Fins 'N' Things - Learning What Our Stock Jeep Can Do

Moab, UT


Last Wednesday (5-22)...was to be a play with the pups day, laundry day, and grocery store day. We did make it to  the doggie park and played ball with Wrecks and Jack.

 When we returned home, the owner of Portal RV Resort, Doug Sorensen and his wife, Jane were working around the KOI pond.

 Joe went over to introduce himself and thank Doug for allowing us to bring our four pups. One thing led to another and soon the conversation was about Jeeps.


Next thing I knew, we were in the Jeep and following Doug...destination Fins 'N' Things...for a trip to learn the capabilities of our Jeep Wrangler and to gain a better understanding of how we would utilize it in the future. Another couple from the park, Leonard and Gayle joined us.

According to our Backroads & 4-Wheel
Drive Trails Guide, Fins 'N' Things is rated fourth down on the Difficult list...I sure didn't know that when we left home!

Doug's Jeep is really cool! He loves driving it! And, he was great at explaining what Joe needed to do to get the best performance from Pearl!

 Joe was instructed to shift the transfer box to low and stay in first gear and use the clutch as little as possible...to keep it smooth so as not to bounce the suspension.

Also, we were told to follow close...5 to 6 feet behind Doug.                             

At first...we traveled over the slickrock. White spots and tire tracks mark the trail.





Then, the trail changed to rocks...we followed close and learned you don't straddle the rocks,  but rather pick a path that places your tires on them so as to keep the hood of the Jeep level as possible.




Leonard and Gayle were close behind us !



For the first decline, Doug went first...we all got out and watched. He parked and then directed Joe down...










 Joe waiting at the top of the slickrock decline...



For this obstacle, I chose to take pictures rather than ride.



Slow....slower......and even slower! If you look closely, you can see a lot of scrapes on the rock. With Doug's direction...Pearl had no scrapes!





   
I think Joe's hooked!

 After more dips and slickrock, we came to the really fun part...well for me it was fun, but I wasn't doing the work.




The biggest decline on Fins 'N' Things...a 68 degree decline!  Doug went first. Joe and I watched from the Jeep as he slowly disappeared!

       
I rode this one down with Joe...so my pictures are of Leonard. That's the most vertical I have ever been in a vehicle...

                                  
 The truck in the left picture followed Leonard down...

 One more decline...the first part was not so steep with a leveled out section, then a steep decline and a drop off to sand.

Up, down and around with a lot of tricky spotting to navigate over, through and by rocks...so much fun! I think I am hooked too!

The last part of the trail was through sand and sharply banked S curves and we were done!  I wish I could have captured more pictures throughout this adventure, but it was impossible to hold on and use the camera.












Here are our major "takeaways" from the "Doug Sorensen Experience". Take a guided tour with a professional or otherwise experienced 4 X 4 off roader to better determine how extreme your off roading is likely to be. This will enable you to better understand the modifications, if any, you will want to make to your ride.  After our Fins "N" Things ride, Doug introduced us to Jim Horne of Moab's Outlaw Jeep Tours (www.outlawjeeptours.com) who helped us determine what modifications we should consider making to Pearl.  Jim and his team build extreme 4 X 4 vehicles and also maintain their fleet of rental Jeeps.  Like Doug, he is a passionate rock crawler and off roader.  Their obvious love and passion for the sport coupled with their clear desire to help us select only the modifications essential for our 4 X 4 goals, made the decision to move forward easy.















 

Devils Garden

Moab, UT

We did it...Tuesday morning we were parked and on the Devils Garden Trail at 8:30 am. No problem this morning finding a parking place!










It's no wonder why this is a popular trail...Devils Garden area of Arches NP contains the largest concentration of significant natural arches in the world!

The first 0.8 mile of the primary trail is graveled and winds through the tall fins.


A side trail leads to Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.

Tunnel Arch is actually a  double arch comprised of a larger hole towards the center of the fin and a smaller hole on the upper left. The fin in which this arch is formed is thick...this creates an illusion that it is more a tunnel than an arch.


Pine Tree Arch is enormous...it takes a few minutes standing underneath it to take it all in.

We weren't the only ones getting an early start to the day!

The primary trail to Landscape Arch is graveled and well-graded. It is a 1.6 mile round trip to Landscape Arch.

This was our first view of Landscape Arch from the main trail.


Joe and I opted at this point to walk the primitive trail counter-clockwise and save the up close view of Landscape Arch for last. 



The main trail, primitive trail, and all spur trails to points of interest is a 7.2 mile round trip hike...whew!

The first part of the trail was through sand. Views of the fins were spectacular.

 This is an example of cryptobiotic soil. It is composed of living bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and/or mosses. Soil crusts are very important to the desert ecosystem and extremely fragile.

As we climbed higher the sand changed to slickrock.






This picture (on the right) shows the trickiest part of our hike today. This was a very steep wall of slickrock...as you can see...or can't see...it was a deep ravine...our first time for steep slickrock scrambling! Thank goodness for folks along the way...this very nice couple, Deb and Carson ( in the picture below) from Iowa gave me a hand...

Dark Angel

Spur trails lead to Dark Angel, Partition Arch and Navajo Arch.                                          

                                                          
 

Rough Mules Ear

As we peer through arch openings, we are reminded of the dynamic nature of our earth.







           

The last part of the primitive trail is on sliprock fins... up and down!

 Walking these fins reminded me of a Carpenter's song "Top Of The World"...looking down on creation. Only, I wasn't looking down too much!

It was a little scary...I couldn't see where we were headed.







It took me a minute to get myself together! What goes up, must go down!



We met a nice couple from Belgium, Katherine and Guy...Guy stood and waited for me.







Finally, Landscape Arch! Landscape Arch is the longest Natural arch in the world. It is 290 feet at its longest section.


In recent years, several chunks have fallen from it. The trail  leading below it has been closed for safety .

This was the most challenging hike we have done.

 What a WOW day!

 

 I am behind on posts...Wednesday, Thursday, and today have all been so busy. There's lots to write about!

 Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend. Welcome summer!

Y'all come back!