WeBeJeepin’ Moab

Twas the week before Christmas and through Moab land

Not a Jeeplet was stirring or stuck in the sand

The Sammy’s were nestled, all snug in their barn

Making it perfect for the blogger to send you this yarn!

I was watching TV while Gary played the Wii

Lots of cool presents were still under the tree

I felt like napping, Gary wanted pie

No one was Jeeping or would even try

Suddenly from the East there arose such a clatter

I sprung into Redroxx to see what was the matter?!

It seemed here that Jim had been up all night

Preparing to install the last Carsonite

I drove to the Cinema and what appeared to my eye?

But a couple of Jeeps…..and a few Samurai.

On Redroxx, Over EZ, on Drtsqrl, on Diffe

We’ve got work to do and lets make it spiffy.

On Rockdawg, on Jumper, on Flipper, Roxanne

Wmndrvr, Chief9, and Larry….the man!

To the top of the Rim, via the Z-turn

Now dash away, dash away, burn tires burn!

It’s 9:05 and there’s work to be done

Stop all your talking and quit having fun!

He gave us this warning, no one thought it queer

If you break on the trail, I’ll leave your A$$ here!

He was dressed all in Carhartt, he was covered with paint

His eyes were all focused, he shone like a saint

A bundle of tools he had slung on his back

Electric gloves warmed his hands with a battery pack

Jim spoke not a work but went straight to his work

Sawing and drilling, then turned with a jerk

He jumped in his rig, turned hard on the wheel

Then over the crack with barely a squeal

From all these labors, rewards will we reap

He exclaimed from the cab as his horn gave a beep

Keep painting lines, keep fighting the fight

Keep our trails open, to the last Carsonite!

From Friends for Wheelin’, this now ends my tale

Merry Christmas to all, See Ya all on the Trail!

Melissa

Trail Reports

Sorry for the delenquent posting. A group went out on the Strike Ravine trail WAAAAY back in November. The snow you see now has melted and I don’t think we have any more on the ground?!?

We went out to try the Big Ugly thinking some of us wouldn’t make it in the snow and ice but we all did! It sure was fun sliding and pinging off the hidden boulders. Good driving everybody!

Here comes Gary Bushnell in Jumper. He’s got a story in this trail. Stay tuned…..

We stopped down in the “ravine” to take a little break. Boy, it sure is cold.

Then folks started showing off.

Some of the group decided to head off the main trail and take the Lockjaw trail in Area BFE. Lance had a good time running with the big buggies. I think he’s ready for a Pritchett run!

Gary Lee of course has to pick the tough lines.

Here’s the last photo I have of Gary Lee on this run. After we stopped for lunch, he “accidently” got lost in Area BFE and ran Green Day backwards. Jeff joined him in case of trouble-SURE. The rest of us went on and finished the main trail, meeting up with them in the BFE parking lot. I heard lots of bragging but NO PHOTOS so it didn’t happen……

This little slippery area on Strike Ravine was bad news for Gary Bushnell last year. As he came up the other side of the canyon, he broke his front driver axle. Then as I towed him out, I drug him into a ditch along the trail. Here’s some photos from last year.

Here’s a photo of him stuck on a rock either right before or when he broke his axle.

Here’s the back end of the Jeep sticking out of the ditch I towed him into. Boy did he yell!

And, here he is in Jeff’s garage, pulling that axle.

This year he came prepared with new tires and more driving experience and it showed. He ran the full trail in the snow with no problems or troubles.

Well it was another nice trail day, even if it was last month. Stay tuned as the blogger is back from vacation and ready for another year of evil trail reporting!

Trail Reports

Yes, it was cold in Pritchett Canyon but not enough for regular polar bears. We did have a white jeep join us named Polar Bear so I thought it would be a good enough name for the trail blog.

Jeff was looking forward to trying his new and improved “clean squirrel” on his favorite trail. Things seem to be looking good so far.

And yes, more trail work was involved. Gary and Travis are posing over a carsonite just installed to prevent traffic from inadvertantly entering a wash.

Redroxx was out today and took turns leading. Right behind me, you can see the polar bear Jeep being driven by Travis, his first time in Pritchett.

Jim looks like a tiger dragging his tail as he tries one of the more difficult ledges in the Brickyard.

Travis takes the traditional line without any trouble.

Larry tries one of the harder lines on the Brickyard as well.

So does Jeff.

After some more trail work, we’re off to Chewy. Not much traffic on this cold, snowy day.

A bit more repair work and we’re off!

Jim feels a lot more stable in Chief 9. Look at him climbing over this rock.

Jeff got a bit off line trying this challenge and gets a nice wheel lift to show for it.

Not to be out-done, Gary Lee gets a bigger wheel lift, the one that’s just shy of landing backwards in the mud puddle.

Jim says, “quit playing around” and shows us the proper line.

Now over to a snowy, muddy Rocker-knocker. Larry got a bit slidey climbing the ledge above the obstacle.

Then we had lunch and quickly climbed up and out of the canyon. Here’s kind of a dark photo of Gary Lee climbing up Rock Pile, his best obstacle. Jeff and I also made it up.

Here’s the poser photo at the top of the canyon. Then we decided to head off towards Hunter.

The further south we got, the more snow we encountered, making some of these climbs out of Hunter a bit tricky.

We finally reached White Knuckle hill and it was covered with snow and mud, making it impossible to get traction to climb it. We all tried it of course but finally resulted in going up the extreme right side, a way I’ve never tried before.

Jeff was actually first, I got these out of order.

Gary Lee gave a great try in the traditional line but no luck. He went around as well.

Then we did a little bit of sliding down Hummer hill. Just enough to give a slight scare before traction was regained.

Another great trail day and with the exception of a group of buggies behind us on Rocker Knocker, we had the trail to ourselves, a benefit of winter in Moab.

Thanks all, see ya on the trail.

Melissa

Trail Reports