Pathfinder I
My wife was hosting a women's mountain bike retreat (MTB Experience) back in early May. Their destination, Moab Utah to ride the infamous Porcupine Rim Trail and Slick Rock. Ellie and I had other ideas on how to use the Moab trails while the girls rode bikes.....
The original plan included my friend Trevor, owner of the white 2nd gen Tacoma in my trip reports. We had planned on dropping off the girls at the campground in town then Trevor, Ellie and I would head off into the mountains for 4 days in search of overlanding adventure. Unfortunately, Trevor had some last minute family concerns pop up so he had to bail. I decided it was safer to just use the campground as my base and go out on daily excursions with Ellie rather than camp out in the back country with no support.
In preparation for this trip I had America's Tire swap out the P-metric version of my Wildpeak A/T3W tires for the load range E versions which are tougher and also slightly taller. I had also installed a simple Jerry can mount in the bed to carry extra fuel.
The new tires went through thorough "winter testing" during the drive to Moab. We hit a big storm in Nevada that barely let up until we got close to Moab. In some areas it was near white out conditions and highway traffic was forced to very low speeds. The new tires gripped like mad and I had no issues with slip or drift at any speed.
We made the drive from Grass Valley to Moab in one shot. We even stopped at Fezzari Bikes near Salt Lake to meet the folks who support my wife's business. We saw them again out on the trail.
We arrived in Moab after dark sometime and found our group campsite at the Moab Valley Campground. The facility is nice and very clean. The only negative is the plethora of RZRs with built up engines and no mufflers that are constantly cruising by the sites. I'm really starting to hate those things as much as I hate Harley's..........
The next morning I woke up and downloaded a GPS track for Hurrah Pass Trail and Chicken Corners from Funtreks. I also had the book handy so I felt pretty confident that I could navigate the region without much trouble.
Day 1
Of all the trails I would run while in Moab I think Hurrah Pass was my favorite. It wasn't difficult but there were some fun "extra credit" areas along the trail which made it more interesting and provided good photo ops. The scenery was absolutely stunning! I could barely keep my jaw off the floor. Not bad for not being inside a national park.
And as we do, I was pulling over every few minutes trying to create a good shot of my baby. Nope, not this one.
Hmm maybe here. Nope
Ohh! What's that over there? I NEED to climb up that!
And then down the other side.... Scraaaaaaape. Hmm these steps sorta work as sliders if I am very careful. The breakover angle is what always gets me in trouble with this rig.
Did I mentioned the stunning backdrops?
Ohh! There's a point I can drive out to! Sorta. It's pretty narrow but it will make a great photo I think.
Damn. How am I going to get back without a spotter? The backup camera proves helpful in this situation. The ledge is narrow with a huge drop on either side!
One more view off the the ledge because it's pretty spectacular.
You cross through one valley then go up a mountain then back down into another stunning valley. This is the summit between valleys. Beverage was not consumed at this time. There are also quite a few great group campsites and dispersed campsites in the area.
Ellie is not really impressed. She's hyper focused on what the guy on the quad behind us is doing.
We proceeded to drop down into the next valley and were greeted by outstanding views and many wildflowers. It seems we are visiting at the perfect time of year.
Ellie still wasn't impressed but then she found boulders and walls to climb!
So I pulled over at every spot that looked enticing and we explored on foot.
Ohh! Look at this little canyon nook, Ellie! Shall we... hey get back here!
But dad, take my picture please.
More flowers! Ellie! Grrr
We make our way down the trail towards Chicken Corners following the Colorado River.
We eventually reach Chicken Corners as announced by this interesting sign.
Underconstruction.......
The original plan included my friend Trevor, owner of the white 2nd gen Tacoma in my trip reports. We had planned on dropping off the girls at the campground in town then Trevor, Ellie and I would head off into the mountains for 4 days in search of overlanding adventure. Unfortunately, Trevor had some last minute family concerns pop up so he had to bail. I decided it was safer to just use the campground as my base and go out on daily excursions with Ellie rather than camp out in the back country with no support.
In preparation for this trip I had America's Tire swap out the P-metric version of my Wildpeak A/T3W tires for the load range E versions which are tougher and also slightly taller. I had also installed a simple Jerry can mount in the bed to carry extra fuel.
The new tires went through thorough "winter testing" during the drive to Moab. We hit a big storm in Nevada that barely let up until we got close to Moab. In some areas it was near white out conditions and highway traffic was forced to very low speeds. The new tires gripped like mad and I had no issues with slip or drift at any speed.
We made the drive from Grass Valley to Moab in one shot. We even stopped at Fezzari Bikes near Salt Lake to meet the folks who support my wife's business. We saw them again out on the trail.
We arrived in Moab after dark sometime and found our group campsite at the Moab Valley Campground. The facility is nice and very clean. The only negative is the plethora of RZRs with built up engines and no mufflers that are constantly cruising by the sites. I'm really starting to hate those things as much as I hate Harley's..........
The next morning I woke up and downloaded a GPS track for Hurrah Pass Trail and Chicken Corners from Funtreks. I also had the book handy so I felt pretty confident that I could navigate the region without much trouble. Day 1
Of all the trails I would run while in Moab I think Hurrah Pass was my favorite. It wasn't difficult but there were some fun "extra credit" areas along the trail which made it more interesting and provided good photo ops. The scenery was absolutely stunning! I could barely keep my jaw off the floor. Not bad for not being inside a national park.
And as we do, I was pulling over every few minutes trying to create a good shot of my baby. Nope, not this one.
Hmm maybe here. Nope
Ohh! What's that over there? I NEED to climb up that!
And then down the other side.... Scraaaaaaape. Hmm these steps sorta work as sliders if I am very careful. The breakover angle is what always gets me in trouble with this rig.
Did I mentioned the stunning backdrops?
Ohh! There's a point I can drive out to! Sorta. It's pretty narrow but it will make a great photo I think.
Damn. How am I going to get back without a spotter? The backup camera proves helpful in this situation. The ledge is narrow with a huge drop on either side!
One more view off the the ledge because it's pretty spectacular.
You cross through one valley then go up a mountain then back down into another stunning valley. This is the summit between valleys. Beverage was not consumed at this time. There are also quite a few great group campsites and dispersed campsites in the area.
Ellie is not really impressed. She's hyper focused on what the guy on the quad behind us is doing.
We proceeded to drop down into the next valley and were greeted by outstanding views and many wildflowers. It seems we are visiting at the perfect time of year.
Ellie still wasn't impressed but then she found boulders and walls to climb!
So I pulled over at every spot that looked enticing and we explored on foot.
Ohh! Look at this little canyon nook, Ellie! Shall we... hey get back here!
But dad, take my picture please.
More flowers! Ellie! Grrr
We make our way down the trail towards Chicken Corners following the Colorado River.
We eventually reach Chicken Corners as announced by this interesting sign.
Underconstruction.......
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