Pulled into Moab about 10:20 on Friday morning to about 3 inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing. Kind of put a damper on the trails we were planning on running. Talked to Carl Plus and he said they were going out to do Metal Masher.
We (Janeal and I) had my LTJ, my son Eric had his mildly lifted 99 XJ (open open)on 33s, Jared and Claire had built YJ, sbc 350, 400 Atlas, 4 link rear on coils, on 37 Trepadors, , and Jake with his built and tubed CJ6 on 42" Swampers. Jake, said he had a small fix to do so I told Carl we'd meet them out there, but after buying parts in 3 places we had the front driveline u-joint and pinion yoke replaced and were about an hour late.
We headed to Metal Masher. When we got to the trail head we stopped and waited for Jake. He showed up 20 minutes later but was having issues with his rear coil overs. It was having some work done before he left town and they forgot to put nitrogen back in the shocks. He headed back to the trailer. We heading toward the trail but Jared took a wrong turn and he couldn't hear me honking so we ended up going in the back way. I finally got them to stop and we decided it was too late do the whole trail anyway, so I got the bright idea to just go over and do Widowmaker. BTW, we broke trail through snow and drifts to get there. I knew it would be snowy, but ...
We got up past the ugly spot on the climb before WM and had to winch Eric up, so I knew we'd be winching him up WM. Jared thought I'd have an easier time climbing WM so I got to try first. I thought the snow would have melted but the top was covered with snow and ice. I played a few times then gave it a good effort but no joy. In doing so my back end came over and was on the rock at the bottom right of the obstacle. We diceded to winch from there, but while Jared was looking for the (now non existant) winch point I thought I'd see if I could carefully back off. I made one slight nudge and front end slid way to the left. I don't know what stopped it from falling off but I had way too much seat sucked up my &** to think straight anyway. We finally hooked up two straps and my winch and pulled up on top. I winched Eric and Jared up and we took the scenic way out. A lot of driving for no real wheeling.
Friday night, Moab Brewery, 12 pitchers... you fill in the blanks.
Saturday we hooked up with Carl Plus, Cody, Yellow Bronco, Bronco Mama and many more. It was great to put some new faces with names. We did Hell's Revenge.
The weather was sunny and slightly cold, but much better than Friday. We headed out to the overlook and Eric got a taste of wheeling in a mostly stock rig. He had a built locked and bobbed 4Runner before that was easy to drive and this was an eye opener for him. It was fun to see him hunt for lines rather than see him point and go.
Most of us did Hell's Gate then we ate lunch and listened to the BYU Utah game on the way to the Hot Tubs. It was fun watching Cody go crazy while driving. Jake was the only one to attempt the big tub. It had ice in the bottom and although Jake put on a great show, and came close a couple of times it just wasn't going to happen.
Mickey's was next and Cody was first in. It had water and ice in the bottom also and was not friendly. Another ZJ tried it after, and then Carl Plus and myself. It wasn't friendly to that point. Then Chis showed the group what Lemon Joy was all about. He made it look easy coming out of there. Jake was next and he too pulled right out, then backed back in, then crawled out. Amazing what 112" of wheel base will do. Jared wasn't sure about going in with his 99" wheel base but fell to pressure and pulled in. He played a couple of times and then hit throttle using all 8 cylinders and lighting up the new Maxxis Trepadors he'd just put on before the trip. He made it out.
Next stop was the Escalator and since I was in a foul mood from not making it out of Mickeys I had to go try this. I pulled up in and Cody came up to lend some eyes. With Cody spotting I walked right through. Jake, Yellow Bronco, and Jared also made it up.
From there out it was a good ride out to the trailers. I'd been watching Jake doing dohgnuts in the parking lot and playing around. I bit later we were getting ready to leave when I saw the big red Jeep fly down the trail and start another power slide, only it looked like he was trying to roll it. I was laughing as it went over and told Janeal that he finally rolled it. She looked sick and said, "Eric was in there". I didn't believe it but we pulled over so I could use my winch to pull him back up. Sure enough Eric and Jake were standing by the Jeep when we got there and they were both fine. I was really surprised when I found out that Jake had let Eric drive and my boy had pulled his first roll. sniff, sniff, I'm so proud. I did have to remind him that rolling in a regular rig will do much more damage than what happened to Jake's. Overall I think it was great learning experience.
We bagged it on Sunday and left for home early. Hope everyone had a great day and made it home okay. Wish I had some pics to add......
We (Janeal and I) had my LTJ, my son Eric had his mildly lifted 99 XJ (open open)on 33s, Jared and Claire had built YJ, sbc 350, 400 Atlas, 4 link rear on coils, on 37 Trepadors, , and Jake with his built and tubed CJ6 on 42" Swampers. Jake, said he had a small fix to do so I told Carl we'd meet them out there, but after buying parts in 3 places we had the front driveline u-joint and pinion yoke replaced and were about an hour late.
We headed to Metal Masher. When we got to the trail head we stopped and waited for Jake. He showed up 20 minutes later but was having issues with his rear coil overs. It was having some work done before he left town and they forgot to put nitrogen back in the shocks. He headed back to the trailer. We heading toward the trail but Jared took a wrong turn and he couldn't hear me honking so we ended up going in the back way. I finally got them to stop and we decided it was too late do the whole trail anyway, so I got the bright idea to just go over and do Widowmaker. BTW, we broke trail through snow and drifts to get there. I knew it would be snowy, but ...
We got up past the ugly spot on the climb before WM and had to winch Eric up, so I knew we'd be winching him up WM. Jared thought I'd have an easier time climbing WM so I got to try first. I thought the snow would have melted but the top was covered with snow and ice. I played a few times then gave it a good effort but no joy. In doing so my back end came over and was on the rock at the bottom right of the obstacle. We diceded to winch from there, but while Jared was looking for the (now non existant) winch point I thought I'd see if I could carefully back off. I made one slight nudge and front end slid way to the left. I don't know what stopped it from falling off but I had way too much seat sucked up my &** to think straight anyway. We finally hooked up two straps and my winch and pulled up on top. I winched Eric and Jared up and we took the scenic way out. A lot of driving for no real wheeling.
Friday night, Moab Brewery, 12 pitchers... you fill in the blanks.
Saturday we hooked up with Carl Plus, Cody, Yellow Bronco, Bronco Mama and many more. It was great to put some new faces with names. We did Hell's Revenge.
The weather was sunny and slightly cold, but much better than Friday. We headed out to the overlook and Eric got a taste of wheeling in a mostly stock rig. He had a built locked and bobbed 4Runner before that was easy to drive and this was an eye opener for him. It was fun to see him hunt for lines rather than see him point and go.
Most of us did Hell's Gate then we ate lunch and listened to the BYU Utah game on the way to the Hot Tubs. It was fun watching Cody go crazy while driving. Jake was the only one to attempt the big tub. It had ice in the bottom and although Jake put on a great show, and came close a couple of times it just wasn't going to happen.
Mickey's was next and Cody was first in. It had water and ice in the bottom also and was not friendly. Another ZJ tried it after, and then Carl Plus and myself. It wasn't friendly to that point. Then Chis showed the group what Lemon Joy was all about. He made it look easy coming out of there. Jake was next and he too pulled right out, then backed back in, then crawled out. Amazing what 112" of wheel base will do. Jared wasn't sure about going in with his 99" wheel base but fell to pressure and pulled in. He played a couple of times and then hit throttle using all 8 cylinders and lighting up the new Maxxis Trepadors he'd just put on before the trip. He made it out.
Next stop was the Escalator and since I was in a foul mood from not making it out of Mickeys I had to go try this. I pulled up in and Cody came up to lend some eyes. With Cody spotting I walked right through. Jake, Yellow Bronco, and Jared also made it up.
From there out it was a good ride out to the trailers. I'd been watching Jake doing dohgnuts in the parking lot and playing around. I bit later we were getting ready to leave when I saw the big red Jeep fly down the trail and start another power slide, only it looked like he was trying to roll it. I was laughing as it went over and told Janeal that he finally rolled it. She looked sick and said, "Eric was in there". I didn't believe it but we pulled over so I could use my winch to pull him back up. Sure enough Eric and Jake were standing by the Jeep when we got there and they were both fine. I was really surprised when I found out that Jake had let Eric drive and my boy had pulled his first roll. sniff, sniff, I'm so proud. I did have to remind him that rolling in a regular rig will do much more damage than what happened to Jake's. Overall I think it was great learning experience.
We bagged it on Sunday and left for home early. Hope everyone had a great day and made it home okay. Wish I had some pics to add......
