Month: September 2023

Rubicon Ridge is an awesome trail! Lots of technical stretches, steep inclines and declines. I found myself alternating between lockers (makes both wheels spin at the same rate) on the inclines, where it was easy to spin and slide: and the rubber ducky button on descents (modulates hill breaking so you don’t lose control) where it was easy to slide if you miscalculate. It definitely demands your complete attention.

No mechanicals or face-plants to report today. Lots of dust, more than yesterday. It was cooler but more humid. Koda had a blast meeting the other Jeepers. We headed back after this morning’s trail ride. The group is going to tackle a couple very difficult trails this afternoon. That translates to “highly modified else body damage”. Erm, I’m ok, calling it a weekend. 🙂

I stopped at a self service car wash and got all the mud and dust off the Jeep. One day I plan to strip down the Jeep and vacuum the inside. One day. Not today. Provably not tomorrow. 🙂

This was my first trip with Yet Another Jeep Club (YAJC) and I plan to pencil this in as an annual event! Thanks to all who made this Hot Springs OHV trip fun!

UPDATE: Koda and I are back home. After bathing him, he finally had a chance to chill on his dog park chair, as we plan our next long weekend.

Today was exciting and interesting. We started the day with Snake trail. It was the only trail I did when I came here by myself on the way back from Moab last year. As it turns out the only difficult part of the trail had a bypass I wasn’t aware of. One of my favorite trails, it includes some tight switch backs and endless rocks.

We also did the Fun Run and the new Quartz Canyon trails. I bottomed out and thought I needed to be winched, but with all the experienced Jeepers on the ride, I was guided off the rut with little effort

A few minutes later a Jeep snapped its rear drive shaft. That took a few hours to sort out, since the Jeep was on a steep incline, and involved winching in two directions using two highly modified Jeeps. Happy to report the Jeep got back safely using only the front drive shaft.

During the wait three of us (yes me too!) did our impression of Swan Lake. The ride leader lost his footing and slammed into my Jeep. I heard a loud thud in the back. I turned on my rear view camera and saw our ride leader face planted. He quickly flipped over and assumed the dead man pose. He said it was his way of getting right with God. I think it was because of all the women who were watching.

The second guy lost his footing on an incline and somehow didn’t fall, but he did yell some Irish obscenities. I stepped into a hole and did a minor face-plant. No humans were harmed during our clown acrobatics.

Koda and I took our time getting to Hot Springs OHV Park. By the time we got there the sun was going down but we had time to settle in and have dinner.

The cabin is nice. No bathroom or kitchen, but there is a 17” TV mounted high on the wall. 🙂 Air conditioner works.