4x4 Nuttiness

Here are a few videos and some pictures of the 4x4 craziness we witnessed:

It took a while for this guy to give up on the hardest line and pick something a bit easier and we were certain he was going to flip over.  The sound of the tires squealing on the slickrock sounded like a barking sea lion (which I mentioned to them and they got a big kick out of it, as if it had never crossed their mind in all their years of doing this)


This crawler was the most insane.  Adjustable shocks, steerable rear wheels, etc....  built from the ground up specifically for this.  He tried and tried to get up one particular wall, then tried an overhanging pour off that was higher and even more improbable.  The highlight was when he went vertical and the cooler full of beer fell off and exploded on the ground (none of which was damaged much to their delight).  Made for some great laughs.


Here is a short clip I got while finishing up the Moab Rim hike/run.  In several spots, a tip over would deposit you on the Kane Creek Road ~100 or more feet below.


A few pictures of 4x4 related action over the weekend.

Reminds me of the Stompers I had as a kid

This is wicked steep, had to walk far left

Looking back up.  The group of jeepers thought we were nuts being out there walking.  We thought they were nuts for driving this stuff.

Just in case you need some winch assistance

Dirtbiking would be the way to go (though it still looked very difficult)

A surprising amount of Jeeps had kids in them, some quite young and not looking like they were having a particularly good time.  One 11 or 12 year old was even driving.

Hmmm...  Let's see if we can make it over this!

Oops.  HURRY, SAVE THE BEER!!!!

Allison wishing she had a 4x4 of her own

Allison in the picture for scale.  This is just a typical obstacle.

Straight up

Cresting, but does not look as extreme as it really is.

Through the potholes

Great ramp action

Wednesday, 04/04/12 S. Boulder/Bear Peak

From S. Mesa TH

7.48 miles/3,183 vert./2:19:16/avg. HR 135  Garmin Data

Easy hike/jog with Sierra this morning (about 75% was hiking).  Towhee was aweful mud, the type that clumps up in several lb chunks on the bottom of your feet and causes complete loss of traction.  Shadow was increasingly snowy, not too slick on the up, but I was the first one through today and as it got to be 5-6 inches deep, footing was a little tricky.  The uppermost section of SoBo was a bit better than 1.5 weeks ago, as the snow underneath was solid and the true path was easy to follow.  The boulders on the upper section though were absolutely treacherous, as they were all coated with quarter inch thick glare ice, then covered with snow.  It took a long time to negotiate this section on all fours and even Sierra was finding it to be a bit of a challenge.

Headed over to Bear and as expected, the upper section was pretty iced over and required some added care, but was not quite as bad as SoBo.

All in all a slow, but very fun and rewarding outing with my dog.  The fresh coating of snow was absolutely amazing and it was great having this all to ourselves.