33rd
Annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari Golden Spike
Our second day out, we
were invited out on a private run with the gang from Petersen's
Publishing. A good part of the editorial staff was there, as well as
many of their biggest advertisers. The group numbered just over 30
vehicles. We gathered together and headed up Gold Bar Rim. The wind
was blowing like crazy on the sandy trails leading up to Golden Spike.
The plan was to go up to
Golden Spike the back way, get to Double Whammy for lunch, and turn
back around before the Red Rock official run got to to the Golden
Crack. Once we returned to town, we would all gather at a private
ranch, south of town, for a barbeque dinner.
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Golden
Spike is a very scenic run through a slickrock canyon. Typically, in a
good-sized group, the entire trail takes 6-10 hours (if nobody breaks
anything).
Steps
like this are not uncommon on Golden Spike. You definitely need good
underside armour, especially on your gas tank. With anything under
35's, you will bang your rear end a bunch.
More
stairs go throughout the trail. Never a dull moment.
What
is it about running Golden Spike on Wednesdays for us? I swear, the
area around the Golden Wall is like the Bermuda Triangle to the Mad
Cow. Last year we lost an axle there. This year, we broke a tie-rod
end in half coming out of the Body Snatcher.
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After coming over Gold Bar Rim, the terrain quickly turns from sand to
slickrock. From there on, the trail is rated 4+.
One
popular stop on Golden Spike is Double Whammy. There are two steps
that are just about perfectly spaced to hang up a Jeep or Samurai. We
stopped for a quite a while to watch the fun there.
The
Golden Wall is about as vertical as you can go without rolling over.
In fact, on our way back up the wall, we just about rolled
end-over-end. Thanks to the guys from
James Duff Enterprises
for the rodeo ride assistance in getting me back over the top!
Luckily,
I had a spare tie-rod end. Many thanks to Randy from
Randy's Ring and
Pinion for his help in making the TJ steerable again!
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