Moderate Moab Trip October 8th through 11th 2009

[Haku]

Hey all,

Been talking about it for a while, and after some input have nailed down a great trip. We plan to do some trails that are moderate in nature, with some harder obstacles for the ones wanting to try something more challenging. Its over a month away, so people should have plenty of time to get some time off and plan ahead. I know Chris said he is in for sure, and I'm definitely in. The more the merrier on this one too. I know Chris said he'll probably be getting a room at the Adventure Inn, but I plan on camping and eating outdoors at one of the free campsites that are over, so it should work for every budget level.

Currently, we are planning on doing the following Schedule:

Wednesday the 7th: Drive to Moab as early as possible, preferably in Caravan. For those camping, it might be advisable to have someone leave earlier in the day to do a bit of scouting for campsites, so as to not have to search in the dark. Not sure what my schedule is, but I could probably swing that. Its a 6 to 8 hour drive, depending on pit stops and speed of your rig, so it could be a late night if you leave in the early evening.

Thursday the 8th: Kick it right off with a Moab Classic (or set of them). Current plan is to do the Golden Trifecta of Poison Spider, Gold Spike, and Gold Bar Rim. It will be a long day, but I hear it is well worth the time spent. You can escape at the end of Golden Spike and skip Gold Bar Rim if the day becomes too long. I want to start off early, so we'll probably do a cold breakfast and get right on the trail (8 or 9am sound allright?).

Here are the trail descriptions:

Poison Spider: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=27
Golden Spike: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=28
Gold Bar Rim: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=29

Friday the 9th: Since we hit it so hard the first day, we'll take it easy and do some of the easier classic Moab runs. I'm open for ideas for the morning, but my vote is for a trip up to the Area BFE playground, and maybe stick our noses up one of the trails a bit. For the afternoon, I was thinking Porcupine Rim in the afternoon, followed by a night run of Fins n Things (starting late afternoon or so). Its a great trail to get out on at night, with some easy but scary hills and such. I would want to do it in a bit weird of a direction, since the road between the two fun parts is up for the contest of "worlds jounciest road". I have it covered, so you guys don't have to worry, it will just a be a bit different from how the park recommends (the second and longer portion will be an "up and back" rather then a one way run).

Area BFE: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=131
Porcupine Rim: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=35
Fins n Things: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=25

Saturday the 10th: Another Moab area classic, but further outside of town this time. Go run Elephant Hill this time. I hear its an all day thing, so earlyish start depending on how late we are out the night before. Expect to have to bring food and such. Its an easy trail, with some classic stuff and great views. I haven't ran it before, but others coming on the trip have, so I'll let them chime in. It will probably be a full enough day that we'll just do this run and call it a day. I'm sure we can find something to do if we get done too early and people still are raring to go.

Elephant Hill: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=65

Sunday the 11th: End this out with something fun and challenging but not too terrible. Hells Revenge is a great trail, and worth running for everyone. A stock rig should be able to handle all the "mandatory" parts, but you can make it a very hard and dangerous trail by adding in the completetly optional obstacles like Hells Gate, Escalator, and Tip Over Challenge. Should be a good day, and with an early start should be a good end to the trip. I'll be heading home soon after getting done with the trail, though I might stop at Potato Salad Hill to watch people give it a try (might even try it myself). We should get done with Hell's early enough where that shouldn't be a problem. Some may want to camp out one more night and drive up the next morning if your schedule permits.

Hells Revenge: http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=26


Should be a good time. Calendar Event will be posted shortly. Feel free to give any advice or ideas, though this basic structure is pretty well set. It would be awesome to have a bunch of rigs on this trip, so give it a look over and put in for time off:thunb:.

Josh H.

[Chris]

I'm in Josh. All 4 days RSVP'd. ;)

[Chris]

Dave, hope you can make it! We need to discuss "moderate" some time. I've done the hikes and agree they are worth doing but I'm an old fart and what you would refer to as an easy hike is what we call moderate. :erm:

[Haku]

Thats weird, because Trail Damage makes it sound like you can exit out of Golden Spike rather then doing Gold Bar Rim. Maybe I'm just reading it wrong, or they aren't writing coherantly (or accurately). If you only run Gold Bar Rim, is it an up and back? I'm not too worried since I'm fine with long days, but thats not always the case with people. As for Elephant Hill, all that sounds good, but I think we'll need you there to lead so we don't get lost, so you don't have a choice anymore;), your presence is required. If you need to, we can have Chris call your boss (or wife) and tell them you are too well to come to work. He worked for a School, so he should know what to say since he heard it so much there.:thunb:

JH

[Chris]

I didn't say the Joint was easy :D

Of course, my 3 year old girl did it in CM08 :lol:

I guess I'll wait until she's 5 before asking her to help me. :D

[Chris]

I've had something unavoidable come up on the 8th that would keep from making it until the 10th. :(

I'm looking at ways to still make it on the 9th if possible.

[scout man]

I would love to be in, but obviously cant confirm until I make some serious headway on my rig. If I figure out why I cant reverse, and if I get my brakes functioning correctly, and some fender cutting done, I am in!! :eek::wrench:

[Haku]

I've had something unavoidable come up on the 8th that would keep from making it until the 10th. :(

I'm looking at ways to still make it on the 9th if possible.

Let me know I guess. I understand about having stuff come up, so we'll figure it out I guess. I'd like at least one other person on the trails with me, so hopefully a few will decide to come. If we need to move it to the 3rd week in October then I can do that if works for people.

JH

[scout man]

if nothing else josh, there is a chance I may be able to ride along with you if my rig isnt up for it... assuming of course thats alright with you. I know that doesnt solve the issue of having another vehicle there, but at least you wouldnt be completely alone. We will have to see what happens.

[Haku]

I talked to Nay via email today, and it looks like he is still up in the air no matter what weekend we go, so I'm officially moving this trip to the third weekend in October. Its no longer the 8th through 11th, and is now 15th through 18th instead. Gives people another week to plan to get out of town for an extended and action packed weekend of slick rock fun.

JH

[Chris]

That should work better for me, I'll post as soon as I know for certain. :thunb:

[Haku]

Hey Guys,

So, it looks like this trip is off the books. I still want to go, but it sounds like I am the only one who can swing it right now. Chris is out for various reasons, and Nay sounds iffy at this point.

At this point, I'm thinking setting up an early spring run would be great. Something in March maybe, but avoiding EJS week for sure. I'll still give this a few days on the Calendar to see if anyone else shows interest, but I'm not counting on it. Its ok, I want to do a few things to my rig still before beating on it in Moab for 4 days in a row (axle trusses, rear disc brake conversion, few other things).

JH

[Haku]

Ok, its official, the trip is dead. If you for some reason want that to change, post on here and I'll put it back up. Rest in Peace Moab trip:erm:.

JH

[scout man]

it'll happen sometime. I would have been in if I didnt pick up a job for this week, but i guess making money should take priority over spending money.

[Chris]

I really want to create an annual Moab run with strong attendance. It is criminal at this point to not hit Moab, so let's start planning for the spring and see if we can get 10+ rigs involved.

Early April sounds good to me. What annual events exist in April in Moab?

[WINKY]

i am in, just have to do the maintenance on brutus $2000 worth. i solved the oil pressure issue so that wont be a factor. and next year will be a good year financially too.

[Brody]

Maybe we can go next year. It's one thing to have a viable source of income and be able to actually plan for a trip months down the road and quite another story to try to plan for something when you don't know if you are making any money next week...or the week after.

Normally, we try for one trip a year...an island trip...which takes precedence over a Moab trip. We have JUST been able to do that, but it requires us to cut back on almost all of the 'extras' all year long and doesn't allow for 'small' stuff like blown engines and vehicle repairs...and even so, we have to do the real 'economy' trip. Where we are in relation to a Moab trip, we want to go, for sure, but usually don't have spare funds to account for 'small' things like vehicle damage/breakage/tow in case something went wrong in Moab and feel we need surplus funds in the bank to be able to do this, especially as we would be driving the rig to and from...

So, if I have work or a job, maybe next year we can go. At the moment, it doesn't look too promising...

And by all means, avoid the Easter Jeep Safari weekend. Not only does this weekend do an amazing amount of damage to the reputation of 4wheelers everywhere, waiting hours to do an obstacle in a line of 100 rigs is extremely unappealing to us. I ahve gathered by reports from many sources that the EJS leaves Moab really trashed out...Nothing against Jeeps or people that drive them, but any time you get a huge group of people together lie that, you are going to get more than your fair share of real assholes....and in our sport, that means people who have absolutely no respect for the environment or 4x trails...

[Mporter]

Well hopefully I can fund part of your Moab trip Pete ;)

[Chris]

And by all means, avoid the Easter Jeep Safari weekend. Not only does this weekend do an amazing amount of damage to the reputation of 4wheelers everywhere

The nice thing about going after EJS is how happy business owners are that it's over.