alia176
SILVER Star
I was in dire need of escaping the grid for a bit, took advantage of the spring break time off and bolted to UT from Mon - Fri. The 80 got a massive rear sway bar from Whiteline and it delivered in spades. The 80 drives a ton better on the hwy, not sure how much off road articulation suffered though, only time will tell I guess. It's great to lift a rig and do the mods, but if it beats the s*** out of you for hours and hours before you air down, the fun factor diminishes, at least for me anyway. She handles decent now, but gotta work on a wind fairing solution next to cut down on the wind noise.
Anyway, we arrived in Comb wash CG Monday eve, then hit the ruins on Butler wash Tues am. After the hike to ruins, grabbing some grub, stayed aired down and hit the Arch Canyon trail off of Hwy 95. This trail leads you into a box canyon and you hope like hell you're the only rig going down this trail for some seclusion. Thankfully, BLM Monticello installed a sign up sheet at the beginning so you know what to expect. There was one other Taco at the end of the trail all locked up, guessing the folks went on a multi day backpacking trip. It was nice to camp in the tall pines but sad to see the creek was just about bone dry. The highlight of this trip used to be that you needed to cross the water about 50 times!
After that, we headed into Moab for a shower and pasta at Pasta Jay's while watching the EJS mayhem going in the town. Grabbed some grub at Moab diner Thurs am then skidaddled outta there as fast as a tired old 1FZ-FE can do and headed to the Schaffer switchback at the end of Potash road. This trail is really pretty and you can't help but feel for the MTBers going uphill from the river level all the way up to the mesa top. Once up at the top, aired up then did some touristy lookout stuff.
Slight detour here, but did someone let loose some Mercedes Sprinter van adventure rigs in Moab or what? Holy jeebus, these vans were EVERYWHERE with MTBs on the back, boats on the top with some of the dirtiest but hottest women behind the front wheel. The lady I was with saw the drooling factor and asked me what was I actually salivating over - the hot chick or the hot van? I had to think hard on that one for a bit,
!!! The aftermarket is getting flooded with Van conversions aimed for the Moab market, I tell you what. I've never seen so many Eurovans, Vanagons, Sprinters and Nissan vans in Moab before.
Ahem, back at the ranch, we headed down south to hwy 211 for our last night of remote camp out before heading home on Friday. We wanted to camp at the Super Bowl BLM CG off of 211 but this is Thurs, WTF was I thinking? The CG was full of, wait for it, VANS filled with climbing gear and MTBs! So, we skeedaddled across hwy 211 for another dirt road to find some hard to access place and did manage to find an epic spot. Of course, we had to go by a Prius and two sprinter vans in the process before going to 4low.
Overall, a fine trip, recharged the battery. Everything but the Arch canyon trail is trailer friendly. Arch canyon does require a little lift and 4low, so the Subarus and Vans are out! This trail also has overhanging branches throughout so keep that in mind. If you have a typical clamshell RTT on a lifted rig, you WILL have to get out and push them up and over your RTT in places.
Enjoy the pics.
Poser shot on Schaffer trail (end of potash road)
Arch Canyon all following pics
Anyway, we arrived in Comb wash CG Monday eve, then hit the ruins on Butler wash Tues am. After the hike to ruins, grabbing some grub, stayed aired down and hit the Arch Canyon trail off of Hwy 95. This trail leads you into a box canyon and you hope like hell you're the only rig going down this trail for some seclusion. Thankfully, BLM Monticello installed a sign up sheet at the beginning so you know what to expect. There was one other Taco at the end of the trail all locked up, guessing the folks went on a multi day backpacking trip. It was nice to camp in the tall pines but sad to see the creek was just about bone dry. The highlight of this trip used to be that you needed to cross the water about 50 times!
After that, we headed into Moab for a shower and pasta at Pasta Jay's while watching the EJS mayhem going in the town. Grabbed some grub at Moab diner Thurs am then skidaddled outta there as fast as a tired old 1FZ-FE can do and headed to the Schaffer switchback at the end of Potash road. This trail is really pretty and you can't help but feel for the MTBers going uphill from the river level all the way up to the mesa top. Once up at the top, aired up then did some touristy lookout stuff.
Slight detour here, but did someone let loose some Mercedes Sprinter van adventure rigs in Moab or what? Holy jeebus, these vans were EVERYWHERE with MTBs on the back, boats on the top with some of the dirtiest but hottest women behind the front wheel. The lady I was with saw the drooling factor and asked me what was I actually salivating over - the hot chick or the hot van? I had to think hard on that one for a bit,
!!! The aftermarket is getting flooded with Van conversions aimed for the Moab market, I tell you what. I've never seen so many Eurovans, Vanagons, Sprinters and Nissan vans in Moab before.Ahem, back at the ranch, we headed down south to hwy 211 for our last night of remote camp out before heading home on Friday. We wanted to camp at the Super Bowl BLM CG off of 211 but this is Thurs, WTF was I thinking? The CG was full of, wait for it, VANS filled with climbing gear and MTBs! So, we skeedaddled across hwy 211 for another dirt road to find some hard to access place and did manage to find an epic spot. Of course, we had to go by a Prius and two sprinter vans in the process before going to 4low.
Overall, a fine trip, recharged the battery. Everything but the Arch canyon trail is trailer friendly. Arch canyon does require a little lift and 4low, so the Subarus and Vans are out! This trail also has overhanging branches throughout so keep that in mind. If you have a typical clamshell RTT on a lifted rig, you WILL have to get out and push them up and over your RTT in places.
Enjoy the pics.
Poser shot on Schaffer trail (end of potash road)
Arch Canyon all following pics
By now, I'm experiencing a mild seizure of some sort and she noticed it and asked what can she do? I said, Umm, maybe get a smaller duffel bag w/o wheels? I let her have the hair drier. Come on, it's her first time, cut her some slack 
.
