Well good old Dave figured he just had to see how his Mexican Low Rider Rubi would do on a the trail compared to his million mile, mashed, bashed and abused YJ that was sitting back home. Dave didn't want just any trail but one with some serious fourwheeling. I was hoping for an easy day to find out what slickrock was like and get used to sitting in this bucket of a Jeep. Having owned a short wheel base Willys for so long I am not used to climbing up steep hills. I am also used to being able to see three tires at any given time. Sitting so low in the TJ with a big dashboard and full doors was quite different.
We met up with one of Dave's buddies called Dave from Grand County (all of Dave's buddies are called Dave in Utah - strange but easy to remember their names). and off we went to Fins and Things. Fins and Things is a 4 rated trail on a scale of 5. The Fins started as wind-blown sand dunes some 200 million years ago, they got cemented into sandstone, and they are now going full circle back to sand blowing in the wind. We spent the morning traversing some of the steepest damn boulders I ever did see. Old stuff to Dave and Dave but quite different to me. It was unbelievable how well the tires gripped the slickrock. Some of the 9.8 miles of trail left you with absolutely no room for error. The Fins can get mighty tall and mighty narrow in places. The picture to the right shows Dave about to drive off one of the fins. The Red Rock Four Wheelers quite often draw white lines on the rocks. You absolutely have to drive between the lines or you end up rubber side up with a serious head ache not to mention a hefty fine for bringing the rent-a-Jeep back with dents.
In the afternoon it was off to Hell's Revenge, another 4 rated trail, but this one had even more pucker factor obstacles. The start alone was enough to stop Dave talking (a rare moment in the life of a Dave). Just another fin to traverse but stop concentrating and start sightseeing and the day is over very quickly. Hell's Revenge is the Red Rock Four Wheeler's premier Slickrock trail. It is close to 8 miles in length and takes the Easter Safari a whole day to complete but with just 3 Jeeps we covered the trail in just over 3 hours.
The trails starts at 4625 feet but you are changing altitude every few minutes with a low of 4472 feet and a high of 4762 feet. Photos just can't do this trail or any part of our trip justice. After a few hours you get used to drop offs but it is still very intense wheeling.
We did a quick side trip to take a look at the Colorado River. Not to damn shabby.
My true initiation came when we reached "Tip Over Challenge". Dave, my expert spotter brought me up a tad to close to the wall and the Jeep lifted the front wheel very quickly and started to go over backwards. Fortunately Dave and Dave were within inches of the front bumper and grabbed the Jeep before she went over. Luckily Dave had consumed enough beer and pizza the night before that his weight alone standing on the bumper was enough to hold down the Jeep while the other Dave grabbed a strap and his Jeep to get me over the challenge. The adrenalin rush to the heart made me think it was all over for a few minutes.
Dave and Dave had introduced me to slickrock and Moab. I just about died from fear but they just about died from busting a gut laughing.
It was time for beer, more beer and some good chow.