Moab trip 5/13-5/18

Awesome Pics and You and Kate will have some great reflections.

BTW, what Dogs? Where are their Pics?

Also, you obviously did a great job on the Lift. Some of the steps you climbed, would have still worried me without some backup.

Great trip, thanks for sharing the photos!

 

I will do day 3 later today but I just thought I should add some info for those wanting to head out there.... BUY this book!!! We used it every day and it also gave us a great idea of what trails would have for views and difficult sections. The insight in the book was almost like having a local tell you what to look for at the bar the night before... you can get it at many of the outdoors equipment shops in Moab but I wish I had bought it a week or two beforehand that way I could of had time to really look at each area.. some days I was just like well I'm in area 2 what else is here. While that let me accidentally find some cool shit I was pretty bummed on day 2 that I drove right by a super short but technical and fun trail because I thought I didn't have time. There are apps and websites but when service is down on the trail it's nice to look at some paper that has mile markers and descriptions for each trail.

 

DAY 3:
we started the day by heading out to arches national park. It was a good time and I highly recommend it. Its about a 3 hour allotment if you only want to see the big arch although you could easily spend all day hiking to the other attractions. even the parking lot has good views.

 

After that we did gemini bridges, bull canyon, and onion creek. bull canyon is right off of gemini and adds another two hours to the trip there is a super fun steep ledge but very low trail damage risk to those with less armor.. onion creek was easy peasy and if you keep going past it you can get to rose garden hill which is a very difficult trail that you definitely want a buddy with you I scoped it out but it was right before night and was solo so I used judgement for once and just had fun pre running the dirt roads home.

me and a jeep friend... the start of gemini bridges is a little hairy because you are right on the edge of a ledge I would not want to do this trail on a wet day..



pretty uneventful wheeling until though you do this run to see the views not for the technicality.

Bull canyon gets kinda fun heres that little ledge that I posed wicked hard for.. it shows alot of flex and looks intimidating but its honestly just clearance and good rubber. no armor needed.

 

more of this section.

 

and topping out

 

Great pics! Keep them coming!

 

then coming down because why not..

 

If you have a stock bumper or tow hitch you might want to angle you final foot off or if your exhaust hangs low... I dont know if my exhaust would of made it because i crunched it up the day before. lol

 

onion creek was super easy and i didnt actually need to air down but this hill looked really cool in my opinion the way the sun was hitting it and I wanted to really get on the throttle so i stopped for some taco pose time and a quick air down.


I told kate if she gave me any more shit Id drive off this ledge lol

I cannot recommend enough!!!! like Seriously pop your hood every night to check stuff! It take two seconds and while you likely wont be swapping headers or anything major you can find a small problem that the desert heat would only magnify.... my coolant reservoir rattled loose and emptied about half way out. In 90 deg weather crawling you could overheat fast.. I also tightened my battery holder on day 2. simple things but they can really save you from major headaches on the trail or your way home.

 

Day three was the first day that we ended a little early and had some time to set up camp grill some food and drink some vodka/beer before the sun went down.. while we saw a shit ton day one and two it was absolutely priceless to do this... we were burnt out and needed the refresher. next time I go i plan on staggering my days like day one gogogo and day 2 done by 5pm then repeat the cycle. It would of definitely helped our sleep and overall energy towards the end. (trip took like 4 days at home to recover from) It also would of allowed for some more preventive maintenance on the truck. Day 2 I had an annoying squeak coming from the rear leafs and was so tired that I neglected it until half way on day 3 when I was so annoyed that I ended up jacking the truck up and soaking the leafs with pb blaster then silicon spray

 

Great Travel Log, Thanks
I enjoyed seeing it and you will, years from now, so don't be afraid to add a bit.
How's the dog?

 

Still have one more day and I'll do a recap. I have two dogs but didn't take them to Moab 48 hours of driving probably wouldn't be fun for them

 

Here is day 4! we did seven mile rim it was a little wet which made all the climbs a little more technical.. I found this trail to be one of the most rewarding both with views and challenging sections.

the Views even from the start are just insane! It was really cool to ride along the rim for so long.



The rain cleaned her up and made her look way better than she actually was after 4 days of wheeling! ^^^

Look above and you can see the moisture on the rocks.

The jeep Ive been wheeling with
By far one of my favorite parts of the tril this little arch cave was great!




from inside the cave.

 

I only have some cell phone pictures of wheeling because of the rain Kate wasn't keen on jumping in and out with the nice camera and i couldnt blame here hahaha!

 

I'll upload those later today then post a recap eventually.
Definitly feel free to reach out if you need any info or advice. Their are other who know much more about moab thats forsure but when driving from this far away adds a little to it. anyway thanks for following!

 

Awesome pics. I have that book you recommended, "Moab, UT Backroads...". Is that arch-cave listed in it?

 

Yes it's seven mile rim

 

Awww, yes...rated difficult. That's a uranium arch! I'll have to bring my radiation frisker with me! LOL

 

Did you really scrape and bang the bottom skids that much on TOTW trail? Me and a few buddies with lifted 2-3" 4 runners and Tacoma's are planning to do this trail in October. Will sliders be enough or will we need skids? I've done Fins & things and Hells revenge before without sliders, skids but I know TOTW trail is a different beast. Awesome write up and thanks for posting all the pics and tips.