Aid Station on Cliff Hanger

Portal RV Resort
Moab, UT
May 7, 2016

Volunteers from Moab Friends For Wheeling were needed to take supplies and man an aid station for the Chris Martinez Marathon held here last Saturday.  As always when we are in town, Joe and I offered a hand and joined Jeff (who was in charge), Glen, Linda and Al, and Jeremy.  

We have done a few of the difficult trails here, and even though Cliff Hanger is not rated as difficult as Metal Masher or Golden Spike in the Charles Wells guide, Joe and I think it is much harder.  It is an in and out non stop challenge totaling  8.6 miles.  

Our station was to be set up where the Jackson Bike Trail intersects at about 3.1 miles.  
The entrance to Cliff Hanger is a steep drop down of tall ledges.  After this last ledge, the trail turns right, then left into Kane Creek.  






Jeff, loaded down with water, gator aid, etc,

went on ahead to set up and Glen did an awesome job of getting the rest of us there just before the first runners came. 

Of course getting there meant the hardest obstacle of all...the Cliff Hanger.  It's a couple of huge boulders on a narrow shelf   with  a 400 ft. drop off on the cliff.  Going down is tricky, but not scary...

This was a small marathon with only about 70 runners. 

It was important to wait for the runners who chose to do the 15.5 mile loop to return (and check them off) from Jackson Hole. After all were accounted for, we packed up.







Thank goodness no first aid was needed !


After a brief discussion about the dark clouds, all of us were feeling lucky so we headed for the overlook.  And as luck would have it, we skirted the rains all day.

Jeff lead us to the overlook...

followed by Glen...

and behind us were Linda and Al and Jeremy.

 This is a beautiful overlook.  Remember Jackson Butte?

 and Jackson 4X4 trail?  This is the view from the top.  It's still hard for me to grasp the idea that the Colorado River actually meandered below carving what we enjoy today.   

The photogenic Colorado River as it twists and turns... 

The ever exciting Cliff Hanger was waiting for us on the out run.  Going up is not so easy.  The tendency is to move over  driver side because there is a huge drop off on the passenger side...um, my side!  That is not the line to take and after three tries and with Jeff's help we eased over passenger and made it...scary fun!  Thanks Glen for posting a video of us making the climb on Facebook.  

 Narrow tippy spot, dangerous ledge, easy to slide right and roll over, and zig-zag up difficult obstacles are just a few of the "cautions" in the Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails Guide.  Trails like this should not be done alone.  How lucky we are for friends like Jeff, Glen and Dee who offer assistance, a calm voice and cheers.    

 Another great day in the memory bank.  Until next time,

HAPPY TRAILS !

Golden Spike

Portal Rv Resort
Moab, UT
May 3, 2016

To complete Golden Spike has been on our bucket list for sometime.  And now we can finally check it off.  It is one of the longest (20.1 miles) 4X4 trails simply because to complete it you have to do half of Poison Spider, all of Gold Bar and part of Gemini Bridges. Golden Spike is only 6.7 miles by itself and full of non-stop challenges.  

Our group for the day chose to do it backwards which means we saved Poison Spider for last...the views coming out that way are spectacular.

The only folks we really knew in the group were Dee, David and Lois, and Dale and Rolande.  The others were all from the 4 Wheel FMCA club.  We followed a nice guy named Kevin sometimes and other times we followed Dee.  

David and Lois

Starting on Gold Bar meant that we had to go down the waterfall.

Kevin

Sometimes it's hard to keep 4 on the ground.





The obstacles on this trail have the "awesomest" names...Body Snatcher, Double Whammy, Golden Stairs, Golden Crack, Zuki Hill, Skyline Drive, and Launch Pad.   But as the pictures show, my focus was on the views!  

 My favorite picture of the day was looking back at Dee as she came down Wedgy on Poison Spider.  She was photographing us while driving !

 It was a long, exciting day.  Thanks to Dee's spotting we aced the Golden Crack for the first time. 

The puppies were glad to see us.

 Until next time, happy trails !