Moab – Ulen Adventures

18-20 April 2019. Easter Jeep Safari

18 April. The fourth trail we signed up for was a hands on “learn how to get unstuck (recovery)” course at an area called “Behind the Rocks”. We spent the morning out there with winches and high-lift jacks, then headed out for a little trail ride. We did one tough obstacle, it’s called Roller Coaster. There’s actually one more little ledge at the top that didn’t get captured on the video.https://youtu.be/hoj2PhNmrKk

Climbing the “roller coaster” “behind the rocks”

19 April – The next day we spent exploring the vendor show. (They only have it on 2 days of the Easter Jeep Safari). There were plenty of vendors and things to see and buy, here are a few pictures of interesting rigs:

Chuck checking out a Jeep prototype truck at EJS

I think we saw a TV show where this was constructed. Very interesting in person

At the end of Friday is a huge Raffle. We walked the half mile from our campsite to the Raffle, expecting to maybe win a T-shirt if we were lucky, but instead we won FIVE huge tires! (Weighing 50+ lbs a piece). We panicked a bit, because we didn’t know how we would get them back to our campsite, and for sure we had no way to get them home. Luckily someone offered us some cash – that was much easier to carry!

At the raffle, we actually won FIVE huge 35 inch tires!

20 April. On Saturday, all the people go down town and everyone departs for their rides at the same time. (They call it BIG SATURDAY) Sort of like a parade – but everyone starts from a different street and criss-cross and head out to the trails – so more like a water ballet…the whole town is full of Jeeps for about 5 minutes!

We joined our last group and headed out to Fins and Things. It’s in the same area as, and is very similar to, Hell’s Revenge, except it’s a lot closer to the ground. Climbs are steep, but short. It’s rated a 4. https://youtu.be/lKFPrwuOMps

Another view of that same play area:https://www.facebook.com/karen.ulen.5/posts/1170735536438976

We had a great time on the Easter Jeep Safari, learned some stuff, met some new friends, got a bit sunburnt. We will be back another year!

21 April. On the way home, we had a flock of mountain sheep visit our campsite.

This guy and his family came to our campsite on our way home

17 April 2019 – Tip Toe Through Hell

Our third trail during the 2019 Jeep Safari was called “Tip Toe through Hell”. This was a slightly less scary version of the famous “Hell’s Revenge” trail. We ran the entire length of the trail, but bypassed the four main “roll-over obstacles”: Hell’s Gate, The escalator, the Hot Tubs and the Tip Over challenge. This was a much different experience than our last two trails. We had about 35 vehicles in our group, and there were quite a few other people running the trail in their own small groups or on their own.

The sign marking the beginning of Hell’s Revenge Trail

Our group gathered at a local restaurant and paraded to the trail head

We had many more people in our group on this trail – 35!

The first 100 yards of the trail were the most tense. The trail was marked, but you couldn’t see the tire placement from the driver’s seat. The steep drop offs really played with your mind!

https://youtu.be/kHhO2mSqn-g

The beginning “fin” was the scariest part of this trail – steep drop offs on both sides

Staying the trail means following the tracks, no matter how crookedy they get

We had lunch at Hell’s Gate and enjoyed watching others make the climb

Our group meandering along the fins of Hell’s Revenge

And some quick video that Chuck took! https://youtu.be/WNDCj7UM2ww

15 April 2019, Elephant Hill

The second trail we tackled at the 2019 Easter Jeep Safari was called Elephant Hill. This trail actually started 60 miles our of Moab in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. The park limits the number of people who can drive this trail, so you must get a permit to run it. Our group had only seven vehicles – all Jeeps!