|
|
|
|
|
May 1998 Moab Rim Trip Report
"On The Edge!" by Andy DeHart |
|
|
We started out early Thursday morning to tackle the Moab Rim trail.
The weather was excellent, with a bright blue sky and scattered clouds,
no threat of rain. Our group of vehicles consisted of 2 Wranglers,
one CJ5, a Suzuki Samurai, one J10, a vintage bronco, and a Datsun pickup.
In an attempt to beat a group of Hummers to the trail head, a few of us got left behind (myself being one of them), but the trail boss of the Hummer group was kind enough to let us by to join our group before they started their ascent into the heavens of the Moab Rim. Our group was fearful they would hold us up, but it didn't take long to prove that it was the other way around. The trail is only a half day run, even if you hike to the Indian ruins. You could easily do the Moab Rim and Hells Revenge in the same day (one long day). Also, the Moab Rim trail is only a few miles from town. The most difficult section of the trial is the first half mile, which takes you up the side of the canyon wall to the top of the rim, relentlessly, without any easy sections where you can relax and clean your shorts. With lockers and gears, you will need at least one bottle of whiteout to keep your "undies" looking clean. This section is all off-camber to the cliff side. If you were to roll, you would definitely meet your maker within a few short moments once you reach the highway below. Our vintage Bronco busted a side wall of one of his new BFG tires on the Z-turn. There is a notch that you must stick your left front tire into in order to clear the last ledge of the Z-turn. Without the notch, it gets very interesting, very quickly. Before reaching the top of the rim, there is a section called the Flintstone Highway because it reminds you of the famed cartoon of a like name and its highways. This is the first sign of relief that you are near the top. Don't be fooled, there are plenty of small ledges to climb in this section, all wanting to roll you off the rim. I never took my CJ5 out of first gear (65:1) until I reached the top. At the top of the rim is a great view, we stopped to take some time for pictures and video. We also learned that the Datsun broke a front axle. Leaving the Datsun behind, we proceeded to the Indian ruins. It is beautiful at the top. There are many ruins, and our guide, Dan Mick, gave us his best interpretation of the Indian writing on the canyon walls. We had lunch at the top of the trail, then proceeded with the return trip. The trail at the top has a loop, the return side requires you to slide down a large sand dune. Only flat tired, V8 powered, locked up vehicles on a good day will have a chance to climb the dune. We opted to not climb the dune because we were preserving what was left of our vehicles for the days to come. The Hummer group joined us at the top and the "little Samarai" garnered loads of attention from the Hummer owners. They marveled at how well it performed on the Moab Rim Trail. They were all shocked at just how inexpensive a capable 4x4 could be. On the way back, we pickup the Datsun and started down from the Rim. There is only one way down, it happens to be the same way we came up. Everyone agreed that down was worse than up, because once you committed to a line, you were in for the ride. At least you can backup and try again when you are going up. With the sun shining directly down on the ledge covered, off camber, steep trail, it was very difficult to judge the drop-offs, and determine just how far you were going to lean over toward the cliff. With their front ends falling into holes as deep as storm sewers, I saw many rear tires hoist their hub caps skyward as if they were paying homage to the "Rim Gods". The only blessing is that on the way down, your passenger will be on the down hill side each time your vehicle pushes the envelope to survive just one more lean, one more obstacle. At the bottom of the trail, some in-experienced four wheelers were attempting the Rim with stock Toyota T100s. They soon, albeit too late, discovered that they were in over way their heads. We assisted them while they turned around and our guide gave them a few suggestions on trails more suited for their vehicles (and their experience level), one sported some panel damage from their short decent off the Rim. Everyone was relieved once they safely reached the bottom, and we all returned to town to start the preparations for the next event.
Responses to this story may be emailed to: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Don't see a
push-button |
 ( Back to Top )
|
|
All Content:
|
|
| Jeep is a registered trademark of the Daimler-Chrysler Corporation. | |
1997