gofast
SILVER Star
10 days, 2,677 miles or 4308 kilometers, three trails conquered, prizes won, mined garnets, gambled and won cash, underground twice, passed through the eye of the whale, saw frost, desert sandstorms, snow, rain, sunburned, and made new friends.
I wanted to document my trip down to this year’s Cruise Moab. Cruise Moab - Toyota 4x4 event in Moab, UT
I have heard so much about it that I felt that I should just go or it would never happen. Call it a bucket list thing but I turned 50 earlier this year and felt this was a nice milestone event to create a lot of memories.
I had been to Utah before – once in my early 30’s and I went through Bryce, Zion, and Sand Dune Parks down to the Grand Canyon and out to Sonoma Valley and again in 2013. I was there in Moab to run trails in 2013 but really only got to run the Kokopelli. I promised myself that I would go back and run some of the stuff I’d seen on YouTube and heard other cruiser heads talk about. We did carry on and saw a lot of amazing scenery – eventually getting to the Extra-terrestrial Highway and Area 51.
So last spring 2015 I put it out there to my cruiser buddies to see if we could get a group together. Like other big trips some can come, some say they can, and some can’t because life gets in the way. I was very determined to go and was heading down there no matter what – as they say you only live once.
As it turns out I met up with Gary, Greg, and Glenn. They had planned a trip to camp in the Canyon Lands and Four Corners areas with an eventual meet up at Moab. I couldn’t make their part of the trip and wish I can in the future – there will be other opportunities as Glenn is frequent traveller down there and I will likely join him one day. There is nothing like Utah!!!!! and I’ve seen both coasts, been above the Arctic Circle, been to South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe. This is an amazing part of the world that I keep going back to.
This was my first Cruise Moab (this was their 19th year) and wow – what a fantastic, well organized, safe event managed by really great people!
All roads lead to Moab. I’m further east than the Coastal Cruiser gang so tack on at least another five to six hours from Vancouver to the times below. Both previous trips to this area were managed in long driving days. You can get to Bryce Canyon in two days as well as Moab. But they’re long days -- twelve plus hours in my 80 and with my old Jetta.
Getting there:
I took highway 97 which is pretty much follows the Columbia River to Kennewick, WA which sits on highway 82. For folks leaving Vancouver, you take the I5 to Seattle and join Highway 90 and then highway 82. The trip goes through central Washington to fruit and wine growing areas and eventually to high prairie. Interestingly from Seattle the route is almost diagonally direct to Salt Lake.
For interest- there’s a good Cabela’s at Tulalip right off the I5 and smaller Cabela’s stores at Yakima and Boise.
The route travels the North East corner of Oregon from 82 to 84 which follows the Old Oregon Trail.
Oregon Trail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Several mountain ranges run north south and there are passes to run. The route goes over Deadman’s Pass and elevation change is rapid climbing 2000 ft in about 15 minutes.
On the downhill side a good place to reach on day one is La Grande or Baker City, Oregon. There’s another pass right after Baker City and there’s no fuel from Baker to Ontario and I was running reserve on my trip through in 2013 – not the most comfortable feeling. Between La Grande to Baker I crossed the 45th parallel which is the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator. There is also cement manufacturing plants/lime works along the way and I took the exit to Lime, Oregon to snap pictures of the ruins of one the Lime works. Lime was made there from 1899 to 1980.
I wanted to document my trip down to this year’s Cruise Moab. Cruise Moab - Toyota 4x4 event in Moab, UT
I have heard so much about it that I felt that I should just go or it would never happen. Call it a bucket list thing but I turned 50 earlier this year and felt this was a nice milestone event to create a lot of memories.
I had been to Utah before – once in my early 30’s and I went through Bryce, Zion, and Sand Dune Parks down to the Grand Canyon and out to Sonoma Valley and again in 2013. I was there in Moab to run trails in 2013 but really only got to run the Kokopelli. I promised myself that I would go back and run some of the stuff I’d seen on YouTube and heard other cruiser heads talk about. We did carry on and saw a lot of amazing scenery – eventually getting to the Extra-terrestrial Highway and Area 51.
So last spring 2015 I put it out there to my cruiser buddies to see if we could get a group together. Like other big trips some can come, some say they can, and some can’t because life gets in the way. I was very determined to go and was heading down there no matter what – as they say you only live once.
As it turns out I met up with Gary, Greg, and Glenn. They had planned a trip to camp in the Canyon Lands and Four Corners areas with an eventual meet up at Moab. I couldn’t make their part of the trip and wish I can in the future – there will be other opportunities as Glenn is frequent traveller down there and I will likely join him one day. There is nothing like Utah!!!!! and I’ve seen both coasts, been above the Arctic Circle, been to South America, Mexico, Australia, and Europe. This is an amazing part of the world that I keep going back to.
This was my first Cruise Moab (this was their 19th year) and wow – what a fantastic, well organized, safe event managed by really great people!
All roads lead to Moab. I’m further east than the Coastal Cruiser gang so tack on at least another five to six hours from Vancouver to the times below. Both previous trips to this area were managed in long driving days. You can get to Bryce Canyon in two days as well as Moab. But they’re long days -- twelve plus hours in my 80 and with my old Jetta.
Getting there:
I took highway 97 which is pretty much follows the Columbia River to Kennewick, WA which sits on highway 82. For folks leaving Vancouver, you take the I5 to Seattle and join Highway 90 and then highway 82. The trip goes through central Washington to fruit and wine growing areas and eventually to high prairie. Interestingly from Seattle the route is almost diagonally direct to Salt Lake.
For interest- there’s a good Cabela’s at Tulalip right off the I5 and smaller Cabela’s stores at Yakima and Boise.
The route travels the North East corner of Oregon from 82 to 84 which follows the Old Oregon Trail.
Oregon Trail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Several mountain ranges run north south and there are passes to run. The route goes over Deadman’s Pass and elevation change is rapid climbing 2000 ft in about 15 minutes.
On the downhill side a good place to reach on day one is La Grande or Baker City, Oregon. There’s another pass right after Baker City and there’s no fuel from Baker to Ontario and I was running reserve on my trip through in 2013 – not the most comfortable feeling. Between La Grande to Baker I crossed the 45th parallel which is the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator. There is also cement manufacturing plants/lime works along the way and I took the exit to Lime, Oregon to snap pictures of the ruins of one the Lime works. Lime was made there from 1899 to 1980.
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