surgeryturtle
RedRoxx
- Location
- Draper/Moab
Oh my heck, has springtime come to Moab complete with lots of tourists!?! The WeBeJeepers went out to assist in marking the trail "Where Eagles Dare" and ended up with 10 rigs along for the ride which made for a fun group.
The Where Eagles Dare is a route off of the Golden Spike trail so we elected to enter at the Poison Spider trailhead. Here we are working our way up to the P.S. Mesa, passing lots of Jeeps, motorcycles, and ATV’s along the way.
Going up and over the Launching pad and then past Zuki hill to a little known but completely legal route known as Where Eagles Dare. This route has seen limited marking and access to this trail is not always easy to find. So, today we made it easier with white painted dash marks. You guys should try it out!
Just starting into the trail. There is more than one entrance but we marked the access from the middle part of the trail. You can see Golden Spike trail in the background. The turn off is just past Zuki hill when running from Poison Spider towards Gold Bar.
Here’s Jim marking the Where Eagles Dare obstacle. This really steep, off-camber slickrock dome takes nerves to climb. There is a bypass to the left that joins back up with the trail.
Here’s Gary Lee following the newly marked route. The section that he is on is the scariest. Literally, your driver tire starts to unload and you slide to the right before everything catches. A couple of rigs bypassed this and one Jeep had a very scary moment but all was well, right Matt?
Once you’re past the huge slickrock dome and down the other side, you have spectacular views! Here’s Susan and WMNDRVR enjoying the day. From there, we went over to the Corona Arch overlook. Beautiful, huh?
After the overlook, we began to work our way up an obstacle called Phobia Hill. This is another fairly steep slickrock dome that you drive up and over.
You quickly realize how tall this dome is when looking down at those coming up after you.
After we finished marking the route, we decided to finish the day by crossing the Golden Crack and then driving down Rusty Nail to the Gemini Bridges County Road.
After the crack, you turn left and head directly towards Jeep arch in order to catch the Rusty Nail trail. This trail is more fun coming up but an interesting short-cut going down as you get to bypass all of Gold Bar Rim.
It doesn’t take long to realize that this is a harder trail (even going down it) than Golden Spike. This off-camber ledge climb can be nerve wracking with the ravine so close to the right.
The first real obstacle going down is No Left Turn—except in this instance you’d better turn left and not right as traditionally this route is driven UP and not down.
Rick’s Rokdawg took a flop on this trail last year and we had been joking about it all day. So, what do you think I found after coming up to the obstacle? Yep, you guessed it…..Rick was in trouble.
You can’t really call this a flop but it is more than a lean. I’m thinking we call it…..Rick fall down and go boom! OUCH! What a blow to the old pride. Luckily Rick is a good sport….I’ll give a damage report later.
Here’s Matt going through, probably a bit nervous after his scare on Where Eagles Dare and then watching Rick have a problem…..he came through without a scratch.
Big old Redroxx. Check out the width compared to Matt’s Jeep. Fat but she fits.
Gary Lee loves to take the non-traditional line. Allen was trying to spot him but Gary wanted to climb the wall….so he did.
http://webejeepinmoab.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/photo19.jpg
Everyone stops for a quick break before taking the speed run down to 191.
As for trail damage. Well, Rick lost his little tab hinges that he had used to band-aid his flares last time. I don’t know but I think metal flares are in his future!
Well, another good trail day. Weather was sunny and 80 degrees!
Thanks all and see ya on the trail!
Melissa
