The Icy Rescue of Redroxx
Well, I realize the blogger has been off on a much needed winter break but spring time is looming in Moab and its time to shake off the rust and get back to the trail reports.
Let’s re-cap the winter here in Moab. Firstly, it was a cold one! The low morning temperatures kept us away from many of the trails. BRRRR!!! But, there is ONE winter tradition we like to take when the temperatures drop and that is the ICY Kane Creek trail.
So, on January 8th, a group of us decided to head out on Kane Creek and enjoy the ice. Well, Redroxx wasn’t behaving very well for me and traditionally she is the ice breaker. Well, I got to the trail head and turned off the engine and it sounded like it was still running. After some diagnostics, it was determined that the starter was shot. I was ready to head back to Moab but the group convinced me to take a bump start. Larry gave Redroxx a push with his truck and it fired right up. So, off we went.
All was uneventful until we reached Hamburger Hill which was covered with snow and ice. After watching some scary attempts on the easier left side, I decided to try the big ledge, which was icy…..and after several high RPM attempts, I lost my gearing.
So, to make a long story longer, I backed all the way down the hill in neutral with a few pushes along the way. It was quickly determined that I would have to leave Redroxx there and come back in the morning with a new starter and some tools to possible cut through the skid plate to check out the linkage (which also was toast).
Now here it is on Sunday…..and now I have some photos…..
We entered from the exit side of Kane Creek and all the snow from the day before had begun to melt….the shelf road was a bit sketchy. After Jim nearly slid off the cliff, we realized we had to winch ourselves over. Here’s the portion of the road I’m talking about.
There is no obvious winching point on this portion of the road so we had to employ some rock climbers….
Jeff scaled the snow covered cliff to find a suitable place to secure the strap.
Gary Lee helped!
One by one we winched our way through the scary spot. You can see the hole our trucks were sliding into near the rear passenger tire of Jeff’s truck but can’t see the 100 ft drop to the creek. This doesn’t look too scary but it was!
Finally we got down to Redroxx and were able to get the starter installed.
Here’s the rescue crew.
So, the new starter gets installed and Redroxx fires right up. Now, we need to find a gear. Finally, Jeff gets Redroxx into what we think is 4H. After a bit of driving though, I realize that it is 2H which is no good. Jeff fights the linkage again and does manage 4H.
After all the near slide-offs on the cliff portion, we decide it is wiser to go on out the back way towards the main trail head by Hurrah Pass turn off. You would think we are home free, right? Wrong….
Here’s another slide-off spot, not quite a 100 ft. drop off but still a nasty consequence if you don’t make it. The wider trucks needed more winching help.
But Gary Lee was able to drive Moab TJ right on through.
After we got past this point, the trail became straight forward and we were able to get Redroxx back to town. I ordered a new linkage set, thinking that might be all that’s wrong with her but it turned out that I did indeed blow up the transfer case. I got it repaired and put back in this weekend. (Feb. 26th) I’m now saving up my nickles for an Atlas…..
Thanks all and see ya on the trail.