Hi folks - it's Wednesday morning and I'm at the dining room table here at the condo getting everything updated.
Marc picked up a used spare yesterday to replace the blown tire on his JK and we also have a small surface gash on another tire. With no by-passes for the obstacles on the 6 rated Cliffhanger trail, Marc decided to park the Jeep for today and ride as a shotgunner in Ralf's YJ. I weighed my options after yesterdays 700 foot cliff edge rides and decided that the 1300 foot straight drop cliff edges on today's trail would be more than panic-attack-inducing for me and I didn't want to be out in the middle of nowhere freaking out with no escape! So I chose to take the day off the trails, get the blog updated, relax a little and head into town to look around and explore and take some pics.
We'll have Marc update the blog when he gets back this afternoon (hopefully in one piece!) and he can tell the story and share the pics.
Thanks for following us along through the delays!
Life is good.
The Thorup Brothers
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Day Two. Metal Masher. Or Rubber Masher.
Well, day two came and we were all up early and eager to hit the trails for a renegade run with Al, the publisher and editor of Canadian 4x4 magazine,and his friend Todd. They were a little slow going and we were waiting for the other Canadians in Moab to join us. Turns out they were slow going, too, so it ended up being only 4 Jeeps hitting the trail - our crew and Bruce and Mary-Ann from BC. We hit the road and headed to the trail head for Metal Masher.
After Monday's eye-opening run on Hell's Revenge, we were a little nervous about Metal Masher. Just the name is scary enough. We made the trail head, aired down and headed in.
The red dust being kicked up on the path in was blinding and the Jeep (and the Thorup Brothers!) were soon covered in the stuff, inside and out. We were enjoying the incredible scenery on the 4x4 trail and it was not too far in that we began climbing high up into the mountains of red rock. I have a horrible fear of heights and the 1 1/2 lane dirt and rock path that hugged the edge of the mountain with about 10 feet to spare to the egde before a 700 foot drop straight down to sheer death was putting me in panic mode with white-knuckle-grips on the handles and frequent shouts to Marc of "watch the path!" and "slow the f*ck down!" and "Good Lord Jesus!". We made it up and onto the Metal Masher trail.
GREAT TRAIL!!! Beautiful scenery that only those that do these types of trails get to see. The trail was mainly typical 4x4 stuff at the start with small ledges to climb and rocks to manoeuvere around and we had the tunes cranked and were loving it. There were a few tougher spots and one in particular that was very tight, steep and full of ledges (Mirror Gulch). I hopped out to take pictures while everyone made the climb up, over and thru with no damage. It was very cool. We made several stops to take pictures of the sights and take in where we were and what we were doing. Then we got back on track to find a spot to stop for lunch.
Well, we found it by default. Marc made a great attempt at a steep step ledge that required some spotter-following and gusto and a little ooomph. He made it up but right at the top "Pssssssst" went the rear passenger tire with a 2 1/2 in gash right thru the sidewall. No problem, the tire got changed out for the spare and we were back and ready to go.
The trail continued to wind the the red rocks and presented us with several challenging obstacles but Marc's confidence was booming and the Jeep was more than capable, and we were rolling along great. There were several more panic-attack-inducing crawls along cliff edges but since I'm able to type this out it's clear we survived.
We took the same route back to the trail head as we took in which meant I got to be the one along the 700 foot straight drop to death 10 feet to my side on the way back down the mountain. The same profanities were yelled at Marc on the way down as they were on the way up and his holy-sh*t handles have my hand prints permanently imbedded into them.
We headed back to base camp and went for a bbq pork loin dinner at our guide Al and Todd's condo across from ours. It was great, we had a few beers and lots of laughs and it was a great end to a great day.
Wednesday is Cliffhanger.
Life is good.
The Thorup Brothers.
After Monday's eye-opening run on Hell's Revenge, we were a little nervous about Metal Masher. Just the name is scary enough. We made the trail head, aired down and headed in.
The red dust being kicked up on the path in was blinding and the Jeep (and the Thorup Brothers!) were soon covered in the stuff, inside and out. We were enjoying the incredible scenery on the 4x4 trail and it was not too far in that we began climbing high up into the mountains of red rock. I have a horrible fear of heights and the 1 1/2 lane dirt and rock path that hugged the edge of the mountain with about 10 feet to spare to the egde before a 700 foot drop straight down to sheer death was putting me in panic mode with white-knuckle-grips on the handles and frequent shouts to Marc of "watch the path!" and "slow the f*ck down!" and "Good Lord Jesus!". We made it up and onto the Metal Masher trail.
GREAT TRAIL!!! Beautiful scenery that only those that do these types of trails get to see. The trail was mainly typical 4x4 stuff at the start with small ledges to climb and rocks to manoeuvere around and we had the tunes cranked and were loving it. There were a few tougher spots and one in particular that was very tight, steep and full of ledges (Mirror Gulch). I hopped out to take pictures while everyone made the climb up, over and thru with no damage. It was very cool. We made several stops to take pictures of the sights and take in where we were and what we were doing. Then we got back on track to find a spot to stop for lunch.
Well, we found it by default. Marc made a great attempt at a steep step ledge that required some spotter-following and gusto and a little ooomph. He made it up but right at the top "Pssssssst" went the rear passenger tire with a 2 1/2 in gash right thru the sidewall. No problem, the tire got changed out for the spare and we were back and ready to go.
The trail continued to wind the the red rocks and presented us with several challenging obstacles but Marc's confidence was booming and the Jeep was more than capable, and we were rolling along great. There were several more panic-attack-inducing crawls along cliff edges but since I'm able to type this out it's clear we survived.
We took the same route back to the trail head as we took in which meant I got to be the one along the 700 foot straight drop to death 10 feet to my side on the way back down the mountain. The same profanities were yelled at Marc on the way down as they were on the way up and his holy-sh*t handles have my hand prints permanently imbedded into them.
We headed back to base camp and went for a bbq pork loin dinner at our guide Al and Todd's condo across from ours. It was great, we had a few beers and lots of laughs and it was a great end to a great day.
Wednesday is Cliffhanger.
Life is good.
The Thorup Brothers.
Day One. Hell's Revenge. Yikes.
We were up early after a good night's sleep and headed over to register for our trail runs. Our 1st trail was Hell's Revenge - rated a 6, which is the offroad equivalent of a black diamond ski run. How bad could it be? Wow.
There were roughly 35 Jeeps in our group and 1 lonely Land Rover. Amazing what that 16 year old driver could do with that Rover! As far as built Jeeps go, Marc's was on the small side. We headed out from the meeting place to the trail head and everybody aired down (reduce tire pressure to about 12-15lbs from 35 - this allows for more tread hitting the terrain and rocks giving better traction, etc). Now - to the trail.
The start of the trail - THE START! - is a hairy climb up and down a fin with about 3 feet on either side of the Jeep. If you slip, you roll down the side of the fin and your day is over and your rig is toast. Marc was a little nervous - "what? This is nuts. This is the start? Oh sh*t". Marc made the pass no problem, then we proceeded to a series of steep climbs and descents over the slick rock, up and down and winding around, areas you felt like you were going to tip over, spots we stalled out on the climb and slid down, all in all some tough spots but Marc made it.
Things didn't get easier from there. We encountered some very difficult and technical spots that took their toll both on the Jeep and on our nerves. It's absolutely amazing what a Jeep can do. Some spots you think there is no way in hell's revenge you're getting up that, then somehow the little Jeep that could would crawl his way up. We by-passed some of the really hard obstacles to save our nerves and keep the Jeep in one piece, but Marc also did some things I wouldn't have done! As the day progressed, Marc's nervous energy (and fear!) turned to confidence and a better understanding of what his rig was capable of on this terrain. We missed a by-pass near the end of the trail and were faced with getting thru "Rubble Trouble". Wow. Hairy scary incline with loose rock, steep ledges and large rocks to navigate thru and over. Thought we weren't gonna make it without getting winched up, then our spotter showed Marc the line to take and clank-bang-whack we were up it!
It was a great 1st day and a heck of an educational one. The Jeep did what it was supposed to do and the armour did its job to protect what it was installed to protect.
The scenery in the backcountry in and around Moab is unreal. We took lots of pics and great video and I'll post pics right after I sign out of this post.
It was a 7 hour adrenaline rush. We were spent and ready for some rest to prepare for day 2 and our run with the Canadian 4x4 mag guys on Tuesday morning.
We survived day one, we're ready for what lies ahead.
Life is good.
The Thorup Brothers.
There were roughly 35 Jeeps in our group and 1 lonely Land Rover. Amazing what that 16 year old driver could do with that Rover! As far as built Jeeps go, Marc's was on the small side. We headed out from the meeting place to the trail head and everybody aired down (reduce tire pressure to about 12-15lbs from 35 - this allows for more tread hitting the terrain and rocks giving better traction, etc). Now - to the trail.
The start of the trail - THE START! - is a hairy climb up and down a fin with about 3 feet on either side of the Jeep. If you slip, you roll down the side of the fin and your day is over and your rig is toast. Marc was a little nervous - "what? This is nuts. This is the start? Oh sh*t". Marc made the pass no problem, then we proceeded to a series of steep climbs and descents over the slick rock, up and down and winding around, areas you felt like you were going to tip over, spots we stalled out on the climb and slid down, all in all some tough spots but Marc made it.
Things didn't get easier from there. We encountered some very difficult and technical spots that took their toll both on the Jeep and on our nerves. It's absolutely amazing what a Jeep can do. Some spots you think there is no way in hell's revenge you're getting up that, then somehow the little Jeep that could would crawl his way up. We by-passed some of the really hard obstacles to save our nerves and keep the Jeep in one piece, but Marc also did some things I wouldn't have done! As the day progressed, Marc's nervous energy (and fear!) turned to confidence and a better understanding of what his rig was capable of on this terrain. We missed a by-pass near the end of the trail and were faced with getting thru "Rubble Trouble". Wow. Hairy scary incline with loose rock, steep ledges and large rocks to navigate thru and over. Thought we weren't gonna make it without getting winched up, then our spotter showed Marc the line to take and clank-bang-whack we were up it!
It was a great 1st day and a heck of an educational one. The Jeep did what it was supposed to do and the armour did its job to protect what it was installed to protect.
The scenery in the backcountry in and around Moab is unreal. We took lots of pics and great video and I'll post pics right after I sign out of this post.
It was a 7 hour adrenaline rush. We were spent and ready for some rest to prepare for day 2 and our run with the Canadian 4x4 mag guys on Tuesday morning.
We survived day one, we're ready for what lies ahead.
Life is good.
The Thorup Brothers.
Monday, March 29, 2010
We have some pics.
Hey there folks! Thanks for checking in again.
I'll keep this post brief, then post some pics, then post again with some details of our day on Hell's Revenge.
It's been a great trip so far - insane, fun, warm and sunny, cold and snowy, scary, loud, heart-stopping, you name it.
Our townhouse condo is amazing, the place is top notch. We're on the north end of the main street in Moab and the town is very unique. The scenery here is out of this world.
I'll post a few random pics from Iowa on and into Moab and some trail shots from today. We have some video and we'll post it when we figure it out.
I'll keep this post brief, then post some pics, then post again with some details of our day on Hell's Revenge.
It's been a great trip so far - insane, fun, warm and sunny, cold and snowy, scary, loud, heart-stopping, you name it.
Our townhouse condo is amazing, the place is top notch. We're on the north end of the main street in Moab and the town is very unique. The scenery here is out of this world.
I'll post a few random pics from Iowa on and into Moab and some trail shots from today. We have some video and we'll post it when we figure it out.
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