Moab UT Day1 Metal Masher & Seven Mile Rim 04-12-07
Another successful Moab Ut adventure for the record books. Moab has to be the most scenic and technical trail system in the country. The red mountains with the snow covered La Sal mountains in the background make outstanding for scenery around every corner. There is everything from mild to OMG wild. The town is very OHV friendly. In fact they encourage all types of outdoor activity, from hiking, biking, rock climbing to Jeeps, ATV's and motorcycles. Everywhere you go in town you see all types of vehicles.
The Outlaw bunch for this adventure were RoyD, Montanarider (Jim), Azgolfer (Jeff) Jeff Henson, Art, Robert, MD700 Mike and me Azquadrider (Don). We decided to leave Phoenix Wed afternoon so we could get to Moab by midnight. That way we would be able to get in 3 full days of riding. The plan was going well until Robert hit an Elk just outside of Monticello Ut. He saw 2 Elk on his side of the road. He tried to slow down and move over to the left but as he neared the Elk they jumped in front of his truck. He nailed the big one with the right front of his truck. Roy thought Oh Crap (and he wasn't even on the trail yet) the air bag is going to go off, but it did not. The Elk took the worst of it and was down for the count for at least 5 minutes. It then woke up and tried to get up but could not. A truck had pulled up and a guy got out and shot the beat up animal to put it out of it's misery. After some police reports they determined the truck was drivable so the continued into Moab. We arrived to find out the adventure had already started.
Ok so up early for breakfast at Moab Diner and time for the fun to begin. We changed today's trails because it was supposed to rain. The trails for this day will be Metal Masher and 7 mile Rim. Roy was dapper as usual. He won the best dressed contest. He has a t-shirt that looked like a tux plus he wore his dress suspenders. The day started out cloudy and on the cool side. Clouds do not make for the best photos but that was out of our control.
It didn't take long to find out why the trail was named Metal Masher as there were lots of steep ledges and drop-offs which was just what we were looking for. There was one nice little jump where I had the front up in the air. Azgolfer couldn't resist and had to try it as well, only thing is he hit it to fast instead of a bump on the throttle. He had all 4 wheels off the ground but came down on the 2 right side tires. He almost lost it and ran into me. I think that is enough of that for now. Right after that we came to an outstanding canyon. It would have been awesome with some rain because it would have had some big waterfalls. Lots more ups and down until we came to a big obstacle. The only way up this one would be with a winch although it did have a go around. Azgolfer said he wanted to winch up this spot until he got up close to it, so he backed out and I pulled up and winched up so I could make sure my winch was working properly. It was fun, plus we hooked on a rope for added safety. Shortly after this spot 5 mountain goats ran in front of us and down a sheer cliff like it was nothing.
Next up was 7 mile Rim. This is another very scenic trail with a few tough spots thrown in to keep your attention. There are a couple of places where you come to an overlook where you can see for what seems like 100 + miles. We did a short side trip to an arch where we came upon some Tomcars. I walked on top of the arch for a different view. We came to one over look where there was a good size crack. There was some comment about a bush and a crack I don't remember exactly. There were lots of Royism's along the trail. I should have taken a pen and paper to record them. There was one spot where Roy straddled a crack, got off his quad and pulled himself along under his machine. I think he really was doing an oil change. That guy is a nut. He also tried to go through the crack with the left tires in the bottom. Not a good move, but he did clean up the sidewalls of his tires. We came to an area with some fun slick rock to play on. There was one spot that was Azgolfer's favorite. It was very off camber which he really likes, but Roy came to his rescue again as his outrigger. This area is right by Wipe out hill. It is a very nasty hill that is not doable by quad unless you want to winch a long way which we did not.
These 2 trails together are a blast. Excellent scenery plus some good technical places to test both rider and machine.
Day 1 ended with 8 riders kicking the trails butt!!!!! No roll overs, no break downs and all smiles. Teamwork is what is needed for the trails of Moab and there is no better team out there than ours.
Read MoreThe Outlaw bunch for this adventure were RoyD, Montanarider (Jim), Azgolfer (Jeff) Jeff Henson, Art, Robert, MD700 Mike and me Azquadrider (Don). We decided to leave Phoenix Wed afternoon so we could get to Moab by midnight. That way we would be able to get in 3 full days of riding. The plan was going well until Robert hit an Elk just outside of Monticello Ut. He saw 2 Elk on his side of the road. He tried to slow down and move over to the left but as he neared the Elk they jumped in front of his truck. He nailed the big one with the right front of his truck. Roy thought Oh Crap (and he wasn't even on the trail yet) the air bag is going to go off, but it did not. The Elk took the worst of it and was down for the count for at least 5 minutes. It then woke up and tried to get up but could not. A truck had pulled up and a guy got out and shot the beat up animal to put it out of it's misery. After some police reports they determined the truck was drivable so the continued into Moab. We arrived to find out the adventure had already started.
Ok so up early for breakfast at Moab Diner and time for the fun to begin. We changed today's trails because it was supposed to rain. The trails for this day will be Metal Masher and 7 mile Rim. Roy was dapper as usual. He won the best dressed contest. He has a t-shirt that looked like a tux plus he wore his dress suspenders. The day started out cloudy and on the cool side. Clouds do not make for the best photos but that was out of our control.
It didn't take long to find out why the trail was named Metal Masher as there were lots of steep ledges and drop-offs which was just what we were looking for. There was one nice little jump where I had the front up in the air. Azgolfer couldn't resist and had to try it as well, only thing is he hit it to fast instead of a bump on the throttle. He had all 4 wheels off the ground but came down on the 2 right side tires. He almost lost it and ran into me. I think that is enough of that for now. Right after that we came to an outstanding canyon. It would have been awesome with some rain because it would have had some big waterfalls. Lots more ups and down until we came to a big obstacle. The only way up this one would be with a winch although it did have a go around. Azgolfer said he wanted to winch up this spot until he got up close to it, so he backed out and I pulled up and winched up so I could make sure my winch was working properly. It was fun, plus we hooked on a rope for added safety. Shortly after this spot 5 mountain goats ran in front of us and down a sheer cliff like it was nothing.
Next up was 7 mile Rim. This is another very scenic trail with a few tough spots thrown in to keep your attention. There are a couple of places where you come to an overlook where you can see for what seems like 100 + miles. We did a short side trip to an arch where we came upon some Tomcars. I walked on top of the arch for a different view. We came to one over look where there was a good size crack. There was some comment about a bush and a crack I don't remember exactly. There were lots of Royism's along the trail. I should have taken a pen and paper to record them. There was one spot where Roy straddled a crack, got off his quad and pulled himself along under his machine. I think he really was doing an oil change. That guy is a nut. He also tried to go through the crack with the left tires in the bottom. Not a good move, but he did clean up the sidewalls of his tires. We came to an area with some fun slick rock to play on. There was one spot that was Azgolfer's favorite. It was very off camber which he really likes, but Roy came to his rescue again as his outrigger. This area is right by Wipe out hill. It is a very nasty hill that is not doable by quad unless you want to winch a long way which we did not.
These 2 trails together are a blast. Excellent scenery plus some good technical places to test both rider and machine.
Day 1 ended with 8 riders kicking the trails butt!!!!! No roll overs, no break downs and all smiles. Teamwork is what is needed for the trails of Moab and there is no better team out there than ours.
