Project-JK Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 Trail Run Photos
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Joined: Jul 2006
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From: Laguna Niguel, CA
Project-JK Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 Trail Run Photos
Of all the trips we plan every year, I would have to say that the Moab Easter Jeep Safari is by far one of my favorites. If nothing else, it is the one time of year that I can meet up with good friends and members of this forum from all over the country and wheel some of the most beautiful and technical trails in the world. Anyway, here are some highlight pics from our trip.
The Journey Begins
With people coming from all parts of California, our SoCal convoy decided to meet up at the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, it being SGT. EVIL's birthday, most of us decided to come up the night before and party it up in their suite...
Here's fish pouring up a Bee Sting for SGT. EVIL...
Everyone saying their hellos the next morning in the Silverton parking lot...
Doing some last minute maintenance on toad's JK before heading out...
The SoCal Convoy lined up and ready to roll...
Day 1 - Steel Bender Trail
After a hell of a long drive, we arrived in Moab late into the night and was pleasantly surprised to see a light blanket of snow across our roof and lawn the next morning....
Piginajeep and JackMac4 meeting up with us before heading out for our first run of EJS....
Before heading out, we decided to do a last minute caster adjustment to JackMac4's JK...
Our first choice of trails was going to be Behind the Rocks. Here we are lined up in an unusual amount of snow for April...
Here's MRS. EVIL striking a pose with her new JK Girls T-shirt...
JeepCacher checking his new Moab map to get an idea of what's to come...
Assessing the first real obstacle on the trail. As you can see, it was covered in snow, frozen mud and slick ice....
Here we are giving it a go in spite of the less than favorable conditions...
After making several attempts, we decided that the trail might be a bit much for a few in our group and so we made our way back down....
Unfortunately, my front locker decided to freeze up on me and in the locked position and so this made driving and making turns on the road just about impossible. Needless to say, I was forced to carefully make may back back to the condo and at the very least, manually disengage it. And, while I was hard at work under my JK, others got a chance to do a little rocking out on Guitar Hero....
By the time I got my locker situated and back in action, it was well past noon. However, we all decided to still do another run and so we headed out to Steel Bender. Here we are lined up at the trailhead....
Coming down the first obstacle, JeepCacher surprised all of us with the very difficult line he decided to take resulting in a gravity defying wheel hang....
Here's MBATF working his way up the first ledge on the trail. The soft sandy base isn't much help...
JackMac4 working the same obstacle....
SGT. EVIL slowly climbing his way up the trail...
A shot just as JeepCacher makes it up this inverted ledge and his engine stalls....
Unfortunately, this caused him to roll back off and made him have to give it another go. And, on his next attempt, he barber polled his rear drive shaft....
But, as luck would have it, David from Northridge4x4 just happend to give me a call letting me know that he just pulled in town and was good enough to inform me that he brought some extra Coast 1310 shafts with him. Needless to say, WOLette, Trail Bud and MBATF headed back out to pick up the shaft and while they were gone, the rest of us focused our efforts on pulling the old shaft. 2 hours later, the new shaft was installed and we were ready to finish up the trail....
Back in business, Bullfrog decides to give this ledge a go...
On the next big obstacle, Piginajeep slipped off his line, fell into a deep rut and left him hanging in a real nice way....
After giving it some thought, we decided to just winch him up. Here's Trail Bud setting him up...
Here's Trail Bud showing how much easier it is to climb this obstacle in a 4-door....
Taking a detour across the back of a small fin....
Making our approach to the big drop at night....
Standing on the edge looking at what we're about to drop off...
MBATF making his drop off the ledge. Fortunately, his el cheapo $15 WalMart rock lights helped me out big time to spot him down and amazingly, they didn't even screw up my night vision
Here's a shot of JeepCacher from behind as he made his plunge...
Here's JackMac4 getting a little support from Trail Bud....
Bullfrog getting ready to make his drop...
And finally, making our way up the wizards steps before running out of batteries...
If you would like to see TONS more pics from our trip up to Moab or from our first day wheeling on the Steel Bender Trail, simply click on the links below:
Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 - The Journey Begins Photo Gallery
Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 - Day 1 Steel Bender Trail
See below for pics!!
The Journey Begins
With people coming from all parts of California, our SoCal convoy decided to meet up at the Silverton Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. And, it being SGT. EVIL's birthday, most of us decided to come up the night before and party it up in their suite...
Here's fish pouring up a Bee Sting for SGT. EVIL...
Everyone saying their hellos the next morning in the Silverton parking lot...
Doing some last minute maintenance on toad's JK before heading out...
The SoCal Convoy lined up and ready to roll...
Day 1 - Steel Bender Trail
After a hell of a long drive, we arrived in Moab late into the night and was pleasantly surprised to see a light blanket of snow across our roof and lawn the next morning....
Piginajeep and JackMac4 meeting up with us before heading out for our first run of EJS....
Before heading out, we decided to do a last minute caster adjustment to JackMac4's JK...
Our first choice of trails was going to be Behind the Rocks. Here we are lined up in an unusual amount of snow for April...
Here's MRS. EVIL striking a pose with her new JK Girls T-shirt...
JeepCacher checking his new Moab map to get an idea of what's to come...
Assessing the first real obstacle on the trail. As you can see, it was covered in snow, frozen mud and slick ice....
Here we are giving it a go in spite of the less than favorable conditions...
After making several attempts, we decided that the trail might be a bit much for a few in our group and so we made our way back down....
Unfortunately, my front locker decided to freeze up on me and in the locked position and so this made driving and making turns on the road just about impossible. Needless to say, I was forced to carefully make may back back to the condo and at the very least, manually disengage it. And, while I was hard at work under my JK, others got a chance to do a little rocking out on Guitar Hero....
By the time I got my locker situated and back in action, it was well past noon. However, we all decided to still do another run and so we headed out to Steel Bender. Here we are lined up at the trailhead....
Coming down the first obstacle, JeepCacher surprised all of us with the very difficult line he decided to take resulting in a gravity defying wheel hang....
Here's MBATF working his way up the first ledge on the trail. The soft sandy base isn't much help...
JackMac4 working the same obstacle....
SGT. EVIL slowly climbing his way up the trail...
A shot just as JeepCacher makes it up this inverted ledge and his engine stalls....
Unfortunately, this caused him to roll back off and made him have to give it another go. And, on his next attempt, he barber polled his rear drive shaft....
But, as luck would have it, David from Northridge4x4 just happend to give me a call letting me know that he just pulled in town and was good enough to inform me that he brought some extra Coast 1310 shafts with him. Needless to say, WOLette, Trail Bud and MBATF headed back out to pick up the shaft and while they were gone, the rest of us focused our efforts on pulling the old shaft. 2 hours later, the new shaft was installed and we were ready to finish up the trail....
Back in business, Bullfrog decides to give this ledge a go...
On the next big obstacle, Piginajeep slipped off his line, fell into a deep rut and left him hanging in a real nice way....
After giving it some thought, we decided to just winch him up. Here's Trail Bud setting him up...
Here's Trail Bud showing how much easier it is to climb this obstacle in a 4-door....
Taking a detour across the back of a small fin....
Making our approach to the big drop at night....
Standing on the edge looking at what we're about to drop off...
MBATF making his drop off the ledge. Fortunately, his el cheapo $15 WalMart rock lights helped me out big time to spot him down and amazingly, they didn't even screw up my night vision
Here's a shot of JeepCacher from behind as he made his plunge...
Here's JackMac4 getting a little support from Trail Bud....
Bullfrog getting ready to make his drop...
And finally, making our way up the wizards steps before running out of batteries...
If you would like to see TONS more pics from our trip up to Moab or from our first day wheeling on the Steel Bender Trail, simply click on the links below:
Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 - The Journey Begins Photo Gallery
Moab Easter Jeep Safari 2009 - Day 1 Steel Bender Trail
See below for pics!!
Thread Starter
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
Day 2 - Gold Bar Rim & Golden Spike Trail
Day 2 - Gold Bar Rim & Golden Spike Trail
For Day 2, we decided to make a run up Gold Bar Rim and across part of the Golden Spike Trail so that we could do the ever famous Golden Crack. Here are a few highlight pics from our run....
Here's a shot of the Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike and Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead sign....
JeepCacher working his way up the first ledge on the trail...
Everyone giving the 2nd and considerably taller ledge a look before making a stab at it....
Here's a shot of Chad showing everyone that you don't need lockers to get the job done...
MBATF making his way up...
Piginajeep making his way down some tall ledges with JeepCacher following behind...
A little much for 33" tires and a 2" BB, Chad ended up getting high centered and needed a push to get off....
With Trail Bud's son Ryan and the wheel, they make it down with ease...
Here's toad taking a moment before hopping down....
When it comes to drop offs like this, it sure is nice to have a 4-door....
Here's JackMac4 giving everyone a big smile after making his landing...
Piginajeep getting ready for the slide off....
Here's a shot of Chad that really gives good perspective as to how steep of a drop this ledge really is....
Here's a shot of Ryan up on top that shows you just how tall this thing really is. And here's the kicker, we go back up this thing later on and in the dark
...
Group shot close to the top...
Up on the rim and looking down at Hwy 191 and Arches National Monument way down below....
View looking the other way and out towards the LaSal Mountains...
Giving the Double Whammy a look before making our way down...
Driveline Graveyard....
JeepCacher making his way down...
Here's Piginajeep with both his front and rear tires on the crown of each step. Coming up this obstacle in a short wheelbase vehicle is the reason why the driveline graveyard exists....
Toad making her down...
Going over yet another big ledge...
Trail Bud giving his son Ryan a spot down....
JackMac4 and Trail Bud coming down....
Everyone making their way around the last turn before the Golden Crack...
Checking out the Golden Crack before working our way across it....
Piginajeep making his way across...
Trail Bud coming across...
toad getting some nice flex...
JackMac4 pushing his suspension to the limit...
MBATF making it across with ease...
Me coming back across...
JeepCacher making his way back across...
A final look back as the sun goes down and we head back to town....
Remember the big drop off we all had to come down, well, here we are heading back up it. Here's Piginajeep giving it several valiant attempts before getting winched up...
Even without lockers, Chad was able to get up this obstacle...
Of all the people I know, I'd have to say that toad has some of the best throttle control bar none. Here she is as she works her tires up and over this ledge....
And finally, here's JeepCacher as he's cresting the rim of this ledge and reminding everyone just how much he loves his new upgrades....
If you would like to see all the pics from our Day 2 trail run up Gold Bar Rim and out to the Golden Crack on the Golden Spike Trail, click on the link below:
Day 2 - Gold Bar Rim & Golden Spike Trail Photo Gallery
See below for more trail run pics of us in Moab
For Day 2, we decided to make a run up Gold Bar Rim and across part of the Golden Spike Trail so that we could do the ever famous Golden Crack. Here are a few highlight pics from our run....
Here's a shot of the Gold Bar Rim, Golden Spike and Poison Spider Mesa Trailhead sign....
JeepCacher working his way up the first ledge on the trail...
Everyone giving the 2nd and considerably taller ledge a look before making a stab at it....
Here's a shot of Chad showing everyone that you don't need lockers to get the job done...
MBATF making his way up...
Piginajeep making his way down some tall ledges with JeepCacher following behind...
A little much for 33" tires and a 2" BB, Chad ended up getting high centered and needed a push to get off....
With Trail Bud's son Ryan and the wheel, they make it down with ease...
Here's toad taking a moment before hopping down....
When it comes to drop offs like this, it sure is nice to have a 4-door....
Here's JackMac4 giving everyone a big smile after making his landing...
Piginajeep getting ready for the slide off....
Here's a shot of Chad that really gives good perspective as to how steep of a drop this ledge really is....
Here's a shot of Ryan up on top that shows you just how tall this thing really is. And here's the kicker, we go back up this thing later on and in the dark
...Group shot close to the top...
Up on the rim and looking down at Hwy 191 and Arches National Monument way down below....
View looking the other way and out towards the LaSal Mountains...
Giving the Double Whammy a look before making our way down...
Driveline Graveyard....
JeepCacher making his way down...
Here's Piginajeep with both his front and rear tires on the crown of each step. Coming up this obstacle in a short wheelbase vehicle is the reason why the driveline graveyard exists....
Toad making her down...
Going over yet another big ledge...
Trail Bud giving his son Ryan a spot down....
JackMac4 and Trail Bud coming down....
Everyone making their way around the last turn before the Golden Crack...
Checking out the Golden Crack before working our way across it....
Piginajeep making his way across...
Trail Bud coming across...
toad getting some nice flex...
JackMac4 pushing his suspension to the limit...
MBATF making it across with ease...
Me coming back across...
JeepCacher making his way back across...
A final look back as the sun goes down and we head back to town....
Remember the big drop off we all had to come down, well, here we are heading back up it. Here's Piginajeep giving it several valiant attempts before getting winched up...
Even without lockers, Chad was able to get up this obstacle...
Of all the people I know, I'd have to say that toad has some of the best throttle control bar none. Here she is as she works her tires up and over this ledge....
And finally, here's JeepCacher as he's cresting the rim of this ledge and reminding everyone just how much he loves his new upgrades....
If you would like to see all the pics from our Day 2 trail run up Gold Bar Rim and out to the Golden Crack on the Golden Spike Trail, click on the link below:
Day 2 - Gold Bar Rim & Golden Spike Trail Photo Gallery
See below for more trail run pics of us in Moab
Thread Starter
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
Day 3 - Tower Arch Scenic Trail
Day 3 - Tower Arch Scenic Trail
For our 3rd day in Moab, we decided to take it a bit easier and do a scenic trail run through Arches National Monument. While off roading is not permitted within the park, there is one moderated rated trail that takes you out to the Tower Arch and it is designated for 4WD vehicles. Needless to say, we didn't take a whole lot of wheeling pics but here are a few from our day out....
Here we are lined up in the Arches National Monument visitor center parking lot...
Taking in the outstanding view over at Park Avenue...
Making our way over to the Tower Arch...
Hiking out to the Tower Arch...
View of the Tower Arch from afar...
Shots from underneath the Tower Arch...
And finally, a moonrise over the Balanced Rock as we head back for town...
If you would like to see all the pics from our Day 3 excursion out to the Tower Arch, simply click on the link below:
Day 3 - Tower Arch Scenic Trail Photo Gallery
See below for more pics....
For our 3rd day in Moab, we decided to take it a bit easier and do a scenic trail run through Arches National Monument. While off roading is not permitted within the park, there is one moderated rated trail that takes you out to the Tower Arch and it is designated for 4WD vehicles. Needless to say, we didn't take a whole lot of wheeling pics but here are a few from our day out....
Here we are lined up in the Arches National Monument visitor center parking lot...
Taking in the outstanding view over at Park Avenue...
Making our way over to the Tower Arch...
Hiking out to the Tower Arch...
View of the Tower Arch from afar...
Shots from underneath the Tower Arch...
And finally, a moonrise over the Balanced Rock as we head back for town...
If you would like to see all the pics from our Day 3 excursion out to the Tower Arch, simply click on the link below:
Day 3 - Tower Arch Scenic Trail Photo Gallery
See below for more pics
....
Last edited by wayoflife; Apr 14, 2009 at 08:45 AM.
Thread Starter
JK-Forum Founder
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 36,534
Likes: 16
From: Laguna Niguel, CA
Day 6 - Metal Masher Trail
Day 4 of our stay in Moab was spent at the 2009 JK Jam Event at Area BFE and photos from it are posted in the Show & Tell Forum. For Day 5, we spent some time at the Vendor Show and then were going to do a run up Fins & Things with Off Road Evolution but my clutch blew out and so I had to spend the rest of the day working on it. Needless to say, Day 6 was the last of the wheeling we got to do and even that was short lived. Here are pics from our final day out on the trail.
Day 6 - Metal Masher Trail
Here's a shot of our group lined up in front of Gooney Bird Rock...
The Metal Masher Trailhead Sign...
Shot of JeepCacher, MBATF and Trail Bud exploring a part of the Alternate Route...
Trail Bud flexing his way over a crack with toad following close by....
Back on the main trail working our way up....
This is the inverted ledge that I blew out my rear drive shaft on last year. Everyone giving a hard look before giving it a try....
Here's couple shots of MBATF giving it his all....
In the end, the ledge proved to be too much and kept on sucking his passenger side rear tire underneath the lip. So, he went around to the other side and climbed up with little effort....
Here's a shot of WOLette giving it a go....
As you can see here, she able to get both rear tires got up and over the ledge but then I noticed her rear lockers weren't engaged and I unfortunately told her to stop....
Unsure of what was going on with our rear locker, we decided to back off and bypass this obstacle. Next up was Trail Bud. Here he is making his attempt...
On his 2nd attempt up, we heard a bang followed by loud buzz that could only be caused by a ring and pinion blowing out. But, just to make sure, we pulled him off to the side of the trail and did a quick check of his ARB diff cover dip stick. Unfortunately, we found this - a few chuncks of metal....
While we went to work on Trail Bud's Jeep, JeepCacher spotted his wife Jana up and over the more reasonable side of the ledge...
Using a lunch container toad had, we carefully drained the gear oil out and got ready to pull the cover to see what was going on....
Upon pulling the magnetic ARB drain plug, this is what we found - not good....
The only thing we could do from here was to pull the whole rear end apart and remove the damaged ring gear to prevent any further damage. Here are a few shots of what we did. First up, what the ring gear looked like...
MBATF using his Powertank to operate his impact wrench to remove the ring gear bolts....
Working on pulling the axles....
Trail Bud examining the ring gear....
Putting things back together again....
To prevent any front end damage, we strapped Trail Bud to help him up the steeper climbs out....
Foruntately, we were all able to make it out with ease and Trail Bud was able to get his Jeep into the Moab 4x4 Outpost who was able to get him fixed up by the next morning.
To see all the pics from our fateful trip up Metal Masher, click on the link below:
Day 6 - Metal Masher Trail Photo Gallery
I'd like to thank everyone who joined us out in Moab for the 2009 Easter Jeep Safari. Truly, without you, Moab wouldn't have been half as fun as it was for us. I'd also like to give special thanks to David at Northridge4x4 for feeding everyone dinner TWICE and for helping JeepCacher out in a pinch with the new drive shaft. And, I'd like to thank Full Traction Suspension for bringing out a set of adjustable rear upper control arms for JeepCacher and David (MBATF) from Alpha Expedition for being such a big help out on all our trail runs. You guys rock
Day 6 - Metal Masher Trail
Here's a shot of our group lined up in front of Gooney Bird Rock...
The Metal Masher Trailhead Sign...
Shot of JeepCacher, MBATF and Trail Bud exploring a part of the Alternate Route...
Trail Bud flexing his way over a crack with toad following close by....
Back on the main trail working our way up....
This is the inverted ledge that I blew out my rear drive shaft on last year. Everyone giving a hard look before giving it a try....
Here's couple shots of MBATF giving it his all....
In the end, the ledge proved to be too much and kept on sucking his passenger side rear tire underneath the lip. So, he went around to the other side and climbed up with little effort....
Here's a shot of WOLette giving it a go....
As you can see here, she able to get both rear tires got up and over the ledge but then I noticed her rear lockers weren't engaged and I unfortunately told her to stop....
Unsure of what was going on with our rear locker, we decided to back off and bypass this obstacle. Next up was Trail Bud. Here he is making his attempt...
On his 2nd attempt up, we heard a bang followed by loud buzz that could only be caused by a ring and pinion blowing out. But, just to make sure, we pulled him off to the side of the trail and did a quick check of his ARB diff cover dip stick. Unfortunately, we found this - a few chuncks of metal....
While we went to work on Trail Bud's Jeep, JeepCacher spotted his wife Jana up and over the more reasonable side of the ledge...
Using a lunch container toad had, we carefully drained the gear oil out and got ready to pull the cover to see what was going on....
Upon pulling the magnetic ARB drain plug, this is what we found - not good....
The only thing we could do from here was to pull the whole rear end apart and remove the damaged ring gear to prevent any further damage. Here are a few shots of what we did. First up, what the ring gear looked like...
MBATF using his Powertank to operate his impact wrench to remove the ring gear bolts....
Working on pulling the axles....
Trail Bud examining the ring gear....
Putting things back together again....
To prevent any front end damage, we strapped Trail Bud to help him up the steeper climbs out....
Foruntately, we were all able to make it out with ease and Trail Bud was able to get his Jeep into the Moab 4x4 Outpost who was able to get him fixed up by the next morning.
To see all the pics from our fateful trip up Metal Masher, click on the link below:
Day 6 - Metal Masher Trail Photo Gallery
I'd like to thank everyone who joined us out in Moab for the 2009 Easter Jeep Safari. Truly, without you, Moab wouldn't have been half as fun as it was for us. I'd also like to give special thanks to David at Northridge4x4 for feeding everyone dinner TWICE and for helping JeepCacher out in a pinch with the new drive shaft. And, I'd like to thank Full Traction Suspension for bringing out a set of adjustable rear upper control arms for JeepCacher and David (MBATF) from Alpha Expedition for being such a big help out on all our trail runs. You guys rock
Last edited by wayoflife; Apr 14, 2009 at 11:12 AM.
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JK Enthusiast
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 235
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From: Ohio
I had a great time wheeling with all of you this year! Coming over from driving a stretched Tj on 42's it was fun driving out from Ohio and seeing what a pretty much stock 4dr. Jk can do, then driving it home! I had plans to keep the Jk on a smaller lift with 35's and build a Yj I have in the garage but after this trip the 60's I have will be going under the Jk! The Jk was nice for the drive out and I think even on a 37" to 40" tire it will do fine on the road and off! Toad, thanks for the cb bracket! Eddie, thanks for the stickers! Now when it stops raining I'll have to get everything put on and the fenders trimmed!
