Pathrat
March 22nd, 2009, 10:04 PM
Friday at noon I had a decision to make. Commit a violent crime or go to Moab. I called Hugh and he started bringing the camping gear up from the basement so we could load up when I got home. We left the gas station at 630 pm and arrived at the Cowskin campsite four miles in from the burned hulk of the Dewey bridge on SR 128. Since this is the road to Top of the World trail, and we were familiar with this run, we drove up to the drail head Saturday morning. Also, I know it was not a hard run and this was important as I have my winter tires on. Like I told Brody, I want to keep these tires nice. They are still mostly nice.
There are a few possible explainations for the deterioration of the trail since we had last run it in September, 2007. A flash flood, a herd of bull elephants, or innumerable jeeps having a pissing contest to see who can take the hardest line. (side note: Steve, jeep guys were kind of unfriendly @@$holes out there). I actually had to use low gear, use my lockers once and left fresh rubber on the rocks. There were rocks I had not seen before, sand that was no longer covering said rocks, dug-out holes that didn't exist 18 months ago, and one line I didn't even attempt, taking the 'bypass'. The dog wasn't real happy either. We had to vaccuum all the fur she rapid-shed once we got back into town.
I could tell the difference in the type of tire I was running. They didn't slide down the shelves as well as the MTs, but they did the trick. I dragged anchor once and hit a control arm once. Not too bad for not being prepared for conditions. And yes, I am going to ***** about the Wells book for people who rely on the guide (yes, use lots of sources!) He says you can run this in a good stock 4x4 and, "there are some rough spots at .4 and .6". This is like saying, "hope you like body damage and don't really mind surprises".
The picture below is a short run I thought was notable back in 2007, and the second picture is the view now. The third one is what it looked like from the top in 2007.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/UtahSept15051.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/Top1.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/UtahSept15052.jpg
There are a few possible explainations for the deterioration of the trail since we had last run it in September, 2007. A flash flood, a herd of bull elephants, or innumerable jeeps having a pissing contest to see who can take the hardest line. (side note: Steve, jeep guys were kind of unfriendly @@$holes out there). I actually had to use low gear, use my lockers once and left fresh rubber on the rocks. There were rocks I had not seen before, sand that was no longer covering said rocks, dug-out holes that didn't exist 18 months ago, and one line I didn't even attempt, taking the 'bypass'. The dog wasn't real happy either. We had to vaccuum all the fur she rapid-shed once we got back into town.
I could tell the difference in the type of tire I was running. They didn't slide down the shelves as well as the MTs, but they did the trick. I dragged anchor once and hit a control arm once. Not too bad for not being prepared for conditions. And yes, I am going to ***** about the Wells book for people who rely on the guide (yes, use lots of sources!) He says you can run this in a good stock 4x4 and, "there are some rough spots at .4 and .6". This is like saying, "hope you like body damage and don't really mind surprises".
The picture below is a short run I thought was notable back in 2007, and the second picture is the view now. The third one is what it looked like from the top in 2007.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/UtahSept15051.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/Top1.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x102/pathrat40/MoabMarch202009/UtahSept15052.jpg