Adventures to Moab, Utah
Or, Too much Crack in Utah
Golden and I Took off toward Buena Vista, Colorado May 23rd 2007. We were going to meet up with our friend Jim. It was warm in Wichita that morning. But it was snowing in Colorado. The next morning it was 28 degrees. I had to warm the pickup to melt the ice and snow on the windshield. Jim an Bonnie treated us like royalty. Thank You! Oh saw one of them little military, (416?) trailers at Ranchers Supply in Lamar, CO.
Our next stop was at Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs, CO. I had seen a story about it in; This is Colorado, a book written by the staff of Fort Collins Coloradoan. It was a difficult hike. But it is so beautiful it was worth the effort. I thought we might all have sore legs the rest of the trip but we did not. Tylenol works!
We also thought about fourwheeling Battlement Mesa but I was afeard there would be too much snow. We made it to the Moab area that evening. However due to all the sites being taken at Goose Island, we had to camp in Williams Flats campground near Poisen Spider Mesa. The next mornin we went back to Goose Island an got 2 sites next to one another.
We could not help but notice how green the desert was this year. I checkd on the weather radio an found they had only had 1.9” of rain this year. Musta come at the prime time. There were tire tracks on the roads in what had been wet ground, possible durin the EJS?
After getting camp situated we went an ran Metal Masher. It was a run we had not done. We found the 2 big obstacles, Rock Chuckr and Widow Maker hills to be, umm, worn down, from throttle and big tires perhaps, for our rigs. There were no rocks to stack at the base of either one. We would have attempted Widow Maker if there had been a better winch anchor than the Juniper at the top of the hill.
On Saturday we went to Chicken Corners, where we had lunch, dogs on the grill. Jim an I walkd around the end of the rock wall. It was not as narrow as it appeared from a distance. We then went and ran Lockhart Basin. It had several challenging spots at the start. I was leading and on one hill climb I was awful close to the edge. Golden got out an said I should go on up and turn left. Should be fine. It was. Told Jim go farther left than I just did and climb the ledges. We came upon an old travel trailer off to the side of the road. The tongue had broken off. Hard to believe someone had towd it in from either direction.. Too bad, someone had spent a lot of time fixin it up as a huntin trailer. We also stopped at Newspaper Rock. A large rock had fallen from the cliff an had bustd a hole in the sidewalk, impressive! Lockhart is a long trip. Back in Moab, I put 16 an some gallons in our Cruiser an Jim put 15 an some in his. So I had like 1 ½ gallon of fuel left. Plus the 5 gal. Jerry can….
Sunday we headed toward the mountains South of town. We Headed up to Geyser Pass and busted snow for quite a ways. We came to bigger snow drifts. The only way to go further would have been to winch across the ones we fell through. That didn’t sound like fun so, I hiked up to the top of the pass. We had made it farther than any other 4 wheelers this year. It was snowin lightly too. Ate lunch at a lower elevation. We also made a stop at a high moutain lake and some old uranium mines. We hid Norm Gnome just inside the opening of one shaft. Left a note with my e-mail address. Golden doesn’t think we will hear anything and will have to move Norm somewhere else. I will agree it was a very remote site with very little traffic. But perhaps our tracks will draw a crowd…. We also stopped by the waterfall near the end of Steel Bender. The water was COLD! But it was a warm day….
On Memorial Day we went to run 3-D. It is in an area with several other trails North of Moab. One Jim had run last year is called Mashed Potato’s, that crosses rocks that look like, mashd taters. We also looked at a crack that the water drains down into the start of a canyon. Looked like a great photo oppertuneaty. Jim found a way down. Had to make a jump about 5 foot down onto a pile of sand. Had Golden take our picture. Neither of us could make the climb back out. But I gave Jim a boost an got him out. He then went an got a tow strap to help me climb out. It was hard work for him as I prolly out weigh Jim by 70 lbs. Reckon we better start carrin a ladder… We ate lunch under a rock in the shade. There were some good hill climbs toward the end of the road. Good run.
As it was still early we went and found, The Pickle. It is an extreme run. I had to winch up the first waterfall after 2 trys. Jim drove up it. I also just about laid my rig over on the drivers’ side. It was at another climb, looked like the big boys straddle an under cut V notch on the left, which I could not do. So drove up on the big rock an it leaned, an leaned, an I shoved the clutch in an rolled down backwards. Banged the rear into the canyon wall. One good-sized rock into the hole the left rear tire fell into an up I went. The last waterfall was the only one that had a bypass. It was tough. I went up the bypass. Jim got up with some well-placed rocks. Woo Hoo! I now was wishing I had tried. So I went down the bypass and, Woo Hoo! I made it up too! We lost the cardboard bikini top on the way back to town. Installd what was left of Jim’s bikini top on our rig, it was on his Fj40 when it rolled.
On Tuesday the 29th we went out South of town to run Flat Iron Mesa. We found the directions in the, Guide to Moab Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, By Charles Wells, to be just a bit confusin… There is a LOT of roads up there. And we ran most of em.. Jim did find the gate for the start of the run, but we decided to find the second half to run today. Which we did, and enjoyed so, great views, challenging obstacles, that…
We went back to run the first part of Flat Iron Mesa on Wednesday May 30th. We really enjoyed this old road. I think we will revisit it again. And I will tell you if you want to run it. Look for a simple gate, on the right, just after passing over a several bridges South of Hole n’ the Rock. It is North of the Natural Gas pumping station. The Second half, you would have to ask Jim…. We ate lunch at Hole n’ the Rock. Hot Dogs on the grill. And then went to Prostitute Butte. To look at the arches. Jim took a fall tryin to get to Pitcher Frame Arch. Scuffed up his right arm. He says I didn’t appear to be attemptin to help him, I figgerd he would come to a stop afore fallin over the edge. Wern’t no sense both of us fallin. Heck I might a landed on top of him anyhow… I did give Golden a boost at another spot an she was the only one to climb up under the arch. Just another reason to start carrin a ladder…. We also played on the dunes on the way out. And could not help but notice that someone had a large bone fire out there, bout 20’ dia. And the jerks had done it with pallets! So watch where go if ya go! We also stopped for a swim at the Powerhouse. It is along Mill Creek. Well Jim and I swam, Golden said, “It’s too COLD! You guys are nuts!” Lest she got in up to her knees. It really was nice once ya were wet. Stopped by Slickrock Campground so Golden could take a shower. Ended up talkin to some Jeepers from Los Cruises, NM. An helpin to remove a broken stub shaft from the front of a Cherokee. They had also broken a cromo rear axle on a Rubicon all while on Steelbender..
On our last day in Moab we went to revisit Seven-Mile Rim. We wanted to recheck our cache that we left up there last year. Jim elected to ride his Kawasaki KLR 650 instead of the Cruiser. In the end this was a bit too much for such a heavy dual sport bike. We ate lunch at Uranium Arch. And I went down an back up Wipe Out Hill again, much to chagrin of Golden. She refused to watch. It is a steep booger, imadgine it would be a piece o cake fer a longer wheelbase, maybe. Back in town we saw the Jeepers from yesterday, they got the rigs fixed, also said they could not figure out the line to get up Tip over Challenge on Hells Revenge.
A few pointers we have picked up. Powerhouse is easy to find. There is a parkin lot at the end of Powerhouse road. I change clothes right there, prolly ain’t legal, but I ain’t been reprimanded, or arrested, yet. There are several good swimmin holes along the creek. The best ones are farther up. Be shure an bring a pair of wadin shoes. If you get a discount card at the Maverick station, you get .02 off per gallon. But if you have a Dillion’s card it works at City Market, an gets .03 off a gallon. We got all our water at the Matrimonial spring that comes out of the rock just East of the hwy 191-128 junction. You will notice a lack of any taste, jus good pure water. Showers at Slickrock campground are $3. La Hasenda has very good food. And take lots’ of water with ya while out wheelin.
All together a wonderful time. We saw no more than 4 other rigs out an about, and few motorcycles and quads. It was mostly sunny, my left leg got a little burnt, an Golden an I ran most of the old roads with the windshield down. It was getting to be a full moon while we were there. Alas, we did not do a night run, perhaps next year. Most every evenin we spent time round the campfire, wearin a jacket.
Already lookin to goin out in 2008, Don & Golden Pennington
Or, Too much Crack in Utah
Golden and I Took off toward Buena Vista, Colorado May 23rd 2007. We were going to meet up with our friend Jim. It was warm in Wichita that morning. But it was snowing in Colorado. The next morning it was 28 degrees. I had to warm the pickup to melt the ice and snow on the windshield. Jim an Bonnie treated us like royalty. Thank You! Oh saw one of them little military, (416?) trailers at Ranchers Supply in Lamar, CO.
Our next stop was at Hanging Lake near Glenwood Springs, CO. I had seen a story about it in; This is Colorado, a book written by the staff of Fort Collins Coloradoan. It was a difficult hike. But it is so beautiful it was worth the effort. I thought we might all have sore legs the rest of the trip but we did not. Tylenol works!
We also thought about fourwheeling Battlement Mesa but I was afeard there would be too much snow. We made it to the Moab area that evening. However due to all the sites being taken at Goose Island, we had to camp in Williams Flats campground near Poisen Spider Mesa. The next mornin we went back to Goose Island an got 2 sites next to one another.
We could not help but notice how green the desert was this year. I checkd on the weather radio an found they had only had 1.9” of rain this year. Musta come at the prime time. There were tire tracks on the roads in what had been wet ground, possible durin the EJS?
After getting camp situated we went an ran Metal Masher. It was a run we had not done. We found the 2 big obstacles, Rock Chuckr and Widow Maker hills to be, umm, worn down, from throttle and big tires perhaps, for our rigs. There were no rocks to stack at the base of either one. We would have attempted Widow Maker if there had been a better winch anchor than the Juniper at the top of the hill.
On Saturday we went to Chicken Corners, where we had lunch, dogs on the grill. Jim an I walkd around the end of the rock wall. It was not as narrow as it appeared from a distance. We then went and ran Lockhart Basin. It had several challenging spots at the start. I was leading and on one hill climb I was awful close to the edge. Golden got out an said I should go on up and turn left. Should be fine. It was. Told Jim go farther left than I just did and climb the ledges. We came upon an old travel trailer off to the side of the road. The tongue had broken off. Hard to believe someone had towd it in from either direction.. Too bad, someone had spent a lot of time fixin it up as a huntin trailer. We also stopped at Newspaper Rock. A large rock had fallen from the cliff an had bustd a hole in the sidewalk, impressive! Lockhart is a long trip. Back in Moab, I put 16 an some gallons in our Cruiser an Jim put 15 an some in his. So I had like 1 ½ gallon of fuel left. Plus the 5 gal. Jerry can….
Sunday we headed toward the mountains South of town. We Headed up to Geyser Pass and busted snow for quite a ways. We came to bigger snow drifts. The only way to go further would have been to winch across the ones we fell through. That didn’t sound like fun so, I hiked up to the top of the pass. We had made it farther than any other 4 wheelers this year. It was snowin lightly too. Ate lunch at a lower elevation. We also made a stop at a high moutain lake and some old uranium mines. We hid Norm Gnome just inside the opening of one shaft. Left a note with my e-mail address. Golden doesn’t think we will hear anything and will have to move Norm somewhere else. I will agree it was a very remote site with very little traffic. But perhaps our tracks will draw a crowd…. We also stopped by the waterfall near the end of Steel Bender. The water was COLD! But it was a warm day….
On Memorial Day we went to run 3-D. It is in an area with several other trails North of Moab. One Jim had run last year is called Mashed Potato’s, that crosses rocks that look like, mashd taters. We also looked at a crack that the water drains down into the start of a canyon. Looked like a great photo oppertuneaty. Jim found a way down. Had to make a jump about 5 foot down onto a pile of sand. Had Golden take our picture. Neither of us could make the climb back out. But I gave Jim a boost an got him out. He then went an got a tow strap to help me climb out. It was hard work for him as I prolly out weigh Jim by 70 lbs. Reckon we better start carrin a ladder… We ate lunch under a rock in the shade. There were some good hill climbs toward the end of the road. Good run.
As it was still early we went and found, The Pickle. It is an extreme run. I had to winch up the first waterfall after 2 trys. Jim drove up it. I also just about laid my rig over on the drivers’ side. It was at another climb, looked like the big boys straddle an under cut V notch on the left, which I could not do. So drove up on the big rock an it leaned, an leaned, an I shoved the clutch in an rolled down backwards. Banged the rear into the canyon wall. One good-sized rock into the hole the left rear tire fell into an up I went. The last waterfall was the only one that had a bypass. It was tough. I went up the bypass. Jim got up with some well-placed rocks. Woo Hoo! I now was wishing I had tried. So I went down the bypass and, Woo Hoo! I made it up too! We lost the cardboard bikini top on the way back to town. Installd what was left of Jim’s bikini top on our rig, it was on his Fj40 when it rolled.
On Tuesday the 29th we went out South of town to run Flat Iron Mesa. We found the directions in the, Guide to Moab Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails, By Charles Wells, to be just a bit confusin… There is a LOT of roads up there. And we ran most of em.. Jim did find the gate for the start of the run, but we decided to find the second half to run today. Which we did, and enjoyed so, great views, challenging obstacles, that…
We went back to run the first part of Flat Iron Mesa on Wednesday May 30th. We really enjoyed this old road. I think we will revisit it again. And I will tell you if you want to run it. Look for a simple gate, on the right, just after passing over a several bridges South of Hole n’ the Rock. It is North of the Natural Gas pumping station. The Second half, you would have to ask Jim…. We ate lunch at Hole n’ the Rock. Hot Dogs on the grill. And then went to Prostitute Butte. To look at the arches. Jim took a fall tryin to get to Pitcher Frame Arch. Scuffed up his right arm. He says I didn’t appear to be attemptin to help him, I figgerd he would come to a stop afore fallin over the edge. Wern’t no sense both of us fallin. Heck I might a landed on top of him anyhow… I did give Golden a boost at another spot an she was the only one to climb up under the arch. Just another reason to start carrin a ladder…. We also played on the dunes on the way out. And could not help but notice that someone had a large bone fire out there, bout 20’ dia. And the jerks had done it with pallets! So watch where go if ya go! We also stopped for a swim at the Powerhouse. It is along Mill Creek. Well Jim and I swam, Golden said, “It’s too COLD! You guys are nuts!” Lest she got in up to her knees. It really was nice once ya were wet. Stopped by Slickrock Campground so Golden could take a shower. Ended up talkin to some Jeepers from Los Cruises, NM. An helpin to remove a broken stub shaft from the front of a Cherokee. They had also broken a cromo rear axle on a Rubicon all while on Steelbender..
On our last day in Moab we went to revisit Seven-Mile Rim. We wanted to recheck our cache that we left up there last year. Jim elected to ride his Kawasaki KLR 650 instead of the Cruiser. In the end this was a bit too much for such a heavy dual sport bike. We ate lunch at Uranium Arch. And I went down an back up Wipe Out Hill again, much to chagrin of Golden. She refused to watch. It is a steep booger, imadgine it would be a piece o cake fer a longer wheelbase, maybe. Back in town we saw the Jeepers from yesterday, they got the rigs fixed, also said they could not figure out the line to get up Tip over Challenge on Hells Revenge.
A few pointers we have picked up. Powerhouse is easy to find. There is a parkin lot at the end of Powerhouse road. I change clothes right there, prolly ain’t legal, but I ain’t been reprimanded, or arrested, yet. There are several good swimmin holes along the creek. The best ones are farther up. Be shure an bring a pair of wadin shoes. If you get a discount card at the Maverick station, you get .02 off per gallon. But if you have a Dillion’s card it works at City Market, an gets .03 off a gallon. We got all our water at the Matrimonial spring that comes out of the rock just East of the hwy 191-128 junction. You will notice a lack of any taste, jus good pure water. Showers at Slickrock campground are $3. La Hasenda has very good food. And take lots’ of water with ya while out wheelin.
All together a wonderful time. We saw no more than 4 other rigs out an about, and few motorcycles and quads. It was mostly sunny, my left leg got a little burnt, an Golden an I ran most of the old roads with the windshield down. It was getting to be a full moon while we were there. Alas, we did not do a night run, perhaps next year. Most every evenin we spent time round the campfire, wearin a jacket.
Already lookin to goin out in 2008, Don & Golden Pennington
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