Day 3: Monday, April 18 at the in Moab, Utah

Today, we met up with our sister company, 4 Wheel Parts, and a lot of our vendors, for a trail ride on Metal Masher.

There is no write-up for day 2 because we spent the day fixing the Jeep. I called AutoZone in Grand Junction, Colorado and that store had what we needed the same day. The small parts stores in Moab could have us a new line on Wednesday, which meant we would not be able to wheel for three days. It was a no brainer — we were going to make the hour-and-a-half drive to Grand Junction to pick up a new GM steering line.

When we got to AutoZone, the box they gave me felt very light. I opened it up to find it was just the fitting. I was bummed. We had made the drive for no reason. Then the guy told us there was an AutoZone four miles north that had the whole line. Awesome! We were back in business.

We picked up the new line, made the hour-and-a-half drive back to Moab, Utah, and installed the new line. We were ready to wheel on Monday.

Back to the trail ride: We left for the trail around 9 a.m. and we must have had 100 Jeeps in this line, so it was going to be a long day. We had to drive for miles before we even got to the trailhead. Most of the Jeeps were in 2WD and driving fast. My Jeep, not so much. My Jeep is geared too low and not built for speed driving. By the time we got to the trailhead, we were overheating! We had to pull over and let the rig cool down.

There were enough Jeeps in the group that we were pretty sure we would be able to catch up, and we did. The trail was a lot of fun. This was a new trail that I have never been on before. It had some nice rock ledges, climbs, etc. This trail was an in-and-back trail. You go in and then come back the way you came in. It made for a nice, long day, but was a lot of fun to wheel with some of my sponsors. We made it back to the trailhead around 5 p.m. We had no real damage. Our rear air line got a hole in it, so we were without a rear locker for the day. But the good folks at ARB hooked me up with new line and fittings, so we were back in business for the next day’s wheeling.

Day 4: Tuesday, April 19 at Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah

Today, we joined our friends at Skyjacker Suspension for a vendor ride at Kane’s Creek. This trail was a nice, easy trail for us. Most of it we could do in 2WD, but there were some nice climbs and rock ledges.  We only did half of this trail, because we were supposed to go to Moab Rim for a 4WD photo shoot. When we arrived at Moab Rim, we saw that it was closed for the day because the Red Rock 4-Wheelers crew had it reserved. So, we had a change in plans.

We ended up meeting the guys from Full-Traction for a trail ride on Fins and Things. This was a nice, short trail. It had us climbing a lot of the fins, including some steep ones. Once we were done with this trail, we decided to head to Baby Lion’s Back. Much like the infamous Lion’s Back, this one is much smaller, but there’s still no room for error. We made it up and back on this trail with no problems, and then it was time to turn in for the night.

Tomorrow, we are joining the MoabJeeper Magazine guys for the Triple Threat trail: Poison Spider Mesa, Golden Spike, and Gold Bar Rim. Stay tuned!