Wow another entry. What a roll!
Just thought I'd mention that it was so windy at our stop for lunch that I almost lost my Guinness hat over the cliff edge. They warned everyone that if something blew off to just let it go as they obviously don't want someone falling off the cliff unless they are in their Jeep. So the wind gets a hold of my hat, blows it about 20ft away and then it sits there before sliding towards the edge. I move towards it, time slows down, I hear people calling out "let it go" and "he's gonna go over the edge", people look away in fear of what they are sure is going to happen. I get near the hat which has stopped sliding and I scoop it up safely. I am 30 or 40ft from the edge. Everyone cheers (at least in my head, or maybe that was just me cheering...) and I know I would have stopped before following it over the edge. It is just a hat after all. Hardly, it's my Guinness hat.
It has been windy for the last couple of days, and it's been going hard tonight. Hope it stops or keeps blowing east while we are heading home. That would help the mileage out. Speaking of heading home, there is a big storm hitting the mountain passes we plan on going through to get home. Keep the fingers crossed that they get it cleaned up before we head out. They are calling for at least 20-30cm in the next 24hrs in Vail. Hope that's all.
Life is good. We will get through. We are...
The Thorup Brothers
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thought I left ya?? Cliffhanger and Moab Rim at night
So we survived Hell's Revenge with no visible scars. It was most fun when we were done and could breathe again, at least for me. If I had had some coal I coulda made enough diamonds to pay for the trip for the next 10 years! Intense, but great to see what we could actually manage to do with the Jeep. Apparently I still had some issues with heights, and the skidplates were a very, very, very good investment. 'Nuff said there.
The second day was Metal Masher aka the CAN4x4 Renegade Run. It was incredible. More my style of offroading - technical and rocky, with some ledges. The cliff edges on the way in and out were a test, but as long as you look straight ahead they are not as intimidating. I tried to convince Steve of that, but don't think I was very successful.
So we had a great dinner afterwards with Al and Todd at their condo. They were trying to convince me to join them on the night run up Moab Rim (rated 7, during the day, under good conditions), but succeeded only in helping me think I was good for the run up Cliffhanger (rated 6) today. Sean and I planned on getting up and switching the "new" spare for the scored tire, and packing up my Jeep for the run. Steve had already decided that he was taking the day off, so no shotgun for me.
As I lay in bed trying to get to sleep, I managed to psych myself right out over the run up Cliffhanger. I had picked that trail as the one I wanted to run, and now I was convincing myself that if I did run it something bad was gonna happen. So I ended up going as Ralf's shotgun. I knew I could get lots of pics and video by not driving, so that was fine. When we got to the meeting point, I started to think that maybe I was wrong, I should drive it. Sean said he would take me back to get the Jeep since we had lots of time. Fortunately I declined. More on that shortly.
(Sean aka Warthog has asked me to say hi to the readers and let them know that he is alive and well...)
So we head off and hit the first obstacle. A little interesting. We then hit the second one about 30 yards later. It's a 3ft ledge going down. Right around the corner from that is an off-camber downhill section that has a spotter to help guide you through...sort of. About 125yds later, we see the first Jeep needing some help from the Jeep above him to get up the 4th obstacle. I am getting more and more happy that I left my Jeep at the condo. Not long afterwards Ralf says that the trail is harder than he was expecting it to be. Happier am I...there were lots of times I was thinking "no way I could get my Jeep through that". Maybe after a number of more years of 4x4ing, but not anytime soon!
The cliff is not always right there, but when it is right beside you and you are tipping the Jeep towards the 18 inches of room you have before you fall off 1300ft to the bottom, it gets your attention. On the way up I was on the inside edge against the wall, but on the return trip I was outside along the cliff edge. It was intense, but there was only one section where I had to tell myself "look straight ahead!!" to keep from peering over the side of the cliff. The consensus was that it was a much more difficult trail than the earlier 2 we had run. The Jeeps escaped unharmed for the most part, but all were tired from the non-stop focus you needed for the whole trail. (did you get yourself another drink? go ahead, I'll wait... okay you're back) Sean even said he thought it may have been the hardest trail he's done, and that he was definitely testing his limits today. Glad I picked the killer trail for the week, and that I got to go along for the experience. It was crazy. The pics will have to follow later as Steve is having some problems with uploading them from the computer.
Ralf returned from the night run just after midnight. They left around 8pm and had planned on being gone for only a couple of hours, but ran into a bent front leaf spring, and some rain. They say that Moab slickrock is like driving on glue when it's dry, but you get it wet and you can barely walk on it. It was windy enough too that the rain was coming down sideways. Glad I stayed here for that one...
So tomorrow morning we head off for Top of the World. There is a lookout from 7000ft at one point before we head back. Wonder how wide the ledges are along there? One more trail left, and you know what...
Life is good, as Steve likes to remind you. Especially when you live it like there is no tomorrow!
The second day was Metal Masher aka the CAN4x4 Renegade Run. It was incredible. More my style of offroading - technical and rocky, with some ledges. The cliff edges on the way in and out were a test, but as long as you look straight ahead they are not as intimidating. I tried to convince Steve of that, but don't think I was very successful.
So we had a great dinner afterwards with Al and Todd at their condo. They were trying to convince me to join them on the night run up Moab Rim (rated 7, during the day, under good conditions), but succeeded only in helping me think I was good for the run up Cliffhanger (rated 6) today. Sean and I planned on getting up and switching the "new" spare for the scored tire, and packing up my Jeep for the run. Steve had already decided that he was taking the day off, so no shotgun for me.
As I lay in bed trying to get to sleep, I managed to psych myself right out over the run up Cliffhanger. I had picked that trail as the one I wanted to run, and now I was convincing myself that if I did run it something bad was gonna happen. So I ended up going as Ralf's shotgun. I knew I could get lots of pics and video by not driving, so that was fine. When we got to the meeting point, I started to think that maybe I was wrong, I should drive it. Sean said he would take me back to get the Jeep since we had lots of time. Fortunately I declined. More on that shortly.
(Sean aka Warthog has asked me to say hi to the readers and let them know that he is alive and well...)
So we head off and hit the first obstacle. A little interesting. We then hit the second one about 30 yards later. It's a 3ft ledge going down. Right around the corner from that is an off-camber downhill section that has a spotter to help guide you through...sort of. About 125yds later, we see the first Jeep needing some help from the Jeep above him to get up the 4th obstacle. I am getting more and more happy that I left my Jeep at the condo. Not long afterwards Ralf says that the trail is harder than he was expecting it to be. Happier am I...there were lots of times I was thinking "no way I could get my Jeep through that". Maybe after a number of more years of 4x4ing, but not anytime soon!
The cliff is not always right there, but when it is right beside you and you are tipping the Jeep towards the 18 inches of room you have before you fall off 1300ft to the bottom, it gets your attention. On the way up I was on the inside edge against the wall, but on the return trip I was outside along the cliff edge. It was intense, but there was only one section where I had to tell myself "look straight ahead!!" to keep from peering over the side of the cliff. The consensus was that it was a much more difficult trail than the earlier 2 we had run. The Jeeps escaped unharmed for the most part, but all were tired from the non-stop focus you needed for the whole trail. (did you get yourself another drink? go ahead, I'll wait... okay you're back) Sean even said he thought it may have been the hardest trail he's done, and that he was definitely testing his limits today. Glad I picked the killer trail for the week, and that I got to go along for the experience. It was crazy. The pics will have to follow later as Steve is having some problems with uploading them from the computer.
Ralf returned from the night run just after midnight. They left around 8pm and had planned on being gone for only a couple of hours, but ran into a bent front leaf spring, and some rain. They say that Moab slickrock is like driving on glue when it's dry, but you get it wet and you can barely walk on it. It was windy enough too that the rain was coming down sideways. Glad I stayed here for that one...
So tomorrow morning we head off for Top of the World. There is a lookout from 7000ft at one point before we head back. Wonder how wide the ledges are along there? One more trail left, and you know what...
Life is good, as Steve likes to remind you. Especially when you live it like there is no tomorrow!
Is it really him? Finally, yes, here I am...
Hey there folks. It is big brother Marc here, finally posting thoughts on the trip so far. And what a trip it has been! Hope you are sitting down, have a drink and a snack, and recently taken care of any pressing business 'cause this might take a while...
It all started back in '72 when I was born, then jump to February 2008. I was on the hunt for a new vehicle and the new 4dr Jeep Wrangler was calling my name. I spent a lot of time making sure it was the right choice, but there really wasn't much doubt. Growing up we loved the outdoors - camping, fishing, biking, exploring. One of the best things about a Jeep is that it can help you to get where not very many other people can go. I ended up with the Jeep I wanted...as a base to start with;)
Now jump to the end of November'09. Kelly, the beautiful-and-patience-tested girlfriend, was in Scottsdale visiting her aunt and uncle. I was at the library checking out the Jeep club's site when I saw a thread had started and mentioned the idea of going to Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari in 2010. I have to admit that I got a bit excited. Moab is the offroad mecca of North America, and quite possibly the world, and to have the opportunity to go with guys you have Jeeped with already, well it's kind of hard to ignore. Besides, I had wanted to do an Ultimate Road Trip from London to L.A. (through Colorado, Utah, and Vegas - doing some 4x4 trails and back-country camping) and then heading back to London with a stay in Scottsdale on the return trip. Kelly isn't a big road trip person (at least not that long a road trip...) so I was stuck figuing out how to swing it. I knew it would be at least as impossible to convince her to do the whole trip as it would be to drug her and get her across the border without raising any suspicion. I knew I had to go to Moab with the guys from the club.
The next trick was going to be convincing someone to come along as a shotgunner. The one person I knew would love to go, he had 2 Jeeps of his own at that point, also had a newborn son and a job that he wasn't likely to be able to get away from for the 10 days the trip would take. I asked Steve but the answer was "love to but not gonna happen unfortunately". Ended up that he did get to come and that was amazing since he was as excited as I was about it.
Next was getting the Jeep ready for the trip. New parts started arriving at mailboxes everywhere, and showing up in the strangest places. Bumpers, skidplates, winches, lift kits, auxillary lighting, switch panels. All that new stuff had to be installed, and since you can only do so much in a Target parking lot in the winter, some trips had to be made to the good folks in the Niagra area. 3 trips actually, in 7 weeks. While spending so much time getting the Jeep ready, I forgot about my own stuff. Lucky for me Kelly is very organized and helped to try to keep me focused.
(aren't you glad you got a snack and a beverage? this would be a good time for a brief intermission. cue the music...)
Welcome back. Now where was I? Oh yes. blah blah blah. We finally made it to Moab. Now Steve has done a great job of filling you in on the trip so far, so I will just add a couple of things...
1) although the stain on the dresser may not have been blood, we aren't so sure about the stains on the wall behind the bed Steve slept on top of...
2) Iowa and Nebraska look exactly the same when you drive across them, mind you so did Illinois and Indiana, and even the first bit of deserted Colorado looked like a mirror image...of nothing interesting...
3) make sure your GPS is set to the right mapping criteria, otherwise you end up detouring through East Lansing, MI and it ain't that pretty, trust me...
4) submit your work vacation requests before the due date...
5) make sure you've recharged the batteries on the cameras before you have something that you really want to record with them...like driving into Moab for the very first time ever...
So we get out for the first day of trails on Monday. Hell's Revenge. Lots of fun and lots of holy crap moments too. Thank god for bypasses around the crazy stuff. The first part into the trail was a test for sure...
It all started back in '72 when I was born, then jump to February 2008. I was on the hunt for a new vehicle and the new 4dr Jeep Wrangler was calling my name. I spent a lot of time making sure it was the right choice, but there really wasn't much doubt. Growing up we loved the outdoors - camping, fishing, biking, exploring. One of the best things about a Jeep is that it can help you to get where not very many other people can go. I ended up with the Jeep I wanted...as a base to start with;)
Now jump to the end of November'09. Kelly, the beautiful-and-patience-tested girlfriend, was in Scottsdale visiting her aunt and uncle. I was at the library checking out the Jeep club's site when I saw a thread had started and mentioned the idea of going to Moab for the Easter Jeep Safari in 2010. I have to admit that I got a bit excited. Moab is the offroad mecca of North America, and quite possibly the world, and to have the opportunity to go with guys you have Jeeped with already, well it's kind of hard to ignore. Besides, I had wanted to do an Ultimate Road Trip from London to L.A. (through Colorado, Utah, and Vegas - doing some 4x4 trails and back-country camping) and then heading back to London with a stay in Scottsdale on the return trip. Kelly isn't a big road trip person (at least not that long a road trip...) so I was stuck figuing out how to swing it. I knew it would be at least as impossible to convince her to do the whole trip as it would be to drug her and get her across the border without raising any suspicion. I knew I had to go to Moab with the guys from the club.
The next trick was going to be convincing someone to come along as a shotgunner. The one person I knew would love to go, he had 2 Jeeps of his own at that point, also had a newborn son and a job that he wasn't likely to be able to get away from for the 10 days the trip would take. I asked Steve but the answer was "love to but not gonna happen unfortunately". Ended up that he did get to come and that was amazing since he was as excited as I was about it.
Next was getting the Jeep ready for the trip. New parts started arriving at mailboxes everywhere, and showing up in the strangest places. Bumpers, skidplates, winches, lift kits, auxillary lighting, switch panels. All that new stuff had to be installed, and since you can only do so much in a Target parking lot in the winter, some trips had to be made to the good folks in the Niagra area. 3 trips actually, in 7 weeks. While spending so much time getting the Jeep ready, I forgot about my own stuff. Lucky for me Kelly is very organized and helped to try to keep me focused.
(aren't you glad you got a snack and a beverage? this would be a good time for a brief intermission. cue the music...)
Welcome back. Now where was I? Oh yes. blah blah blah. We finally made it to Moab. Now Steve has done a great job of filling you in on the trip so far, so I will just add a couple of things...
1) although the stain on the dresser may not have been blood, we aren't so sure about the stains on the wall behind the bed Steve slept on top of...
2) Iowa and Nebraska look exactly the same when you drive across them, mind you so did Illinois and Indiana, and even the first bit of deserted Colorado looked like a mirror image...of nothing interesting...
3) make sure your GPS is set to the right mapping criteria, otherwise you end up detouring through East Lansing, MI and it ain't that pretty, trust me...
4) submit your work vacation requests before the due date...
5) make sure you've recharged the batteries on the cameras before you have something that you really want to record with them...like driving into Moab for the very first time ever...
So we get out for the first day of trails on Monday. Hell's Revenge. Lots of fun and lots of holy crap moments too. Thank god for bypasses around the crazy stuff. The first part into the trail was a test for sure...
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