MidSouth Jeep Club

Who's ready for THE run of the year for the club? Big thanks to KJSPORT (Scott) for making most of the intial plans then Hummer Rob for picking up the torch and running with it.

WHEN:
Friday June 6th through Sunday June 15th
Make sure you have the week of June 9-13 off for sure.

LODGING:


OTHER ACTIVITIES IN MOAB


Driving Route there and back


GAS and Fuel Stops


CB Radios


THE PRELIMINARY MOAB ITINERARY:


RESEARCH THE TRAILS:
> http://www.4x4now.com/mu4wd.htm
> http://www.utah.com/offroad/moab_area.htm
> http://www.moab4x4parts.com/moab_trails.php


CURRENT ATTENDEE LIST:
- Scott (coming in from AZ)
- Monele (Coming in from CO)

And Caravaning from Memphis area:
- Rob & Family
- Mark (FYATHARIO)
- Sgt Kat
- Matt & Ruthe

Scott's Post on what to bring and keep in mind for the trip:

1. Make sure you have at least one functional, same size spare tire and tire fix kit with you. There are lots of sharp rocks and other variables that could chew a tire up and you'd like to have a worthy replacement and/or the means to repair the damaged one if need be.

2. WATER WATER WATER = Be ready to drink, when on the trails during the day, at least one Nalgene container of water an hour, or more, depending on the need. IT WILL BE HOTTTT!!! The heat can affect you without even knowing it. I know I felt fine when out on the trails and drinking water as needed, BUT once getting inside or in the shade you can feel your body reacting to it if your not use to that sort of heat. BE CAREFUL!!! If you feel awkward or different then normal be sure to let someone know immediately!!!

3. Make sure to have sunscreen and breathable clothing to try and keep yourself cool and wherever possible try and stay in shady spots. HOWEVER, make sure to watch your step as you never know what other animals might be wanting the shade as well.

4. Make sure you have whatever tools or items you think you'd need to replace on the trail if an issue were to arise. BUT a precursor to this is to make sure that your rig is COMPLETELY ready for this trip. Fluids are all fresh, brakes are solid (both regular and emergency brake), Tires are fresh and aired down appropriately, no mechanical issues whatsoever. If you do think you may have an issue let everyone know and we can set up a plan to get you off the trail safely and make sure you get fixed accordingly.

5. In regards to #4, make sure to bring enough extra fluids. ALOS make sure that you have a container to catch all the access fluids you'll be draining, whether it is a planned drain or not. In Moab it is imperative to try and keep the environment as clean as possible. Also make sure to bring an extra air filter. The VERY VERY fine dust in the air could clog your up really quick. I know that I brought 3 air filters for my trip. K&N filter for the interstate trip out, stock filter for use in town and on trails, and the AMSOIL air filter for interstate use home. The stock one was thrown out before returning home as it was NASTY after all the dust and bugs.

6. While on the trail most anything can happen. Most trails are also 6-12 hours long. That is total round trip. SO most likely pack snacks and enough water that you feel is sufficient for you and those riding with you.

7. There is LOTS to do in Moab. There are 2 HUGE National Parks nearby, Arches and Canyonlands National Park. Each of them have a $10 entry fee and lots of trails, both hiking and driving. There are also lots of different eateries to choose from as well, so if you don't want to shop for food to prepare in camp you will have lots of restaurants to choose from.
NOTE: My personal favorite was the MOAB Brewery when I was there. It has great beers, great food and a great atmosphere in general, definitely a spot for a Jeep or Off-Road Enthusiast.

8. This should be #1, but anyway, here it is now. A FIRST AID KIT!! It is imperative to make sure that everyone has a first aid kit with the necessary items to take care of a scraped knee or elbow to even the potential of stabilizing a broken bone or heat related injury. If anyone in the medical field happens to be in a caravan of rigs, make sure that he/she knows where a first aid kit can be reached at all times in case of necessity. (Include link to Adventure Medical Kits)

9. If camping, make sure that the tent you’re using is clear of any animals before you enter it. Also be sure o check sleeping bags and shoes before entering them as any sort of desert critter may seem to like it like you do. Also be sure to take out what you take in. If there are no trash receptacles be sure to haul your trash out. You guys/gals understand this I know, but I still feel like mentioning it. Also there are tons of camping and sleeping areas available in the Moab area. There are hotels, motels, hostels, campgrounds galore (some allow large group camping and others don’t), there are resorts and even houses you can rent in MOAB!!!

10. Early starts. What I mean by this is that the coolest part of the day in Moab is EARLY in the morning. If you feel like hiking to Delicate Arch or hiking period, let me recommend that you do it early in the morning as it will be more comfortable then waiting till noon to attempt the very same hike activity. Also you can start a wheeling trip early too in order to make it back in time for lunch or dinner depending on the length of the trip it is that you have planned.

11. Gas. If you are planning a long day wheeling trip then be sure to carry a gas can FULL of gas. You never know what might happen on the trail and you may need it. Better safe then sorry, right?

12. Lights. I know there will be those wanting to do a night run. I totally recommend it. Make sure that you have a working flashlight/lantern and off-road lights. It gets REALLY dark out there and you’d like to be able to see where you are going and what it is that might be crawling on you. (I’ll be posting a link later on a black light you can buy to help locate scorpions if you so desire to acquire one for the trip or future trips)

13. Dust. It will be very dusty out there. Make sure that you can handle it getting EVERYWHERE and staying there for a while. It could result in clogging some onboard electricals such as GPS or iPods so be careful to protect those items when riding. It can also result in clogging you, so if you have bad allergies be sure to bring an inhaler or any other proper medicine.

14. Shoes. NO SANDALS!!! Make sure you have a good pair of shoes or hiking boots. Climbing around on all the rocks is great in the Jeep. But if you are the spotter you want traction and comfort as well. WEAR GOOD SHOES!!!!

15. Have fun!!! Make sure you and whomever is with you will havea good time. That also means making sure you are prepared. So do some research of yourselves and know what you'll want to bring that will make you have fun and also what will be best incase something should happen. Expect the unexpected.

So in synopsis of all this suggestion and bantering here we are:

I'll have a couple of options available at the meeting on lodging.. I've got a group rate secured for the group at one of the motels in town..

Will try and have pretty much all of the above information printed out for folks that don't make the forums to much.. WIll also try to have some trial info and try to have a couple of runs planned out for both built rigs and expirenced driver as well as for stock rigs and novice drivers and those that get a bigger thrill out of scenery than they do pucker factor..

I know one morning you'll find me on the Colorado River in a raft taking on the rocks in a different way. If other folks are interested in making a group rafting trip, I'll get info together and contact Moab Adventure Outfitters about a group booking and getting a group rate.

If there's anything else any of you would be interested in doing around Moab. This is a great place to start looking..
http://www.moabadventurecenter.com/

I recommend everyone get Charles Wells' Guide To Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel Drive Trails it has a wealth of information on area trails I can't begine to tell you about by just guessing what you're looking for out of this trip.
http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Backroads-4 ... 976&sr=8-1

Any other questions, just ask, I'll do my best to answer them...

Ok, I contacted the Red Rock 4 Wheelers out in Moab for a little info from the locals to help us out on our trip this summer. David Adams, their Land Use Officer was kind enough to reply quickly and answer all my noob questions, and he's also offered to show us around if he's available. I told him that Honda got it wrong, you meet the nicest people in a Jeep, not on a Honda. I'm also not surprised by the offer, I know I would be happy to go out and play guide just as an excuse to hit those trails if I lived there.

One thing I asked was that they recommend some good trails for first timers, and also split them up for stockish rigs and modified ones. Each of these trails runs about 5 hours to 12 hours approximately, assuming all goes well, so it’s pretty much one a day. Here’s the list, and I gotta tell you folks just typing these trails and looking them up is making me antsy and ready to GO!

For harder trails, preferring rigs with 33" or taller tires and at least 1 locker, I'd recommend:
Hells Revenge, the quintessential Moab slickrock trail.
Poison Spider
Cliffhanger
Steelbender
Metal Masher, bypassing Widowmaker
Gold Bar Rim
Kane Creek

For easier/scenic trails:
Fins and Things, like Hells, but not as hard
7-mile Rim
3-D
Copper Ridge
Porcupine Rim
Gemini Bridges and Long Canyon
White Rim and Shaffer Trail

For hardcore/extreme trail, rigs 37" or taller tires, 2 lockers, preferably a winch, and excellent driving:
Golden Spike
Moab Rim
Pritchet Canyon
Behind the Rocks
and of course, Area BFE (areabfe.com)

The Red Rock 4 Wheelers have a great info page for these trails located here.

I also asked him to recommend the best guide book for our trip to help keep us on the trails and he said this one, it's also the one Rob linked to. (It's a clicky picture if ya wanna order it.)



I'll be getting mine soon. These books are great, we've used them when we lived in SoCal, it's nice to have directions to the trail head and GPS waypoints and stuff. One thing he pointed out is the trails may be harder now then when this was written. Updated book is due out soon, but probably not in time for us. We'll just have to confirm conditions before we go.

This post has become like totally bloated, so I'll put the rest of his info in another post in a bit.

EXCELLENT post mark. Thanks for initiating contact with RedRocks. They'll likely be an invaluable asset leading up to the trip.

I'd been trying to work through the book and find both easy and tougher trails that are in the same basic area.. Some of the ones I've came up with even cross paths in the middle.. Was thinking those places would be good places to get the group together for lunch or even just a break.. It'd also give folks a chance to swap groups if they feel like they are either in over their head on the tough trail or think they can easily handle much more than the easy trail is offering them..

I was kinda thinking by the end of the week we might even be able to make Hells Revenge a complete group run if everyone has their rock feet by then.. I know folks that have ran it in a stock H3 with no locker.. Granted they did have to get strapped over a couple of spots and took quite a few bypasses around things like the Hot Tub and Escalator..

Something I've been told by several folks is that Hell's, as well as Golden Spike are tough trails just to find your way through. There are places out on the slickrock where you want see any tire tracks or markers for a mile or more and it's easy to make or miss a turn and get quickly lost.

If anyone has a Garmin GPS unit let me know. I have the waypoint lat/long points for all of the waypoints listed in the Moab Book that can be downloaded straight into your unit. So you'll have some idea at least which direction you need to be going to get to the next waypoint in case you do get quite as lost.

One interesting thing about the trails you listed.. 7 mile, Fins and Porcupine are all listed as difficult trails in the book.. Guess it all depends on who you ask in some cases..

I haven't had a chance to check out the RR4W site, but I've found a lot of info on http://www.traildamage.com

i cant wait tell this trip! Got to start collecting spare everytimes

That brings up an interesting question.. Who all is driving vs towing..??

There had been an earlier mention of getting a tire/wheel trailer, running street tires there and doing a quick change to the MTs once we get there.. With a good floor jack, air compressor and impact wrench 4 or 5 folks could swap the tires out on as many rigs in 30 minutes or so..

Someone has offered me the use of a 5x10 trailer for this, but I'd guess that would only hold 3, maybe 4 sets of 35" tires and wheels..

I'm definitely driving. Kinda looking forward to the "bonding time" with the jeep. Ruthe and I will alternate driving shifts (since we're gonna have to stop every 3 hours for fuel as it is).

If you're willing to tow I'd love to throw a set of tires on there and would chip in toward whatever extra gas you think you'd burn. Realistically though.. we'd likely only gain 2mpg or so with AT's... correct? I guess over a 3000 mile trip that would be a decent amount.. just not sure if it'd be enough to justify getting a spare set of tires.

Kat n I are driving also...safari tops and smiles!

So, for the first night driving out there, camp or hotel? I vote camp!

A second set of A/T's and wheels are gonna cost you about $800 unless you get some crappy used ones. You won't save near that in gas, unless you stay at home.

If we're talking about driving the north route through colorado it might be nice to camp. However the way I see it is:

CAMPING PROS:
- Enjoy the wilderness
- Cheaper
CAMPING CONS:
- Have to lug camping gear when we may not use it otherwise (hotes/cabins in Moab)
- Set-up break down camp when only staying one night (and exhausted from 12hr drive)

THe sensible side in me says we're better served just crashing at a cheap motel and getting out to Moab as quickly as possible... the other side says camping under the stars in Colorado, then maybe texas could be nice.

Yeah, good points all. We'll have twice the storage of you guys, so bringing the tents would be easy. Hotels = smart choice for the road trip part. I'll be getting beaten up by the outdoors for 12 hrs while driving, maybe being inside for a few would be nice afterall?!?

Man.. I've been sitting here working on a LONG reply and hit the blasted cancell button rather than send..

I ain't typing all that again.. But here's the jist of it..

Hauling tires, bad idea.. Time and hassle not worth the savings.. I can explain more at the meeting if anyone wants me to..

Camping.. Not me.. Not enough space to take the camping gear.

Idea for routes there and back and time table.. Whatcha think.

Getting there.
Leave Cordova 6am Sat
Grab a room the other side of Amarillo around 8pm. Not much lolly gagging time.. Just fuel and go. We'll have to lolly gag and visit on the CB.
Leave the motel 6am headed on to Moab, get there mid-afternoon

Getting back
Leave Moab 6am Sat
Grab a room in Oklahoma City around 8pm. It's about the same distance via southerly I-40 route or by running across Colorado. I'm still not enthused about running I-70 through CO due to lugging and many of my top speeds on the freeway in the mountains will only be 45mph. But if everyone else is taking that route and ya promise not to run off and leave me to bad, I'm up for it.. Only other thing I can say is Kansas sux..
Leave OKC @ 6am and it'll get us back into Memphis around mid-afternoon.

Either way we might be able to work out some group rates with hotels along the way as well depending on how many folks are in a group..

Of course I think I recall some folks saying they were planning on something like 13+ days to make the trip, so all of the above may be out the window..

Rob,

Those timelines look good to me. I gotta think you won't be the only one lugging in the mountains but I also think the views are worth it. If we're going to make this massive drive, we might as well take both routes.. circle the country so to speak. Nobody will be "leaving" anyone... as long as we've budgeted time for the slowdowns and whatnot then we'll just cruise at whatever pace we need to.

NO problem on the tires. I'll likely still be on my 33"MTs at that point so this will wear them down quicker and give me an excuse to move to 35s faster

I will most likely be bringing my rubicart. So if people chip in for a bit of gas.......I can carry everything with regards to camping equipment, a cooler or two, etc... It will also give us a place to keep things locked up while wheeling. I am planning on driving with full top and doors on because I get like 3-4 mpg extra like that, then leaving the doors and windows in the hotel.

Does anyone have a ballpark figure for total cost of this trip? I haven't been on a road trip this long in FOREVER. I really have no idea what to save up.....

Depends on how much you eat, if you're camping or grabbing a motel room, if you're going to split the room with anyone, how your MPG is and the price of gas by then.

For the 8 days I'm expecting..
Gas - $850
Motel - $640 (can cut that in half if you get a roomie)
Food - $400 (but I'm feeding 3 so divide by 3)
Rafting - $120 (divide by 3 again if you wanna raft, if you don't drop it out)
Misc. - $200 (tshirts, maps and other misc touristy pruchases, easy to drop that depending of your wants and needs)

OK, here's some quicky links and stuff for you folks to find out a bit more about Moab.

Red Rock 4-Wheelers, the "home club" of Moab. Also, here's the trail guide again.

This site has tons of info on the surrounding area. I would have posted this sooner, but I got lost in this site!

Here's the official Chamber of Commerce page.

Recommended trail guide book. and don't forget theUtah Atlas and Gazetteer

Well I know after a long day of driving a room sounds better than camping. The house idea sounds great also. I know the drive out will be easy with all of us on a cb and talking all the way there. I have the time off and ready to go. I just need to get the wife's time off set in stone. Rob as far as top speed and stuff I will be slow on the hills also. I will be running 35's with my factory gearing. Oh I agree with Matt on the route. I would love to see the mountains and figure this is a trip of a lifetime. What kind of range can you guys get in your jeeps? I know mine is about done after 200 miles.

Not sure, but I've heard Matt say something about stopping for fuel every 3 hours. If that turns into every 2 hours and 45 minutes, no big deal. When one stops for fuel, we all need to fuel up though. No point in some folks filling up at 200 miles and 4 or 5 others saying they'll wait for another 50 miles or so and then the group having to stop again.

And have a debit or credit card for fuel.. It'll take long enough to get the group fueled and moving again without having to wait on 2 or 3 folks to go in, stand in line, pay cash, fuel up, then go back to stand in line for change.. Get a pile of $100 Visa gift cards if you have to..