In all the years of going to Moab, this is by far, my favorite photo. The 8x10 version is fantastic!

This was our first day out and we hadn't signed up for any trails. This was the first time out for the Jeep with the spring over so I wanted to take a fun trail that wasn't too tough and see how it would work. Well, that day it worked just fine! We headed up Porcupine, a good thing since most of this trail may be closed. (See my Land Use page for details). It was a picture perfect day. This picture sums up thousands of words why I like Moab and the west.

We were gunning on the Spike and all was going well. Dan was our leader in his brand new TJ (with upgraded axles and the works). He was subbing for the regular leader who had rolled his Jeep on the Rim the day before. By the time we go to the Whammy, the damage was done. Dan and his passenger were fine. Fortunately, his dog was riding with someone else. Looking at the videos, it was hard to see how he rolled, but he did. Less than 300 miles on the Jeep! He drove it out but we heard later the frame was sprung. Too bad it wasn't big Saturday, he could have received the " Golden Spike. "

Hell's Revenge was also nice and quiet till we got to the tubs. I wanted to give it a shot but wound up winching a number of vehicles out instead. (Ain't I great??) It beat last year when they pulled a Zuk out by hand! This is always fun to watch people try and trash their rigs. No one broke, but we still had fun! And yes - this guy eventually made it out on his own but he sure did work at it.

We did Poison spider with the Safari group this year and stopped and played a little. Some nice folks from California got some photos and sent them to us.

Friday, as a big storm came in, I was out on Seven Mile. The photos don't do it justice but it was really cool wheelin' in the middle of, for Moab, a major snowstorm!

The weather this year was really unusual. We were up on Moab Rim in 50-60 mph wind gusts. As hazy as it was we knew a storm was coming in. The Friday before big Saturday we got dumped on. Some places got 6-10 inches of snow and several trails were canceled. I volunteered to help out Saturday and was on Secret Spire. On the way out there we were greeted with a " winter wonderland.

Sunday we hooked up with John and Debbie, who moved from Illinois to SLC. We wanted to take them to Dead Horse point but it was too cloudy. Long Canyon had this big back cloud over it and I thought " Cool! " I don't think John was impressed as we slipped and slid around but I thought it was a good " learning experience. " And what did he learn - - don't follow Dave!

Next we hooked up with Dieter and Stephan and went to the Needles for a few days. Dieter had never been there before. We were able to get a permit to do Horse Canyon and see the ruins and arches. I'm glad we did - wouldn't surprise me that this will be closed up also like Salt Creek.

The following day we went over Elephant Hill to the Confluence and then up into Beef Basin. Here's Dieter and Stephan. With the aid of old 15 degree topos and a GPS, we were able to find a lot of ruins.

What a kick! We headed out of Beef Basin, skirting the Abajos, and ran into 12-18 inches of snow. We had a great time. On the way down, in an incredible amount of red mud, we saw some idiot in a beat up old 2WD van trying to get up. He was all over the place. We finally convinced him that it would be in his best interest to turn around since on the uphill side we needed both lockers on just to gain a little traction. If we had more time, we should have let him go and watched the fun - would have been most entertaining!

We cleaned up in Cottonwood Creek, at least enough to get the worst off. Dieter cleaned a little but elected to wait a few days before we got back to Moab. After we returned to Moab, we all went to Moab Brewery for a few?? beers. He told me it cost him $15.00 to get his Jeep cleaned off. " This stuff is like concrete, " was his comment!

The last day we did Pritchett Canyon again with Dieter and Stephan. At the waterfall near Rocker Knocker, I snapped my rear yoke (too much spring warp). On the first official trail 10 days before, I did the same thing 300 feet away at the Rocker Knocker. We welded the caps back on and it worked until we got here and I hammered it a little too much. I also cranked the steering too much and broke a weld on my " custom " drag link. I wasn't the only one. Out of the 5 vehicles here, 4 were broken! Dieter said " This looks like a war zone!! " I was able to drive for about 2 miles with an extension socket jammed in the drag link tube before the whole damn thing fell apart. We pulled the link, he ran me in and we got it welded (guess what's on MY Christmas list?) We returned about 9 P.M. in the middle of yet another storm, rain and a little snow to put the link back on. We got out (backwards) and wound up again at the Moab Brewery congratulating ourselves on a job well done and on one of the best Easter Safaris ever!