To Hell and Back Moab 2017

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We went to Moab after Breckinridge, though we spent most of our time in the national parks (Canyonlands and Arches). I did part of Elephant Hill, then realized the challenge and I really wanted to follow someone who'd done it before. We ended up taking the Colorado River overlook trail instead, which the trail guidebook calls moderate (for the last 2 miles) and which was about all I was willing to run without one of you guys to follow. We did Potash Road and Shafer Trail into the park and tried Long Canyon on the way out but Pucker Pass was washed out with huge boulders so we had to turn around part way down the canyon.

My wife and kids really want to come back and do the White Rim trail and the Maze one day, so if anyone with kids wants to do the the White Rim trail and the Land of Standing Rocks next year let me know.

Less gratuitous but still fun photos (that shelf really seemed steeper in person):

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Next year I hope to join you crazy wheelers in Moab.

I'm only 3 1/2 hours from Moab. If you (or anyone) need a follow vehicle or a guide let me know. I might be out of the country for the winter though.

Save up for a rear bumper if you want to do the fun stuff without your Tupperware looking like Matt's or Ken's or Patrick's or Kamals. :) A front would be helpful too.
 
Did any of you try out crawl through the crack? Or anywhere on the trail for that matter? I grew up old school in 40's and a non-ATrac 100 so it still isn't in my DNA to think about using those tools too much, and haven't really needed to use anything in the 200 yet. Looks like I would have on this adventure.
I was one of those peops that Tony was talking about that used it on the sand dune! I hit that hill 2 or 3 times old school with different amounts of skinny pedal and different settings but was eventually stopped just shy of the top. At that point I threw it in crawl mode and we were all shocked as the system dragged the 3 ton rig up the dune!:)
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I was one of those peops that Tony was talking about that used it on the sand dune! I hit that hill 2 or 3 times old school with different amounts of skinny pedal and different settings but was eventually stopped just shy of the top. At that point I threw it in crawl mode and we were all shocked as the system dragged the 3 ton rig up the dune!:)
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That is very cool. Need to try it out. Seems like the crack would have been a good place to give it a shot... nice and slow with traction being key to getting through. I could tell from your video you didn't use it there :)
 
That is very cool. Need to try it out. Seems like the crack would have been a good place to give it a shot... nice and slow with traction being key to getting through. I could tell from your video you didn't use it there :)
Steen you would have loved this trip, next year we gotta roll Moab forsure! Funny thing is about the crack, I did use it but just had the speed set too high:). Speed 1 on the Crawl in the crack would have been perfect!
 
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I was one of those peops that Tony was talking about that used it on the sand dune! I hit that hill 2 or 3 times old school with different amounts of skinny pedal and different settings but was eventually stopped just shy of the top. At that point I threw it in crawl mode and we were all shocked as the system dragged the 3 ton rig up the dune!:)
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This is interesting to me, I've seen CRAWL work in sand when stuck, but flat. I've not had good success on steep sandy inclines. Were you aired down? When in sand I run around 18psi, traction off, and center diff engaged. Never had an issue. Tried crawl on a steep dune trying to get out of a witches eye with no success, the only way I found to get out was momentum with a bit of wheel turn.
 
While following this thread, I have yet to see the heavy lift helicopters all of you must have used to get your rigs into those places. You hid the whirlybirds well. No way you actually DROVE to the spots the photos were taken.
 
We went to Moab after Breckinridge, though we spent most of our time in the national parks (Canyonlands and Arches). I did part of Elephant Hill, then realized the challenge and I really wanted to follow someone who'd done it before. We ended up taking the Colorado River overlook trail instead, which the trail guidebook calls moderate (for the last 2 miles) and which was about all I was willing to run without one of you guys to follow. We did Potash Road and Shafer Trail into the park and tried Long Canyon on the way out but Pucker Pass was washed out with huge boulders so we had to turn around part way down the canyon.

My wife and kids really want to come back and do the White Rim trail and the Maze one day, so if anyone with kids wants to do the the White Rim trail and the Land of Standing Rocks next year let me know.

Less gratuitous but still fun photos (that shelf really seemed steeper in person):

View attachment 1516102 View attachment 1516103

View attachment 1516104

Next year I hope to join you crazy wheelers in Moab.
Elephant Hill "looks" harder than it is, was intimidated as well at first, but no real obstacles on the trail just some steep ups and downs like the rest of Moab. Also no bumper scrapes. How amazing is Canyonlands!?!? Needles was awesome, Devil's Kitchen campsites are sick. We DID get checked twice by Rangers for permit, just FYI for those going.

I'm down to join you guys next year, will bring the fam. I have heard though that the Maze can be really tough, but never really looked into it. And there's a 2 to 3 day trip all on trail from Needles/Canyonlands to Moab, forget the name but it's on my list for next visit.

FWIW Zion was my favorite followed by Needles. Honestly Moab itself doesn't hold a flame to either but it's a great spot to setup and explore from.
 
What was the weather like? Hot?
 
This is interesting to me, I've seen CRAWL work in sand when stuck, but flat. I've not had good success on steep sandy inclines. Were you aired down? When in sand I run around 18psi, traction off, and center diff engaged. Never had an issue. Tried crawl on a steep dune trying to get out of a witches eye with no success, the only way I found to get out was momentum with a bit of wheel turn.
I ran mid 20's in my tires, trying to play the happy balance between clearance and traction, lots of rock hits to the diffs and underbelly. We only came across just the one sand dune, if we had dropped air pressure no question we would have done better, but instead we just had fun with it. I gave it a go with trac off and center diff locked, no go. I gave it a go in 4Low and atrac kicking in, I gave it a go with just massive speed. Trust me we were shocked when I put Crawl on and it started moving forward, "wait it's actually moving forward":) we all got a good laugh.
 
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[QUOTE="Night time is quite nice though.[/QUOTE]

Nice at nighttime? You guys would know. In fact, you should consider writing a book on your experience. You could title it "Moab Nights".
 
Next year we should do a multi-day trip with camping in between.

Anyone ever done an over landing trip in the Grand Staircase area of Utah?
 

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