Trip Report 2022 EJS Pic's

[glockman]

Had a great time again this year. Oddly, I didn't think Moab was super crowded. I don't know if that's because Utah/SL county are and we have grown accustomed to it or what. The prices of everything are definitely higher than ever but it was still a blast.

We ran Metal Masher Monday with the Brysons, Brett and Jesse Hornback. It was a great day until I broke the rear track bar/ UCA mount. We strapped/chained it up and limped out and back to town.

Moab Motorsports was able to get it fixed Tuesday which was great. The mount had also cut the brake line and both calipers had frozen bleed valves so they repaired the line and replaced both rear brake calipers. $$$$ but hey, its EJS, opportunity cost.

Monday night the wind blew harder than I have ever seen in Moab. We woke up to this Tuesday morning before hauling the jeep into Rory.




With everything back together we headed out to Fins Tuesday afternoon to make sure I hadn't broken anything else with the rear end doing the hula.
All good.


Wednesday we ran Flat Iron Mesa with the Brysons.


Thursday we headed to Bears Ears and did some hiking. Found some cool stuff. This granary was pretty cool.


The finger prints in this wall were pretty awesome, especially if they aren't newer additions.


Friday we ran Dome plateau and ran into some desert racing dudes. Small world I guess.



Back home now and cleaning up. BOO.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

If definitely wasn’t as busy as it has been in years past IMO. This was my 22nd or 23rd EJS? I’ve only missed one or two since my first in 1997. Full disclosure I’ve not signed up for RR4W trails for 12-13 years and many before that I was part of the U4WDA booth so I only got to do Big Saturday trail rides most years. However I’ve been out on the trails most years since. I don’t know if it was the weather or the fuel costs but it was pleasantly calm.

We camped near the airport and rode part of Klondike Bluffs into Arches, thru Arches and down to the RR4W Vendor show. Lunched at Moab Brewery and then rode Chicken Corners and back to town and back up to camp where we peeled off at Dalton Wells and road some more single track stuff before looping back to camp. 120? miles on the bikes, fantastic day. Today we rode Gemini Bridges, part of 3D, visited Hidden Canyon Overlook and dropped out to Blue Hills Road. 60 or so miles of mostly dirt. Trails were calm, everyone courteous for the most part. It was great.

On the vendor show note. The RR4W show was smaller, more and more companies are setting up in town or the alternative show. I’m a bit torn on this, if the RR4W show was completely full and no vendor space avail, I could see companies finding an alternative. Simply put many trails in the greater Moab area simply wouldn’t exist if RR4W and Easter Jeep Safari didn’t exist. Many harvest off that without making contributions to it imo. Still forming my opinion on this. Thoughts?

 

[mbryson]

Slow to get going trying to keep people together to get to Metal Masher trailhead. This just before the Gooneybird rock



I think this Lynds (@lbryson ) driving on Metal Masher on Monday? Transfer had had no issues so we gave it the ultimate test running down Long Canyon after Metal Masher. No problems. Case stayed in low all the way down the canyon. It's good to have something you worked on work out








Line up for 7 Mile Rim on Thursday



I did a lot of walking for various reasons, especially Poison Spider and Metal Masher. Good to have a co-driver.

 

[Greg]

We had a fun EJS, my wife was finally able to join in the fun which was nice. We arrived Wednesday evening and made the Teraflex Pizza Party at Portal RV, had a chance to make new friends and catch up with old ones.

Thursday started off with checking in for our official trail runs, then picked up our friend Mercedes who was along as media, shooting the trail run and excitement. We headed to the lineup for Metal Masher and were able to find RME friend @UPNO4 and @Bart who were helping the group. There was quite a variety of vehicles and skill levels, making the help much needed in certain parts... One JKU got very tippy, almost taking a rough tumble down a long hill. The driver stopped just in time and was able to back out of it. We grabbed dinner with Mercedes and then headed over to the Moab Expo, behind the old Dixie building. It was pretty small and quiet, IMO. Found some good friends to catch up with that evening.

Friday morning we headed out to Potato Salad Hill early in the morning to pick up trash, check on the condition of the hill and see the dumpster, porta-potties and the recycling containers, placed by the Solutions of Moab. PSH was pretty clean, made me happy to see that! After that we hit up the Jeep Concepts at Walker Drug. We wandered over to the Vendor Show and checked out all the neat builds, Ultra4 race cars, neat brands that support the show, talked even more friends and business connections, etc.

Friday afternoon we went back to PSH to watch the action, ran into even more friends cruising up and down the hill, playing around. After that, we made a quick trip to Hells Revenge to play around.

That evening we headed to the RR4W raffle, but headed out early as we were hungry and tired. Those bench seats are hard to sit on for more than 15 min, maybe next time we'll be more prepared with our own chairs and dinner in our bellies. Gave our ticket to some random woman on our way out... wonder if she won anything?!

Saturday was another official trail run, Poison Spider Mesa this time. We had a large group of 40+ Jeeps, but only 2 Gladiators. It took quite a while to get going and there were plenty of stops along the way. At the Wedgie a guy in a LJ flopped on his drivers side, creating some exciting moments. They slowly righted him, then once out they noticed the drag link was bent as well. They tossed a High Lift jack handle on it, but left the LJ there in case there were more issues. The driver hopped in another empty seat.

We ran the entire trail, out to the overlook.... something I've never done before. It was neat to see the the view looking down on the Moab Rim trail! We were off the trail around 5 PM, headed in to town and filled the gas tank, aired up the tires and grabbed burgers at Milts. Packed up camp and drove home in some NASTY winds, but it turned into a tail wind on the way home.

 

[Tacoma]

Well, my first EJS trip in... 6yrs was sort of a mixed bag. Invited down to help with BFG treasure hunt and the offroad expo, which all went well. Congrats to @jpest for winning a bunch of stuff! That was cool. Saw a lot.of people I haven't seen in a while... saw @mbryson at the Maverik parking lot but he didn't see me hahaha.
Ran into @Greg and the lovely Catherine at the expo, a nice surprise.
BUT Friday night I started feeling funky, and woke.up Saturday fewlimgabsolutely sh*tty. Sat out of a Trail Hero run, and started having bad, bad stomach cramps. HORRIBLE DAY! 🤣 puked a few times and felt better. Woke up this morning and felt too sick to run Hell's, so now I'm recuperating at Ray's in Green River and about to head home. Alas.
I am pretty amused that the last couple times.ive tried to go wheeling, some unlikely baloney has kept me off the rocks. Super annoying!

 

[UPNO4]

Always a good day when I get to be on the Trail with you @Greg. We had a good group on Metal Masher we moved consistently and made good time. Favorite comment of the day was from one of the wives saying that their Husband had to do Misty's Thumb because Jessie did it and couldn't let a young Girl out drive them. All in fun I am sure

 

[TurboMinivan]

We ran Metal Masher Monday with the Brysons, Brett and Jesse Hornback. It was a great day until I broke the rear track bar/ UCA mount.

Thank you for so graciously breaking your rig there. It diverted everyone's attention, so nobody saw me when my left rear coil spring popped out while I climbed the same obstacle.

 

[glockman]

Thank you for so graciously breaking your rig there. It diverted everyone's attention, so nobody saw me when my left rear coil spring popped out while I climbed the same obstacle.

Totally forgot you were tail gunning that run Dempsey. Sorry man. Tail gunners never get any love, just broken jeeps.

 

[TurboMinivan]

Tail gunners never get any love

We are the unsung heroes of EJS. (LOL)