Today we decided to try out a new trail (to us), in Strike Ravine. Since the snow was still melting off, we found it pretty muddy. Well, maybe muddy is too vague, it was so slick, and the mud was so deep, we had a hard time making headway sometimes.
Attendees were Kent Drummond and a passenger, Bob and Colleen Ragain, Ron DePugh, Eric Johnson, and Bob Sandy and Wiley Newsome.
As usual, we met up at the City Market parking lot before heading out.
Kent Drummond's 404.1 Unimog
Ron DePugh's 404.1 VLF Unimog
Bob Ragain's 404.1 Unimog MogLite
Once we got up on the trail, we found that the mud was so slick, it was hard not to slide into the washed-out gulleys in the road, which sometimes turned into a very deep ditch. Progress up this road was often at a diagonal. Bob Newsome achieved some amazing tilt angles with his Expedition.
Here Bob is trying to thread his way between the ditches..
..and ends up in a deep ditch on the other side of the road.
Once we got up to the top of the canyon, the road dried out considerably.
And we headed on up the canyon.
The next obstacle starts out with a short, steep, muddy climb after crossing a stream..
..followed by a rock cliff overhanging the road. Most vehicles wouldn't have trouble with this, but Bob's Expedition is so tall that he had to tread a fine line between hitting the rock and dropping off the edge of the road into the creek bed below. With some fine spotting by Kent, Bob made it through.
Kent and Bob Ragain decided to try a road down into Helldorado Canyon, but it is badly washed out in a couple of places, and some large boulders have fallen on it, too. They made it most of the way down, but then they had to turn around and come back up.
We all lined up on the road for a photo op. That's a bunch of happy, muddy Mogs!
After the mud, we decided to play in the sand dunes south of Moab.
The snow-covered mountains in the distance are a beautiful sight.
Eric Johnson took a speedy run at one of the sand hills, and got some air on the way up.
Rob Pickering made a try at the same hill, but at a much slower speed. Those tractor tread tires dig pretty well. After he buried it, he just put it in reverse and drove out again.
I also took a run at the hill, and got a couple of feet of air. It's a very quick way to clean off your dashboard!
Bob Newsome gave it a try, but the Expedition, at about 16,000 pounds, just couldn't make it up the sand hill.
After playing in the sand dunes for a while, we all headed back to camp. After washing off some of the mud and sand, we went out for Mexican food.
Thanks to Kent Drummond and Brian Norton for some of these photos.
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