Moab Questions

Land Use, Trail Info, etc

Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:13 pm

I'm trying to help get info together and help organize a trip to Moab in June for the local Jeep club and I wanted to pick your brains a bit about info on CHEAP lodging and trails to amuse the masses...

I know about the Lazy Lizard and have been in contact with them about reserving one of the houses.. I've tried to organize renting a house for a large group of folks in the past and trying to get the correct money from everyone, having folks plans change so they can't make it, fitting other folks into their spots, etc.. Well, I don't wanna try that if I don't have to..

I'm looking for DECENT motel style places to lay your head down for the evening. I know The Gonzo is a favorite here, but is prolly gonna be outta budget for several of the group. Expected outlay for the trip is about $1000 per vehicle and for many of them, this will be the most they have ever spent on a vacation, so I'm trying to find lodging as cheap as possible without getting cheesy and be able to keep the entire gorup in one place.

What trails can you recommend..?? We'll have everything from stock Wranglers and mildy modded Libertys to built Jeeps with 6" long arms, fully locked, skidded and rolling 38's on beadlocks. I'm expecting to try and put together 4 or 5, full day trips for two groups. One with trail rides that can be ran by a stock Wrangler and another that will entertain the rest of the group.. I've got the Wells' Moab book on order and expect to be doing a lot of reading next week, so if there's any spots you know in the book that are MUST DO or things that aren't in the book that are a MUST DO. Lemme know about 'em. I've also been going through http://www.traildamage.com browsing through stuff..

If anyone here is interested in going along, no problems.. Just lemme know.. Dates in Moab are June 9 - 13..
Anyroads.. TIA for any info or insight you can provide..
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Sewie » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:37 pm

Can't give any info on motels. First time we rented a condo and since then I stay at Neo's. :D

As for trails - first timers to Moab should definitely do Fins & Things and Hell's Revenge. They're both rated as difficult, but its mostly for steepness and pucker factor. The built rigs can also have fun on the side obstacles on Hell's. 8) Seven Mile Rim is another cool trail for Moab newbies.

For the more built rigs, gotta recommend Poison Spider/Golden Spike. Steel Bender is another fun run. There's obviously a bunch more fun trails there like Cliffhanger, Moab Rim, etc. but I haven't run those.....yet. Get Charles Wells' trail book. It will give you a good idea on what to expect. Also check out the Red Rock 4wheelers website. They're the ones who put on Easter Jeep Safari.
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:53 pm

I'm betting Neo ain't gonna want 30 folks invading his place for a week..

Fins and Hells are on the list as well as Golden Spike (is that where the crack is) and Porcupine.. Some of 'em are talking about taking 2 days to do White RIm as well.. Figure we'll do some rafting one of those days and maybe some other kinda laid back sightseeing trails in some of the canyons the other day.

The Wells' book should be in the mailbox tomorrow night. I read the Colorado book cover to cover a dozen times or better when picking out trails to run last summer and I don't think I could have found anything more fitting for what I was wanting to run even if I'd had a personal guide.. There were several trails in the book I threw out, knowing they weren't trails I needed to be going at alone (Holy Cross in particular). Even though we had a pretty good time and didn't have any major problems, we prolly shouldn't have been on Wheeler Lake alone during the middle of the week and in the rain.
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Sewie » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:14 am

The Other Rob wrote:Golden Spike (is that where the crack is) and Porcupine.. Some of 'em are talking about taking 2 days to do White RIm as well.


Yes, Golden Spike has Golden Crack and the Golden Stairs, along with a couple other "named" obstacles. There is also a smaller crack on Seven Mile Rim. Porcupine Rim is not that exciting unless you want the photo op overlooking Castle Valley (which is pretty cool 8) ). White Rim is a beautiful trail but not at all technical. If you plan on going overnight, make sure you get permits. I can't remember exactly how it works, but there are limited and specific areas to camp and they require the permit, IIRC. Some of our group that had planned on camping last time had to turn back.
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby ronb » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:25 am

97.5 hmco with lots of goodies
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:01 pm

Sewie wrote:
The Other Rob wrote:Golden Spike (is that where the crack is) and Porcupine.. Some of 'em are talking about taking 2 days to do White RIm as well.


Yes, Golden Spike has Golden Crack and the Golden Stairs, along with a couple other "named" obstacles. There is also a smaller crack on Seven Mile Rim. Porcupine Rim is not that exciting unless you want the photo op overlooking Castle Valley (which is pretty cool 8) ). White Rim is a beautiful trail but not at all technical. If you plan on going overnight, make sure you get permits. I can't remember exactly how it works, but there are limited and specific areas to camp and they require the permit, IIRC. Some of our group that had planned on camping last time had to turn back.


One of the guys already has the campsite reservations for WHite RIm made with the park service.. I think they were just looking for a LONG trial a long way away from anything kind of deal.. I'm to hooked on hot showers and indoor plumbing to find that kind of need.. That Photo op on Porkypine Rim is what I'm looking for.. :yup:

Got the Wells book in the mail today and haven't crakced it open yet.. See yall in a few days...LOL
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:07 am



I'll dig through 'em and see what I can find.. From what I've read of the Moab book so far, I'm not quite as impressed with it as I was the Colorado offering and I'm gonna be looking for more info to supliment with.. There's to many things in there about "the trail gets hard to follow at this point, if you find that you're driving on sand rather than slick rock you might want to stop and walk around a bit and see it you can figure out where you are".. WTF..?? Or the best comments.. "If you think you're lost, you probably are, just stop and stay there until someone finds you.." You use that advice in Memphis and you get mugged..
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Sewie » Wed Jan 23, 2008 3:05 am

The Other Rob wrote:There's to many things in there about "the trail gets hard to follow at this point, if you find that you're driving on sand rather than slick rock you might want to stop and walk around a bit and see it you can figure out where you are".. WTF..?? Or the best comments.. "If you think you're lost, you probably are, just stop and stay there until someone finds you.." You use that advice in Memphis and you get mugged..


It may sound weird, but until you actually wheel out there on some of those trails, you can't really understand. :yup: Several of the trails have markings on the rock to guide you. And I've still run a couple of the trails backwards because we took wrong turns. :/ :lol:

The best advice is to go with someone who has been on the trail before, if at all possible.
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Alec W » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:17 am

Sewie wrote:
The Other Rob wrote:There's to many things in there about "the trail gets hard to follow at this point, if you find that you're driving on sand rather than slick rock you might want to stop and walk around a bit and see it you can figure out where you are".. WTF..?? Or the best comments.. "If you think you're lost, you probably are, just stop and stay there until someone finds you.." You use that advice in Memphis and you get mugged..


It may sound weird, but until you actually wheel out there on some of those trails, you can't really understand. :yup: Several of the trails have markings on the rock to guide you. And I've still run a couple of the trails backwards because we took wrong turns. :/ :lol:

The best advice is to go with someone who has been on the trail before, if at all possible.

It's easy to get lost even when you've run the trails before ;) :where: :where:
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby SR1355 » Wed Jan 23, 2008 2:00 pm

Highly recommend that you have someone with you who has run the trails you thinking of. Or at a min do not be afraid to scout obstacles, things are super steep and visibility cresting obstacles can be a problem. It will be HOT out there in June, I was there last June and 100 in town was 110 on the trail. Pack lots of water and remember to take extra with you. Hell, Fins, Poison Spider, 7Mile, Flat Iron Mesa, Elephant Hill, are all good. Another overnight run would be Lockhart Basin, I'm hoping to do LH in March if I can find one other truck to run it with. Whatever you end up doing you'll have a blast and make sure to stop in and say "HI" to Neo & Nav....
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Wed Jan 23, 2008 6:59 pm

I'm thinking if I'm lucky I can get Neo to give us a run down Golden Spike.. It seems to have the worst reputation for getting folks lost according to the book.. But being a group of mostly men, even if I would consider it, I don't think I could get the rest of the group to spring for a hired guide to ask for directions.. I firmly beleive you can get lost and make wrong turns even when following the directions from the book.. Even as well laid out and marked as the trails in Colorado are, I made a wrong turn or few from what I thought the book was telling me and had to back track in a few places..

I've got all the GPS points from the Wells' Moab book ready to dump into the GPS so at least we'll have some idea of where we are and which way we need to be going.
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Alec W » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:17 pm

The Other Rob wrote:I'm thinking if I'm lucky I can get Neo to give us a run down Golden Spike.. It seems to have the worst reputation for getting folks lost according to the book..


There are about 3 or 4 places where I've managed to get lost on GS. There's a turn on Poison Spider (the trail to get to GS) just before High speed Mesa where you have to make a right turn and I always seem to turn left :wall: :wall:

On the top of skyline drive (I think that the name of the big dome) it’s hard to find the way down. On the way up look to your left and you will see the way down.

Just after the overlook and before you get to Golden Crack is hard to follow. You basically keep left down the hill.

The very beginning of Gold bar rim is confusing.

You don’t need a guide in Moab. I’ve run lots of Moab trails over the years and we rarely had people with us who know them. Heck, I could just as easily get you all lost for a few minutes and I’ve runs some of these trails 16 times or more. Getting a little lost is half of the fun :lol:
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:26 pm

Think I may have found a pretty good guide.. 217 waypoints to guide through Golden Spike.. That's a marker every 250 ft.. If someone can get lost with that many markers, I doubt they could find the way to their bathroom in the dark either... :lol:
GS.jpg
GS.jpg (72.11 KiB) Viewed 2093 times


Found a BUNCH of these they are starting to list on http://www.traildamage.com
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby Alec W » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:35 pm

The Other Rob wrote:Think I may have found a pretty good guide.. 217 waypoints to guide through Golden Spike.. That's a marker every 250 ft.. If someone can get lost with that many markers, I doubt they could find the way to their bathroom in the dark either... :lol:
GS.jpg


Found a BUNCH of these they are starting to list on http://www.traildamage.com


That’s funny, in 4 GS runs I’ve never been to or even knew there was "overlook 1". To give you an idea on that trail overlook 2 is where you strive to be for lunch. The last part is where the cool stuff is ;)

When we winched the broken H3s out in 06 it took about 3 hours to go from Golden stairs to 001 and this pic does not show the exit trail (Gold Bar Rim). That took another 5 hours or so..
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Re: Moab Questions

Postby The Other Rob » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:52 pm

Alec W wrote:
The Other Rob wrote:Think I may have found a pretty good guide.. 217 waypoints to guide through Golden Spike.. That's a marker every 250 ft.. If someone can get lost with that many markers, I doubt they could find the way to their bathroom in the dark either... :lol:
GS.jpg


Found a BUNCH of these they are starting to list on http://www.traildamage.com


That’s funny, in 4 GS runs I’ve never been to or even knew there was "overlook 1". To give you an idea on that trail overlook 2 is where you strive to be for lunch. The last part is where the cool stuff is ;)

When we winched the broken H3s out in 06 it took about 3 hours to go from Golden stairs to 001 and this pic does not show the exit trail (Gold Bar Rim). That took another 5 hours or so..


Gold Bar Rim as well as Poison Spider are listed as seperate trails.. I have those as well.. Lord only knows if they're right or not though.. One way to find out though.. :evil:
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