-Dugway found Jim through the Red Rock 4 Wheelers so we had some first-timers to this fantastic slick rock highway.

Here’s Lance jumping up the rocky challenge by the Abyss.

Jeff’s long wheelbase straddles the whole thing.

Here’s our star of the show, Rick with his faithful little TJ “Rokdawg”. Now Rick has had his share of adventure and misadventure as he has learned the art of rockcrawling. I’ve teased him on the blog about wire in bulk and we’ve strapped him over and through all kinds of problems in Area BFE. But, as they say, “every dawg has his day” and Rick has earned his accolades on today’s blog. But, back to the story.

Here’s AJ with his LJ climbing up Hell’s Gate. What a great obstacle. It’s always fun to paint the picture of danger and certainly this is not an obstacle to take lightly. But, as usual, most folks make it through with barely a wheel lift. It gets your attention though and gets the old adrenaline flowing.

Gotta get a photo of BadCat. I think Jim has been up this obstacle a hundred times and it shows. After the initial group went through, Lance said, “what the hell”? and decided to give it a go. Gary Lee went with him. He had a pretty big wheel lift on the way up but all was well. Congratulations all around!

But, there is much more trail. After Hell’s gate, we made our way over the slickrock to the hot tub section of the trail. Everyone gave the carwash a go. Here’s Gary in his yellow JK showing how to drive Hell’s Revenge “open”.

Next, we had a long look at the Big Hot tub but no one really was serious about trying it. I think Gary Lee will do it someday but for now, we moved on to Mickey’s.

Gary Lee didn’t wait a minute to hop down and back up Mickey’s.

Here goes Jeff. YES!

Then, Gary Lee started “walking the Sami”. Jim decided to make a go (his first attempt ever, I learned). He decided on the leash just in case.

But, Jim don’t need no stinkin’ strap. Up he goes to join the rest of the Samurai’s. Now, any Jeeps wanna try?

A.J. says he didn’t come all the way to Moab to chicken out of a challenge. He took the leash too but made the obstacle.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, Rick started his way into the tub. I’ve seen bad outcomes with shorter wheelbases and I think Rick is near stock length, definitely not over 100″. He wisely took the leash but Rokdawg is a tough old Jeep and crawled out of that dark hole like a Hellhound. Fantastic job.

The next major obstacle is the dreaded Escalator. This obstacle has chewed up, spit out, and nearly swallowed Rokdawg the last two times Rick tried it. Rick can show you the duct tape on his soft top, bent up fender flares, and rock rash from his previous attempts.

But first, it’s down the Dragon tail, a steep slickrock descent. It was only 11:00am at this point so we decided to have lunch at the Escalator.

Gary Lee was first up today and he shows that he learned the line from the last time he drove the trail. He drove up with barely a wheel lift or tire bark.

Next, comes Rick. OMG! He’s coming at 20mph! But……look, he’s got the line!

Woo-Hoo! Rick nailed it! The cries of triumph echoed all the way to Dan Mick’s group over at Hell’s Gate.

Jeff and Jim also went quickly through without any trouble.

That left A.J. taking off his soft top for the journey. He’d already seen Ricks and decided his was still nice and new and he was gonna keep it that way. 

It’s hard to describe what happens when you get off the line in the Escalator. We’ve all been there and it sure is tippy, first one way, then another. Big wheel lifts and great photos. It’s frustrating to drive it though because getting back on the line is time intensive if not impossible. A.J. got to see what that feels like.

Back and forth until the rear corner panel jammed up against the rock.

A.J. wisely called for a rescue strap.

But, A.J. we have a consolation prize for you. After we all worked our way over to Tip Over Challenge, we realized that maybe……….just maybe…….if you work hard and dedicate yourself to the sport of Jeeping……

You could be the next Dan Mick! You’ve already got the hair up top, now you just need to work on the chiny, chin, chin.

Great trail day! Hopefully our visitors had as much fun as we did. Congratulations Rick, you earned this blogger’s admiration…………for now anyway…………MMMMMMHAHAHAHA (evil laughter).

See ya on the trail.

Trail Reports

It’s been awhile since the group’s been out on Jeff & Jim’s designed trail in AREA BFE. Lockjaw saw some heavy use by a JK group during EJS and we had a few minutes on Saturday and decided to run it and check it for changes. The group was made up of Jim, Gary, and Jeff. Susan & I rode along.

The main big obstacle on Lockjaw is called the Jawbreaker. This is a pretty decent ledgy wall with an upper section that can be double whammy-like, pushing you sideways and causing wall walking. The tree that used to guard this one is gone.

 

Gary Lee was first up and made it on his second attempt.

Jeff did like-wise. Jim was loaded up with work supplies and tools and elected to go around.

The trail is really rocky, requiring careful tire placement. There are a few walls but mostly boulder on the top portion of the trail.  At the end of the short trail, we stopped for lunch. After we started again, we met up with 3 buggies from northern Utah. They kept on going down Minor Threat while Jeff pointed out this lovely little obstacle.

Gary said, “sure, I’ll try” before Jeff mentioned that he’d only seen one vehicle do it before. No matter, it was an AWESOME obstacle. The gap between the rocks is so narrow that you have to climb way up with your driver tire and basically come through it sideways.

I decided to ride along so Jeff took this photo of us wedged in. I’m trying to give a thumbs up.

This one is not too friendly to soft tops of any kind as you scrape along on your roll cage.

Once you clear through that section, there is an open air spot that your rig’s driver tire has to walk over and land on a tiny rock below. If you miss it, there are consequences. Not sure if you can see Jim’s rig down on the main trail way below.

Anyway, all was good and Gary was quite excited. Here you can see Jeff standing in the gap between the two rocks between Gary’s front and rear.

Next was Jeff’s turn. Here’s the first part of the obstacle where you also have to climb way up the rock.

Next, using the inside sidewall of your tire, slide along the boulder.

Gotta stay up on that boulder, turning off puts you on your side.

Okay, back in place and you can see Jeff has hit the little rock. Very well done and a highlight of the day!

Here’s those buggies I was talking about. By the time we got off the hill, they were playing on the Gatekeeper obstacle, running it backwards.

Kinda looks fun. I’ve never done it before but we’ll have to give it a try next time we’re out there.

Just a short day but fun.

Trail Reports