Ah yes, the advantages of leaving in mid-March. A snowstorm....not heavy, but enough to create a salt storm on the roads near home. 40 miles away the roads were dry. Damn Lake Michigan.
But wait...there's more digression before the trip even begins. In an effort to keep my mind busy, waiting for the departure, it was incumbent upon me to write some pre-drivel. So, without further adieu, let the drivel begin!
Expectations for warm weather during this trip are low. Easter is pretty doggone early this year. So, being a trivia geek, here's some trivia for your reading "pleasure": Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st
full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). Huh???? This
dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people
used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our
Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one
day earlier (March 22) but that's even more rare. |
ARG, says I (well, maybe a little more than ARG)! Perhaps something needs to be done about this egregious situation. Saturday, on the 15 degree concrete (inside!) I'm on my back, under the rear of the RV by the engine, writhing around and bending my body in ways it was never designed to be bent, trying to remove the accelerator control unit (it's a fly by wire system, don'tcha know.) I was predisposed to thinking the unit was the problem as this manufacturer's circuit boards tend to burn up - but that's a feature, not a design flaw, according to their outsourced technical support staff. But, after removing the unit, opening the sealed box, and inspecting the circuit board - all appeared fine....except for the loose screw floating around inside the box. Spare parts. Got it all put together. Writhed around again for another hour, got it re-installed, checked it out and the good news......didn't break anything. Of course I didn't fix anything either.
After some consternation and re-thinking, it dawned on me that maybe the return spring for the accelerator control unit cable might be too loose. So within 1 minute, had the very easy to reach spring out, bent the hell out of it, reinstalled it and all is now well. The moral of the story.....always look at the most obvious solutions first. Here endeth the lesson.
And before banging on the keyboard, got the 12 12-packs of liquid refreshment packed. The world is now in order.
The trip to Omaha was fairly uneventful except for a leaky toilet valve (temporarily fixed), a leaky main seal from the transmission (a deferred fix) as well as a bunch of other little irritants. Nothing major. Par for the course.
Arrived in Omaha, had a couple beers with Clint & Co., went out to eat and had a couple more, came back to the RV and did some work. Pretty boring....and pretty disappointing for those of you that know the Omaha antics. Oh well....next time! Need to focus, Dave, need to focus..........
We weren't the only ones to get a lot of snow this winter. This is the north side of I-80 east of Des Moines. Not obvious is the fact that some of these drifts approach 10-15 feet high! In all the years of my coming out to Moab, have never seen this much snow on the way.
Around Kearny the sky darkened. It turned out to be
a gazillion birds (+ or - 1). No idea what they are or where there
are headed. This photo was many miles away and these are just the stragglers.
The main flock was totally impressive. First time for me.
The first glimpse of the Rockies. Don't care what you say, I think this is a neat photo. So there. Pfft!
Made excellent time from Omaha and then entered the Great Nothing (I-76 from Julesberg to Denver.) About at the I-76 turn off and for the next 180 miles the engine ran quite funky (in a bad way)! It would seem to stop running then start, then stop, but only for a short period of time. Finally, if I ran in 5th instead of 6th gear or ran in 6th greater than 75 mph, it was OK. Thought about exiting at a pull off or interchange, stopping the engine and "rebooting" so to speak, as it might have been the throttle controller again. But wisely looked at bleak surroundings and said to myself "Self, you're in the middle of the Great Nothing. If the engine doesn't start, you're fu**ed!"
So "limped" along at 75 mph and stopped at Camp Cummins in Denver. By now I convinced myself it was the fuel transfer pump. Don't ask....it made sense at the time. Turned the engine off - yup - you guessed it. Refused to start! Cummins didn't have a pump in stock so took a scenic tour of Denver in the Jeep to locate one, found one, installed it and went on my merry way over the mountains. All seemed fine.
The shiny new fuel pump....buried in the bowels of the engine where no person was meant to go. Why are the parts that fail always in the most inaccessible locations, and those that don't fail are out in the open?
This photo does not do the Canyon justice. Kind of neat to see the snow this time...and as an added bonus, there was a train on the tracks to the left.
The engine hiccupped a couple more times so thought WTF, stopped at a Subway/fuel stop, bought 1/2 gallon of diesel and in their parking lot changed both fuel filters (yes, I carry spares). The diesel fuel was needed as the filters must be be primed with a substantial amount of fuel when installing.
Done. Now to wash the 100 lbs of Illinois salt off the RV in Fruita. What a mess that was. Got by cheap, only $22.00 at the self serve truck wash. Then on to the NEW Camp Cummins in the Junction to get replacement filters. Oh, did I mention that while changing the fuel filters I noticed a big puddle of antifreeze on the ground in the front of the RV, right underneath the heater and AC box? ARG. This is not good.
Camp Cummins has 100 amp service and concrete pads here for those needing service. Hey, I need service - in many ways! Pulled in, set up, got out the tools and FIVE friggin' hours later had the miserable POS heater core pulled from the front of the RV. WHAT A PITA. They built the entire RV around that steenkin' heater core. Next door is a radiator shop so will take the core there and see if they can fix it. If not, will splice the radiator lines together, put the assembly in place, sans heater core, and go to Moab. I'm tired of these miserable delays. But....this still beats work!
One good piece of news....across the street is a motel with unsecured wifi! Have at it Dave!
The errant POS core.
Camp Cummins. Radiator shop in background.
Part of the 5 hours.
The heater and AC assembly, 5 hours later, removed from the front of the RV. The heater core is already removed from the rectangular hole in the front of the assembly.
Quick update. New core (hopefully non-POS) is on order from Oregon. $88. Could have been worse. Assembled the assembly sans core, kinda put together--kinda....and heading to Moab. Wonder how far I'll get this time.
Update # 2: Got 20 miles. A couple years ago I added an alarm to tell me when the engine coolant was low. The alarm worked! Yours truly forgot to tighten a hose connection and I lost about 2 gallons of coolant. Tightened the connection at the first rest area in Utah, added a couple gallons of H2O and arrived in Moab FINALLY! And...not a minute too soon....here's the NWS forecast for the Rockies from whence I came.
A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect from 6 PM this evening to 6 PM MDT Friday. Storm total snowfall amounts of 12 to 24 inches are likely along with wind gusts of 20 to 40 mph over ridge tops that will result in areas of blowing and drifting snow. A Winter Storm Warning means significant amounts of snow are expected or occurring. Strong winds are also possible. This will make travel very hazardous or impossible. |
Suddenly I feel much better! Dave's happy again! All settled. Going to have a beer and wash my very greasy and anti-freeze soaked clothes and then do the obligatory cruise up and down the main drag. Now the fun can begin.
Well, this year, I didn't even make it halfway up the main drag before someone recognized the FN Jeep and hollered at me. It was Dieter and Stefan. After pulling over, we chatted for a while then decided to meet at McStiff's for a beer, or two, or three. Onward I proceeded to the Old Geezer's Meat Market and bought a pound of jerky for $24. Ouch. But it's good, though!
Came back, met Dieter and Stefan at McStiff's and the next 4 hours went by all too quickly. We were joined later by Thomas, Rolf and (Swiss Army) Benji. Benji was last here 10 years ago. After a few more beers we went our separate ways. I needed to get back and get some work done and then get the Jeep and myself ready to pre-run Hell's Revenge tomorrow.
By the time the day was done no photos had been taken. So to correct this egregious situation, I took one photo. It's a panorama of Moab at night.
Moab Rim from Camp Dave.
Good morning! To the South are the LaSal Mountains with the sun not quite over them. To the Southwest, the sun is just touching Moab Rim. To the North it looks like a little rain coming in. Even with inclement weather, this place is fantastic! It shall be a good day to pre-run Hell's Revenge to re-familiarize myself with it before leading it Sunday.
7:45 AM. Methinks I'll leave the top on today!
This 20' high white "G", ostensibly for Grand County, sits almost a thousand feet above beautiful downtown Moab.
Plans change. A better offer came along. Bob, who is famous (or infamous as the case may be) from previous visits, offered to take Dieter & friends to a road just below the "G" to see some Indian writings. Tagging along sounded much better than pre-running Hell's Revenge! So off we went to find the spot under the G where there were Indian writings.
Not surprisingly, the menacing weather early on cleared and it became
a warm, breezy, beautiful spring day. Doors came off and the windshield
came down. There's a good chance of being precipitated upon in the next
few days so the top, wisely, was left on.
Under the G.
The view from above the G, looking at the Portal to the west, with the campground and the RV way below. There will be little green in Moab for St. Patty's day this year.
Once upon a time, above the G, was this sandstone fin, you see. The eyes of the Dieter and his buddies lit up and away they went, to conquer the fin. If we couldn't find the writings, might as well climb a fin instead. After watching them climb the sandstone, I foolishly decided to see how far I could go --- and quickly found out! At the 10% point, it seemed prudent that someone should stay back to get photos of them. I eagerly volunteered!
The "mountain goats" from Liechtenstein and Switzerland. Not quite the Matterhorn but they seemed pleased! Moab valley is below (way below), to the right.
The LaSals from the midpoint of Hell's Revenge - backwards or forwards!
After their assault on the fin, we had a discussion and elected to go a little further on Hell's Revenge and do the obstacle called Tip Over Challenge. Once there, instead of taking the bypass and going UP the obstacle (as is the way it should be done), I attempted to descend the obstacle instead. Oh my! I never knew the seat cushion was so tasty! This was a 10+ on the pucker factor scale. Thanks to some expert guiding by Bob, I made it down safely. Descending, the weight of the Jeep was almost completely on the left front tire, with the right rear getting light, VERY light. Doing this in reverse again will not be on my top 10 things to do.
And of course - no photos of the folly. But we did elect to run the entire trail in reverse - because we could! We were rewarded with awesome views at every turn....and even when going straight. It was a great run!
We finished the trail early. Dieter and buddies went to McStiff's and, by the time I got there, they had been ejected. Actually not quite. Their waiter was in an animated discussion with them attempting to enforce an idiotic Utah liquor law and was not tactful. To teach McStiff's a lesson, Dieter and buddies left the fine establishment and went, along with me, to Moab Brewery where we were treated with the respect which we thought we were due! (That's OK, I didn't like McStiff's anymore before this episode anyhow.)
Our trail. I'll look at this sometime next winter and sigh.
Many beers later, we migrated up the hill to the south of town to the Stagecoach Grill. Why you may ask? Well, Dave, another 4-wheeler of some repute, runs the Karaoke machine weekends and I'd previously promised him to stop up there for supper. Here's a sight: Dave, an ex-narc from Phoenix, running the Karaoke and singing along when there were no other takers and Jim, the Sheriff of Grand County, with an apron on, bussing tables. (With all due respect, Jim and his wife own the restaurant.) We drank, had some outstanding steaks and for the last couple songs, Thomas, Benji and I were the backup singers for some gal that did incredibly good justice to Patsy Cline songs. These were sights (and sounds) to behold - or quickly discard as the case may be. What a great day!
A very busy morning. Went to the Spanish Trail Arena (about 10 miles from the RV) where registration was being held and signed in. Went back to the RV to pick up some papers I forgot. Went back to the Arena. Discussed the run Sunday and made some decisions on what obstacles to cover or not. Met up with a bunch of friends from previous years. Went back to the RV. Tried to do this blog but no luck....too much going on. Stop at Chip's tire store and get my new Pro Comp tires for the FN JP. (I like them!) Karaoke Dave then stopped by to help transport the old tires and bring them back to Camp Dave.
Then Dave and I took off on a small portion of Fins-N-Things with the idea of eventually pre-running Porcupine Rim. Tim and Jill will arrive out here in a couple weeks from back home for their first wheelin' experience. The thought was to pre-run the trail and avoid any major surprises for them. The pre-run went fine until I about sent Karaoke Dave over on his side and down a canyon at a trail juncture. Perhaps that could be classified as a major surprise. Today was Karaoke Dave's turn to taste his seat cushion. With any luck, Tim will have the same succulent experience ......... sans Jill !
The lower trail is where Karaoke Dave about went over the edge. The trail to the upper left is to the main road and a piece of cake (the trail that is ....there is not a piece of cake at the end of the road.) The Porcupine Rim Trail continues on to the lower left. And yes, that is snow on the ground in places.
Dave had to get back early for his nightly "performance" so we never did complete the portion of the trail that I wanted to pre-run for Tim and Jill. Guess what? We'll pre-run it when they get here...to avoid any major surprises of course. Ha ha ha!
Since we finished early, came back to the RV and took a long nap...still worn out from the trip, perhaps. Getting older has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with it! Elected to sequester myself tonight and do some reading, watch a little TV and just enjoy the peace and quiet as it surely will not last. Weather predictions are for snow, rain, and thunderstorms tomorrow with my group of 30+ vehicles. Gee, I can hardly wait!
Some days you expect the worst and it turns out the best. Today was such a day, even with 55 vehicles registered! The people on the trail were phenomenal and the weather held - for the most part. Not sure what to expect when, at the driver's meeting, almost 20% raised their hands and said this was their first trip to Moab and their first trail. This meant, of course, the whole environmental impact speech needed to be given. After that was explained, I asked for a recount and wisely not one person raised their hand. But the speech was given anyhow. So off we went with Rex and Sena as my mid gunners and Jim and Daisy as the tail gunners. All went well. No breakage on a tough trail. It was a great group and Dave was pleased.
Aww shit!
At lunch we stopped at the Colorado River overlook but I was too busy to get a photo. Too bad. It was pretty, though!
There are several "optional" obstacles on this trail (Hell's Gate, The Escalator and Mickey's Hot Tub) that I elected not to do with this large a group of first timers. Given the timing and the newbies, that turned out to be a wise decision. At the lunch spot, Hell's Gate was only a few hundred yards away and some non-Safari folks from Oregon came by and gave us all a show as they climbed the obstacle. This last guy had a modest problem. What's not obvious is that the trail climbs maybe 400 feet and he was about halfway up when he went over on his side. He was able to straighten up (with a little help), backed down, redid it and made it up. Nice show. Everyone was entertained.
The trailed moved along well and everyone did a great job considering the mix of people. Tip Over Challenge went so well that we decided to do the optional (and perhaps soon to be closed) Rubble Trouble Hill. About this time, the weather turned a lot colder and it started to spit a little snow. But hey, who cares?
The lineup - waiting to conquer Rubble trouble. The little
snow squall is in the background to the right.
Rex and Sena ready for the hill. Judging from the expression on Rex's face, Sena seems to be more ready than Rex. Jeez, I like telephoto lenses!
Jim, from Omaha, was getting a little help from Tim. I bet he didn't think my telephoto would pick this up! YES!!
The guys in this Cherokee got razzed all day about pizza delivery. They were a great group, drove exceptionally well, and we had a lot of fun with them. You see it all here!
On the trail, Clint came up and "nudged" Tim's Cherokee. Tim, in retaliation, put his in reverse and tried to push Clint's Cherokee backwards. There is a physics lesson here about mass. Tim lost. By the time I got to their camp, after the trail, here's Tim beating the hell out of his bumper that got crinkled when the alleged unstoppable force met the non-alleged immovable object!
After a few beers and the obligatory heckling, we went Zak's for pizza and beer. I came back and crashed early. It was a long day but a really, really good one!
Hit it again, Tim, the tail gate still hits on the bumper!
A cold and snowy Moab Rim at 7 AM from the RV.
9 AM: Clint & Co., except for Jim and Dallas, are still indisposed. Took the opportunity to do a few minor repairs, some "consultation," and was able to update this drivel. Then there was a knock at the door. An Austrian TV crew is filming this year here in Moab and one of the crew, Günter, stopped by to make arrangements for riding along with us on the pre-run of Behind the Rocks, Wednesday. We'll see how that goes! Will I have to learn German?
So now, will wait for Clint & Co. Given the weather, we'll probably go up to Yellow Cat and look at the old mines...or something else. Who knows? Who cares? This is fun!
And...as usual....plans change. Cool!!! Met up with Clint & Co. about 11AM and we decided the drive to Yellow Cat might be a bit much since I needed to get back by 7 PM for the Safari Safety Meeting. Clint brought burgers to cook today as I chastised him unmercifully yesterday for not bringing anything to grill at lunch time. But it was getting late and I was getting itchy to get on a trail. Wendy's (yuch) was close. A quick bite and we headed up north to Cotter Mine Road which would lead to Seven Mile Trail which would lead to Mill Canyon which would lead to Bartlett Wash which would lead to Tusher Canyon which would lead to Wipe Out Hill . . . ad nauseam.
The slippery slope.
Road conditions were, well, "interesting."
One of the wrong turns...but it was pretty though!
It was so pretty....how pretty? And no, these photos do NOT do it justice.
I've been here in the summer when it was unbelievably hot and dry. In fact, somewhere in the archives is a summertime photo of Merrimac Butte from this same point. But this was a treat: the mesa, the cacti, the brush, the red sand all covered with 8" or more of pure white snow. Awesome!
You don't see this in the summertime!
Said it before, will say it again. This does NOT do it justice!
After carefully inspecting the wash and discussing fond memories of the Shriners, we carefully proceeded to a large sand hill, again, with minimal environmental impact upon the sand...which, if we are not careful, may be depleted by overuse. Clint, removing from the Jeeps a bunch of clay from the previous trail, made a new, anatomically correct, hood ornament for Steve's Jeep.
Tusher Canyon was next on the tour de mesa with a fly-by at Determination Towers as we were determined to get to Wipe Out Hill. Once there, we all descended. Humpy, one of Steve's buddies is out with the Omaha crew and he rides along with Steve. Humpy is about 75 and a "character." He had a number of interesting ways of describing the hill and its effect on him as he not only went down the hill, but back up again. Decorum prohibits me from releasing the contents of his comments. RBTL!!
A tight squeeze in Tusher.
Our crew, with Monitor and Merrimac Buttes in the background.
After Wipe Out, we headed back to Dead Horse Point Road via a circuitous route. From there I hauled back to Camp Dave where the replacement heater core was waiting. After a quick inspection and scratching my head wondering how the hell this thing is going to fit in the space occupied by the smaller original one, I elected to do the most logical thing I could think of ...take a nap!
The phone woke me about 6, fortunately. Took a shower and had a terrible meal at McDonalds. Wendy's and Micky D's are both on the shit list now. From there attended the Safety meeting, then came back to the RV to begin the laborious process of preparing for the installation of the heater core tomorrow. Sadly no St. Patty's day partying for me as I'll need my wits about me to get this done expeditiously tomorrow. So much for being an alcoholic. I've failed at that also! But it is quite fascinating tonight to listen to the police scanner and calls about the dead animal in the middle of the road, the drunks at Woody's, cars slamming into trees, and bonfires that are apparently irritating some people.
Then, as a kicker for the day, I was grumbling to myself (self) about the person not far away in an adjacent campsite who was idling their diesel engine for a long, long time. After looking out to see WTH, there was no diesel engine idling, it's the fan in the laptop that's making the noise! Oh my! That might be the next thing I need to tinker with.
But.....as a parting shot for the day, just had to include this photo of the LaSals at sunset. I wish y'all could enjoy this view as much as I did.......sigh ..... deja vu.
there's no fun like a snow run.
While not quite a snow run, there was enough snow in spots to make the drive fun and incredibly beautiful.
The Overlook. This is looking East from Porcupine Rim into Castle Valley. It's about 1500' straight down, I mean straight! What a view! But, like Dallas, none of us had the gumption to walk to the edge.
Dallas was the bravest of the bunch.....or maybe it's just that he's the oldest and doesn't care! In the background is the rock formation called the Priest and Nuns which has been featured in previous Moab trips. Many movies, TV shows and advertisements have been filmed in and near the buttes in this gorgeous valley.
So we all pulled our vehicles, one by one, onto a rock ledge and shot many megabytes of photos. We're about 5' from the 1500' precipice.
Yesterday's mud. But who cares! How pretty is it?
Our crew. Steve is throwing a snowball at me. You can see it in the center of the photo.
The beautiful LaSals. Can't say much more.
On the way back we ran into a spot of bother. Or tree as the case may be for Jim. Only a bent radio antenna. It was a kick getting out of the Overlook for all of us. Much fun and laughter.
Weird rock formations as we left the trail and headed back to Sand Flats Road.
Wednesday
- 7 AM to midnight - non stop
Behind the Rocks with the Red Bull TV Crew
Our "crew" as we prepare for the trail. I elected to go topless/doorless which means today (Thursday morning) I have a helluva sunburn. Yeah, I know, I know, why didn't you put lotion on, Dave? Well, duh! I was having too much fun! So there!
What a GREAT Day! A 9.9 (and their ain't no 10s!) Behind the Rocks needed to be pre-run since I lead it Big Saturday and want to make sure I know the trail and the right lines. Well, my memory was refreshed on the trail but certainly not the right lines as Tim, Steve, Dallas, et al can attest!
Hunter Canyon was also on the agenda as well as having an Austrian crew from Red Bull TV in Europe tagging along. Clint & Co. and Dieter and buddies also came along.
To get done by 7PM, in time for the Red Rock 4 Wheeler's supper party, we needed to be on the road by 8AM. We got going by 8:15 - not bad at all!
The first obstacle. Günter is catching all of the graceful maneuvers for posterity. Jim did a great job today.
Lights, camera, action!
and....."Thissss is
Red Rock Country!"
Jacob was out with his new 2008 massively built JK. No bolt was left unturned to build this puppy! It performed flawlessly and no more scratches were added.
Here comes Steve. Humpy is riding along, probably with his eyes closed and making all sorts of unprintable comments.
Dallas, winding up in the same precarious spot as me while attempting Up-Chuck. Well, Dallas, at least I didn't need a strap!
Not only is this a difficult trail, it's also very scenic...but then they all are out here! Here's Picture Frame Arch embedded in a rock formation previously called Prostitute Butte.
A fun little obstacle on the way down to White Knuckle Hill is the Roller Coaster - a series of steep, winding descents over the slickrock. The Red Bull crew, upper left, is catching it all!
On the way down to the Hill, there is a nasty little off camber spot. Benji is negotiating it. His clutch went out so we either had to push him or he needed to use the starter to get moving again. When he got to White Knuckle, he was stalled again so we had to get behind and push him down the hill to get him going. First time ever I've pushed someone down the Hill!
And the main attraction, White Knuckle Hill. On other web pages there are photos
of people descending the hill but this year just wanted to give a perspective
from the bottom.
The rocks have been removed from the bottom of the descent so when one lands, the front bumper is nailed against the bottom of the hill and the back wheels often will both leave the ground for an instant. This year I managed to tear Dallas' spare tire cover, break a tail light on Tim's Jeep, and destroy the rear tailgate on Steve's Jeep --- all with my exceptional spotting skills. Who knows what other damage I did to the rest of the crew. I'm beginning to dread Big Saturday when I'll have to spot 50+ vehicles on this trail.
Yes, it is that steep!
After we all got down, we spent a couple hours eating and BS-ing. Clint, as usual, is the master chef with his grill he carries. The burgers were excellent. Some folks that came up the trail from Hunter Canyon saw the smoke from the grill a couple miles away. They figured somebody rolled on White Knuckle and were on fire. Were they surprised!
Jacob, his buddy, and Dieter with Red Bull and other beverages.
After descending many rocky ledges, we wound up on the Canyon floor trail in the center of the photo.
And, in retaliation, here's the Red Bull TV crew.
How many Omahans does it take to change a fuel filter?
We also hauled out the Red Bull TV crew. On the way back, the moon was rising over the LaSals. Unbelievably pretty. Just this one sight made the bullshit with the motor home all worth while. Yup, it was that pretty despite the lousy photo. Gave me chills....and it wasn't the temperature either!
Unbeknownst to me, and earlier in the day, Clint & Co. "borrowed" my camera and also got a moon shot much to my surprise when reviewing the photos! It can't be published here and I won't even send it to anyone unless you sign a liability waiver first! We have a lot of fun!
Got the Red Bull crew back to their vehicle and made it to the party only 20 minutes late. Not a bad day. But wait, it gets better.......
The moon over the LaSals. Again, this winter will look at this photo and sigh!
After the party, met up with Clint & Co, Dieter and Benji at the Brewery. Dieter, Benji and I actually outlasted Clint & Co. and we had a great time, laughing and rehydrating ourselves. Dieter called it a "mini-planning committee meeting." It got a little late, but who cares! Came back and went to bed, zonked. Hmmmm.....where are my keys this morning???? Ooooops....there they are in the door of the RV from last night yet. Ooops!
Jeff just called. He'll be here this afternoon and will be here for the next couple weeks. Now I need to do some shopping, some visiting, and of course some wheeling yet today. The rest of the week is going to be hectic.....leading Poison Spider tomorrow, Behind the Rocks Saturday and trying to see a bunch of people before they all leave Sunday. And Saturday Graham will be out also. Busy, insane, but fun!
And, BTW, those new Pro Comp tires ........are they NICE! Very pleased. They're keepers! Thanks Pro Comp!
Today was a well deserved (IMHO) day of RnR. Woke up late (8 AM) and had the usual breakfast, coffee and a sweet roll. Updated the web page and the attacked the Jeep which had been making threatening noises at me the last few days. Didn't find anything major, only a few loose nuts and bolts, the most major was the one behind the wheel but was unable to repair that one.
1 PM went and visited Clint & Co. They still hadn't moved from their chairs to do much of anything, including eating lunch. I guess it's an epidemic. So to honor their wise decision I came back to the RV and took a nap. About 3 PM Jeff showed up. We went into "the village" as the Austrians call it. Had a good laugh at the 2009 Jeeps on display, one of which had a sign proclaiming their "Warren" winches, which are now a factory option. After that we went to the Arena to see the hundreds of vendors on display. We returned from the Hwy 191 trail, and thus had to have the obligatory ATB (after trail beer - plus or minus).
The scanner was on. We heard that one of "the" electric poles supplying power to Moab is on fire in a sandy area. They can't seem to get to it so there is a flurry of activity notifying the police, fire department, hospital, etc. that Moab will soon be without power for a while. It's very entertaining and as Jeff said, "Just listening to all this on the radio made the trip worthwhile already!"
BTW, thanks to you who have been providing grammatical and spelling corrections to my drivel.
Talked to Graham who's working overtime to get ready to come out here. To avoid the winter storm that's predicted back home for this weekend, he'll leave somewhat early. Way to go Graham!
My scheduled retake of the introduction for Red Bull TV is off today as there are a few clouds. We'll try for the retake tomorrow - the reason: not enough red in the rocks in the background for them when we did it yesterday! Must hurry and get this uploaded before power goes off. So now off to see Clint & Co.
BTW, deja vu, if you are familiar with Google Earth, click here to see the routes that we took on Porcupine Rim and Behind the Rocks.
Here we are back at Camp Dave, 10 PM. Power remained on, much ado about nothing. I'm tired and ready to get some sleep for the long day tomorrow. But first, here are a few photos of Camp Clint. Night!
What's the attraction? Hint...it's NOT Clint!
A very photogenic Humpy.
Will the real Humpy please stand up?
THE shrimp boil. Yes, we DO know where Jim's hands have been...but we don't care. We're starved.
}And a fine way to end the day - an evening at Camp Clint.
10:20 PM: A verrry good day - and fun, too! No major problems except for the lady who went over on her side in the Wedgie. But I'm SOOOOO tired and worn out. No blog for tonight....maybe tomorrow. Goodnight Gracie!
Update: It's now Sunday night. Will try to get this updated quickly before falling asleep. Back to Friday. The weather has been fantastic. Highs in the mid to upper 60s and sun, sun, sun - which of course means burn, burn, burn. Led Poison Spider with about 50 vehicles. Had a great day. On the way back some lady got over too far in the Wedgie and went over on her side at about a 45° angle in the sandstone crack. She panicked but four of us pushed on the side of her Jeep and got her on the rubber. She didn't want to continue but I talked her through it and she did a great job of getting it together, driving out and finishing the trail. She broke the mirror off and scratched the side but that was it. At the end of the trail, I checked on her to see if she was OK and she said, "Yes, but next year I'm gonna have a lift like yours and bigger tires on my Jeep!" Cool! That's the attitude.
Here are a couple late adders, photos from Action Shots, when I was leading Poison Spider.
The beginning of the trail with a few of the 50 vehicles. The Colorado River is below.
Here's the beginning of climbing a series of dry waterfalls.
A view of the magnificent LaSals from the trail.
Little Arch, as viewed from the lunch spot. 700' or so below is the road we came in on, the Colorado River and the beginning of the Moab Rim Trail, across the river.
A telephoto view, through the arch, of people and vehicles on Moab Rim.
We got done about 3:30 and headed back on the road below the arch. On the way, we encountered climbers on the sheer sandstone rocks. And these guys think we're nuts.
Now back at camp, we decided to have a few beers from Jeff's stash. (Mine is inside already.)
We asked Benji, who was in the Swiss Army, about the legendary Swiss Army knife and darned if he didn't have a real one.
What a day! After getting off the trail, we invited Dieter and his buddies, who were most excellent gunners on the Trail today, to stop by for an ATB (After Trail Beer). Dieter gave me a bottle of "Pfosta's Himbeergeist" and a bottle of "Pfosta's Kirschwasser," both specially prepared 82 proof flavored Schnapps. We'll try to save some and bring it back for a tasting. Next a quick trip was made to the Arena to drop off the paperwork for today's trail. After chatting with a bunch of folks there, called Clint & Co. to make supper arrangements. They stopped by Camp Dave, picked up Jeff and we met at the Branding Iron restaurant for the evening meal. Getting there and getting seated is a story of epic proportions, but that's a drinkin' story for later.
FYI: There are about 3000 people at the Arena Friday night for the raffle. The raffle starts about 7 and lasts for three hours as they give away over $100,000 worth of prizes as well as a new 2008 built Jeep. Too long and too many people for me so gave Karaoke Dave my tickets. HA! Won $100. Gave half to Dave and we were both pleased!
Had a great meal with Clint & Co., drank "some" beer, and said goodbye as tomorrow they sadly leave for Omaha. We tried to talk Clint into staying - he was almost convinced but needed to get back. Maybe next year.
Damn, where did this week go?!?!? I've never seen the time go by so fast as it has this year. Nary a minute to spare. But it's sooooo good and sooooo much fun! Love it!
Saturday I lead my first "Big Saturday" trail - actually leading a trail on Big Saturday (when they run all 30 trails) is quite an honor....especially for a flatlander! Made an effort to get back early and get a relatively good night's rest. Concerned about how well the trail will go tomorrow as we found out tonight that a Jeep came off one of the obstacles, White Knuckle, did an endo...front side over. They had to helicopter the injured people out from the trail. To make matters worse, I know the Trail Guide well and imagine this is pretty upsetting for him also. (Postscript: The driver was OK and the passenger had a broken collar bone but they are both OK and doing well....much better than their Jeep!)
9:30 PM - Just got in from a 12 hour day on the trail. No breakage, no roll overs, just a fun day in the sun. Sadly again, so much fun I neglected sun tan oil. I'll be severely punished. But that's a story for another day. Totally zonked. Totally, but it's a good zonk! The good news: Graham arrived today.The bad news: Clint & Co. left today. Time for beer then a pizza then a beer.
Not much to say as this trail was covered the other day. Did pick up a lot of trash on the trail including a pack of cigarettes. Jokingly announced on the CB to the crew that I picked up a pack of smokes and then, to my surprise, someone came up to me later that day and asked if he could have them, even though they had been laying there who knows how long and were all full of sand. Go figure!
The start of the day. We had almost 50 vehicles on this difficult, 7-rated, trail.
Up-Chuck proved the most difficult - and the most entertaining of all the obstacles.
Not quite the line!
This was on the side of someone's Jeep. Gotta get one like this!!!!
White Knuckle, where the lady endo'd the day before. Yes, both rear wheels are off the ground temporarily. Everyone got down safely. Whew!
Teri, wife of tail gunner Travis, descending White Knuckle in their buggy - the only buggy on the trail. All the other vehicles were factory - albeit modified. After descending, Travis spotted her right back up White Knuckle. Awesome!
For some reason, the LaSals are very pretty to me this year. This sunset view does not do it justice!
