Just got back from a few days in Moab... It was a group road trip (I was one of three trucks) and it was just as much about mountain biking, beer, wine and cheese (not necessarily in that order) as it was about trail running/exploring. That being said, I made two trail runs: Fins and Things, and the Tower Arch trail + Eye of the Whale trail in Arches National Park.
F&T was pretty cool: a definite test of your approach and departure angles, with the trailer hitch providing necessary bumper protection on one particularly steep descent. I didn't get a chance to complete the entire trail due to time constraints (and one or two S.O.'s in the group who didn't know what they were in for) but I had a lot of fun nonetheless. This was my first time doing proper "wheeling" in this truck, or any truck for that matter. Perhaps I was overly reliant on my buddy for spotting. Some of these hills are so steep you really can't see where you're going. My forehead practically had a line dented in it from sticking it into the sun visor.
Always use the buddy system, even if your buddy is driving something British
Descend this and your entire windshield fills up with orange dirt! The trailer hitch left a nice, wide scratch in the rock.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/L2OGywN_NYE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
One of the campgrounds the trail intersects has an optional section with a pretty steep climb. I decided to give it a go. One of the locals (who flew up the same climb in his Jeep Rubicon a few minutes earlier) helped guide me up.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vUU5RDc8Hzw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Next up was Arches National Park and a 4x4 trip to visit Tower Arch. I'd done this trail about 10 years ago as a passenger and remember it being a wild ride but not as gnarly as the trail is today. There's an obstacle right near the beginning of the "4x4 part" that took me a while to get past shortly after this picture was taken (the Dodge pickup in the background aborted mission and turned back). I smacked the gas tank skid plate a couple times (gently, at least) in this section.
Descending the second half of this trail was also interesting, both in terms of scenery and technical bits on the trail:
Here's me descending this section.. It never looks as bad in pics/video as it does in real life, especially when you're in the middle of nowhere a long way from any help. I was being really cautious. Forgive the silly music... it was really windy and the audio on the camera was basically useless.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_c7iEL2zuc8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Finally, the payoff:
Although I didn't get any pictures, we completed this "run" by taking a ~9 mile trail called "Eye of the Whale" that went south back towards the main paved road in the park. This was a pretty fun section with lots of deep, sandy banked turns.
All in all I had a great time on this trip and the truck did everything I asked of it and never let me down.
F&T was pretty cool: a definite test of your approach and departure angles, with the trailer hitch providing necessary bumper protection on one particularly steep descent. I didn't get a chance to complete the entire trail due to time constraints (and one or two S.O.'s in the group who didn't know what they were in for) but I had a lot of fun nonetheless. This was my first time doing proper "wheeling" in this truck, or any truck for that matter. Perhaps I was overly reliant on my buddy for spotting. Some of these hills are so steep you really can't see where you're going. My forehead practically had a line dented in it from sticking it into the sun visor.
Always use the buddy system, even if your buddy is driving something British
Descend this and your entire windshield fills up with orange dirt! The trailer hitch left a nice, wide scratch in the rock.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/L2OGywN_NYE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
One of the campgrounds the trail intersects has an optional section with a pretty steep climb. I decided to give it a go. One of the locals (who flew up the same climb in his Jeep Rubicon a few minutes earlier) helped guide me up.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vUU5RDc8Hzw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Next up was Arches National Park and a 4x4 trip to visit Tower Arch. I'd done this trail about 10 years ago as a passenger and remember it being a wild ride but not as gnarly as the trail is today. There's an obstacle right near the beginning of the "4x4 part" that took me a while to get past shortly after this picture was taken (the Dodge pickup in the background aborted mission and turned back). I smacked the gas tank skid plate a couple times (gently, at least) in this section.
Descending the second half of this trail was also interesting, both in terms of scenery and technical bits on the trail:
Here's me descending this section.. It never looks as bad in pics/video as it does in real life, especially when you're in the middle of nowhere a long way from any help. I was being really cautious. Forgive the silly music... it was really windy and the audio on the camera was basically useless.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_c7iEL2zuc8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Finally, the payoff:
Although I didn't get any pictures, we completed this "run" by taking a ~9 mile trail called "Eye of the Whale" that went south back towards the main paved road in the park. This was a pretty fun section with lots of deep, sandy banked turns.
All in all I had a great time on this trip and the truck did everything I asked of it and never let me down.
