4 Wheelin’ And Other Moab Stuff

Friday was the day I chose to participate in the 4 wheeling activities. The day was cool with intermittent light rain and it made for an interesting trip. A little moisture with the sand makes Moab’s famous slick rock even slicker. We had 6 vehicles in the group on Friday and everyone made it back safe and sound. I rode with Guitar in his Jeep Rubicon. It’s amazing what these wheeled vehicles can do but while I enjoy riding along I don’t think I have the skill….or money, to do this on a regular basis. The trail we took this day was called Green Day and if you click the link you can watch a YouTube video of some other folks doing the trail.

We were through with the trail at about 2:30 pm and the rest of the group decided to head for another trail on the other side of Moab. I got Guitar to drop me off at the RV and I managed to get in a little afternoon nap. Life couldn’t be much better.

Saturday The Bride and I took Ladder Lady to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyon Lands National Park for sight seeing in the morning and then in the afternoon we visited the Moab Arts Fest that was being held in the city park. As you can see from the picture to the right, light rain continued to bother us. I’ve been doing this Moab trip for about 6 years now and this is the first year that it has rained. Rain or not, I took a ton of pictures…almost 500 over the entire trip. In the next post I’ll show you some of the better one’s.

I’ve always enjoyed the Arts Fest. It has a good mix of vendors and the live music is usually pretty good too. The Bride and Ladder Lady definitely had fun and managed to contribute a bit to the local economy. While we were doing our thing, the rest of the group was on another 4 wheel trail. This time they weren't as lucky and several vehicles broke down and had to be towed out.

Oh, one other thing of interest happened on Friday. After I took my nap, I heard a pretty good size bus drive by and I got up to see what it was. It was the German Rotel Tour Bus parking at the campground for the night. I saw this thing on my Mesa Verde trip last year but it was going in the opposite direction and I didn’t get a good look at it. You have to look at the link and read all about this rather Spartan way of touring. I imagine that after a tour on this thing you are either very friendly with the other participants or they are mortal enemies!

The drive back on Sunday was OK until we hit Idaho Springs, CO about 50 miles from home. Then the bottom fell out of the sky and it rained, hailed, thundered and lighteninged harder than I think I’ve ever seen it do! Top speed the rest of the way home was 35 mph max and most of the time even slower. Visibility was very poor and it rained so hard that standing water became a problem. About 4 miles from home I passed a bad accident caused by the conditions that involved 4 or 5 vehicles. I was one happy camper when I got to the house in one piece.

That aside it was a wonderful trip and I was glad to be able to show Ladder Lady something she had never seen before. In a day or so I’ll post some more pictures.

Thanks for visiting

Moab on the Rocks! It's Here!

This is it! After months of anticipation the day is finally here for our “Moab on the Rocks” expedition in the slick rock country around Moab. Most of the participants were already here and had spent the last day or two on the trails around Moab. Hopefully they had worked all the kinks out of the equipment and had honed their backcountry skills to the point of making this a “walk in the park” for the bride and I . I was thinking that regardless of how good, how prepared you are there is always something these trails throw at you to make it a memorable experience. I was not to be disappointed.

I was disappointed to find out that our wagon master, Captain America, had not yet reached Moab and would not be with us on this excursion. Unfortunately the business of feeding family interfered with more temporal pleasures and he was not to arrive until Saturday. Could his wagon train succeed without his leadership? This would really put the pressure on the other founders.

Thirteen vehicles and about thirty people total were going to participate on this ride. We decided to do a trail I had never experienced before so I was double pumped. It’s always great to see new stuff.

As we started out it looked like having that many vehicles was really going to be difficult to control and getting everyone through in the allotted time was going to be a challenge. We had the whole gamut of experience levels and it took us about 45 minutes to get the first half mile into the trail. Fortunately after the first two obstacles everyone seemed to hit stride and the “wagon train” gelled.

“Spotman” Dave, who is one of the original founders, was doing a yeoman’s job of his usual duties of spotting for everyone and helping in the wagon master duties. “Spotman” also drives a classic Jeep. No sissy automatic transmission or electronic lockers for him! He does it the old fashioned way!

Things progressed nicely until mid-day when one vehicle had an axle problem. If you have read this blog before you should remember that one of the reasons I “ride” and don’t have my own vehicle is precisely for this reason. I’m not mechanically inclined and if I had any kind of mechanical problem that required anything other than flipping a switch or turning a knob I would be totally up the proverbial creek.

Fortunately the problem was not what the gear heads considered a real bad problem and while the rest of us had lunch they performed enough mechanical magic to get the stricken vehicle back on the trail.

Just incredible, incredible scenery, lots of fun and fellowship. We finished the trail at about 3pm. That evening the bride and I hosted the rest of the circle in a very informal chow down at the trailer. What a day…and best of all there is even more to come tomorrow!

Thanks for visiting.

P.S. Click on any of the photos for a larger view.

Wagon Master!

The 1950 film Wagon Master, starring Ward Bond, is a classic western movie. Following up on the success of this movie, television created the series "Wagon Train" which also starred Ward Bond from 1957 until his death in 1960.

Ah, what great stuff. Good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. No convoluted plot that required a demented Phd. to explain. Ward had to take care of the greenhorns! The wagon train faced all kinds of danger but Ward as Major Seth Adams was the "old hand". He was there to make sure they made it. On his trusty steed, he was seemingly everywhere at once....at the head of the column making sure they were on the right trail. At the back of the train, helping the unfortunate ones keep up. I can remember watching this series (before the family had a color TV) as a youngster. I can remember the excitement of the show and the satisfied feeling at the end when good triumphed over evil.

I thought about this the other day while doing a little planning for our Moab trip and realized that the wagons in Wagon Train were the four wheel drive vehicles of the day. And just like Wagon Train, the modern Moab on the Rocks train had it's wagon master as well. After all, a lot of us were/are greenhorns. We needed someone to look after us too. Someone to make sure we reached the end of the trail without mishap. For several years on this trip our wagon master has been......

Captain America!!!!

Captain America is one of the original founders of Moab on the Rocks. This year will be his tenth year of participating in the trip. At the beginning Captain America was a greenhorn too. He drove a jeep like everyone else. Somewhere along the way, Captain America lost his engine and two of his wheels and ended up on a mountain bike. Somewhere along the way he became the wagon master.

Being wagon master for Moab on the Rocks is no easy task! First of all the "wagon train" is out on the trail ALL day. That can be as much as 8-10 hours. We probably drive 20 or more miles in a typical day. We are mostly greenhorns. Tenderfeet, that without the guidance of the wagon master would probably end up in New York or Chicago before we realized we were lost. The bad guys, the unscrupulous garage guys, would probably ambush us and have us do a bunch of unnecessary repairs if we didn't have the wagon master.

Captain America was up to the task though! He was everywhere. He was out front scouting and showing us tenderfeet the way. He was smack in the middle of the train making sure we kept moving in an orderly fashion. He was there making sure we made it through the treacherous quicksands.

Ward Bond and Captain America were kindred souls.

Rumor has it that Captain America has given up his trusty steed?

Rumor has it that this year Captain America will once again ride a Jeep?

How can he watch over his greenhorns in a Jeep? Can you picture Ward Bond doing everything he did...in a covered wagon?

Captain America.....Say it ain't so!

Fishin' Moab Style

One of the reasons I like the trip to Moab so much is that there is a variety of things to do. It's not just jeeping or mountain biking. Very few people know that there is some world class fishing in the Moab area as well.

This gets overlooked a lot since Moab is not too far from Lake Powell and the style of fishing in the Moab area is somewhat unique. Unique or not though, if you want a real thrill, if you want to experience the "tug" of a lifetime, try fishin' Moab style.

First, you have to get yourself rigged up right. The equipment is a little different than most but in this case the equipment makes the sportsman...and you have to match the equipment to the quarry as any real sportsman knows.

Most people that do this are not your typical yuppie, Orvis outfitted, tree huggin, put it back after you've had your fun sportsman. No Sir! These people are in it for results. Nothin' gets tossed back here, so you may as well go heavy on the equipment.

The line is the absolute most important thing. Without it there's no point in doing this to begin with because that's the only way to land the quarry. Make sure it's stout and I do mean stout. There's no greater letdown than to fight a catch right up to your feet and then have the line break!

My personal choice is 3" wide, yellow strapping. You want to make sure that it's American made too! Shamino or Diaway just won't do for this. Since the most of the rock in the area is red, the yellow color makes it a lot easier for the sportsman to see. I think it's been proven that the quarry is color blind so don't worry that this might hurt your chances.






Now, there's a lot of controversy on the bait issue. Everyone pretty much agrees that old rusty mufflers work pretty well. Heck, just about any old rusty auto part will do. The controversy is over whether or not to use an "attractant" like transmission fluid or motor oil on the bait. I'm kind of a purist and think that using something like that is a little like cheating so I use my bait dry. Some folks even use those plastic/rubber type baits, claiming that they are much more life-like. I must admit, I have never tried them so really can't comment.

Now that you're rigged up, the next thing is to find a fishin' hole. There are a lot of them around but not all of them produce. This is really the hard part because most people are real jealous about their favorite spots and aren't going to help you much. You're just going to have to try a bunch of different spots and find one that works for you....and your team.

Did I tell you that this is not a solitary sport? No? You're gonna need help. The last thing you want is to hook on to something and find you can't land it. It could even be dangerous if you get pulled in while trying to land it. So bring some friends. The more the better.

When you get your spot and have your friends there to back you up, toss your line in the hole. This is all bottom fishin' so you don't have to worry about a bobber or anything. You can jiggle the line every now and again if that makes you feel better, but I don't think it really helps.

Just like any fishin', sometimes there's plenty of action and sometimes it's pretty slow. You have to be real careful that your bait doesn't get stolen. These things are tricky. They can suck the bait right off the hook and not so much as twitch the line. The more you do this, the better you get at it and pretty soon you'll be able to feel that rascal sucking on your bait and this is where the fun begins. Once you figure he's swallowed that muffler good, you and your friends yank on the line for all you're worth and for heavens sake hang on!

A lot of times these wily things will just sit there on the bottom and play tug 'o war with you and here's where you really need all those friends you brought with you.

If you watch your technique, don't get over-confident and don't let the rascal pull you in, you'll be able to land him!

And you have now experienced Moab fishing at it's best. What a great feeling landing a monster like this! The only problem with this trip was that it wasn't Toyota season and we had to throw this one back.

Oh well, there's always next year!

Thanks for visiting!

Moab on the Rocks!

Twenty-four days until the bride and I leave for our trip to Moab. Gosh, that sounds like a long time, but I suppose it will be here before I know it. This has been a LONG winter and it seems like forever since I last had the trailer out. I am so ready for a road trip!

Moab on the Rocks is a trip that started 10 years ago by a few guys in the Denver area. Over the years, participation has increased to the point that there are now upwards of 40 people that show up every year. I started participating about three years ago and it's become something that I really look forward to.

This is a four wheel drive trip on some of the most famous trails in the world! The terrain is challenging. The scenery is spectacular and the fellowship is great. The entire experience is just a great big rush. I don't think there is anything about the trip I don't enjoy immensely except maybe having to leave on Sunday.

The trip to Moab itself is outstanding. In one day you go from the high plains of eastern Colorado, over the continental divide and into the desert southwest.

Now, before you start thinking that you didn't know I drove like that, I have to tell you that I don't. I don't drive, I ride! I've got way too many expensive hobbies already, to take one up like this. Besides, for the driver, this is hard work. You have to pay attention all the time and something invariably breaks while you're on the trail and you have to figure out how to fix it.

I've got Guitar and Two Timing, Too Tall instead. They are the ones that got me into this to begin with, three years ago. I loved it then and I love it more now, but I love riding. Very fortunately, they love driving and having the equipment to do all this stuff.

It's not that they can do this without me. Who would provide the witty repartee like..."Whoa, good one there Guitar!"? Who would give them expert advice on what "line" to take like..."Too Tall, Are you out of your mind?!" And most importantly, when they have the urge to do just one more trail and everyone else wants to stay home, who would watch their ladies and their liquor? Let me tell you, that's not a job you want just anyone to do!

Anyway, back to topic. This trip is about doing stuff in a motor vehicle that things with wheels are not supposed to be able to do. It's also about feeling and seeing the grandeur of the American Southwest. And of course it's about friends...the circle of friends.

There's so much to tell....even before we leave, that I think I'll stretch this out into several posts.

Thanks for visiting...and stay tuned!