On Safari… In Moab!

The Aughey’s went on safari in early April! Truth be told, not the kind of safari one imagines going on in Africa….but one that entailed adventure, excitement, exploring and danger! April 4th-11th was the 2009 Annual Easter Jeep Safari weekend in Moab, Utah where literally thousands of “Jeepers” converged in Moab to hit the trails. Art, Rita and Brandon decided to check it out with their own Jeep of course!

Moab is a small town flanked by several national parks such as Arches and Canyonlands and other public lands where the terrain is akin to what one would expect to find on planet Mars. In fact, many of the old western movies were filmed in Moab back in the day due to its arid yet beautiful scenery. The soil is red sand and various arid plants such as sage, yucca, grasses and cacti grow. The Colorado River runs through the parks and canyons that dot the area.

Much of the public land in Utah is managed as National Parks or by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) as public spaces. Utah promotes a “Tread Lightly” campaign to protect the fragile desert ecosystems on its public lands while still allowing access for all to enjoy. In many of the areas one can see dinosaur tracks left millions of years ago preserved in the rock ground cover. Additionally the area is inhabited by Cyanobacteria. Previously called blue-green algae, it is one of the oldest known life forms. It is thought that these organisms were among the first land colonizers of the earth’s early land masses, and played an integral role in the formation and stabilization of the earth’s early soils. Many human activities such as hiking, biking and off-roading are incompatible with the well-being of the cryptobiotic soils and the preservation of ancient fossil records such as dinosaur tracks. Hence, strict enforcement regarding staying on the designated trails is in place.

4/9/09 Thursday PM – Art, Rita and Brandon checked into their hotel, the Gonzo Inn. It was recommended by the book, “1000 Places to See Before You Die.” Then they went to the Spanish Trail Arena to register for their trails on Friday and Saturday. They chose the “Fins and Things” trail for Friday and the “Flat Iron Mesa” trail for Saturday. There were hundreds of Jeeps congregated in the parking lot and many vendors selling their wares. Most of the Jeeps were modified, meaning after-factory parts were added such as huge off-road tires suitable for rock crawling, suspension lifts, winches, etc. Lots of those Jeeps had $50,000 or more in them after parts were added – no cheap hobby!

4/10/09 Friday AM – Art, Rita and Brandon packed their Jeep with the necessary essentials for a day on the trail (lunch, drinks, etc.) and met over 50 other Jeepers at the Gravel Pit Bowling Alley in Moab. Once all the drivers received their instructions and were versed on the rules of the trails all headed out in single file to the trail head of “Fins and Things.” This trail is rated 4 on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being most difficult. Not a bad first trail to start with, especially since Rita has little tolerance of doing damage to their $40,000 modified Jeep. Brandon was the designated driver for the day. Interestingly, to ride with Brandon off-road is much less scary than riding with him on highways or city streets!

The “Fins and Things” trail is named as such because the “fins” are Navajo Sandstone slick-rock northeast of Moab, and the “things” are what remains as the fins erode. The fins started as wind-blown sand dunes roughly 200 million years ago, they got cemented into sandstone, and are now going full circle back to sand flowing in the wind.

The trail opened with a sand hill featuring a sharp turn that thwarted the high-speed approach often needed in sand. There were a few sudden and steep climbs on and off the slick-rock that were difficult for vehicles not suited for the terrain. But all made it up and down the trail. Several less modified Jeeps had a rough time getting up the slopes, slipping back and having to try again. Some of the climbs were more than 45 degree angles….a little scary. Trail spotters were on the sidelines assisting the drivers with directions to ensure a successful climb. Tipping or rolling over was a certain possibility if the climb wasn’t done correctly. At times all that could be seen out of the windshield was blue sky, no trail!

Particularly interesting was a section of the trail called Ken’s Climb where Art and Brandon slowly took the Jeep up while Rita took photos of the climb. (Or was this Rita’s excuse for not braving the climb??) Fortunately the slick-rock was no match for the Jeep…it had NO problem making the climb or the steep descent!

The views from the trail were exceptionally scenic. The Navajo mounds and fins themselves were interesting, and the deep canyon system of Negro Bill added a special dimension to the trip. Farther to the east were red mesa rims at the base of the snow-covered La Sal Mountains with peak elevations of over 13,000 feet. The area is a high plain of slick-rock domes, bowls and fins. The landscape was largely dotted with sage bushes and yucca plants, lending a green sea of plant life against the red backdrop of the sandstone soil…it was an incredibly breathtaking view that can only be seen from the trails. Not many get to see these views.

The trail took approximately 6-7 hours to complete with intermittent stops to help cool the brakes on the Jeeps. Ladies, one might wonder about what one does when nature calls on the trail? No fear, there were a few breaks in the day for bathroom breaks at one of the few campsite portable facilities. Incidentally, there were several ladies who were in the drivers seat on the trail doing a fantastic job navigating the harrowing obstacles…just goes to show that some women drivers really are crazy as most men seem to think!

The last part of the “Fins and Things” trail was a series of steep climbs and 12”-16” high step-ledges that had to be traversed. These are typically not so easy, but when coupled with the fact that there was loose gravel and sand on the trail…it was difficult to stay calm and focused. However, Brandon did an exceptional job driving. However, this particular trail was only practice for the Saturday trail!

4/11/09 Saturday AM – Final day of the 2009 Easter Jeep Safari. The destination was “Flat Iron Mesa” trail which was rated 5 (one level of difficulty higher than “Fins and Things “). Since it was raining this particular day they imagined the difficulty rating must be higher just for that fact. “Flat Iron Mesa” is bounded on three sides by three different canyons affording spectacular views from the trail.

The trail started out with a series of step-ledges, rocks and small climbs which eventually led to larger climbs. The trail wound around steep canyon drops which offered spectacular views of red-rimmed mesas and large expanses of desert scenery. Before they knew it there was a difficult climb obstacle to hurdle. The incline was really steep and Brandon had to position the tires straight away giving just the right amount of gas to get the Jeep up the climb. Many of the vehicles were having difficulty and had to slide back and try again.

More trail, more climbs, they seemed to keep coming. Each one seemed more difficult than the last. There was a long climb to a flat-top butte with a loose mixture of coarse gravel and dirt that was made more difficult with a few large boulders.

Then there was a section of trail where the road seemed to end and they were faced with climbing a slick-rock hill up and then down. One of the lady Jeepers in front got a wheel stuck in a rut and had to be pulled out by a fellow Jeeper.

After an unplanned stop they approached a long ledgy downhill climb overlooking West Coyote Canyon where Brandon had some difficulty getting the Jeep down but did manage it. The ledge was roughly an 8 foot sheer drop that had to be navigated very slowly and carefully. They later found out that a fellow Jeeper in front of them actually rolled their Jeep twice trying to make the drop, thus the cause for the unplanned stop! (Fortunately the Jeep had a roll-cage and it was not harmed and nor were the passengers.)

The next obstacle on the trail was a hill named Easter Egg Hill. There was a bypass that Jeepers could use if they didn’t want to go down the hill. Only a few of the non-modified vehicle drivers opted for the bypass. Rita ran ahead to set up the camera at the bottom of the hill to take sequence shots of Brandon coming down. She was horrified when she saw the Jeepers before Brandon coming down the hill! The hill started with a huge boulder that had to be navigated over. One Jeeper teetered on the boulder and had to be pushed off. Others tilted sideways and did body damage when their vehicle slammed against the side of a right-facing boulder. Art and other drivers tried to minimize damage by assisting drivers away from that boulder. There were two other areas down the hill where huge boulders had to be driven over. Needless to say, it took patience and skill. Brandon traversed it like a pro with assistance from Art and another driver spotting and guiding him down the hill. No damage to their Jeep!!

The last obstacle was a narrow shelf called The Squeeze that required a tight turn. This wouldn’t have been so bad except that the shelf was a harrowingly narrow section on a cliff edge that barely allowed a full-size vehicle to pass. In addition, the shelf was laden with rocks that had to be traversed carefully. This is where event spotters were in place to assist Jeepers across the shelf and around the turn as one wrong move would send the vehicle and passengers careening down the canyon thousands of feet below. As Brandon and Art were driving across Rita took photos. The Jeep tires were only inches from the cliff edge and were teetered on rocks. Thank goodness this was the last obstacle of the course!

This was certainly enough adventure for one weekend! While this safari had all the makings of adventure, excitement and danger it was nice to return home safe, sound and unscathed minus a few scrapes to the undercarriage of the Jeep thanks to Brandon’s expert off-road driving skills! Moab is a magical place.