http://s1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff4 ... 20Moab/JD/
Day one was Metal Masher. Jim did a great job leading us and was very patient when one of us had trouble. I was the one who cost us the most time. All who tried got over Rock Chucker, but that's where my problems started. I must have over drooped my leaf springs and one side would flex out and all but the mean leafs would slide under the spring hanger. So we flexed it back out and coaxed it back into place. Then one more flex to drop down off the obstacle and the front spring retainer sheared a bolt and allowed the spring to just flop out. After some creative use of bailing wire and a ratchet strap, it was temporarily secured.
The views were amazing!
The next obstacle bit me again:
Everyone else made it fine, but I blew a rear driveshaft u-joint. Noah came thru with a spare for me (thanks again bud!!). Once on top of that, my dad blew a u-joint on his front axle. He had a comeplete spare, so we quickly swapped that out.
Another incredible overlook:
Eventually the bailing wire and strap failed, so we had to come up with something stronger:
Here's Noah on the approach to Widow Maker:
John:
Jim and John were the only two who made this obstacle unassisted. The rest took a strap.
Overall Metal Masher was fun, but not among our favorites. We spent most of the evening and well into the night to get our rigs ready for the next day's adventure.
Day 2 was Hell Revenge. We sorta bucked the system this day and decided to pay our own way and split off from the "guided" group. This was done so we could do the optional obstacles.
This little -5 did awesome all day. No carb problems, went up and down the main trail without issue. Amazing!
Gary was the guide today and said he thinks this is the most scenic trail:
Butch was our unofficial guide and took us down to the bottom for our first optional obstacle.
At the overlook:
Then then our counterpart group stuck around to watch us run Hells Gate. This was my second time so I knew what to expect, but it was still quite a rush.
We continued on over the rocks making our way to the Hot Tubs:
John and Butch were the only two who attempted Mickey's and both crawled right out. The easiest I had ever seen:
Then it was onto the infamous Escalator. Butch first in:
After working it around a bit, we threw a strap on him with human power to keep the front end down and up he came.
John ended up in the same predicament:
Daniel had the same issue:
All it took on any of them was a light tug and up they came.
For some reason, I am drawing a blank for a name here, but he ended up flopping:
Took a few guys to roll him back on his wheels and up he came in the same manner as the others.
My turn, I just locked it down into low-low and let her crawl:
Strap at the ready if needed:
Much to everyone's surprise, I walked right up unassisted:
Tyree the last guy thru:
Staged for a group photo at the end:
Everyone in my group thought this was their favorite trail of the week.
Day 3, Rusty Nail, Golden Crack, & Gold Bar rim.
Butch was our trail guide today and knows how to make that rig work! It did awesome!
One of the first obstacles, John broke a hub. While diagnosing that, Ty broke a front axle u-joint on the same obstacle. Butch ran back to his trailer to get a spare d60 hub while we swapped out the broken axle.
Rocky 1, 2 & 3:
Once again, John and Butch the only ones making the hard lines:
Tyree tried hard, but ended up sliding over and got pinched:
We dragged him sideways and he backed off.
The smaller obstacle was no joke:
It took a tug to get each of us up here (expect Butch and John)
No left turn
Poser shot at lunch:
The bronco Arch:
The crack:
Double whammy:
The long wheelbase guys made it up. The rest had to bypass.
A pano from the top of Rusty Nail:
Had an awesome trip! Great people, great fellowship and great wheeling! It was the first Moab experience for some, but I am betting it won't be their last!
