James Drives Wile E

Gopher Flats
Moab, UT
July 5&6, 2017

Wednesday morning we were up and out the door early to meet Dee and Adrienne to run Hell's Revenge.  Hell's is a wild rollercoaster ride over slickrock domes or fins.  It's 6.5 miles of scary fun offers steep climbs and descents with some areas very narrow and close to the edge of high cliffs, several named difficult optional obstacles, and spectacular panoramic views.  Today, James was driving !

Dee led driving Blanche , followed by Adrienne driving Pibble, and James bringing up the rear in WileE.  

Dee gets a mirror shot of our small group.

A sweet picture at the dinosaur tracks. 


















I'm not sure who had the most fun...James or Joe and I.

Dee and James at the river overlook...

James rides along with Dee on Hells' Gate...

Another mirror shot...thanks Dee !

When we reached the top of the Dragon Tail, a very steep descent, I snapped the following picture.  The driver of the vehicle on its top misjudged the line in the dark.  Both driver and passenger spent the night and hiked out at daybreak. 

Thursdays trail of choice was Metal Masher.  Red Rock 4-Wheelers rates this trail a 7 out of 10.  This 11.7 mile loop follows around Arth's Rim and offers up some difficult named obstacles, and lots of fun.  Dee (with passenger Rob) led our trusty band of wheelers followed by James, Scott (with passenger Adrienne) from Texas,  Jim from Texas, and Glen bringing up the back.  
The first couple of obstacles are unnamed tall ledges.
Joe and James discuss options for tire placement...

James gets lined up...

and crawls right up !   

Dee's photo captures how tall Rock Chucker is.

   
A great warm up for what is coming next...Rock Chucker...a tall, gnarly, ledgy climb.








Glen spots...

Dee's photo as James gets lined up.

and James climbs.

A happy mom !

Thanks Dee !

Once Rock Chucker has been conquered, there is a loop that connects back to the main trail.  It's pretty hairy too.
Glen stands by to make sure all four wheels stay on the ground.  It's tippy...I like tippy !

A great photo Dee !

I just realized I failed to get pictures at Arth's Rim...a spectacular overlook about 5700 feet above Hwy 191.  MM is a favorite so I'm sure there will be a next time !

It was so much fun having James here.  Five days...five trails full of scary fun filled with lots of laughs, WOWS, spectacular views and wonderful memories !  

I want to send a huge thank you to Dee who organized trails and led us on Hell's Revenge and Metal Masher.

Another huge thank you to Glen who led Kane Creek Canyon and joined us on Cliffhanger and Metal Masher.  He always manages to be in the right place at the right time just in case.

 And lastly, a huge thank you to Jeff who works hard all week in his buggy fabrication business, Dirt Squirrel Motors, LLC and still came out to play on Sunday...and led us on Cliffhanger.

  

He also got up early on Monday to weld breaks in Wile E's front coil over mount enabling us to enjoy the rest of the week wheeling !    





Ahhh...the memories !

Until next time,

 Happy Trails ! 

A Little Revenge with MonaLiza and Steve

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
April 11, 2016

I have done many posts on the Hell's Revenge 4-Wheel Drive Trail, but today's adventure was made extra special by having MonaLiza and Steve (lowestravels.com) join us.  I will never forget the first time Joe and I drove Pearl there and all the adventures we have had  since on this awesome, iconic Moab trail.  We joined our friends Dee, Mike and Melina  and the Havasu 4-Wheelers.  Dee and Mike both had buggies while the rest of us had an assortment of jeeps.

Mike leads the way...

 Our first stop of the day was the River Overlook.  Of course the Colorado River and Hwy 128 are not all you can see.  The large vistas sweep full circle from the river to Arches NP to the La Sal Mountains to Moab Rim (the cliffs that overlook Moab).

Steve and MonaLiza take in the view.

   
The first obstacle of the day was Hell's Gate.  MonaLiza and Steve enjoyed a nice climb up the Gate with Dee.  Dee's buggy Wild Thing is at the back of the line.

about half way up...

Wahoo!

We all gathered around The Hot Tub for lunch with a view after that.

Before we left, the buggies took a dip in The Hot Tub.
Going in...

coming out.

Near the end of this 6.5 mile trail is Escalator.  Pictures don't quite show the difficulty of this two in one obstacle,

 but Steve's reaction does show the thrill of the ride!

What a great day we had.  A huge thank you to Dee and Mike.  

Until next time, happy days...

  happy trails !

When we got home, the sun was setting behind Poison Spider Mesa.  

I went inside to let the pups out.  Jack has to stay in a crate which we call his man cave. When he ran out I noticed he had his baby standing up in the back of the crate covered with his blankie.  Since that day, we have found it that way twice.  

 How sweet is that?

"Not What It Appears To Be" On Hell's Revenge

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
September 21, 2015

Dave and Lynn, their son Richie and cute little Yorkie, Daisy arrived at Portal on September 12th. Yep, that's how far behind I am on posting all the fun we have been having. We have had a great time wheelin' and visiting the past couple of weeks. 

It was a beautiful Monday morning. Skies were blue, jeeps were shiny, and I wish I could say the air was cool, but we haven't been that lucky this month...a perfect Hell's Revenge kind of day!


Larger vistas that sweep full circle from the LaSal Mountains through Arches NP, to the cliff rims that overlook Moab Valley make this my favorite trail. 

Hell's Revenge is 6.5 miles of pure scary fun! A roller coaster ride up and down, over and around sandstone domes and fins with a few rock ledges, and sandy washes thrown in just to give me a chance to put the camera down, gulp a few sips of water and catch my breath. 

We had traversed about half way when we encountered a dome we now know is named Cowboy Hill. Dave made one attempt, then another, and once more when all went awry. In the process of backing off the climb, his front locker, driver side G2 Axle and brake caliper were destroyed.

Joe and Dave contacted our friends Steve Nantz and Jim Horne. We sent the picture below to them. 

They advised us to remove the wheel, strap the caliper to the axle, and drive it out in 3-wheel drive. 

Dave then discovered he had no brakes because of the loss of fluids. The leak was stopped at the busted caliper and an attempt to restore brakes by bleeding the system failed. 

Richie did a great job covering the fluids with sand.








At that point, the boys strapped Pearl to the back of Rokelle and we proceeded out with Pearl serving as brakes for both jeeps. 

On the way out, we ran into Jim who was doing a jeep tour. He checked things out and gave the guys some transmission fluid to attempt to bleed the brakes again.  Thanks Jim!







We made it back to Moab 4X4 Outpost where Rokelle spent two nights and was repaired.  Dee was at the Outpost when we pulled in and commented how creative the guys were and that the picture was "not what it appears to be". Another true adventure in the memory bank with great friends! 

Next up, National Public Lands Day 2015. Until then, let the good times roll...

HAPPY TRAILS!