Wednesday, Registration and Safety Inspection
Friday, Steel Bender
Having survived Fins n Things on Thursday, next up was Steel Bender. My wife Ann couldn't get enough time off work to spend the whole week at Moab, but was able to come out Thursday evening for the potluck and make her world famous "Zeppy Shrimp". Then Friday, she accompanied me on Steel Bender.
Each day, I learned more about what my rig was capable of, and how to get the most out of it, as each new obstacle brought with it a new learning opportunity.
Our Trail leader was fellow Rising Sun member Mike Aaron in the "Uglibus", his FJ55. Bruce Westlund and his wife Heather would be our gunner, in his '68 SO'd FJ40, "Jethro". Jethro had already donated a stock air cleaner housing to my rig so I could convert back to the stock carb from the Holley that was in it when I bought it. Little did I know that Jethro would end up donating a few more parts...
May 5, 2000
Joel and Jeri-Lynn Cooper's Mini crawls up the "Ugly" with those marlin crawlers
Rich Mader's marlin equipped mini prepares to decend a steep ledge. No this wasn't the one that bit my tail lights...that was later :-)
You can't see it from this angle, but there is a precipitous drop-off (cliff) on the passenger's side. Screw up and you roll a loooong way. Following Rich is Todd Oldenberg in his 1985 BJ70, and at the top of the hill is Bruce and Heather Westlund in Bruce's 1968 '40, "Jethro".
Catching some air on the "Bad". No, I wasn't *trying* to jump, just needed some momentum. With a 29:1 "crawl" ratio you use every driving technique at your disposal to get up the trail. Another shot of Joel on the "Ugly". Another shot of Rich on the "Ugly". That's one built truck. Unfortunately he lost a spring pack the next day. They did a trailside repair and got back to camp, but no one like to break things too bad... Todd negotiates the "Ugly" in his stock BJ70. It did take him a couple tries, but hey, he had stock gears, eh! Stopping for lunch, we check out the breathtaking scenery. This truly is an awesome place to wheel! Ann looks on approvingly as Erik Christianson crawls right up the ledge like it wasn't even there. "Just going to get groceries honey". After seeing his, and the Venezuelan's 80s in action, I have become convinced that the FZJ80 with factory lockers, is hands down the most capable off road vehicle EVER produced, even better than the 40 series. I mean these things are totally awesome, just point and go. Todd's wife goes for a spin while he takes a few photos. Listening to the banter on the CB, apparently she drove off and made him run to catch up! She eases up the ledge in the trusty 70. Jethro takes a bath at the end of the trail. We gather around the base of a beautiful cliff, which has ancient petroglyphs along with modern grafitti. I tried to get this shot exposed right, but there was just too much contrast. The rigs are in the foreground, and the beautiful backdrop of Utah's canyons are in the background. Photos do not do justice to how awesome this place really is. This is looking up the cliff from the base. Some prehistoric grafitti. Wednesday, Registration and Safety Inspection Friday, Steel Bender
