WeBeJeepin’ Moab

Hell’s Revenge was on the plan for Sunday. A group met at the Cinema and when they got up to the Sand Flats area, there was a new sign along with the new paved parking area at the base of the trail head. After looking at the map, they determined that a route they thought was closed was still listed and decided to investigate.

This route turns left after the dinosaur tracks and before climbing up to the big slickrock fins.

There was quite a bit of detective work involved in finding the trail. If this is indeed a designated route, it will need to be marked. Looks interesting…..

After a bit of side tracking, the group made it back to the main trail and proceeded over to Hell’s Gate for a bit of fun. Looks like Larry is trying a new line….

Then it was over to the hot tub area. This is such a beautiful trail…..

Mickey’s hot tub with a bit of water in it. Just the right fun combination…..Jeff shows the way.

Next comes Gary Lee…..

Jim’s friend Mark from Colorado wanted a go as well.

After that, it’s over to the Escalator for some super fun….

Once everyone who wanted to try made it through, it was off to finish the trail….

Lots of fun! See ya on the trail!

Melissa

Trail Reports

A trip was organized by Jim & Ber to head out to the White Wash Sand Dunes located between Moab and Green River.

Here’s Jim exploring one of the many Sand Dunes.

The group checked out some areas of slickrock. Since this is an open area, the rigs could go anywhere and everyone spread out and played.

Some of the rigs found out that the sand is really soft and deep. You have to maintain momentum and even then, getting stuck is a real possibility. Here’s Susan, waiting for a rescue…..

More slickrock ledges to climb up and down….

Gary and Devon tried some silly stuff. Luckily Gary didn’t make it up on this rock. Where would he have gone then?

Here’s Larry and his new truck. Will we ever see the Jeep again?

It was a long day but it sounded like everyone had a good time. If you’re wondering why the story sounds so generic, it’s because I was out of town and not on this trail.

Thanks,

Melissa

Trail Reports

Well, the snow finally came to Moab and left a winter wonderland for Jeeping. We had Strike Ravine on the schedule and a group of 10 rigs was waiting at the South Shell station to see how it is to run Moab in the snow. I can describe it in one word…..BEAUTIFUL.  I can also describe it in words like…slippery, muddy, but also lots of fun.

Here are some photos of dropping into the Ravine very near the Green Day trailhead in Area BFE.

Here’s a photo of Jumper and his owner Gary Bushnell. Gary had requested this trail and had a little bit of trouble in the snow. Jumper did a bit of jumping and wound up with a broken front axle. Melanie was tickled to get to use her new winch. This is a photo right through the windshield.

A group from up north joined us and gave big thumbs up. They’re used to snow apparently and like the mix of red rock and winter conditions.

Poor Gary again. Redroxx was giving a little bit of tow assistance with the broken axle when Jumper jumped off the trail and into the ravine. I don’t think its the one the trail is named after but I’m sure that Gary has a name or two for it (none that I can mention here).

Might as well keep a positive attitute and wait for help. I’m not sure if Gary could have gotten out of his Jeep at this point anyway….

A 4 Jeep rescue….two were winching from the side while two were pulling. Finally Gary was rescued from the ditch and to everyone’s surprise, there wasn’t a scratch on the Jeep. Perhaps a scuff on the flare but all things considered, it worked out pretty well.

Back to the county road and the Steven’s garage for an axle pull. Yes, under that snow is a lot of mud as all the Jeeps showed. Off to the carwash.

First though, Gary gets a lesson on axle pulling 101. He did a great job and gets an A+. Not as hard as you thought is it Gary? Take it from me who’s pulled a bunch! Better in the garage than on the muddy trail….

After the axle was removed, Gary and Deb set off for Payson, no doubt discussing their exciting and adventurous day. Coming back for Tippy Toe Behind the Rocks? OH YEAH!

Another fabulous wintry day here in Moab!

Thanks all and see ya on the trail.

Melissa

Trail Reports

Some video action from the Rusty Nail trail on Sunday. This trail was decided upon rather quickly as we needed to close off an illegal obstacle. (You can check more on this project on the MFFW site).

I figured out how to embed the videos into this site now so you should be able to click on the play button in the middle of each video in order to watch!

Rusty Nail is a great but rather short trail that bypasses Gold Bar Rim and connects with Golden Spike very near the Golden Crack. Even though the trail is short, the obstacles are interesting and challenging. The first obstacle has two choices, the main trail and this alternate route to the right hand side.

 Jeff shows us how to do the harder line to the right.

Now, everyone, check out Larry’s new truck headed up the alternate route. This big ol’ truck makes it look easy.

Next comes Gary Lee…..again “that was easy”.

Next is the second obstacle. I have no idea if this is called the gatekeeper or not but again there are two choices. The route to the right is rocky and a bit tricky, the way to the left is steep and takes an off-camber approach. Most went to the right although Allen went to the left and made it look easy.

There was quite a bit of trash in this area which we cleaned up.

Here’s Rick in his new Samurai. Those of you who follow the blog might remember that Rick had his first flop here. You could tell he still remembered and he got a couple of wheel lifts but eventually tacked the challenge and was successful!

Now Jim shows off with Bad Cat and quickly climbs up Obstacle #2 as well. He was so busy marking the trail that he didn’t have much time for driving obstacles…..too busy!

Next is an obstacle I’ve heard called “No Left Turn”. Jeff shows us how to do this one. This one is really fun backwards too.

After our trail marking and obstacle closure, we went on to Double Whammy. Jim shows off his new mobile trail marking device that allows him to drive and paint.

Double Whammy!

Here’s Allen going up the right side of the obstacle. It took a few tries but once he got it, it looks like no problem.

This was an absolutely beautiful day and the temperatures were very warm for November. The group didn’t have any problems (except Rick got stuck in park—long story).

Thanks all and see ya on the trail.

Melissa

Trail Reports