Here are some of the digital shots I took in Moab. I'm getting the 35mm and the 120 processed and they should be done mid day today. I'll start scanning the negs tomorrow.

Hell's Revenge:
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1141/fpThumb-large[/img]

First day gathering:
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1228/fpThumb-large[/img]

Our campsite:
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1209/fpThumb-large[/img]

Trying to keep Carlton from slipping:
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1191/fpThumb-large[/img]

Broken Jeep:
[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1278/fpThumb-large[/img]

To see them all go here: http://www.njax.org/member_photos/view/cat-90

NICE, thanks for sharing and making me sick . Stinks having to work for a living - I wanted to go so bad.

Again thanks for posting - all look so fun.

That is one broken jeep...I dont know much about mechanics, is that like a broken cv or ball joint?

5 hours and $50 and he was back on the trail.
You couldn't say that of an Xterra

Except for the fact that we were still driving for those 5 hours.

[img]http://www.njax.org/image/id-1302/fpThumb-large[/img]

Stock height=Very much fun

Really though, the only problems my baby had was on the golden stairs due to the proper line being too high for front end clearance. I did find another line, but I ended up taking the strap for part of it and rail meat for the last ledge. All and all, the stocker with proper Off road tires will do great on Golden Spike, just expect some minor scratches from front to back underneath. She made it up most obstacles in one attempt.

That, plus the tie rod you bent on the step after the Golden Crack. :p

Actually a rock got wedged between the CV joint boot and tie-rod and ripped the band off the boot and cut it. The rock then bent the tie-rod when the vehicle was turned.
Allen, who fixed it, showed me all the markings where the rock had made contact.

Stock height = taking 13 hours to drive an 8 hour trail.

Stock height = Ian never, ever, ever taking stock trucks or newbies on a trail like Golden Spike again.

Next year is 10 vehicles max, and invite only.

You said that last year man.. you should have let me take half the crowd though another trail like the groups were supposed to do... gone1 here, gone2 there.

I think you like the newbies Ian, come on and just admit it already.. you love the newbies....


Ya'll can run with this stocker next year if you're not invited with Ian.. or that is if I'M not invited to run with Ian!

stock and still not broken after two goneMOAB events! ( alignments don't count! )
-alfonse

shit, I forgot to ask this...
Is that the jeeper you told me about Ian, that pulled out the owners manual after busting the axle?

Did you see that other jeep in your condo lot - on a trailer - Cat and I saw that guy getting picked up along Gemini bridges trail on friday.

-alfonse

The 13 hours didn't have anything to do with my truck being stock, or me being a so called newbie (what the hell is that all about?) that's for sure. I can account for about an hour of our time for the bent tie rod, but what are you going to do, it happens. I simply followed the line from the guy in front of me if there was one and listened to the GOOD spotters (god knows not all of them were good, especially if there were 4 or them at the same time). But for the good help, thanks guys. My stocker didn't take long on anything and if it did (godlen stairs) I took the strap up, so it definately had nothing to do with the stocker and I know your talking about my truck because I was the only stock height on Golden Spike. Good day....

Back on the picture thing..
My favorite mod - besides the "fresh air" mod I heard about ... is the "breakfast" mod they had on the red Calmini Xterra!



I sure hope next year when its stored that long, they call on ME to drive it for them... hint hint!

-alfonse

Hopefully they will repair it and bring it next year, or build up a new Project X on a 2003-04 chassis.

My final comment is that I saw a lot of very bad driving from a lot of people, and I won't be leading a group like that over Golden Spike again.

I wanted both easy runs and hard runs at goneMOAB, but there wasn't enough interest in the easy runs so they were basically cancelled.

I wasn't singling you out, but try and think back to the 20 minutes on Golden Wall...

If Golden Spike is to be run on a future goneMOAB event again, it should be run in groups of 10 vehicles, with departure times spread 2-3 hours apart or on different days.

You actually mean golden stairs I believe, but as you saw, I was smart and allowed another vehicle to strap me up the stairs instead of letting the pride thing get in the way and I end up breaking something.

No, Golden Wall, when I drove your Xterra...

That is exactly what needs to happen, but it's next to impossible during EJS. They have the trail 6 days out of 7, we ran it the one day nothing was scheduled. In the future, I would like goneMOAB moved to another week during the year.

That's not the only solution though, as I've trail bossed groups as big as 40 on less difficult trails. We ran into delays on every trail in Moab though, and I was constantly on the radio trying to figure out why the back of the group was a mile behind the front.

It's very difficult as the event coordinator to tell people that they aren't allowed on a trail because their abilities or vehicle aren't up to the task. I don't want people to drive all the way to Moab only to be told to hit the bunny-slope while the rest go run the tough stuff.

I expected people to realize the difficulty of Golden Spike and elect to just run the Poison Spider Loop, but with spotters they manage to get over things and assume the trail is doable. Being spotted through an obstacle doesn't mean the driver is capable of the obstacle though, it only means the vehicle is.

Honestly, if someone requires a spotter to drive an obstacle, they shouldn't be on the obstacle. A spotter should only be used as a second set of eyes after the driver has chosen the correct line. The spotter should never be picking the line.

I would recommend that all the clubs who happen to read this take a weekend and set up a 4X4 101 Class for their members. Find a good spot with some decent obstacles, bring some cones and set up a course. Teach your members how to use momentum (not speed) to their advantage. Teach them how to know when a wheel is just reaching a ledge or shelf or rock and judge how big their vehicle is. Teach them how little throttle really is required to get over something (I saw a lot of wide open throttle at goneMOAB which should never happen).

There's still a lot for everyone to learn.

please do so 8) its much easier to find place in hotels without all the jeepers flooding town.. and hopefully it would be week that doesnt actually fall on another bleeding project deadline 8( *crossing fingers*

Care to do something like that for RMXC and those who want to join? 8) Would be nice event to attend..

In all fairness, I think it's safe to say that Golden Spike was the hardest trail that most of the participants had ever driven on, and will likely drive on until they next visit Moab. Getting the necessary experience will be tough for most folks. I know that I've never driven on anything more difficult before, and I've driven on some pretty tough stuff before. Except for the Rubicon and maybe a couple other trails, northern California has nothing quite as continuously extreme (yet still within the limits of IFS trucks) as the PSM/Golden Spike/GBR trio.

After all, that's the allure of Moab, isn't it? It's why it's called the "Mecca of 4-wheeling". Heck, if there were a place closer to my home that had Moab-like obstacles and equally stunning scenery, I certainly would be less willing to trek 1000 miles to eastern Utah!

Even though gone occurred during EJS, it was kind of neat to be present during EJS, to see the wild wicked insane rock buggies and other home-built creations out there.

I'm with you on this Dean. The EJS is a great experience for everyone to try, but definitely not a good time to have a Nissan gathering if you want to have the trails to ourselves. Most of the groups that were out there were much more capable than us and got anxious waiting for us to move through obstacles.

Planning GONE Moab during another time of the year will allow us to take our time without the hassle of Jeeps waiting around for us. I also agree that the groups need to be split up. This will allow for a smaller groups for trail leaders to manage.

I found it hard to keep up with the group (yes I did hold us up a bit at times) when Jeeps and Suzuki’s wrangle their way ahead of me and go through obstacles much faster than I could. I was also uncomfortable driving at higher speeds through the "easy" sections (I'm not into destroying parts for no reason). That being said, it wasn't as bad as it sounded and I *hope* everyone had a good time, I sure did.

Thanks Ian for guiding the trails, Calmini for the support, Carlton and Nissan for dinner, and everyone else for making this a very fun and memorable trip!

I haven't said thank you to everyone,

Thank You.

I enjoy the activities of EJS, but also find that there was a big push to keep ahead of other vehicles. I felt the same way when riding a bike on the Slick-Rock trail years ago. I am not in a race to finish, yet much of the people there during EJS are trying to get in a couple trails per day, so they are pushing. I am not interested in pushing this hard.

This year there was more breakage than I have seen in the past. Are we pushing our limits, or is it wear and tear manifesting itself. I am not sure, but we broke a number of different parts.

Many people faced demons-I dislike climbing off-camber slopes, and as a result hit the throttle out of the fear of something. Some elected not to try certain obstacles, some of us tried things and succeeded. I'll admit things were not always pretty, but I do not think that I was the only one who had damage, so I'm not too worried.

In terms of smaller groups, this was discussed during the week. Too often EVERYONE parks there truck to go back and watch others, once the last person is over the obstacle, it would take 5 minutes to get going. This was my complaint on the trail, the front did not get going soon enough and the tail was forced also to wait. We had waiting at both ends of the line over the course of the week. It is inevitible.

We need to look at the SLINKY model while on trails. If the front pulls away, we shouldn't worry too much because the tail catches up on the next obstacle. If over a couple obstacles, the tail is not catching up, we should consider breaking the group in two. Some people are for the first time ever getting to view new and different places. Taking pictures, capturing some video, or even walking off the trail to see some incredible view. Wednesday was a long day, everyone got home somehow, did we break a record? No, but we did not leave anyone behind. Were there other vehicles off the trail after us, Yes.

I don't think spotting is a problem. Some people are more able to know where there vehicle is located. Remember some are not natural athletes, and sometimes trip over our own feet.

Just my thoughts on what overall was a great event, great week, and another great chance to meet friends and new people.

Todd

More Pics anyone?