Indiana to Moab, first timer...

[skrillah]

Day 4 04/15: After roughing it in the hotel (it didn't have HD...), we had a few things to get done on the trucks before we hit the trails. The 4runner had 'burped" up some gear oil through the front diff breathers, and had a pronounced 'squeak' from the front (stock) suspension. Oh, and the hood wouldn't latch. All minor issues, but were things that needed addressed. We got to work...

We decided to run Hidden Canyon Overlook, just down the road from Moab off of 191. There was a rain/snow mix coming down and we were new to Moab...but all went relatively well. One steep part claimed part of Sean's rear hitch, and we couldn't complete the whole trail. We came to an area that appeared blocked by large rocks. We found a work around but it was a bit steep and precarious. Being the first day, we decided to take it easy. The trail was a bit muddy, and slick in some areas especially on the short hill climbs, but nothing our Yota's couldn't handle. I'll be adding the GoPro videos shortly.

The beginning...

Airing down

Cool old fence by Blue Hills Road

Having not driven on slickrock before...I was surprised...it wasn't slick at all. Not even with a 1/2" of mud on the tires and rain. Sean said the term is derived from the olden days when they used horses. Horses hooves would slip and slide on it. I hope that's true because otherwise I'm making him look like an idiot.

The turn around point..

Believe it or not, we actually didn't plan this photo, but it turned out to be one of the better ones. Kind of even Toyota commercial like...

After about 4 hours on the trail, enjoying the scenery and navigating the trails. We were out of there...back to Moab to test out the beer at the Moab Brewery. Some of the best food/beer we had.

Here are a few videos of the HC trail run:


Good terrain shot...

 

[ab1985]

Love it! looking forward to the trip report... your trip, truck, sleeping setup is so reminisce of my own trip out to Moab from a couple of years ago..

http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...oment-3600mi-road-trip?highlight=Chicago+Moab

This is one of the first trip reports I read when I found the forum. One of your night shots with the stars was my desktop for several months. Happy to say I'm headed to Utah in 5 days!

 

[Acetylene]

Can't wait for the next update.

 

[skrillah]

Can't wait for the next update.

Next update is the White Rim trail run...haven't had a chance to do the formal write up but here is a precursor video of us going down the switchbacks! I hope to edit this out better along with the other videos. For now, this will do. Look for them in the next few days...


Thanks for the tip FREEBIRDS!!!!

 

[ab1985]

Wow :Wow1: Can't wait to see the rest of the videos. Thank your buddy for going back for his camera.

I just checked my reservations and it looks like I am driving the trail in reverse next week, so I will be coming down Mineral Bottom and going up Shafer. Living vicariously through your thread for 4 more days!

 

[skrillah]

Wow :Wow1: Can't wait to see the rest of the videos. Thank your buddy for going back for his camera.

I just checked my reservations and it looks like I am driving the trail in reverse next week, so I will be coming down Mineral Bottom and going up Shafer. Living vicariously through your thread for 4 more days!

4 more days! Nice! I'll look forward to reading your posts about it. I've been watching your 80 series build, looks like you are already loaded up and ready. Haha.

Unfortunately, our WR trip was a little shorter than planned...partly due to weather, but partly do to some faults of our own. I'll explain soon...:coffeedrink:

 

[Freebirds]

Great Pics and Video!
If you have time and are a fan of wine, I recommend hitting the wineries in Palisade on your way back. There are a couple right off the highway and almost all of them do free tastings. A soak in the Glenwood Hot Springs is also a great way to relax before your long drive home!
Also, to embed the video you paste the url inside of "VIDEO" with brackets on the left and "/VIDEO" with brackets on the right

 

[skrillah]

Day 5 04/16:

We woke up bright and early, got some breakfast and began prepping the trucks for the White Rim trail run. We had reservations at Airport A and Hardscrabble B (correction from an earlier post). The weather reports for the next two days weren't looking very good: highs in the 40's with a 60% chance of rain and possible snow showers in the evening(s) with lows in the upper 20's. Like before, we had our reservations but we drove all this way and weren't going to let Mother Nature get the best of us.The clouds were breaking and we were optimistic...

We stopped off at Moab's City Market to stock up the coolers, and fill our gas tanks one last time (no supplies in the park). While I was filling up, some girl approached wearing some ratty clothes, no shoes and carrying a gas can. She must have been stalking me because her approach came right at the moment when I was swiping my credit card at the pump. She asked if I could spare any change for gas...now, normally I'm not one of those people to give away any cash to these type of folks. I usually reply that they need to get a job...but for some reason this day...I was feeling generous and had the weird feeling that I needed some good Karma. Being 1500 miles from home and about to drive deep into the back country... I reluctantly slipped her a $10 (that's the smallest bill I had), and she pulled her car around and filled up. With Karma on our side, we hit 191 north to the 313 junction, and headed into the park.

The drive in was spectacular, twisty roads and towering canyon walls was just what we needed. Our first stop was at Island in the Sky visitor center to get our backcountry permits. The ranger going over the regulations was fairly meticulous, obviously sensing our hillbilly background of being Indiana boys. 45 mins later, we were off..

Overlook into the canyons and the WR trail...

Final prep and camera check at trail head...

And we started down...

Meeting another car on this road was a concern...but...we met this instead. Thankfully he took the outside...

The rest of the way...

Once at the bottom, we stopped off by the toilet to wipe our *** and gather ourselves. :smiley_drive:

Onward we went, with great views around every corner...

After about an hour and half, we rounded the next bend into camp.

First things, first...a beer and enjoy the sights...

 

[skrillah]

Day 5 04/16 Continued...

After our inaugural beer, we set up camp. With the wind blowing at a good clip (20-30 mph), we set up the pop up and positioned the trucks so we'd have a wind block. We actually had sides for the pop up, but that really added to the umbrella effect and we were afraid it/we would end up in the canyon down below. So we left the legs low and made do...

I tested out the sleeping quarters, .

Our nearest neighbors and a few passer bys:

We took a little hike and enjoyed the views...

Back at camp, the beer drinking continued. Not long after this, that Karma thing I talked about earlier...caught up with us...

 

[BritKLR]

Love it....

Good luck and be safe.

 

[daddyusmaximus]

That place you topped off before heading out on the trail... they sell diesel? I want to go out there sooooo bad!

 

[Acetylene]

In the words of my youth - so rad! I'm green with envy and happy for you at the same time. I live in Florida now, but grew up in Muncie - both soooo flat. We have killer mud here, but no vertical topography - so cool.

 

[ab1985]

So...???

 

[ywen]

flash flood?

 

[skrillah]

Sorry guys, haven't had a chance to update this. I will say, we are home as you'll see...

Day 5 4/16 Continued...

After our little hike, we got back to the camp and began to talk trucks. As we stood around kicking the nice new Duratracs on Sean's '05, we noticed he had blown a rear shock. In fact, sheared it clean off on the drivers side. Now as a I recall, I do remember seeing his rear tire bobbing up and down quite a bit but i just attributed that to his crazy driving style. Thankfully, he wasn't carrying much of a load in the bed besides a full tank of gas, so we would be able to drive on it, but it was a concern if we were going to get through the rest of the White Rim. We decided to take it off rather than let it beat around the inside of the wheel well. We didn't have a replacement...

As the night wore on, the drinking continued. After a blown shock, Sean especially needed a moral booster. The grill came out, along with the iPod speakers and we were well on our way to one of those glorious nights. Though, it was cold, starting to spit rain with a mix of snow/sleet.

It wasn't long after this that the Karma thing kicked in. Sean got up to "relieve" himself and tried to slip past a stack of storage containers in between his truck and the 4runner. He kind of stumbled coming through them, and proceeded to trip on a rock that was laying in front of his truck. By this time, I was working my way around the back of the truck just in time to see him hit the ground. His head landing squarley on a rock. Immediately, it busted open and was bleeding good. We thought the worse, and scrambled to get him some paper towels to put pressure on it. A few minutes went by as Doug and I tried to figure out what to do. I had a wilderness first responder kit, so we got some antiboitic and butterfly closures on the gash. We began asking him questions, attempting to find signs of a concussion. One of which, I distinctly remember :

Me: "Where are we at Sean?"..."

Him: "In F'n Moab, Utah, driving Toyota F'n trucks!"

After this, it was clear to me that he did not have a concussion. Simply, that he was just intoxicated, and aside from the gash appeared to be fine. The panic feeling began to subside and we calmed a bit. We tucked Sean into his makeshift sleeping quarters (his truck cab) and called it a night.

I have some pictures, but they aren't appropriate for this. I'll leave it to your imagination. No doubt, we learned a few things from this and were thankful for some good Karma/luck tonight.