Sun. Mar. 29: I Never Promised You A Rose Garden - Rose Garden Hill.

The day started clear but chilly, as have all the days out here. We got OTR about 9 and drove out to Onion Creek road via the incredibly scenic River Road. We couldn't drive up the creek as the BLM, in its infinite collective committee wisdom, has closed the creek even though there is so much sulfur in it nothing can live in the creek. However, the country road cuts across the creek about a dozen times so WTF? ARG! But no histrionics on that - or at least yet.

Graham's "Moab (Mobile Office And Bar) JK" is still in distress so he rented a 4-door JK in town. This may have been fortunate as after he drove the stocker JK Rubicon (which, yes, did have lockers) he realized how nicely his Moab JK rode and how much better it is than the stocker. Bottom line, he now has a plan for getting the Moab JK repaired and stress tested before he comes out here again.

The "crew".

We got off the 3000' high anticline as the winds hit. Once down, we were 5 miles from the River Road on a delightfully gravelly road - gravel the size of large marbles. This is where I usually baja and go power sliding around corners and jumping over the many little hills along the way. Jill followed right along but her passenger and mine were nervous. I think she and I will go out one day and go baja-ing on some of these roads! Hammer down! It's fun!!!

We did take time, however, to stop by the (former) Dewey Bridge that burned last year and pay homage. About 45 minutes later, in some blistering side winds, we made it back to Moab after what Tim called a harrowing drive on the River Road (Jill was still driving, sans anti-sway bars.)

After a quick shower, I headed into Zak's Pizza while Jeff and Sally stayed back to watch TV and process some of the day's photos. Graham, Tim, Jill and I had a good time drinking beer (or not) and laughing about the day's activities. This was fun today....hmmmm....not unlike every other day.....duh! Thanks Tim, for the meal and the pitchers of Scorpion Pale Ale. Mmmmmmmm - beer good!

BTW, this dust storm was the largest I've ever seen here in Moab. The entire valley was not visible with all the dust in the air. It was like a heavy fog, but with a brownish-red hue from all the fine sand and dust in the air. Pretty impressive.

Tomorrow Graham's therapy session is over for a while as he heads back to whatever awaits him. We tried cajoling him into staying but to no avail. Tim, Jill & I will pre-run Hell's Revenge and Jeff and Sally will go to Arches to get some photos for her portfolio at the photography school she is attending. It should be another clear, chilly day, but no more storms for a while.

We shall miss Graham and his most excellent sense of humor but perhaps we'll hook up again sometime this summer or fall once he gets his JK fixed and is back in the saddle again.

Mon. Mar. 30: Hell Froze Over on Hell's Revenge.

Jeff and Sally drove to Arches and Dead Horse Point while Tim, Jill and I did Hell's Revenge and, later in the day, one of the trails I found while up at Mineral Point last week. It was cold last night (25°) but worse than that, it did not warm up much today (50°) with a 30 mph wind. I started the trail with both windows off and it wasn't long before both windows were back on. Tim & Jill were smart enough to leave their windows on - and closed! Not sure when I've been so cold.

This was a pre-run of the trail and once again both Tim and Jill proved they are no longer newbies - well........except for Tim who tried ramming a rock with his front diff. Score....Rock: 1, Tim: 0. No damage except to his pride, which of course was further damaged by my comments.

All in all the trail was delightful and we had a great time. Both of them drove (at different times!) and they easily did all the obstacles.

Once Hell's Revenge was dispatched, we stopped by to see Graham before he left. After that we went out for lunch and finally headed up to one of the trails I did a week ago. We spent maybe an hour on the trail just puttering along. It was SO relaxing. What a great way to finish the day.

We got back to the camp, had a couple beers and decided that we were all too tired to go eat. I then went to bring the GPS in for the night and while unplugging it from the Jeep, the damn GPS connector fell apart. ARG! It took 3 hours to get it re-soldered and fixed correctly. This connector is just a plain poor frickin' design - but now fixed. That put me pretty late tonight as there was also a run into town for a fuse that I tested. It worked as advertised.

It's been a great, great, day but I am totally zonked. This is it for tonight. A hot shower, a beer, and bed sure sounds good.

Tomorrow we meet La Sal Dave and run Strike Ravine.

Tue. Mar. 31: Strike Ravine - A Better Trip than Graham's!

Jeff and Sally went off to do their sightseeing trip again as this is all new for Sally and she can get better photos when she's not getting bumped over rocks. They did Shafer Trail and Island in the Sky and were very pleased with their trip. She's got some awesome photos.

While they were doing that, Tim, Jill, La Sal Dave and I did Strike Ravine, the dinosaur tracks and Mi Vida mine. A good day for all of us!

We quickly got to the trail head where we met Dave and started the first obstacle, the Big Ugly. Tim drove his Jeep (at that time) and made it to the top. Once there, we asked if Jill wanted to try it and the answer was an enthusiastic "YES!" We looped around to do it again. Yours truly was allegedly leading and made a couple wrong turns before we got to the road that would take us back to the beginning. But then, two wrongs make a right so all was OK. .....huh?????

We all did the hill again, this time with Jill driving and Tim learning how to spot. He did well - kinda. He spotted her into a rock where she abruptly stopped and Tim yelled "Stop!" Good call, Tim. After that, Jill calmly backed up, tried a slightly different line and made it up just fine. It was all over for Tim. The next time he was able to drive was at the end of the trail when we got to the boring graded country gravel road!

With a small group, we were able to do some of the optional obstacles. There is this rock slab that's off camber, just big enough for a Jeep to drive on - but it has a large crack down the middle. So even if one can climb up on the rock, one is off camber to begin with. That's the easy part. The hard part is dropping off as it gets even more tippy. But to do that, the right front wheel must go up on the side of the bank, making one even more tippy. This has a pucker factor of about 10. Looking at the photos, it's like "What's the big deal?" Tim was so busy watching me about to flip over, he didn't get a photo of the near tip. Who cares? This was a rush of adrenaline. What fun!

After I made it through, we were able to convince Jill to give it a shot and she did just fine also, as did La Sal Dave. This was definitely one of the highlights of today's jaunt into the La Sal foothills.

And Dave spotting Dave.

From there, we moved along to the beginning of Upper Helldorado, had lunch and moved up the hill adjacent to it, avoiding Helldorado - this time. Next year with lockers in their Jeep, they'll Jill will be invincible and can run Upper.

After we climbed a goodly hill, we descended into another canyon and had to climb out of that. None of these were that easy but it was so much fun - and a great learning experience for all. Dave had done some major work on the Flying Nun and he needed to get it out on a tough trail to make sure all would be in order when he leads trails for the Safari.

Something has their attention. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a bat!

After that exploratory trip, we headed out of the trail, across the base of the La Sals and over to Lisbon Valley where we saw the dinosaur tracks (which have been covered in previous blogs), Charlie Steen's mine, Mi Vida, and then a long 25 mile trip back to town where we had a lot of beer, good food and a lot of fun picking on Tim.

Once again, another wonderful day in paradise and I'm way too tired to write more. But it's a good tired, though!

Tomorrow? We'll deal with that tomorrow, depending on the weather. Plans abound.

Wed. Apr. 1: Shafer Trail, Gemini Bridges and a few beers.

I'm already in the bag (after only 3 beers) and we are supposed to go to the Brewery in 20 10 minutes for more beer. I suspect no blog update tonight! And now Dieter just called and will meet us at the Brewery or Camp Dave for even more beer. Definitely, no blog tonight....maybe not even tomorrow. Hic!

Thu. Apr. 2: Porcupine Rim deja vu, a Fond Farewell, and a Welcome.

It started out a cloudy day in Paradise, but I have no hangover so it's a great day! But before we talk about today, there is a small correction that needs to be made regarding yesterday's comment about the "back trails I'd discovered a few weeks ago...." As we went from Shafer Trail to Gemini Bridges, we took this new trail. It cut through quite a few canyons on the way and I lost count. I'd mentioned on the radio that we were only a stone's throw from the end of the trail and Gemini Bridges. 30 minutes and 3 canyons later, Jill asked Tim, "How f***ing far can he throw a stone?" Good one Jill! We shall call this trail the "Stone's Throw Trail".

Now back to today - where the sun came out full bore by the time we got OTR. Today was intended to be a short day for Tim & Jill as they have to get ready to leave for home tomorrow (in the predicted blizzard in the Rockies and the Great Nothing). We ran Porcupine Rim, a short version of it with an early cut-out. Great photos and a great time. We were out by 1 PM as promised.

We also did a short trip down The Kane Creek trail then headed back to town where it was time to shower and get ready for dining at, you you guessed it, Zaks! It was just Tim, Jill and I for dining and we were only able to finish one pitcher of beer. Now that's embarrassing.

As we got there, Dieter showed up and had a quick ATB (After Trail Beer) with us and then went to eat with his entourage across the street. After their meal, he and his entourage came back to Zaks about the same time I was bidding a fond farewell to Tim & Jill as they start their trek home tomorrow. Dieter's group, as of today, is Rolf, Stefan, and Christa all of whom were quite fond of reminding me they are all happily retired.

Today was a low-key, relaxing day and very enjoyable. Tomorrow they are predicting rain (again)! Jeff and Sally will be heading for Albuquerque and then the Trinity Site. Dieter and his crew will stop by here about 9 AM and we'll go somewhere....TBD.

Fri. Apr 3: Another Farewell to Arms, Legs, Torsos, etc.

Jeff & Sally are also leaving this morning. Between Tim & Jill and Jeff & Sally - was is something I said? Or maybe it was the jeans I've been wearing for 2 weeks when on the trail? One way or another, this has been a great week with all of them. Jill's Jeep performed flawlessly as did her driving (and even Tim's driving)! Next year Easter coincides with Spring Break so that's going to be a problem for teacher Tim so we will need to have many subsequent meetings to discuss alternate plans for Moab. I'm looking forward to them coming out here again.....and by the way....they have graduated and based on both of their adroit driving skills, they are no longer "newbies" so they can't use that excuse anymore!

Jeff & Sally had a great time exploring some of the scenic areas around Moab and Sally was able to take way over 1000 photos. We can hardly wait to see her portfolio of this trip. Based on the photos I've seen, expectations will be high. The Trinity Site and beyond will provide even more opportunity. Thanks for being here for a week. And, while Moab is great, we're in agreement that the remote areas around here are even better so future trips will probably center around them. As always, it was great fun! Don't take any wooden Trinitite.

Again....another winter storm is approaching. It's 2:30 PM as I type this and have already heard from T&J who are in a nasty dickens of a storm on I-70 near Vail. I-70 was closed for a while but may be open now. I haven't heard from them in a couple hours so will call soon for an update. (3 PM update - they just called and are OK...got through Eisenhower Tunnel and the roads are much better. They may try to reach Kearny tonight. Whew!)

Back in time to 9:30. Dieter and crew arrived and we took off for The Kane Creek. On the way we stopped at the aforementioned petroglyphs. Whilst there, I mentioned pre-running Moab Rim again to make sure I could safely guide the people over the obstacles Tuesday. Dieter said, "Well hell, let's do it now!" We did - Dieter, Stefan, Rolf (who rode with Dieter), and myself.

Up and down the Rim. Then to the old gravel pit off Kane Creek Road. After a while playing there, we then finally started to head to The Kane Creek trailhead. We had to abort the mission and return to town as Dieter became ill. I suspect his malady was caused by nothing more than watching me flail on the obstacles on the Rim and wondering if he's going to have to scrape me up off The Kane Creek Road with a spoon. Last I heard, he's OK.

Back at the RV it was time to catch up on 2 weeks of laundry. But now the time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things: of shoes - and socks - and under things - and washers boiling hot - and whether pigs can fly and clothes are clean or not.

And after a quick trip to the laundry facility, I'm happy to report yes they are - or at least clean enough. Time to finish this twaddle whilst the clothes are drying.

'Tis the calm before the storm. Jeez. The sun is out. It's 70°. It's beautious. It won't last. I see the radar. I also see a crapload of people coming in with their rigs for the Safari. Some look good. Others are an indication of people with more money than brains. Ooops....sorrrryyyyy, I let that one slip.....

Time for an adult beverage and then I shall call another Moab friend, Bob, and pay him a little visit. After that I'll cook a steak on the grill if the front hasn't come through and then go to the Arena tonight and help the club get set up for the Safari week madness. All is well.

Well......plans change. The front came through, 40°, and it started to rain like the dickens. I needed to check a noise in the front end of the Jeep again and by the time I got back in I was cold and wet. Called Dave and Bob and cancelled. Spent the evening warm and comfy in the RV catching up on some reading and rest and watching the rain fall. Tim & Jill called. They are in Nebraska and beat the blizzard. Jeff & Sally called and they're in 75° weather in Albuquerque. Not sure about Clint & Co. They should be on their way out in the bad weather. I suspect they might be a day late. Spring - ain't it great?

Sat. Apr 4: "It looks like a winter wonderland out here South of town...."

Such was the official report from one of the Utah State Police officers this morning while the scanner was on during the morning's prep. It rained most of of the night and this morning there was about an inch of snow in the valley. One can only imagine how much snow there is a little higher. I'm about ready to take off and find out.

Registration is at Spanish Trail Arena five miles south of town and 800' higher. There was fully 5" of snow there at 8 AM and it was still snowing. That may not sound like much back home, but out here that's a fair amount. After I checked in and did the shaking of hands with many friends, La Sal Dave called and said he'd be ready to pre-run The Kane Creek trail about 10 AM once he got dug out from the 18" or so of snow at his place.

Only 800' higher. But it was pretty though. In a few days, there'll be a second photo here without the snow.

Dave and I met up and the two of us headed to the trail head. I've been on this trail in the summer, fall and spring - when it was 100° - when it was so dusty you could hardly see - when it was lush and green. But today was the first I'd ever seen it with the snow. What a kick!

Part of way through, a group ahead of us from Colorado was having trouble. The driver of the strapped vehicle was alluding to his problem being caused by a lack of lockers.

We dissuaded the no locker group from going further - we knew what else was ahead! Especially given the weather conditions. The further south we went, the more snow there was. It got sloppy and very slippery. In many spots we were next to the edge of a goodly drop off and the slipping and sliding around certainly got our attention. But we kept moving and encountered no major issues except a minor pucker here and there.

At one point, near the beginning of the steep, rocky, slippery climb to a shelf road, we passed a group from SLC and Logan. Dave had seen their fresh tracks in the snow and noticed they appeared to not always be on the trail. He asked them to stay on the trail, based on the fresh tracks we saw, but we were assured the off-trail tracks were not theirs.  Perhaps it was a group ahead of them. However, after we passed them there were no more tracks to be seen.

Dave and I climbed over the wet, slippery rocks that were 2' from the edge of a several hundred foot drop off....slipping and sliding around but making directionally correct progress. We made it up by spotting each other and had essentially no problems. Then came the other group. After a few minutes of watching their first Jeep flail, we decided to help spot the first Jeep. They did not follow our suggestions well but we all got that first one up the two obstacles. At that point we suggested they secure that vehicle and use it as a point to attach their winch cables so they could get the rest of their group up. That suggestion was not perceived to be well acknowledged. We asked if they would be OK and we were assured by their 19 year old looking representative that they were capable and knew what they were doing. OK! It was starting to snow really hard again, we were hungry, so we proceeded onward and upward, slipping and sliding.

We did drive slowly on the shelf road, stopped for a while, and could view their predicament from a LONG ways away and in 20 minutes their second vehicle (of 3, my mistake, I thought it was 5) had not made it over the two obstacles yet.

A few months after this page was published I received some email from one of the people mentioned above and in all fairness should present his version.  Click here to see his response.  I've also edited my usual sarcasm in this writing to help appease some of his offense to my comments.

We got out of the canyon just in time as it snowed quite heavily again. I'd mentioned the sun was probably shining in Moab, 13 miles away and 1000' lower - and it was. After returning to town, we had a quick meal at the Moab Diner with Dave, Debi, their son Rob and his family. Afterwards I was allegedly going to retire to the RV to rest my eyes. HA!

Instead I did some preparation for leading the trail tomorrow and then it quickly became Grand Central Station - again! And that's just an observation, not a complaint!

First Del, my camping neighbor at the Portal (who happens to be from Effingham, Illinois) stopped by to say goodbye and thank me for repairing his water leak. That was really nice of him considering he'd already moved his RV to another campground in Moab! We had seen each other every day for almost a week and I had very nice visits with him and his wife. Email addresses were exchanged and I'm sure we will meet again. Great people.

While Del was talking to me, Bob (aka Gray Fox) called and wanted to meet for dinner at the Brewery for 5:30.....it was then 5:10! Right after he called, Matt called to tell me of his woes in the Nebraska blizzard that he and his buddies were experiencing driving out here for a Sunday ETA. Then Clint called within a few minutes after that to let me know he was at the Junction and how he and his group had an encounter with the blizzard in the Great Nothing. Entertainment was provided by Jim, one of the crew, who apparently decided driving in the median might be easier than driving on the snowy, icy road. And Steve did something in one of the tunnels, not sure what, but something sideways happened. And damn...no photos!

Then Tim called to let me know he and Jill made it home OK and beat the blizzard by a few hours. Whew! By now I was at the Brewery and met Gray Fox. Then Dieter called to give his report on Rose Garden (it was a good report) and he was invited to join us for an ATB. We three had a good time, good food and good beer.

After dinner I allegedly was going to retire in the RV when there was a knock at the door and it was Derrick, from Holland. He had heard from the campground management that I was "a Jeeper of some repute" and wanted to know if there was a place where he could go watch the Jeeps. I printed him a map and gave him instructions on how to get to Moab Rim tomorrow where he can easily hike the trail and watch the carnage. He was thrilled. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about Ray, the retired New York City homicide detective who now lives in Nemo, South Dakota. He also had questions about some of the trails he was going to run. Another nice guy. I hope we'll have time to chat and have an ATB this week.

Still left to do is visit Clint's Camp at the campground next door, find Larry who is camped somewhere along the Colorado River, get my free T-shirts and hat, figure out where the hell I'm supposed to be tomorrow at 8 AM, get some groceries, fuel, pack for tomorrow, and finish this.

2 out of 8 ain't bad! Drove next door and visited the very impressive Camp Clint. Many tents. Many vehicles. Much beer. But also much cold. They're all tenting (well maybe except for Dallas) and I was freezing just standing there so retreated to the warmth of the RV and am furiously trying to finishing this in between re-hydration. Tomorrow I lead Hell's Revenge with Clint & Co. as part of the group. The week-long Safari madness has set in.......and I love it......if I can survive it!