Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2001 14:12:02 -0700
Reply-To: Mark Mages <wasserbox@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Mark Mages <wasserbox@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Trip report - Moab during Jeep Safari (not too long)
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Went to Moab over the weekend – 350 miles round trip
(nice ‘n short)
The Jeep Safari was in full swing, but we managed to
get there before most of the weekend warriors. Got
one ride on the slickrock trail in on Friday then
drove down to Canyonlands to camp with some friends
who were climbing. The van made it back to their
campsite, but I probably should take a good look at my
suspension before much more road-trippin.
Woke up at 8am Saturday, and drove back to Moab –
finally got to the park at 12:30 and it had a line out
about a mile from the entrance. We decided to truck
it up to Amasa Back (sp?) trail where there were about
20 non-jeeps trying to follow the jeep safari. Most
of them had ripped out differentials and oil pans on
rocks that I walked my bike down. After about a mile
of trucks winching each other out we got some good
riding in for the rest of the trail. Up at the top
was the actual safari with about 50 real jeeps (damn
some of those are BEASTS!) in a line waiting to go
back down. We took the back side of the trail down
(NOT recommended) and ended up battered and bruised
back down at the lot.
Found a spot (barely) to park for the night, made some
spaghetti & meatballs (also have to check my propane
system for leaks this summer) and woke up at 8am to do
it again. On Sunday morning neither my friend nor I
could really walk, so we motored the van back up to
slickrock trail and rode it the other direction. It’s
amazing how much skin you can lose and not notice it
until the next time you shower.
A little bit of irony on the jeep / mtnbike comparison
– it is all point-of-view. I was riding along
thinking “I would NEVER take a jeep up that”. After I
made a pretty steep descent I heard a jeeper at the
bottom say “I would NEVER ride a bike down that!”
On the vanagon tip – I saw about 6 sweet westies up
there this weekend. At least 2 synchros (both gold)
and one white one gold and 2 maroon Gl’s.
Fun stuff – now only 2 weeks until I go back to having
a life….
=====
Mark
Music is the soundtrack to the Low Budget B-movie that is my life.
87 Westfalia Gl
84 Scirocco 8v
http://student.fortlewis.edu/~mwmages/
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