Moab. Sept 14-17

[D94R]

I went down with two '07 Rubicons. One 4 door the other 2 door. Being my second time to Moab I had an absolute blast. Ran Long Canyon and Gemini Bridges to start the first day. Hell's Revenge second day. Then Poison Spider and Kane Creek the third day before heading home on the fourth day.

My 2000 XJ is open front and rear with 4.5" lift and cut to fit 33's. It went everywhere the Rubicons went, and with more ground clearance then them I didn't scrape once whereas they did a few times. Only place we all 3 had problems was on Kane Creek before you round the bend and see the fallen Jeep. There is a pretty good wash out area that put all of us on the outside of the trail. I tried to climb the washed out part, and almost made it. If I would have had a LS or locked rear I would have been OK. That was really the only hairy part of the whole week. We did chicken out on Hells Gate though. But after some of the other stuff we did that week we plan to do it in the spring.

Wife was taking the pictures so they aren't so great :-\


Long Canyon and Gemini Bridges

Hells Revenge

Tip over challenge

 

[D94R]

Poison Spider

Same place as above pic, different view

Wedgie

Kane Creek
Immediately after the washed out section. We were concentrating too hard to get pics of the area

The wrecked Jeep, I hiked down to it.

 

[jpest]

Wife was taking the pictures so they aren't so great :-\

I think your wife did an excellent job! You know its hard to take a bad pic in Moab Looks like a fun trip!

 

[Greg]

I think your wife did an excellent job! You know its hard to take a bad pic in Moab Looks like a fun trip!

x2!! I really like the perspective on the photos, I think she did a great job. That actually stood out to me. Looks like you guys had a great trip, Hells Gate isn't that sketchy. We did it on a similar XJ with opened diffs, just choose your line carefully.

 

[Herzog]

Great photos! Can't wait to get down there next month.

 

[D94R]

She did do a good job yes, a lot of photo's though she got too much sky, not enough scenery if you know what I mean. She's still learning so I don't fault her. She took most of the pics while we were running, I took the photo's when the opportunity arose and we were out of the Jeep. I only posted a handful of the pics, the rest can be seen at

http://s177.photobucket.com/albums/w239/D94R/Moab%20September%202008/


Our "group" is planning on going down again in the spring, can't wait!

 

[SAMI]

I agree that her photos are great.. I like the way that most of them are framed. It's not just a tight shot of a Jeep, like most pics i see.

Looks like she used the 'law of thirds', despite possibly not even knowing about the 'law of thirds'.

looks like a fun trip

 

[The Stranger]

Good pictures. What kind of camera were you using and did you add saturation to some of those pictures?

 

[D94R]

Pentax K100D SLR. No saturation to speak of other than letting the camera do it's thing.


I agree, she did a good job with the pics, I just tend to be a little more picky with errant inclusions in photo's. Simple example is the rear tail light/hatch in the first picture. Kinda draws the eye away from the focus of the picture. At least for me, which like I said I tend to be more critical of my work,... rubs off too much I guess.

Or on the third picture, the angle is bad. The horizon in the back round is not flat, giving a false sense to the steepness of the rocks. No big deals, they just tend to "take away" from the picture. Good pictures still, yes.


EDIT: I do notice a nice piece of fuzz or dirt on the lens or mirror creating a "check mark" shape in all the photos. Great! lol.

 

[Houndoc]

Nice trip report.

I have been wondering how Kane Creek is now days, seems like a while back was pretty damaged/washed out by some heavy rains.

Anyone add to his info on its condition?

 

[D94R]

This just in. One of the guys we went with has some good pics of the washed out section. I'm uploading them now and will post them in a few minutes.

 

[D94R]

Pics showing me going out to the left to get around this section. What you don't see is the drop off less than a foot to my left. Which is why I tried to just get up and over it to begin with. Also what is hard to see in the pics is how dug out and loose the soil was at the base of the rock.

This one kinda shows how close to the edge we got, just look to the right of his front wheel. Sorry bout the low res quality, it was shot with a 1.4Mp camera.

Chris' little boy in front of the washed out area. I attempted the line just to the right of him. Almost got up, then lost traction on one rear wheel and forward progression was lost. The two Rubicons both high centered on that ledge and weren't making it either.

 

[Houndoc]

Looks alot worse than when I ran it 2-3 years ago. How would y'all currently rate the trail?

 

[SAMI]

All of your proclaimed 'photo mistakes' can easily be fixed in a decent editing program. Chop that taillight out.. Fix the little check mark in the photos...

I think your a bit too critical on your wife's pics.

 

[Thursty]

Great pics and trip report. Any wheelin pic in Moab is a good one.

 

[D94R]

Looks alot worse than when I ran it 2-3 years ago. How would y'all currently rate the trail?

The trail up to that section an easy 3, with one section (that is bypassable) that tips you down terribly to the passenger side right into a 10ft deep washout. We bypassed that. Before you drop down into the creek, there is a section where the trail splits and you can do it "easy" or "difficult". We all did the difficult section no hitch too.

The rest of the trail after would also be an easy 3.


Like I said, I did it all with open diffs and 33's down to 18psi.


If that washed out section wasn't next to a cliff, I'd give it a 4. But the pucker factor of a sheer drop and little fudge room I'd think push it to 4+, encroaching 5. But that's my novice look on it. With a locked rear I could have made it up the right side. So maybe its not as bad as I think it was.