Rick & Jack's 

EXPLORATION!
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The prickly pear was blooming late this year. No this isn't the one Rick fell on!	Just one of the incredible vistas on the Gold bar Rim Trail.
This sequence of Jack was taken near	the start of the Gold Bar Rim Trail.
Now this is where I fell!	As always I tried to get some "flex" shots. While looking through the viewfinder I stepped back and crashed down on a prickly pear and a yucca impaling myself with numerous cactus thorns.
This BFG KO was KOed after less than a week on the rig. No that's not a cancerous growth! That's about 8 Safety Seals attempting to plug a gash.	The next day Rick decided to air down his BFG M/T the hard way! Rick hit a rock denting his rim and breaking the bead on the tire. The rim was pounded out and used as a spare for the rest of the trip.
Just to the rear of Jack's Explorer is lunch rock a great place to get out of the sun and scarf some chow.	Here Jack is approaching a steep climb out of a wash on the Mill Creek Trail. I choose this shot because it shows the rear tire getting stuffed into the wheel well.

Written by: Jack Lobdell & Rick Horwitz

The weather HAD been predicted as wonderful for this time for year with temps in the 80s, but it was not to last. It was over 100 when we cruised into Moab and on our first day of wheeling the temp in town was 108, the same temperature Rick and his wife Char had tried to leave in Phoenix!. We guzzled water and Gatorade like somebody would spend money on their rig! 

We decided to try the Gold Bar Rim Trail the first day. The Gold Bar Rim offers a 360 degree panorama of the color country and ends with a 1000 ft. verticle drop. The trail is listed as a 3 1/2, about as tough as a stocker should try.  Well, that would be some stocker as there are at least three obstacles that required lockers and the clearance of our lifted rig. Winching would probably get most everybody across, but a stock Explorer would likely get some body damage. 

The route is northwest of Moab and climbs out of the valley on a wide gravel shelf road, then proceeds up a sandy wash to the slickrock trail. There was a big sandy hill with some large boulders to dodge and we opted to try it. ARBs pumping, we made it through without a spin at all. The slickrock trail starts to give good views of things to come after that. It's a nice trail and connects to Golden Spike which ultimately leads into Poison Spider Mesa trails. The views are superb and you really become one with the slick rock. Early morning hours found shadows playing among the spires and little canyon. We made a wrong turn...easy to do here and we ended up at a deep end shelf. The scenery was magnificent anyway. We simply turned back and found the correct route a few minutes later, after some pictures of course. 

We were almost up the Gold Bar Rim trail to the vantage point, when Jack aimed carefully to make sure a sharp side rock didn't get one of his brand new BFG AT KOs and somehow managed to spear it anyway on another rock. There was a whoosh, so loud that Rick and Char could here it in the rig ahead of him. Turned out to be a bad 1+ inch rip pretty close to the rim. Jack tried  to use Safety Seal plugs to fix it. We filled the flattened tire with an FST 5lb. CO2  tank. The repair worked great and it held air...well until he drove a few feet, then you could hear the leak again. It was obvious that this brand new tire was destined for the  rubber graveyard. 

Earlier while eating our lunch under the shade of a large rock over hang we heard a group of fourwheelers slowly making their way through the rough terrain. We never saw them, but we could hear their engines and occasionally their voices as well. While we were making the necessary repairs to Jacks rig the group descended upon us. The first, a stock Nissan pick up had literally been dragged through this tough trail by his escorts, which were made up of a huge yellow Hummer, Jeep CJ, and a 6 wheel ATV. The guys in the Nissan stopped to talk to us and explained that they were teaching some of the group how to drive a Hummer over the slickrock terrain. Sure enough when the Hummer passed us it was being driven by a young lady.  Her "teacher" was standing in the back of the rig holding onto the rollbar while guiding her through the terrain. "OK, place your left tire on that rock, yeah that’s it"…

Jack carries a skinny 33x9.50 spare, but the group opted to put Rick's 33x12.50 MT on his rig instead. We felt the full size spare would give more stability to the rig during the tough ride back to civilization. It was getting quite hot and we were all overheating from playing trail mechanic. We opted to call it a day maybe less than 5 minutes from the final overlook (as determined later on GPS/Topo software) we were careful coming back out not to catch another tire. We made it to the local BFG dealer in Moab, Chip's Grand Tire Co.,  Chip graciously split up a set of KOs that had been promised to someone else since the new buyer hadn't shown up yet and it was getting real late in the day. They quickly mounted and balanced a new one and we ended the day with some creative cooling off in the swimming pool back at the motel. Little did we know how soon we would be seeing Chip and his tire warriors again. 

The next day we traversed the fins east of Moab along the Sand Flats Road until we came to the Porcupine Rim Trail. The trail begins at the head of a huge chasm in the slickrock, Negro Bill Canyon. Leave it to the USGS maps to be behind the times in politically correct place names. The trail circles around the start of African-American William Canyon and cuts north across the mesa top to Porcupine Rim. 

Porcupine Rim is an immense horst-graben uplift escarpment overlooking Castle Valley. This scenic valley some 1500 feet below is a place of tidy farms and beautiful homes surrounded by castles of Sandstone monoliths and at least two fortress-shaped basaltic plugs from ancient volcanoes. The Porcupine Rim trail skirts the edge of the escarpment with plenty of opportunities for views from that scary first step; The walls of this uplift are vertical!

We had seen several listings for the trail, one even listing it as easy while another stated that part of it was difficult. Well, once again, the official Bureaucratic Organized Recreation In Natural Gulches (BORING) society didn't mention the collections of steps, staircases, and ledges to be climbed and descended on this trail. Going in, many of these are a simple as dropping over them. Coming out is a bit slower with lots of climbing step after step. Both of us got high centered in a couple of places and banged diffs from time to time. 

The verdict? This is an awfully fun trail for everybody! The "moby builts" can find things to their liking and it will be quite a challenging path for stock Explorers and should not be missed by those wanting to hone their driving skills. But everyone should have a great time, especially if there are some "Big Dogs" along with winches to aid the vertically challenged who haven't sprung for that lift kit yet. There were only a couple of places where our ARB lockers were needed, but maybe a different line of approach or a little more throttle might have gotten us through just fine. Certainly a tug of a tow strap or winch would solve any foreseen hang-ups. Bigger tires, at least 31x10.50s are probably a must though. Porcupine Rim is certainly on our list of recommendation and we would probably give it a 3, due to some of the obstacles that might cause some undercarriage or body damage. There are smooth parts of the trail, but much of it is rough and rocky with intermittent slickrock sections.

It was a pleasant day and much cooler at 6800 feet than down in Moab. The views of the monoliths, slickrock, and La Sal Mountains are breathtaking from Porcupine Rim. A light breeze came up mid-morning that made cruising great. Adding to the scenery were late wildflowers. Wild daisies, red trumpets, and others were just about spent, but the prickly pear cactus blossoms were just beginning to shout broad blossoms of bright yellow with pink centers. While taking some pictures, we came across a collared lizard: yellow head with a bright turquoise body separated by a distinctive tuxedo-like black collar. He let us get only so close, then rose up and as if he had a lift kit and hit supercharger speed. These are an uncommonly colorful lizards and prey on many smaller reptiles. They are a treat to see.

Coffee Pot Rock is a short diversion off the Porcupine Trail and we went in to look at this slickrock tea kettle. Just as we got there, Rick, while listening to Alan Parsons "Breakdown" on his CD player descended a steep hill of loose red silt and slammed a rock with his right front tire. Whoosh again! He had hit so hard that, while the tire hadn't burst, the wheel had dented the inside rim inward over an inch, causing the rim to make contact with the brake caliper and breaking the tire's inside bead. This called for more hot trail mechanics and some productive head scratching. The rig angle necessitated both a bottle jack and a high lift to get the rig and TTB axle high and level enough to get the wheel off. On went Rick's spare that had just been "trail tested tough" by Jack only the day before.

We decided it was now time for lunch under some shady pinyon pines next to Coffee Pot Rock. After quickly scarfing and water chugging, Rick later joined by Jack took a large hammer to the wheel and pounded the bent rim back to where it would hold pressure with only a minor bubbling of air. We figured if we got in trouble we could still air up frequently or stick a a small piece of a safety plug in the bead to hold a little better. Then at least we would still have two spares for the climb back out. 

With a three hour crawl/drive back to Moab and lots of staircases to climb on the Porcupine Rim Trail, we figured we had best get rolling. There were a couple of stops for more photos and to savor some of the staircase climbs, but late afternoon found us once again back at Chip's Grand Tire. From the jabber on the Channel 4, Chip was going to be seeing many more 'wheelers that afternoon! We heard of at least one badly bent rim and two more trashed tires on the way in. Chip worked us in to his always busy schedule almost right away. After a little more pounding and a liberal application of thick goopy bead sealer, the tire and wheel were one again! Chip didn't even charge for the service. So when you are in Moab, don't forget Chip's Grand Tire Co., 312 North Main. This is a testimonial, not an advertisement...they treat 'wheelers right! 

It was sweltering back in Moab so some more liquids and the swimming pool were again in order. We had to get some rest since we were getting prepared for Eddie McStiff's brewery that night. For those of you who haven't been to Moab, this is a resort and family town...lots of good restaurants, plenty of T-shirts for 'wheelers, kayaking and rafting on the Colorado River, hiking, sightseeing, golf, and certainly the American mecca for 4-wheelers and off-road bicycles. We saw a few on the trails and offered bikers and hikers water if they needed it. Most everyone was cordial about shared use of this beautiful canyon country. 

It is time to remember that 19 of the 26 major trails around Moab will close if the Utah Wilderness bill passes. That means closure to almost everyone, except those who hike. The National Park Service may allow 4-wheeling and mountain biking here and there, BUT it will no longer be the will of the people. It may be up to one, from time to time, capricious government bureaucracy that isn't favorably inclined toward any uses except seeming their own acquisition of more public land. This is big country...We would like to use 4WD to get back in, then use mountain bikes, and hike to scenic spots also. It is too far in a mostly waterless place for anyone but hardy youngsters to even attempt. Two youngsters on bikes died a couple years ago in one of the canyons we visited from lack of water. It takes more than just being hardy to see the beautiful landscape.

Off the soapbox and on to day three! We got an early start to the trailhead at Mill Creek, which flows into Moab. The trail goes by several names on several maps...Mill Creek, Steel Bender, and Flat Pass, to name a few. There are several side trails that loop into the slickrock or stay next to the creek. This babbling brook flows through perpendicular canyon walls and fringing cottonwoods. Pretty place. We were headed the full length of the trail to its exit near Ken's Lake. The trail follows a soft sand two-track path but climbs in and out of the canyon on staircases. Most have a drive around for stockers. 

Well, then there's this one staircase. Rick was already over the first part on a descent back toward the canyon when discretion was the better part of stupidity and he and I thought this one over. While staying with the herd is the reason we do this, we weren't a big enough herd for this drop off! I put the winch hook on his tail and kept it taut while he backed up one ledge. For  future runs a little rock piling (which has obviously been done there before) and a couple more "anchor" vehicles are in order.

No problem, we just drove a couple hundred feet back and to an eastern spur trail up into the higher slickrock. This trail turned out to be a real nice loop with a couple of gonzo rock climbs with great views of fins, monoliths, and peekaboo views of Moab in the distance. Rick traced the loop on his GPS and we spotted each other on some of the more gnarly rock ascents. It was a nice day. We would probably give this trail (Mill Creek East Fork Loop) a 3 rating, but there are some places where stockers will need some real help. We are beginning to believe that if you want to do Moab in a stock Explorer, larger tires are in order. We run 33s and certainly nothing short of a 31 would do this trail without undercarriage or body damage. Also, some good skid plates are in order, especially for the front diff. We banged these from time to time and the bare aluminum Dana 35s would not have liked it. Jack tested out his newly designed shock mount skid protectors and (shamelessly) recommends them! Well, he did find himself dragging them over rock from time to time and his shock survived the trauma.

We looped back into the canyon and came out the way we entered. On our way out we were surprised to see the same group of wheelers we had run into two days prior. We said hello, waved, and continued our departure. It almost looked like we were going to escape a tire/wheel or other disaster for the day, but it was not to be. Rick was doing some gnarly rig photography when he stepped wrong and his feet came right out from under him. Jack watched helplessly from his rig as Rick did a slow-mo backwards fall...right into a yucca and a prickly pear cactus. The next several minutes were spent extracting thorns and spines from Rick's back and arms, cleaning out the punctures, and treating with anti-bacterial ointment. For those of you who haven't danced with a yucca yet, they puncture like a hatpin and have just enough allergens to sting like fire and itch for days! A couple of these went in deep enough to break capillaries and caused nasty bruising, blackening a 3 inch area around the entrance point. Rick's good spirited though...Jack expected to learn some "new words" when it happened, but will have to stick with the old ones.

It was time for a very late lunch. Dust was blowing in the canyon and there was practically no shade, so we opted to head back to town  to take care of  our collective growling stomachs with some local grub in an air conditioned place. Hard to beat a good stream canyon and slickrock two track trail like Mill Creek.

Kinda' sad to head out the next morning. You could spend a lifetime in Moab and not see it all. There's so much more to see...waterfalls, dinosaur tracks, more arches, and slickrock monoliths of every conceivable shape! So let's see it. We hearby declare another Moab Run. Late Spring of Y2K sounds great...of course, if anybody's engine computer still works (that's supposed to be a joke). Well, we'll just have to wait and see...