Moab, Fins N Things, Gemeni Bridges, etc...

I'm a little late getting round to this, but I still wanted to share.

This past June my girlfriend and I took a week long Utah trip, mostly hitting up the Mighty % and doing some day hiking. At the end of the week we booked an extra day in Moab to do Moaby stuff. It was pretty cool. This was our 2nd time in Moab, but my first time in my current Tacoma.

First off, was Gemini Bridges. We actually did this as a "short cut" back into town after our day at Canyon Lands Island in the Sky. It was nice and mellow, but plenty of fun. We enjoyed the short hike out to the Bridges, and I thought the views from the Shelf road when you get closer back to the highway were great. We ran it backwards from what I think most people do. Saw very few other people out there that day.

 

The Next day we checked out Fins N Things, from I had heard this would be like the official welcome to Moab trail so I knew we needed to check it out. It was fun of course.

 

Looking good. Glad to see you guys had fun.

 

Looks fun!

 

I have a stock TRD OR, would I need a lift and armor to do Finns and Things or is it pretty easy?

 

You can easily do it stock.

 

I wanna go so bad! Thanks for the info bud.

 

You may scrape your hitch in a few spots, that's the only thing I ran into. There are optional lines to so you can always pick the one you are comfortable with.

 

Having run Fin's several times, running the trail stock is possible with some (IMHO) caveats.

Longer wheelbased trucks will have hitch scrape on several obstacles (Kenny's Climb for example, for which there is a bypass), and there are some approach angles going up and over that could cause undercarriage modification if you aren't careful (read: select a good spotter, and walk each section before tackling it to pick your line).
If you are a fairly seasoned off roader (not judging here, seriously) this trail shouldn't give you trouble, but there are several sections that will definitely get your blood pumping if you aren't used to off camber/steep climbs/steep drops and shelf obstacles. Almost everything here has a bypass if necessary. Airing down is critical, as you will have better traction on the climbs and reduce the likelihood of "diff skip" or "tire chatter" going up and down.

Also, it can be a long day in the sun on this trail, and Moab is a desert...a deceptive oasis to most. Take lots of water, for you and your navigator/spotter. Jumping from cab to slickrock all day will have the dry air depleting your water store, and with little shade the ground is a big mirror for the blazing ball in the sky.

Stop a City Market downtown and grab one of their "skull sized" turkey sandwiches for $3.99 (Pro tip: join their shoppers "club" for an extra .03 off a gallon at their pumps...you're welcome ) on your way out to Fins while picking up ice for the day too.

Also...cool stock vehicle day trip...Shafer Switchbacks/Potash Road/White Rim Spur to Musselman Arch. Totally worth it, pucker factor with the switchback/shelf road coming down to the Potash Road/White Rim split, several hikes along the White Rim trail with views of the Colorado River.







Shoot me a PM if you have any other Moab questions...we were just there in June too and spent a calm 8 days mountain biking and wheeling the local trails. It's a pretty damn special place.

 

It was once legal to drive across the Gemini Bridges.


Scary when you look back at the hollowness of what you just drove over to get there.

 

I honestly think we have decided on using our 4Runner Trail as our adventure vehicle instead of my truck, so I'm currently armoring it. Sliders and better tires, and better skids. Probably a 2" lift at best to fit 285's but really wanting to keep the stock setup with just a slightly larger tire to improve ground clearance.

Off road skills are beginner to intermediate. Certainly not seasoned, and not looking to get in over my head. I don't hold any illusion of doing "all the things" in Moab, that's what's interesting about it, you can go a ton of times and see new stuff.

I love the suggestion for the White Rim > Musselmans Arch, that was already on my short list.

 

Yep, I had read about the guy who went over and the people who have tried to jump the gap (on foot) crazy stuff.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2MNCDQeHZc