Moab Utah 03/25/06 Poison Spider/Golden Spike/Gold Bar Rim/Gemini Bridges
On to day 2. Now that we had our warm up ride at Hells Revenge it was time for some serious fun. We had breakfast and picked up a rental car so we could put a car at the end of the run and put together several trails. After dropping off the car at the trail head for Gemini Bridges we headed off to the other end of town. The road winds along the Colorado river to the trail head for Poison Spider. Our plan was to put together a series of trails. They are Poison Spider/ Golden Spike/Gold Bar rim and Gemini Bridges. It was a beautiful clear crisp morning. The scenery is so spectacular you are amazed at every turn. But you better pay attention because the spider will bite you hard. It seems at every turn there is another wall to climb and all I keep hearing from RoyD was Oh Crap, how are we going to get up that. We enjoyed the spider and almost missed the turn to Golden Spike.
After a couple of back tracks from Bone Daddy (I think he just wanted to play in the sand) TSGreg found the trail to Golden Spike. I think RoyD was wishing he didn't find it when we came to the big hill Bone Daddy was talking about. We came around the corner and the trail markers were going up a rock wall about 200 yards or more at about 45 degrees. More Oh Crap, Oh Crap. TSGres was 1st up on his little mule with no problems. The traction was terrific even though the size of the climb was very intimidating. Low range was the order of the day for sure. After we were all safely on top we saw that we had to go back down the same rock only in a steeper area. More Oh Crap. It seemed like the trail was inverted in places. We all made it without any problems, in fact I went down and back up a 2nd time for photos. My Polaris was the worst on the down hill of all the quads because of the poor ending braking. Polaris engine braking uses rear wheel only and it would start hoping the rear wheels which was a little scary. Leo's Kawasaki and Roy's Bombardier were the best by far followed by Greg's Honda that is a manual shift. Greg is on his Honda because his Polaris was broken. He noticed as he was getting ready for the trip both rear a-arms were broken off as well as the rear stabilizer. The trail then went into a canyon for awhile and then climbed to the top of the canyon where it met up with Gold Bar Rim. There were lots of ledges and drop off's along the way. We stopped at the edge of the rim for lunch and a spectacular view.
Next we were off though a place they call the crack. Lots of other places for Oh Crap. I kept telling RoyD don't worry with that long wheel base you will have no problems. I don't think he bought it at all. There are so many Obstacles up and down that I can't even remember them all. We arrived at the crack and there was a crowd of quads. One group even brought ramps to go over the crack. RoyD wanted to use them but we would not let him. The crack wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in fact we all made it through pretty easy. Leo had the most trouble of all but I think it was just the line he took. RoyD's long wheel base made it look easy. The trail continued with more ledges and drop off's until it came down the mountain to a regular road that went to Gemini Bridges.
The road to Gemini Bridges was just a regular forest service road which we all welcomed after all the tough stuff. Gemini has spectacular views of an arch and a small walkway between the arch. You have to walk the last 100 yards to view this area.
Poison Spider, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim are all rated Difficult in the book with Gemini Bridges as medium. What an awesome day. For me it was time to hit the hot tub. Tomorrow we hit the #1 and 2 hardest trails in the book. OH MY!!!!!
Read MoreAfter a couple of back tracks from Bone Daddy (I think he just wanted to play in the sand) TSGreg found the trail to Golden Spike. I think RoyD was wishing he didn't find it when we came to the big hill Bone Daddy was talking about. We came around the corner and the trail markers were going up a rock wall about 200 yards or more at about 45 degrees. More Oh Crap, Oh Crap. TSGres was 1st up on his little mule with no problems. The traction was terrific even though the size of the climb was very intimidating. Low range was the order of the day for sure. After we were all safely on top we saw that we had to go back down the same rock only in a steeper area. More Oh Crap. It seemed like the trail was inverted in places. We all made it without any problems, in fact I went down and back up a 2nd time for photos. My Polaris was the worst on the down hill of all the quads because of the poor ending braking. Polaris engine braking uses rear wheel only and it would start hoping the rear wheels which was a little scary. Leo's Kawasaki and Roy's Bombardier were the best by far followed by Greg's Honda that is a manual shift. Greg is on his Honda because his Polaris was broken. He noticed as he was getting ready for the trip both rear a-arms were broken off as well as the rear stabilizer. The trail then went into a canyon for awhile and then climbed to the top of the canyon where it met up with Gold Bar Rim. There were lots of ledges and drop off's along the way. We stopped at the edge of the rim for lunch and a spectacular view.
Next we were off though a place they call the crack. Lots of other places for Oh Crap. I kept telling RoyD don't worry with that long wheel base you will have no problems. I don't think he bought it at all. There are so many Obstacles up and down that I can't even remember them all. We arrived at the crack and there was a crowd of quads. One group even brought ramps to go over the crack. RoyD wanted to use them but we would not let him. The crack wasn't as bad as I thought it would be in fact we all made it through pretty easy. Leo had the most trouble of all but I think it was just the line he took. RoyD's long wheel base made it look easy. The trail continued with more ledges and drop off's until it came down the mountain to a regular road that went to Gemini Bridges.
The road to Gemini Bridges was just a regular forest service road which we all welcomed after all the tough stuff. Gemini has spectacular views of an arch and a small walkway between the arch. You have to walk the last 100 yards to view this area.
Poison Spider, Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim are all rated Difficult in the book with Gemini Bridges as medium. What an awesome day. For me it was time to hit the hot tub. Tomorrow we hit the #1 and 2 hardest trails in the book. OH MY!!!!!
