Jeremy P.
Adventurer
A few weeks ago my friend Josh and I went to Moab with our families in order to run some of the iconic trails in the area. I had my wife and two kids in my 2004 4runner, and Josh had his wife and three kids in his Jeep Cherokee, which has a ford 8.8 and 4 link in the rear, and dana 44 in the front with 36" Iroks. I have done a lot of the trails in the area but never got around to doing the full Golden Spike trail even though we have done Poison Spider Mesa and Gold Bar Rim in the past, so it was first on the list. We also did Hell's Revenge because it is such a fun classic, and Moab Rim.
The rear hitch did a LOT of dragging off ledges, but I've come to expect that. I installed a frame mounted receiver hitch because I occasionally tow a 4500 lb camping trailer (on this trip actually) and it does a nice job protecting the exhaust. I'm not one to stack rocks just to prevent some scraping, so the stock rear plastic bumper has a number of nice scuffs, but it is amazingly resilient at returning to its original shape.
You can imagine how much the rear drags down ledges such as this.
I finally had my chance at crossing the golden crack. The only hiccup was that rear bumper again. I cracked out one of the reflectors mounted in the bumper, but a bit of super glue repaired that no problem.
The crossing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNMLSEaP8w&list=UUD2cRiKqMZlFVSD3eWyjOrA
The Cherokee did not have a problem.
We finished out the trail without issue, but it was a long day overall and we were glad to get back to our campsite. We had set up camp at the Williams Bottom BLM campground just before the entrance to poison spider mesa and snagged a great site (#2) that allowed the kids to play in the sand while being away from any potential road/campground traffic.
The next day we headed to Hell's Revenge. Hell's Revenge is a fun trail no matter what you're in. I have ran the trail numerous times in a CJ7, rock buggy, dirt bike, 2nd gen 4runner, and my current 4runner, and it is always enjoyable. I think it has the right mix of plenty of slickrock, great views, and a length that allows for a nice day's run without becoming too long. We had a great time on it as always and also tried the optional obstacles of hell's gate and the escalator.
Baby lions back is just past the entrance to hell's revenge and is a fun drive over a slickrock fin. It was a bit more interesting this time as there had been a pretty good storm a couple days before and the descent ended in a large pool of water!
My wife started getting nervous as the water rose above the bumper. I did a u-turn through the puddle and went back over the fin.
The recent storms left some deep washouts in the sandy parts of the trail.
Hell's gate is an optional obstacle near the overlook. I think it looks more intimidating from the top than the bottom, but can get you in trouble pretty quick if the right line isn't followed. Here is the video of my ascent. Josh was joking around at the end with his 'spotting' since neither of us care to be spotted on obstacles without request, and I find it really annoying and distracting when someone jumps in to offer all sorts of unsolicited advice as I am attempting to drive an obstacle, especially when they are a complete stranger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OlaB6GMslw&list=UUD2cRiKqMZlFVSD3eWyjOrA
As an aside, my current tires are firestone destination Mt's, which I have haven't been real impressed with on rock. I have a set of cooper at3's in the mail so I will see how those compare. They should be a noticeable improvement on slickrock, not to mention snowy and icy roads.
The rear hitch did a LOT of dragging off ledges, but I've come to expect that. I installed a frame mounted receiver hitch because I occasionally tow a 4500 lb camping trailer (on this trip actually) and it does a nice job protecting the exhaust. I'm not one to stack rocks just to prevent some scraping, so the stock rear plastic bumper has a number of nice scuffs, but it is amazingly resilient at returning to its original shape.
You can imagine how much the rear drags down ledges such as this.
I finally had my chance at crossing the golden crack. The only hiccup was that rear bumper again. I cracked out one of the reflectors mounted in the bumper, but a bit of super glue repaired that no problem.
The crossing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNMLSEaP8w&list=UUD2cRiKqMZlFVSD3eWyjOrA
The Cherokee did not have a problem.
We finished out the trail without issue, but it was a long day overall and we were glad to get back to our campsite. We had set up camp at the Williams Bottom BLM campground just before the entrance to poison spider mesa and snagged a great site (#2) that allowed the kids to play in the sand while being away from any potential road/campground traffic.
The next day we headed to Hell's Revenge. Hell's Revenge is a fun trail no matter what you're in. I have ran the trail numerous times in a CJ7, rock buggy, dirt bike, 2nd gen 4runner, and my current 4runner, and it is always enjoyable. I think it has the right mix of plenty of slickrock, great views, and a length that allows for a nice day's run without becoming too long. We had a great time on it as always and also tried the optional obstacles of hell's gate and the escalator.
Baby lions back is just past the entrance to hell's revenge and is a fun drive over a slickrock fin. It was a bit more interesting this time as there had been a pretty good storm a couple days before and the descent ended in a large pool of water!
My wife started getting nervous as the water rose above the bumper. I did a u-turn through the puddle and went back over the fin.
The recent storms left some deep washouts in the sandy parts of the trail.
Hell's gate is an optional obstacle near the overlook. I think it looks more intimidating from the top than the bottom, but can get you in trouble pretty quick if the right line isn't followed. Here is the video of my ascent. Josh was joking around at the end with his 'spotting' since neither of us care to be spotted on obstacles without request, and I find it really annoying and distracting when someone jumps in to offer all sorts of unsolicited advice as I am attempting to drive an obstacle, especially when they are a complete stranger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OlaB6GMslw&list=UUD2cRiKqMZlFVSD3eWyjOrA
As an aside, my current tires are firestone destination Mt's, which I have haven't been real impressed with on rock. I have a set of cooper at3's in the mail so I will see how those compare. They should be a noticeable improvement on slickrock, not to mention snowy and icy roads.
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