Smike Moab November 2016 Trip Recap.
Late October end of season blues came with racing winding down, and even interest in club trips had begun to dwindle with the cold NY temperatures. The idea of a Moab trip had been thrown around without much commitment or interest, but after given the opportunity to take a half paid 2 week leave from real work I was interested! Mark (WingMan) also stepped up to the plate being half retired and we decided to plan out a rough itinerary and see if we could pull it off!
The initial trip plan forecasted a departure date of 11/5 early AM to make the first stop at Attica IN at Badlands Off road Park. I had raced here before but really didn't get so see all the park had to offer. We had planned to spend a day or two there then leave for Kansas to visit a rock park for a few days, then make the final leg to Moab UT for the remainder of the week. The plan was to head home and be back 11/20 in time for thanksgiving week. With time off approved off and Mark still willing to partake we committed to the trip and started prepping and packing! We knew chip would find us and we even thought about a trip to go see Ryan and liz. Wherever we ended up it was good to be on vacation!
The truck with its newly rebuilt 6 speed transmission validated with a few “local†trips was fueled and hooked to the trailer already. The trailer got 6 hubs packed and checked, a good cleaning and full organization and purge of all shelves and storage. Over the past 2 years of racing a wheeling I had collected and stored way too much non useful junk and we were heavy enough! Before the weather turned cold the trailer was prepped and packed a full week in advance. 572 got a new front gear set, fluids check and light prep. As the trip departure week came we decided to leave midday Friday and meet at the shop at 11am. Mark arrived and we loaded his willies buggy and gear. Last minute sanity check and a few misc items thrown in the trailer we were set. We filled my 42 gallon water tank on the way out of the lot and we were off headed West!
Travel day 1 we made it to IN and to our (half) surprise there was quite a large fall event going on: Badlands Sasquatch hunt. Probably over 300 people in the park for the weekend. We pulled into the far end of primitive camping and began to exit the truck and gather personals to move to the trailer for the night. Moments after exiting the truck still idling I was startled by a pretty sharp jab to my right spleen and was greeted by a young lady, well adult beverage lubricated neighbor- Molly! She welcomed us to our camp site. She invited us loudly and eccentrically over to her campsite for beverage and marijuana. Mark and I both passed and thanked her for the welcome. We settled into the trailer and fired up the Honda for some heat.
After breakfast, wheeling day one we checked in for a day pass and saved a few bucks back home grabbing some flags for the rig as they are required in the park. 27$ or so was the day pas fee and we were off. Badlands has sand dunes, a rock quarry, and woods trails a lot like some of our hometown wheeling in NY. A little bit of everything all in one place. Mark and I spent the day exploring and covering most if not all of the park. Stopped and chatted with some of the locals and bumped into a few groups of different kinds of people to share stories ect. Returning back to camp we decided that we had covered all we needed and that it wasn't worth spending a second day at Badlands. We are also a little anxious to get to warmer weather! We packed up the trailer, got showers and hit the tee shirt shack on the way out. Upon leaving the Badlands parking lot we found that the right side dual of the truck had picked up a huge rock and it was jammed between the tires. A little grunting and team work with several pry bars we freed the rock and got back on our way. Drove 4 or 5 hours and pulled into a MO Walmart for the night.
11/6 Sunday morning a stop into Walmart for a bathroom and splash of water we were back on the road. We decided to skip Kansas all together and just make our way to UT. We drove all day and made it to CO mountains were we stayed the night at a KOA. It was cold but the KOH had super high power jet showers and full hookups for the trailer. Mark had contacted one of his sons Elliot(sp?) to meet up for breakfast the next morning who lives a few hours north of where we were. In the morning we left for breakfast, had a quick meal and chat with Marks son and got back to the KOA for our continued travels. Talking with Chip and Ryan later that day we decided to forge on though Moab and drive straight though to St George and visit the Chapman’s! we arrived late Sunday night 11/6.
11/7 Monday morning after breakfast we followed Ryan in his 5.3 YJ to Sand Hallow state OHV park. 10 minutes from Ryan’s house, he was very familiar with the park and eager to show us around. Chip joined us as he was already out west for SEMA and had also made a stop to stay with Ryan and Liz for a few days. Chip rode passenger with Ryan. After checking into the day parking area for 10$ we unloaded and headed right for the trails, all BLM land. We started on a trail called “half Nasty†titled a 9 on the trail head sign. Very cool scenery and typical sand stone slick rock trail with 3 pretty nasty climbs. The second proved to be very challenging and all 3 of our rigs winched and drug up it. It was pretty “Nasty.†We then took the bypass and skipped the last climb that looked even worse. We ran a few more trails a little toned down the rest of the day and ended up in the dunes.
11/8 Day two and 11/9 day three at sand hallow we continued to take in the sights and warm weather. Ran lots of rock trails, dunes, and traversed though the canyons up and down. On day two I believe I lost an idler pulley on my car. It completely seized and melted. We removed the belt and fabricated a zip tie belt running from the engine crank to only the water pump in hopes of driving the car out. We were about 5 miles from camp, but were able to drive the car back though the dunes and made it out ok. I found a spare pulley in the trailer, installed the belt and pulley back. We continued on our day. Pretty good trail fix! Held great! Once we got back to our camp site by the end of the day I checked my phone and JT’s wife had sent me a message asking if she just saw my car drive by?! JT and Stephanie are one of the sponsors of the ToRQ Locker 4500 race car with JW speaker and Nemisses Industries. I met them out at KOH helping Cora and Erik. They are great people. They were there involved with a factory UTV ride / show that was setting up for the weekend at sand hallow with all the UTV manufactures. It was getting busy at the park! I told Stef our campsite number and they stopped over later that night to visit! We told them our story and I introduced Mark and Chip to them. JT suggested if we were going to Moab we should give Danny Grime a call and stay at his place. Not really knowing any details, chip took his info and we ended the night with tacos and fire.
11/10 Day4 Ryan had planned to head out of state on a business trip with the family so we were on our own. In the morning we headed over to the park area from our campsite and explored the beaches and reservoirs. We then took the scenic route around the other side of the state park we had not yet been to and found some great trails and scenery. We ended the day and headed to Walmart for supplies. We decided to camp out at Ryans lifetime LED shop for the night and head to Moab in the morning.
11/11 After breakfast at the shop, we loaded up and headed west. A quick fuel stop we filled everything in our convoy and also finally found a place that had UTAH OHV passes. Mark and I both paid the measly 30$ each for a 2016 sticker and now our cars were officially OHV legal! Chip, Mark and I made it to Moab Friday Afternoon and headed to a campground called Kane Creek. Upon arrival we did some exploring of parking lots and got a plan for our first day of trail wheeling. Cora had suggested we hook up with Mellissa Fisher who was heading up a Poison Spider trail ride with a group call Moab Friends For wheeling. Mellissa had just done Rebelle Rally with Cora for a week! This was a great idea and got us introduced to a great group of local wheelers! We self-checked into Kane Creek campground, but unfortunately got the truck stuck in the sand trying to find a shady spot! We unloaded the cars and got the truck and trailer recovered. We found our spot and set up camp for the night. Sadly we found the bathrooms and showers were locked. After paying 35$ for the night this was a disappointment. Chip called the owner of the camp site and he apologized for not having the closed signs up. Their season was over and they were closed! To our surprise there were several other campers and RVs set up on the property. We stayed the night but planned to move the next day. After settling in we decided to check out the parking situation in chips XJ at the trail head for the next day so we headed back into town and around to the other side of the creek to Poison spider. The trail head was just about across the river and we could see our camp site. We devised a plan and headed back. We made a stop in town at the Blue Pig. Little bar / restaurant we had some wings and a few pitchers of local brew. With seating tight a couple joined us and we found out they were from Detroit on their last vacation day at Moab. We shared stories and parted ways. They had even rented a jeep a few of the days to run a trail or two.
11/12 Moab wheeling day 1. We met at the Poison Spider trail head which was a little tricky to park a 48 ft trailer but we managed. A big group of diverse rigs from mild jeeps to buggies showed up. We spent the day on the trail and ran it top to bottom. It was an easy and fun filled all day trail. A few in the group said they had planned to run steel benders the next day so we also joined in. Leaving Saturday from the campground that was closed, Chip gave Danny a call after JT had talked up the experience so much. We arrived at “Grandpa’s Garage†Saturday night just outside of Moab. To our surprise 73 yr old Danny Grimes opened his home and shop to us like we were family. I was completely blown away by the hospitality and welcome he gave us. Danny had the night free so the 4 of us sat in his shop and shared stories for hours. Little did we know, this guy is basically the grandfather of anything to do with 4x4 industry. His shop was like a museum with signed artifacts from all corners of the off road world. In his time owning over 90 registered jeeps, he had pictures and stores to share for hours. Hoods from concept jeeps cluttered his shop ceilings. Pictures and parts and product all over. Mark and I tapped out early but Chip and Danny continued on till 4am with the help of moonshine and miller lite!
11/13 Moab day 2. The next morning after breakfast we headed to steel benders to try and catch up with the MFFW group again. Looking at the map, we were able to drive the cars on ohv 2 track dirt roads from Danny’s place right to the trail only a few miles away. We were a little late but caught up to the group with Dee in a buggy, glen in a YJ buggy, and Carol? in a sami truggy. Great little group! We ran steel benders all the way up and out the various climbs and challenges. Couple water crossings and great scenery again! On the way out we stopped at a hill side to check out some glyphs and pictures scribed in to the rock walls. We headed back to Danny’s place. I cooked tacos for everyone! Great night. Hot showers.
11/14 Moab day 3. The next morning after breakfast we had posted up on the Moab wheeling group about doing a Hell’s revenge ride. Glen from the day before offered to lead us. Hell’s revenge has some tricky obstacles but the rock is pretty sticky and forgiving. We ran the entire trail though the hot tubs, hell’s gate, escalator, and back down the mountain. Little hiccup, Mark flopped front end over back in “Mickeys Hot tub†Everyone was ok and the Willis buggy just needed a tug and some fluids fill. We continued on and finished the trail. A stop back at the trailer we adjusted the radiator mounts on marks car and did some more permanent fixes to continue the week. More tacos for a late lunch. Glen parted ways and we headed down the road to run the first part of Fins and things. Getting a little late we decided to head back to camp and not run the last part of the trail. A ride into town lead to a stop at the Moab diner. Best ice cream stop ever! Chip and Mark got Banana splits and I got a hot cinnamon bun covered in vanilla ice cream and pecan bits with caramel sauce. It was awesome and I couldn't finish it. Mark helped with mine ha. We headed back to the garage.
11/15 Moab day 4. A Pritchet Canyon trip was planned and we got a good group together. Pritchet is known as one of the most difficult trails to the locals but we were up to the challenge. A shorter 3 mile trail with some tricky climbs, some without bypasses. The group made it though, and I even got my car up the “rock Pile†challenge. Great trail. 16 miles of desert to get back out of the trail to main roads. Dee with her 6.0 LJ lead and she and I split from the group at a high rate of speed! She was anxious to have another car that would keep up with her and try to beat her time out of the trail. I think I heard her say we did it in 61 minutes, with the rest of the group about a half hour or so behind us. We headed back to camp and cooked some dinner.
11/16 Moab day 5 we had been watching the weather and it looked like the first storm ad freeze was going to roll in, leaving Denver with a forecasted 5†of snow. We decided to leave a day earlier and get going west later this day instead of staying through Thursday. Danny suggested for an easy sightseeing day we pile in his JK and go check out the wind caves. About an hour of so driving further past the first camp site we stayed at down in Kane creek we made our way through canyon walls and ravines out to a clearing with a pile of rocks / caves! It was pretty neat to explore and quite the ride to get there. We stopped a few times and Danny gave the local stories and showed us a deserted resort high up in the mountains that in the 1930’s the entrance was destroyed by a large rock fall. The mountain that held the road to it was no longer there! We passed a hiker on the way in and didn't think much of it. On the way out after 3 hours of driving we passed him again, a few miles closer to us on the same path! We stopped and chatted with him. A 43 year old man, who is doing his third transcontinental walk! He started in Delaware and is walking across the country! Shared stories and Chip got his info to track him on the web, we parted ways. After we returned back to Danny’s place, we took Danny and his Lady friend out to dinner and thanked him for the landing spot and hospitality, history lessons and great life stories he shared. We were all truly taken back and humbled to meet such a person. Back at the truck and trailer we loaded up and headed east towards the mountains and home.
Travel trip back. We made it through Denver and back out of the mountains and away from the risk of snow storms. Camped for the night in a Walmart somewhere- can’t remember because I had such a headache at this point in the drive! The next day we regrouped, found a gravel lot to take showers in the trailer, cooked some breakfast and continued on! Somewhere in Indiana the terrible roads and trailer slamming collapsed 16’ of shelving in my trailer. Everything landed on the floor! Sometime Thursday night we found out Mike was headed to PA to pick up some parts and he took his buggy with him. Since we were ahead of schedule leaving Moab a day earlier we decided to redirect course to Rausch creek and join him for Saturday. We arrived at Rausch Friday evening at a pretty good hour. Got a fire started and cooked some chicken for dinner. Mike and Big Shane were already there. The next morning we tackled unpacking the trailer yard sale to get to my car. After that I cooked breakfast for everyone. Unfortunately while looking over 571 I noticed a passenger side cracked inner axle C that would have caused a trail cluster / massive recovery if run. Mike was disappointed. Mark offered to him to drive the Willies buggy. We set out and had a good day. Ran some of the comp course, trail 4, then headed over to rock creek and otters. The wind started to turn and we headed back to camp! We loaded up and rolled by 4. A fuel stop in canoe camp I drained my tanks and winterized my trailer because temps were falling and staying just below freezing. We were home by 9 with a little bit of snow and freezing rain right before the NY boarder.
Landed at last. What a great trip. 4900 miles or so on the Ram, 300 miles or so on the cars, and lots of great stories. Awesome food and trailer cooking! I love to cook and plan meals, and I think we ate pretty good during the two weeks. Tacos, breakfasts with bacon, eggs, hash browns, Italian sausages, spaghetti and garlic bread night, Chinese orange chicken night, pork sausage and peppers, steak tacos, nachos and more. 15 nights in the trailer was pretty comfortable and we got a lot more hot showers than I was thinking we would! The Honda ran quite a few nights with the space heaters and heated blankets going to keep us warm. All in all I don't think it could have been a better trip. We met many fellow wheelers and made new friends. The scenery is un explainable. Can’t wait to go back and hope we can get a larger group next time!
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