good-times-rollin

Sunday, June 9, 2013

TERAFLEX, TOYO & Long Canyon

Well, we think Pearl earned her Jeep Trail Rated badge on a ride over Fins & Things led by Doug Sorensen (Portal RV Resort). The ride gave us a better understanding of what our little Jeep is capable of and more importantly, how we are most likely to use it. Check out our May 26th blog Fins 'N' Things - Learning What Our Stock Jeep Can Do. We felt that Pearl deserved a couple of upgrades, so following Doug's recommendation, we took her over to Jim Horne (Outlaw Jeep Rentals) here in Moab. There, Pearl received a 2.5" TERAFLEX lift kit complete with new coils, 9550 shocks, and a set of 35" Toyo tires. We also wanted to have a TERAFLEX Swaybar System with Quick Disconnect as well as a TERAFLEX front bumper and wench installed but our Blue Ox base plate got in the way. At this point, we still have hopes a TERAFLEX bumper can be modified so as to enable us to use our existing Blue Ox Tow bar. Accomplishing this, will clear the way for installation of their swaybar system and a wench as well.

In any case, our first ride with the lift kit and taller tires was through Long Canyon. The ride proved to be much smoother (pictures and comments below) and we now look forward to riding some of the more difficult trails. We have two more weeks remaining of our five week stay here at the Portal RV Resort and are looking forward to going on quite a few more of the rides listed in The Guide To Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails.

Thanks to Doug Sorensen , Jim Horne, TERAFLEX and Toyo Tires, we are more excited about the world our Pearl the Jeep has opened up for us than we ever imagined we would be.

Moab, UT
June, 3,2013

Long Canyon was the first 4X4 trail we took in Pearl after her make-over. We chose to drive from top to bottom to enjoy the views.

We headed out on Hwy 191 north from Moab, went about 12 miles and turned left on Hwy 313, went southwest about 14.5 miles and then turned left toward Dead Horse Point St Park.

We went another 1.6 miles and then turned left on a wide dirt road. This part of the trail travels across Big Flat.

After a few miles, we reached the top of Long Canyon where the road turns left and starts downhill.

From here the trail drops steeply down.

The trail narrows as it winds through the sandstone-walled canyon. The views were quite the WOW!

Hence, this trail is sometimes called Pucker Pass. The canyon walls were right there beside us and as I looked up, the sky was so blue...so pretty!

I have to say...the big boulder was one of the reasons I wanted to do Long Canyon. No trip to Moab is quite complete without a picture of your vehicle going under it.

The shelf road part of the trail seems very narrow, but actually there is enough room to pass and several spots for pull-offs.

High clearance 4WDs are recommended, but our guide says that any high clearance vehicle is acceptable.

As we neared the end of the trail, the LaSal Mountains came into view.

Just as we reached the end of the trail, before we turned left onto Potash Road, we looked up and saw Jug Handle Arch...a nice ending to an awesome morning!

We weren't the only riders enjoying the day...

A view of the canyon from the start of the trail.

Hope everyone has a great week...the weather calls for 100+ temps this week in Moab. We will be up and out early for sure!

Thanks for stopping by...

and for all the comments...

Y'all come back!

Friday, June 7, 2013

Fisher Towers Trail

Moab, UT

June 5th and 6th, 2013

First off, I have to explain that we did this trail on Wednesday morning, but we only made it 1.5 miles into the trail. We got a rather late start - took a side road to check out Onion Creek and then spent time on the trail visiting with hikers from Salt Lake City and watching rock climbers atop one of the towers. Before we knew it, our 6 hour window of time for leaving the pups was about up...so we decided to turn around, with plans to return the next morning.

These first few pictures were taken on Wed. This was pretty amazing to watch!

This is the corkscrew summit of Ancient Arts tower.

So Thursday morning we were at the trailhead at 8:45, rested and ready for a 4.6 mile hike.

Moab is home to some well known geological formations and Fisher Towers is no exception.

Hiking along the base of the towers offers excellent views.

The trail is well maintained by the Bureau of Land Management.

It offers a variety of walking surfaces.

We enjoyed slickrock and rock scrambling.

At times the trail was narrow, but so much fun as it wound around and up and down.

And the views around every turn were nothing short of spectacular!

In some places, we had help. A ladder is provided at a gully...the most difficult obstruction on the trail. We sure appreciated it! Along with steps we used later.

Fisher Towers are named for a miner who lived in the area in the 1880s.

Yucca...

The scenery, for us, also includes all the living components of the environment. We saw...

Prickly Pear...

Pinyon pine...

and grasses.

We stopped for a snack at The Titan look-out. The Titan is the largest of the Fisher Towers. It has been attributed to be the largest free standing tower in the US...standing at 900 feet.