Moab Club Run

Moab OTR Club Run
April 12-18, 2009

Sunday, April 12
Arrival and Moab Rim Trail
Submitted by Jerome Blunck
The weather has been more off than on the whole trip. However, for Sunday the weather was relatively nice and Bill and I decided to go into Arches National Park just outside of Moab until the rest of the group arrives later in the day. We hiked to several of the sandstone arches within the Park for which it is famous for. Tony P. has gone off with a group of hard core 4 wheelers to do Pritchett Canyon the highest rated trail for Easter Jeep Safari. Though I have done Pritchett, I felt I should not run it and risk messing up my Jeep for the rest of the week. Later that day, the group assembled in the campground for a run. I suggested Hells Revenge but Mike wanted to do Moab Rim. Trails are rated due to their difficulty and exposure, well Moab Rim has a little of both. The trail starts at the Colorado River and proceeds up the side of the cliff wards to a crack, which everyone made OK. From there you proceed up to the rim where you can look down into Moab maybe 1000 feet below. The trail continues and eventually loops back until you return on the trail you started in on. This is where things went a little wrong for me. I come up a little rise and see Mike straight ahead but miss seeing the hole to my left. Shortly afterwards the front of my Jeep starts sliding sideways, then down, and the left front corner disappears into a hole. My Jeep which is now resting at the wrong angle in the hole is winched out and we are able to proceed. During this time, Megan, Russ’s daughter, is taking pictures and texting them to friends showing them what she is up to. Everything goes relatively well until the crack I told you about earlier. I am behind Mike and watch him go down the crack. I follow him and ask him over the CB if I was on the line he took. Well my Jeep was a little pickier than Mike’s about the line Mike selected and decided to lay down on the job again. This time the front end was much lower than before and the front cylinder hydro-locked. I pulled the plug and cranked it several times and since my Jeep was having a bad day, gave both John and Mike some attitude in the form of an oil bath (twice). Well the best part is yet to come. After I am down off the crack, which by the way is only about 25 feet or so from the edge of a serious cliff, John’s Jeep will not start. We have to guide John’s non-running Jeep down the crack in the pitch black night along with two more Jeep behind him. There were no stars or moon only flashlights. We have straps on the front and back of John’s Jeep to pull his Jeep down the crack and the rest of the trail. At the crack we are trying to keep John’s Jeep from tipping while not falling into the crack or off the edge ourselves. We guide John down the trail using flashlights to see while telling John to go left or right because he basically cannot see the trail. After the crack, Russ’s Jeep is strapped to the front to pull and Bill’s Jeep is strapped to the back for braking. This made for a very long day. When I get back to my RV, Tony is waiting to assess my damage, which by the way was not bad considering everything. His run went well but was a serious commitment when they ran back down Pritchett. Just think about going to the edge of a very steep pitch 3 or 4 times the length of your Jeep in height that you previously had a difficulty getting up. Now you are going to drive down it and remember there are some turns on the way down and that canyon wall on the other side of the draw you just drove straight into. On Pritchett is the famous Rocker Knocker climb that you crab to the left on your rockers. Well tomorrow is another day.

Monday, April 13
Area BFE – Green Day
Submitted by Mike Whittington
On the run:
Tony Pellegrino - Leader
Mike and Laura Whittington
Russ, Fay, Megan Mukai
Bill Cavan
John Cary
Jeff and Carol Sanders

After yesterday, you would think that we have had our mishap(s) for the week and the rest of the week would be uneventful. I couldn't have been more wrong! After towing John in from Moab Rim last night, just for grins, he turned the key this morning and the YJ fired right up. Okaaaaaay. At least we know that the fuel pump works…some of the time. Jerome used his auto body experience to modify the driver's side windshield frame so that he could use his door. Within no time, he had an operating door. He also had a check engine indicator light on the dash. Jeff had his OBD Reader with him (this would be used more than once), read the codes and cleared them. The only code that returned was a cylinder misfire left over from the hydraulically locked cylinder #1. A visit to the local parts store for a new spark plug and the problem was solved.
We all headed for Area BFE to run Green Day trail with Tony P leading. Just after beginning the trail, for no apparent reason, my NV231 xfer case slipped into neutral. When I attempted to engage the xfer case again, it wouldn't budge into any gear. After a lot of head scratching, poking and prodding, Tony towed me back to camp where we could figure out the next step. So much for Green Day. Back at camp, the tools came out and the group pulled the transfer case. After splitting the cases it was discovered that the low range planetary assembly was toast. The welds holding the gear pins in place were broken, thrust bearings were in pieces and gears were frozen in place.
At dinner we all discussed a plan of action. Obviously I had several options, from putting the Jeep onto the trailer to getting a new Atlas 2-Speed! I decided that I had my fill of the 231…that wasn't an option. If we were anywhere but Moab, I would have put it on the trailer and called it good until we got home. No way, this is Moab… First choice…Atlas.
First thing Tuesday morning, Tony started working the phone.

Tuesday 4/14/09
Hell's Revenge
Submitted by Carol Sanders

On the run:
Jerome Blunck Trail Boss and commentator with
Mike Whittington as passenger/Co-trail boss/head spotter/etc...
Russ, Fay, Megan Mukai
Bill Cavan
John Cary
Jeff and Carol Sanders

Everyone met at the Slickrock Campground to head out to the trailhead. Jerome was the trail boss with Mike as the spotter for many of the obstacles. Both did a great job!
We were the only motorized vehicles on the trail on Tuesday. We saw lots of mountain bikers though since the Slickrock Bike Trail crosses the route several times.
Hell's Revenge is one of the favorites. It is close to town and has lots of fun obstacles for everyone. The entire loop is about 8 miles and took us about 5 hours to complete.
The trail is a series of steep climbs and descents over ledges and along fins. The gigantic fins go up and down and at times there is little space for a mistake.
Jeff with Bill as passenger enjoyed "Hell's Gate" while everyone else enjoyed watching Mike spot Jeff.
At the end of the trail, Jerome left to pick up Theresa at the airport in Grand Junction.
John took the rest over to "Potato Salad Hill." With a good deal of imagination the hill looks like potato salad because of all the small bumps and undulations. We were the only ones there and Jeff made it up easily and quickly so that he did it a second time for the photo ops. The winds kicked up during the afternoon. We returned to Slickrock Campground and continued working on Mike's jeep/transfer case. Worked through
dinner and into the evening.

On this run... 0 body damage
0 break downs
lots of fun

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Cliff Hanger Trail
Submitted by John Cary

If my memory serves me correctly, Mike’s Atlas was not due in until 1pm, so we decided to do Cliff Hanger. Mike rode with me as the Trail leaders. The entrance to CH is a multiple ledge hill around 50 feet long. It is actually more fun coming back up as this is an in and out trail.
The trail has a lot of interesting ledges you have to crawl over. This trail has one of the best views in all of Moab.
The wind had been howling most of the night and really picked up in the morning. In the shelter of the canyon it was pretty comfortable, but the view was lousy because of the dust. There are a few off camber points which make it interesting and everyone made it through. Then up to the top and the wonderful cliff you must travel and then down a short rock ledge which can make the knuckles a little white. After making it to the top, where the wind was really blowing we spent a few moments trying to see everything through the dust and headed back.
We wanted to be back around 1-2, so Mike could pick up his NEW 4.3 ATLAS and replace the wonderfully strong Terra 4:1. The trail down was just the reverse of coming up, except you could look down the valley instead of up. There were a lot of bicyclists coming up the trail. A few mentioned there were out riding in the canyons because the dust was so bad in town. We were back down at the entrance around 1:30. I tried the difficult way up and after a few tries decided to take the easy way up, not realizing I had broken a front u-bolt. While we were getting everyone up (we had to strap Bill) I was checking the suspension when I noticed the broken front u-bolt.
After everyone was up, Mike left with Bill to get his new ATLAS 4.3 while the rest limped behind me back to camp. The wind was blowing fiercely.
When Mike returned with the ATLAS 4.3, our goal was to get it in and finish the following day. While going through the instructions, Mike noted Blue Silicone seal was need for the mounting plate. We suggested he use what was available, but he was adamant that we go exactly by the instructions, so Bill was off to get some Blue seal.
Our first goal was to check if clocking was needed and we determined one adjustment hole movement was necessary for installation. (That changed the next day as it was hitting the skid plate. Mike took the sledge hammer and adjusted the floor.)
So there we were with Jeff and Mike under the jeep using RV leveling blocks to raise the case into place. We got it in place in the dark and decided to finish in the morning. The wind had actually slowed down late in the afternoon and evening. Russ was there in his beautiful white overalls to give us his technical help from his teaching auto shop all those years. His help, especially in trying to slide the case on the output shaft helped considerably.
Another great day wheeling and helping friends.

Thursday, April 16, 2009
Pritchett Canyon
Submitted by Jerome Blunck

We are lucky to have a relatively nice day after yesterday’s dust storm in which we ran Cliffhanger that feels appropriately named when you are driving along the narrow trail precariously perched very high above the Colorado River. Hey, if you do not believe me just ask John. So after cleaning up a bit from the light rain that brought with it much of the dust (or did it rain mud), Theresa and I meet up with John (Bill is riding with John), Jeff, and Carol to run Pritchett. Russ is giving his wife and daughter a tour of the area. We make it to the start of Pritchett, pay the $3 dollar entrance fee, and air down. At the first real obstacle, John hears a sound that is not right and later finds he has broken the right rear main spring. That leaves us only two running Jeeps and we decided it may not be a good day for Pritchett. So back to camp so that John and Jeff can attend Mike’s seminar on how to install an Atlas Transfer Case in a TJ. I ran Mike out to conference with Steve at Moab 4X4 Outpost about why the new rear drive shaft came with a 1330 X 1310 U-joint. They exchanged the U-joint and shortened Mike’s front shaft. With Mike properly shafted, he is able to complete the install today. Since, I feel I should show Theresa some of the area we head off to Arches National Park. Theresa found an off road route through the park on the map where we have great views of the park from the back country. The route had some minor rock climbs where high clearance was needed and a long fast sand section with some corners banked for some power turns. We make it back in time to head to the Moab Brewery, a local favorite, for dinner. Tomorrow is our last trail day, so off to bed early because we are going to run Golden Spike, a classic Moab trail that will take all day.

Friday, April 17
Today's trail: Golden Spike
Submitted by Mike Whittington

The last day for Team Moab before it is time to head for home.
Russ and family left for home yesterday.
We are doing Golden Spike Trail today with a scheduled departure time of 9:00 AM.
On the run today are:
Mike and Laura – Trail leaders
John and Wendy
Jerome and Theresa
Jeff and Carol
Bill Cavan

We headed out shortly after 9:00 on a beautiful day. There is a light breeze and a little cool but far nicer than it was earlier in the week. Shortly after airing down and entering the trail, John informed everyone that his leaf spring welding job wasn't holding. He could see cracks developing and wisely made the decision to turn around and head back to camp. This is a good idea as Golden Spike is a very long trail with a few nasty spots to keep it interesting. It is not uncommon to be on the trail 10-12 hours during the EJS due to obstacle difficulties, breakage and repairs, lunch, etc.
Those that remained on the run had a great day. The numerous obstacles including the Golden Crack, Golden Staircase, Skyline Drive, the Launch Pad, High Dive and other un-named spots were all handled well by everyone. We saw a few other Jeeps along the way, a group of motorcyclists and a few mountain bikers through the day.
With a nice steady pace with stops for lunch at the "crab climb", a stop at the top of the rim, etc. we were off the trail, aired up and back to camp by 5:30! Not bad.
Other than tight shifting (it needs to break in), my new Atlas worked great.
We all cleaned up and headed out to dinner at Pasta Jay's for an excellent dinner. It really felt strange not to be wrenching on vehicles until late in the evening but I'm not complaining.
Thanks to all for making this a great (and interesting) Moab trip. The weather was all over the place, all of us spent way too much time with a wrench in our hands but when it was a done, I would do it again in a minute.
Tony, Jerome, John, Jeff, Russ and Bill…thanks for all your help with my xfer case…and making this such a great trip; there is no way I could have done it without you.
Looking forward to next year!