Moab 2007 Pg. 2

Moab 2007
The 3rd rig of our group got into town on Sunday afternoon after the days fun on Fins & Things. We made a plan to run the Klondike Bluffs trail on Monday morning, still wanting to save the really good trails until our 4th Jeep arrived.
Monday morning dawned clear but with a threat of thunderstorms by early afternoon. From our experience with the weather on our 2006 trip we knew we did not want to get caught out on some of these trails when it rained so we hurried out of town to the trail head for the Klondike Bluffs trail. This trail is again a fairly easy trail but with a bit more to twist your suspension and test your skid plates. Along the trail you find numerous dinosaur foot prints in the slickrock that have been outlined with small rocks so that they are easier to find. At the end of the trail are remnants of old copper mines to explore and as with most of all the trails in Moab, the scenery just can't be beat. By noon the rains were coming in fast and we beat a hasty retreat off the trail to meet up with the 4th and final member of our group who had just rolled into town.		Dino Print Klondike Bluffs Trail
Tuesday morning, with all of our rigs now ready we headed for the Moab Rim trail. Known as one of the hardest trails in Moab this trail gets right down to business and throws all the good stuff at you in the first mile. If you make it to the top the reward is a great view of Moab in the valley below. The Moab Rim trail climbs along a very narrow ledge and presents lots of obstacles that tilt you uncomfortably towards the edge. Devils Crack, a large void between rocks posed us no problems. However once we got to the infamous Z-turn we were thrown for a bit of a loop. Correct tire placement and line are critical on Z-turn, a waterfall of ledges that are also off camber and has no bypass. Roll overs here are not uncommon however with the right line even stock rigs can walk right up as evidenced by all the videos on YouTube. We usually don't have problems reading the correct line but this obstacle just got the better of us. Two of us tried several times and when I came close to rolling over we opted to back off and save it for another run. It was obvious that we would need to see one of the locals take this climb so as to see the correct line.		Devils Crack Moab Rim Trail
Z-Turn	Almost rolled it!	View from Moab Rim Trail
Wednesday would be our long day. We headed out to do the Golden Spike trail. To access the Golden Spike you need to run half of Poison Spider and on the other end the Gold Bar Rim trail to exit. We started up Poison Spider at around 7:30am following a group of 6 Jeeps driven by a San Diego club. We would spend most of the day passing each other on the trails until mechanical problems finally slowed us down. This was our first time running the Golden Spike trail and it didn't disappoint. This trail is awesome. Great views and lots of great obstacles to keep you busy. Highlights of the trail are of course the Golden Crack which appears in lots of magazine articles as well as the Launchpad, Skyline Drive, Golden Staircase and body snatcher. Numerous ledges will have you climbing up seemingly un-drivable terrain. Rated as the 3rd hardest trail in Moab this is a must. Lift, taller tires and lockers are highly recommended. By the time the day is done, expect to spend at a minimum 8 hours to run Poison Spider, Golden Spike and the Gold Bar Rim trail baring any break downs. If you have a larger group it will take longer.		The Waterfall
Launch Pad	Golden Spike Trail	Moab from Golden Spike
Another ledge to climb!	Another great view!	Golden Crack
Since our own Mark Cabral destroyed a tire, bent a lower control arm bracket and broke the rear limited slip and was having overheating problems he decided to load his Jeep up on the trailer and head home early. One of the other rigs had to leave early and that left just two of us for the last weekend. We had wanted to run Steel Bender with some of the locals but illness put a hold on that plan until next time. Looks like we will just have to plan another trip to Moab! Aww darn.....

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