Okay, Okay... to make up for the transgressions...
Okay, made it back, WHAT A WEEK! These things just keep getting better and better every year.
A basic synopsis of my experiences and highlights through the week will follow. Pics are on www.trailseeker.com.
Sun May 11, Arrive Moab, check in to the cabin and head downtown to take in all the scenic splendor and walk the shops and relax on Mother's Day.
Mon, May 12, Drove to Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky district, and drove down the White Rim trail to Lathrop Canyon which descends to the Colorado River. This was a trail with awesome views and spectacular scenery, which I highly recommend to everyone that has a free day to take it. To depart the trail we decided to take Shafers trail to access Moab a bit more quickly. Total off highway miles ringed in @ ~ 60, fortunately I had a feel for the road on departure and made decent time to depart the 40 miles to pavement in ~ 2.5 hours. We had Musky Amigo, Big Swede, and Dave Harness join me on the trails this day and we had a blast taking in the sights. All in all, easy wheelin that a stock rig can handle with ease.
Tue, May 13, There was a need to pre-run a LOT of trails, as staff was assigned to trails that were new to them. Everyone did an OUTSTANDING job of pre-running their trails, learning them and leading the crews through each trail. I chose to occompany Jim Paget and Joe D on Flat Iron Mesa since I had never ran it before and have heard good things about it. Corbin and Aaron joined us with a few others and we had a blast on this trail that is scenic and a lot of fun. Unfortunately the direction it is standardly ran in is down most the obstacles, and a run in reverse would make the trail move up in difficulty to a 4+ status from a 4, which we did not have the time for this day. Some tricky spots exist to bite your rockers, and such, but for the most part, it was a cool trail.
Wed, May 14, Opening day of the official Moab 'Zu Zoo VI event. We were registered for the Ladies run on Seven Mile Rim, which had four ladies signed up, Deanna, Nickie, Julie, and Tia. Since these are all local trailseeker members, and we had nobody else sign up, the run was cancelled and we ended up going to breakfast and leisurely tooling around in the morning and took off to pre-run Wipe Out Hill. In route finding and such, it was found to be easier if we just ran Seven Mile Rim on Saturday and go to Wipe Out Hill. That is what we did. This trail is fairly confusing and difficult to find the correct route on since there are so many spur roads, but a little patience, trial and error, along with perseverance, we made it through and tackled Wipe Out Hill. Not only did we go down, we also drove back up. This is the only time of the day the guys drove, since the ladies weren't too interested in tackling the obstacle. It was impressive, my tilt guage maxed out twice on the two descents 45*+!!! Corbin, Jeff and myself were successful. Seven Mile Rim is wholy appropriate for a stocker as it runs ~3-3.5, Wipe Out Hill itself can be traversed down with minimal drama; to negotiate up requires a locker, or a TIGHT LSD and momentum! Not recommeded for the faint of heart.
Thu, May 15, The ominous day arrived to run Behind the Rocks, which Corbin and Aaron deemed as TT (Torture Tia) time. She held up very well and had a great time. The day started off with a steady rain shower that lasted until about 11 AM, which made the trail all that much more interesting to deal with the mud, wet rock and such. Amazingly enough, the slickrock actually gets more traction when it rains since it washes away the silt, and cleans the tires. Unfortunately, with our trail it was difficult for that to happen since the slickrock was very sporadic and lots of sandy mud was tracked through to get there. Dallas, Corbin, Aaron and their passengers were all pretty miserable with the COLD rain and the highway trip to get to the trailhead. Virtually everyone got soaked, but none more than that crew. We had a fun and capable group which kept things moving right along and were lucky enough to reach the most dangerous and Tiaflying obstacle in all of Moab, according to Chuck Wells for lunch. Fortunately, the rain had stopped by then, and we all lined up to drive off the ledges. Great time and we completed the trail by 2:30!!! This trail can be completed by a moderately built vehicle, and even though it has a 4+ rating, I would think it is more ~ 4 excepting Upchuck (need 2 lockers for it). Definitely a pyschological testing trail, moreso than difficult obstacles. When run as Tiptoe BTR, it is substantially easier, and we took 2WD down it before. Gravity is our friend. I see no reason a moderately built rig could not get through it. Definitely take a strap to the rear on White Knuckle Hill for that 92" WB.
Fri, May 16, Our turn for Golden Spike, which began the day rather omniously as there was carnage on the previous day and a vehicle still out there. Combine that with a large group and it spelled a recipe for a LONG DAY. Fortunately we were lucky and had a group of good drivers, because we moved right along, completed the obstacles and completed the trail back to pavement by 4:30. This included our one break of the day, the Golden Crack claimed Desha's right front axle. We strapped winched her up the remaining 6 obstacles/tough spots and still made it back quickly. That was a fun group and a good day. Make no mistake this is a LONG trail and without a locker, rocker protection, and apathy for your rear bumper, I would not recommend this trail to anyone. One you have them, go for it. Green Dragon and Swordy had a good time!
Sat, May 16, My first opportunity to lead a trail at a 'Zu Zoo event, and I was fairly nervous about it, but we did well, and ran a group through Seven Mile Rim. Tia predominately drove this day while I was navigating and finding the correct route. The only holdup was finding the turnoff for Uranium Arch. We had made such good time up to that point, we decided to turn around and locate the turnoff. The rest of the trail was uneventful and when we arrived at the Wipe Out Hill we encountered a group of Land Rovers descending.
This was a good thing as it influenced a lot of the group's decision to either ALL go down, ALL stay up, or those that wanted to go down had to get back up if not everyone wasnted to go down it. As it turned out, Musky Amigo, Mike Walters was the only person in our group to give it a rip. He did very well and walked up it. See above comments...
Sun, May 18, day of check out and departure, true to form, we decided to run a trail on departing, this time was Lower Helldorado. Corbin, Aaron, Jeff Bathke, and myself set out for the trail and decided to give it a whirl. Getting through the entrance, Aaron blew a bead on his right front, and was fixed relatively quickly with the CO2 canister, We continued and about a quarter mile in, Aaron attempts an obstacle, gets bound up and grenades the right front u-joint/axle shaft ears. In attempting to clear the obstacle and get turned around, the ears caught the remnants of the u-joint and blew the ball joint. a trail fix didnt work out so we got him back to level ground removed the axle shaft and got the ball joint fixed to get him off the trail. A hose clamp around the ball joint and knuckle was deemed to be the fix to get him home ~400 miles. This trail was defnitely pushing the limits of myself and Locomigos mettle. Unfortunately, Aaron broke, so we will get another chance at Crawloween. I would not recommend this trail to anyone unless you have total disregard for body damage (chicks dig it right?), locker(s), rocker protection, and several years experience.
All in all a GREAT week, and I cant wait to go back...
