Get Over It Off Road

A couple of us were itching to get out and do some exploration so we started to plan. We thought about going up to the Uintas but after calling the forest service for that area, we learned that there was still a lot of snow and the places that we had planned on exploring were closed. We changed our focus to the Logan area. With the location settled on Millville Canyon, plans began for the overnighter and what route we wanted to take.

Lately we have been getting to a camp site late and setting up in the dark, which makes it more difficult to setup. This time we planned ahead and left straight from the office. A two-hour drive put us in the canyon. This was a new area for both of us, so we didn’t know what the canyon had to offer for camping and trail conditions. To our surprise, we didn’t need to go that far into the canyon before we found a great spot. The site was a little off the trail, in fact it looked like the beginning of another trail. We could tell this site had been used before with the remains a fire ring set up and a couple good spots for tents.

Trees surrounded the site to help seclude the area from the trail and it had a steam running next to it. With our timely departure from Salt Lake, we had accomplished our goal on getting there before sunset, and we were able to set up camp just before the we lost the sunlight. Tents and other setup happened quickly, but to a couple of eager kids who couldn’t wait for smores to be made, the setup seemed to take forever. We cooked smores and had a peaceful evening.

The next day we had a good breakfast, tore down camp, and packed up the Jeeps for a full day of exploration. Our plan was to follow Millville Canyon and a couple of other roads to the Bear Lake area. A raspberry shake was sounding really good. The trail was fairly mild compared to our trips to Moab, the scenery was amazing, and we only passed a couple of other rigs. As we approached the point where Providence Canyon hooked into Millville Canyon, the trail became more muddy and snow-packed. After a couple of muddy / snowy sections I started to walk ahead to check the trail conditions. I found more snowpacks and a tree that had fallen across the trail. Because of the fallen tree and the having the kids with us, we thought it best to turn around and head back.

This was a great trip with some new scenery. The only setback we had was that we were really looking forward to those milk shakes!

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Our ambitions were high when we set our mind on the following days trail. As was mentioned before we had 11 rigs for Metal Masher, after a long day of carnage, we began our day on Pritchett Canyon with only 7 rigs. Half of us had run this trail before and thought we knew what was in store for us. As we started it was as enjoyable trail as ever, great drive through canyon walls and some small obstacles to build some confidence. Everything was going off without a hitch, until we reached “No Name Hill”. I was told thats what this hill was called, now I mentioned a few of us had been through this and did complete the trail a couple times. Even at the best of times it was a long day and you were worn out by the end. But as we approach this particular hill the likelihood of making it through this trail started to dwindle. Understand that this wasn’t a group of rigs that were in any way incapable, but with the jeeps in our group that day we would have simply been turned back at this point had it not been for the buggy that joined us.

There are multiple major obstacles on this trail and even more that will soon become major obstacles. In all we had to winch up 6 different climbs. This was by far the most technical trail run I personally have ever done. Multiple times we wound up using multiple winch points to keep a jeep from rolling over, it was a different beast all together. After you reach the top of “No Name Hill” you will appear by the map to be about half of the way through the trail, do not be fooled, you are hours away from completion. You will carry on and there are many ledges to drop off and climb up, many of which require a spotter to keep you safely from the ledge and getting tippy. Rocker Knocker is the next major bump in the road. We managed to get the buggy up with no winch, but the rest of us needed the winch even on the bypass. Moving past that we thought we were in the clear until reaching the rock pile which we knew would be a challenge. We didn’t even make it that far before running into more obstacles requiring a winch. It really felt like it was one thing after another on this trail.

Finishing this trail even with all the help still felt like an accomplishment. Amazingly we got the Buggy through the trail without one winch cable on him. We had no breakage and all in all a great time. If you’re going to run this trail you have 2 options, have 4 vehicles out fitted with winches and well built, or have a Buggy with 120 inch Wheelbase and 44 inch tires, with front and rear steer. By the time we were done it was evident why they have recently changed the rating system, on the old system this would put any 4+ trail to shame. If you’re feeling brave go have a fun challenging day, but pack lunch and dinner, plan for a solid 8-10 hour day and have fun jeepin!

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We recently planned a long weekend in Moab to run a couple of trails. The first trail we hit was Metal Masher. We met down at the unloading area just off the highway, and when we did a final count, our group included 11 rigs. We all met up, some introductions were made, aired down our tires, and prepared for the day. Among us, there were some small kids as well, while preparing, they played in the sand and on an old rail car that sits near the railroad tracks at the unloading area. It was shaping to be a great day with mostly cloudy skies and not too hot. I was particularly excited since it was the maiden voyage for my jeep on some real Moab trails.

We soon left and headed up the trail, an easy dirt road that takes you to a variety of different trails in this area, including Metal Masher. We planned this I think as a preparation and a test for our rigs for day 2; we planned to run Pritchet Canyon, a far more challenging trail. Metal Masher is a trail that has some good obstacles to tackle, many of which are optional, so all in all it’s a fairly simple trail if you want it to be. What happened on this fairly simple trail however, wasn’t at all what we hoped for. We unfortunately ended up having more than a few stops for breakage, and I think the hardest part about it was that none of it was from attempting the obstacles that Metal Masher offers. It seemed like it was the first real trail of the year for most, and to their dismay, many ended up working out bugs on the trail from both winter modifications or from just sitting for the entire cold season.

We came upon the first obstacle which I believe is called Sand Ledge. I was near the beginning of our line of off-roaders and watched some good attempts at climbing it; the only one I saw make it up was the one buggy that came with us. It’s one of the largest I’ve seen, and it walked up without any real issues. Again the kids enjoyed playing in the sand while we watched more of the daring try and tackle the ledge.

When everyone caught up, we continued on with more trail and more downtime. We did enjoy watching the daring tackle the other challenges like Rock Chucker, Mirror Gulch, and the Climb Challenge with a lot more success than the first obstacle. No one to my knowledge ventured over to Widow Maker. I wished I was bolder in the obstacles I took on, but it was my jeep’s first challenging voyage of both the season and first ever since I just acquired my rig last November. I had nightmares of severe damage and breakage which would hinder my jeeping adventures after only the first outing during springtime. I am however getting more confident in what my jeep is capable of and look forward to tackling some of those big challenges in the future.

The day ended up being longer than expected, the smaller kids were getting restless, and unfortunately the rigs with small kids pressed forward through others’ breakage and downtime, leaving a good portion of the group behind. Even with the slow travel, it really was a great day. We had fun, tackled some good obstacles, the kids had fun playing, it was good weather, and you can’t ask for much more than that.

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For those of you who were unaware, May 8th 2010 it was the 3rd annual “National Go Topless Day”. It isn’t much more than it sounds. Just grab your Jeep and take the top off for the first time of the year to celebrate. Clubs from all over the Country get together to do a trail run, have a BBQ, or just go for a cruise topless. We got together and made our way to a park to have lunch and plan some upcoming outings. We kept an eye on the sky as some dark clouds were headed our way but the weather cooperated just long enough. Each year “Go Topless Day” gets a little bit more popular. Keep an eye out for “Go Topless Day” 2011. Take a drive around town or participate with a local club and make sure to spread the word for next year.

For the last 3 years I keep telling myself I need to put my Jeep in this show. Well this year was not the year for it, maybe next year.
It was very cold but no rain which made it bearable. If you missed it here are some photos that I took. You can also check out the Teraflex siteHERE.

Snakes March 201016 pictures

Yes indeed we did once again take a quick day trip out to the trails for a nice afternoon of mudslinging. Now, let’s be clear, we didn’t go looking for mud. But man did we find it. With a trip to Moab on the horizon we knew we had to get a trip somewhere to test out the winter modifications. And let’s face it, what other good little boulder crawl areas are around at less than an hour drive?
The day started with some relatively nice weather considering how early in the year it is, not to mention the 4 inches of snow that fell the day before in the valley. But we weren’t going to be deterred again. Thankfully as we got further out toward the trail the snow faded and had virtually disappeared by the time we reached the parking area. I will say the fun thing about the group we had among many things, was everyone but one drove their Jeeps to the trail. So there was no down time for unloading and such. We took a quick minute to shake hands with some new comers and some old friends that we had been separated from by the winter. Then it was time to hit the trail. Our intent was to find a newer trail we had heard of in the area. Obviously we were excited to tread some new terrain we had not yet seen. But first we tackle the Rattlesnake Trail. We had a good group of vehicles that were plenty capable for such a trail. So we saw little to no hang ups on that one, our only concern was with the mud and a newer JK and a nice Cherokee that we would get into some rocker action. This did not prove to be an issue at all, we did have a great opportunity to see how various tires work at full pressure in the mud and on the rocks. We were excited to get a glimpse at the KM2 in this type of terrain; I think it is safe to say we weren’t disappointed. The Rattlesnake as always provided us some fun challenges and allowed us to get that wheelin’ monkey off our back. We moved onto the hunt for the next trail after a quick lunch… I use the term loosely, mine and my kids lunch consisted of Cheddar and Sour Cream chips and Mike and Ikes. I guess that is how it goes when the wife doesn’t come along and enforce logic.

We are affectionately dubbing this other trail the “Phantom Trail”. Simple to the fact that we couldn’t find it. So, on the very vague instructions that we were given on a prior trip, we headed out in search of the new trail. We went this way and that way and eventually found ourselves on a trail that eventually became only wide enough for a 4 Wheeler. It looked promising at the time, we tried a couple other brief options and eventually gave up after about 45 minutes of searching. We figured it would be better served to do the search on a day with less of a group. I will tell you what we did find, all that snow that we had seen earlier. Of course it was in the form of Mud by this point. Now anyone who does their own work on their Jeep only makes the mistake of playing in the mud once. Nothing better than the next time you turn a wrench on your jeep and get a mouthful of dirt. But hey, who could resist messing around in the mud, no top, kids in the back seat, once again no wife to enforce logic. Oh yeah, we played in the mud and boy was it a good time, until I got home of course. After a quick trip over to “Waynes World” to see if anyone was crazy enough to try it in the current conditions we were pretty much wrapped up. Due to a couple members that ran with open axles and the muddy condition we decided to fore go the Constrictor for today.

All in all we had a good time with some good people. Have we been there already a time or two? Sure. Is it the last time we will go? No way! Sometimes you go just to get out, and remind the kids after a long winter that there is more out there than TV. Hope to see you on the trail, thanks for reading!!!

Five Mile Pass 200922 pictures

Yet a couple more trips out to Rattle Snake and Constrictor where we wheeled with some other local guys, we are planning another trip out there to run a third trail that we were not aware of. We will definitely update the site with details of this third trail. This fall we made our third and final trip to Moab for the year. We had a great group of wheelers with 5 rigs.

Hells Revenge 200916 pictures

Once again we were working with some fresh blood on the trails and were excited to get them out. Every new wheeler who comes to Moab for the first time is always shocked at what their Jeeps will do and what will be asked of them. Seeing them makes it new again for all of us. We did a couple gut check trails. We took them out to experience the steep climbs of Hells Revenge, and the constant challenges of Gold Bar Rim and the Spike (to the crack and back).

Gold Bar / Golden Spike 200943 pictures

These are popular trails that many of you have been on so I will with hold the details. It was a fun trip with some enjoyable camping and fun. As we do on every trip to Moab, we enjoyed the overall atmosphere as well as the local Italian Restaurant that is easily the best food in the city. Fall was brief but we still made some time for a couple trips before the vehicles go under the knife for the winter.

American Fork 200924 pictures

Summer arrived with a quick overnighter trip up American Fork Canyon, this was a great chance to introduce 3 new enthusiasts and their families to the jeep world. While the trails don’t offer a ton in challenges they do get you into some of the most beautiful back county around. If you enjoy green then this is where you want to go. The cool nights make for great camping and the high altitude makes for comfortable wheeling (and grumpy carburetors). We went through the rock garden and made a visit up to Forest Lake (stay out of the mud hole if you want to keep these trails open). We also witnessed another local off-road club volunteering some time in trail repairs and we plan to sign up with them for next year. All in all a fun quick trip out.

We also made a trip to Moab (I know brave right) for the second time this year. We couldn’t have been more lucky, it was abnormally cool so we enjoyed 85 degrees most of the time! This trip out was with a much smaller group, it was a makeup trip that took the place of the Rubicon that unfortunately had to be postponed until next year.

Poison Spider 200916 pictures

So with the couple of us that made it, we did a fun training run on a great trail Poison Spider. This is a popular trail that has fun obstacles for both new and experienced drivers with various challenges from fin climbs to tipsy climbs and straddling a crevasse. Always a fun trail!

Kane Creek 20098 pictures

On the second day we did Kane Creak, wow what a mess that trail was. The trail, that spring had been caught up in a flash flood and there was debris literally 10+ feet up the trees that remained. The trail was extremely hard to navigate since it had a completely new look from the flood. It was still a fun run and the last climb out of the ravine proved very difficult. A fun trail that is going to require some work to get back to normal. A fun productive summer!!

Knowing it is against the Jeep way, I admit we skipped EJS (Easter Jeep Safari). We had had enough of the snow by this time and we knew what Mother nature had in store for those participants, so we made our trip for a couple weeks later during “Car Show” weekend. A fantastic trip and an excellent time to go if you are through and through a gear head, beautiful cars and there seems to be a mutual interest in our rigs as well. Best of all the trails are mostly clear with no run restrictions, or hours of waiting when you catch a safari group who “own the trail”. We went on two trails this trip (attempted 3 but mechanical failure prevented that) first was Flat Iron Mesa and second was Cliff Hanger. Apparently we were all in the mood to ride along the canyon rim and get that ole’ heart rate up as you lean a bit over a 1000 foot drop.

Flat Iron Mesa 20096 pictures

Flat Iron Mesa is a pretty fun trail with some pretty good obstacles depending on how built your rig is. It is rated at a 4 but I would say more of the enjoyment comes from some of the views than the obstacles. I will say this for the trail if you don’t like heights then you may want to steer clear. But overall worth it!

Cliff Hanger 200911 pictures

Cliff hanger is one of my personal favorites and provided us with much more of a challenge, still being rated at 4 it has a lot more frequent obstacles and arrives at great view of a canyon. This is an in and out trial meaning you will at some point have to turn around and come back out.

We ran both of these trails with a good solid group of 6 rigs all well built and possibly overbuilt for these trails, but hey it’s about getting out there! So that covers our major trail run for spring but not our only, our other trip was the maiden voyage for a couple vehicles that we tested out closer to home on the Rattle Snake and Constrictor trails.

And lastly in support of “Go Topless Day” (we are a family club) we did a run up the canyon for nothing more than a picnic and get some miles on the jeeps. The year was off to a great start!!

What a year for the Get Over It club, we gained some members and lost none, went through a couple build ups and a couple tear downs. We saw the rise and fall of a CJ-7 and the resurrection of an old Orange friend (74 Bronco). More importantly we got out of the garage this year and used our rigs, even if it was just a day trip on a picnic up the canyon or a trip to Moab to use and abuse our latest modifications. We got out there and drove our rigs and shared our dreams about the things we will do to our toys. Face it, most of our time is spent planning what we will do, just to change our minds within the same conversation. I know more than one of you just chuckled to yourself because you know what I say is true…. Just ask my wife.

We had a fun year and are very excited for all of our new members, and many more events next year. We will have multiple trips to Moab and look forward to exploring new areas to us, we will also be including some service time on the trails and a food drive toward the end of the year. Thanks to all of those who participated, and to Doug for doing all of the footwork getting this site up and running. Thanks for reading and see you on the trails.

We will be adding more features to the site that will include trail reviews and GPS coordinates and more. Please check back for the Spring Summer and Fall 2009 reviews.