Moab Trail Pics

Being from Salt Lake City Utah it's pretty easy for me to get to Moab, if I leave early I can get down there, do a trail, and get back before 6pm. So needless to say I go there alot, these are just the 4-wheeling pictures but I also do alot of camping and hiking down there. It's a place that deserves some time to be explored.

LaSal Mountains (GONE 3) Jeep Safari and GONE was over, everybody was headed home but I didn't want to leave yet.

Most of the out-of-towners were gone or on their way out, some of the UXOC guys had left that afternoon and others were running Poison Spider, but I wanted to enjoy some scenery. I like these trips to Moab but I feel rushed running a trail every day, I like to take time to absorb the area and enjoy the scenery. So I tried to decide where to go, I almost went to Arches but I wasn't in the mood to pay 10 bucks just for two hours wandering so I took to the mountains.

It's amazing how quickly the surroundings change going up into the mountains. You start out in the red rocks typical of Moab but in less than 20 minutes you're driving in the mountains.

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We turned off at White Knuckle

Behind the Rocks (GONE 3) We run the hard version of Behind the Rocks with a couple of friends who live in the area.

Behind the Rocks is a hard trail rated a level 4+; this isn't one for the faint of heart. The trail parallels an easy 2WD road that leads to alot of campsites so you can access alot of the trail without hitting anything hard. But we took the hard way in, alot of the tough obstacles have bypasses but not all, and some of the bypasses are pretty tricky themselves. We were the first Xterras to do most of the obstacles on this trail so we had to figure out things for the first time. There were a few obstacles on the trail that I thought would be impossible for an Xterra, but I was proved wrong. Once again there was a little friction taking an Xterra up while surrounded by Jeepers, some helped us up, others mouthed off. I guess there's a difference between "4-wheelers" and "Jeepers".

Potato Salad Hill (GONE 3) A day to kick back, drink some beers, and watch some carnage.

On Friday we got some breakfast at Denny's and then setup the Xterra's at the bottom of Potato Salad at 10am, ready to be entertained. We had a nice setup going, three Xterra's parked next to each other, tailgates up facing the hill and a tarp strapped across them for a nice shady spot to spend the day. We ended up meeting alot of new people just because people gravitated towards the shade as the afternoon heated up.

The day was pretty eventful even though there were no rollovers, Hustler became the first Xterra to conquer Potato Salad. We were parked right next to the police so we also saw a alot of people arrested for causing fights or flashing for beads. We just sat on our chairs in the shade and drinking beers and watching it all go down. As Potato Salad gets more out of control it will only be a matter of time before it gets shut down. But until then it's the best party during EJS.

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We took a slightly different route, I didn't get it on the GPS though

Steel Bender (GONE 3) As soon as we arrive in Moab we hit the trails.

We gathered at Mike's house the night before heading out so that we could all leave together at 4am for Moab. After a short breakfast in Price we arrived in Moab at 10am, luckily our first choice for a camp site wasn't taken so we setup and got our vehicles ready for the weekend. For me that meant disconnecting my sway bars, airing down, and strapping everything down. We gassed up at the Walkers and headed to Steel Bender, a level 3.5+ trail that actually starts at the edge of town near the condos that all the vendors at EJS stay at. We took the long version of the trail, it's a little different than the one you find in the Moab Trail book and a little tougher too. Along the way we met a group of Jeeps that had broken down and were waiting for parts, they had the bad taste to badmouth our Xterra's as we walked up the same trail the broke on. The trail was pretty rugged, nothing that an experience Xterra driver couldn't do but still a trail the could do alot of damage to an Xterra driven by an inexperienced driver.

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Metal Masher (March 2004) Second day of spring, second spring trail.

After the day on Hells Revenge before I was planning on just relaxing through Metal Masher, a challenging level 4 trail on the easy lines. But as soon as we were on the trails we couldn't hold back. We had about the same group as the day before so we knew that everybody could handle what we were in store for, so once again we just experimented and tested our vehicles.

I had forgotten how fun Metal Masher is and really enjoyed the trail, I was leading the group so it was hard to keep running back to take pictures but we weren't in any hurry, with a small group and an empty trail we could take our sweet time. Except for a few surprises when Mike and Chris did some great wheel stands the trail was just what we expected, fun. Chris gave Widowmaker a try, trying to get two Xterra firsts in a weekend, but the obstacle wasn't being cooperative, but he was so close that next time I'm sure he'll get it. Looks like we have another trip to plan.

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Hell's Revenge (March 2004) UXOC kicks off spring with a trip to Moab.

For March we did a run to Moab, it just happens that we were down there on the first day of spring, but for me it had a greater significance, exactly one year ago I was driving a Deuce-and-a-Half into Iraq the second day of the 2nd Gulf War. Both times I was doing some offroading but this years was alot more enjoyable.

We really pushed what the Xterra could do on this 4 rated trail, we were lucky enough that everybody in the group was experienced enough that minimal spotting was needed, and we were free to try tougher lines up some obstacles. We did some ground breaking things that day, Hustler became the first Xterra to conquer the Hot Tub, and I personally challenged Tip Over Challenge and won...3 times!

Moab doesn't get any better than this trip.

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This was the toughest trail run a GONE and probably the toughest trail run by an Xterra, people who claim to have done worse either don't have proof or have never been here so they can't judge. It's a 4+ difficulty so it's respected by all wheelers as one of the toughest trails out there. It's also the closest I've ever taken my Xterra to it's limits, it was able to do a bit more but I wasn't. I ran the trail stock except for some Calmini Add-A-Leafs and the torsion bars cranked.

Metal Masher is rated a 4 for difficulty however many of the toughest obstacles can be bypassed. This was the last official GONE trail of the week, most of the UXOC were coming down for the weekend and were only able to do this trail. But most of the other GONE attendees had just left so it was more of a UXOC/RMXC outing. Most of the trail is moderate with a few difficult areas, but there are some really tough obstacles along the trail that give it it's 4 rating. One of the most notable obstacles that can't be bypassed is "Mirror Gulch" which got it's name from it's narrowness, luckily it's just full of simple ledges so body damage isn't likely.

On the way back to the highway we did a short detour at Gemini Bridges and stopped for some poses on the Bridges.

Kane Creek is rated 3.5 for difficulty but most of it is in the last 3/4s of the trail when you climb up a shelf road out of the canyon. The first 1/4 is simple dirt and rock but there are a few places where the creek is eating away at the side of the trail and may affect the trail in the future. The middle of the trail winds along the bottom of a canyon on the Kane Creek flood plain and crosses the creek many times an even follows the creek for a few hundred meters in places. Make sure you check ahead of time to make sure the creek isn't flooding, there are some deep places that could flood the engine but generally the creek is only a foot or two deep for most of the trail.