Moab
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Story by
Jimmy "Big Red" Vance

Photos by
Jimmy "Big Red" Vance and JeepLass




©1997-2010 ROCKCRAWLER 4x4 and Off-Road Magazine. All Rights Reserved.



A Quieter Moab
August, 7-9, 1998

A group of us that hang out on ROCKCRAWLER.COM met in Moab the weekend of August 7th - 9th, 1998.

The Story

Jeff (jpdog) and his family had planned their yearly vacation. Starting on August 1st they hit the road from their home base in St Louis, Missouri. The vacation plans called for a trek to Colorado and then on into Utah to see the sights and do some off-roading. I was originally slated to go to Camp Jeep around this time-frame but had decided in early July that Camp Jeep was going to be way too crowded to really have any fun on the trails. After talking with Camp Jeep officials I was told we could only do one trail. I decided to cancel. A group of us regularly meet at WWW.ROCKCRAWLER.COM in the chat area. I started discussing with JPDOG the possibility of hooking up with him on his way to Moab. As we firmed up plans, a few of the other Rockcrawler regulars decided to join in also.

The Players:

  • JPDog - Jeff, his wife Tracy, and their daughter Sammie (St. Louis, MO.)
  • 4Lo4Hi - Craig, Cindy and Craig's son Steven (Salt Lake City, UT)
  • Jeeplass - Wendy and her friend Josh (Tennis Ball) (Salt Lake City, UT)
  • Lefty - Lefty and Amber (Grand Junction, CO)
  • Big Red - Jimmy - that's me! - (Houston, TX)

The Rigs:

  • JPDog - YJ
  • 4Lo4Hi - CJ
  • JeepLass - Has a Jeep but wasn't able to bring it this trip. Rode with me
  • Lefty - YJ
  • Big Red - TJ

My Trek:

I left my home base in Houston, TX on the night of the 5th at about 12:30am. I stopped in Austin at TXJEEPER's (he runs RockCrawler) house. Mike was gracious enough to let me borrow his GPS and a spare set of axles.

Texas had been in a drought condition since late April. Since the weather appeared like it was going to hold I decided to equip the TJ with the Safari top, Deck cover, and Windjammer, along with the half doors. Minor mistake? About 100 miles out of Austin it started to rain, and rained on and off, mostly on, all the way to Telluride, CO where I was to meet JPDog.

I drove non-stop. 26 hours later I found myself in Telluride it was about 3am and the only Hotel in town was full. I found a spot in front of someone's house and fell asleep, or tried to anyway. Picture a 6'2" 290 pound person trying to sleep comfortably in the front seat of a TJ! The next morning, as planned, I met up with JPDog, and we headed back to his camp site. I was still feeling out of it and decided not to go wheeling that day. I told JPDog I was going to catch a few more hours of sleep and head on into Moab and would see him there on Friday.

Follow the Links below to see the action over the weekend.

Special thanks go out to JeepLass, as she took the majority of the pictures on this trip.

Friday - Potato Salad Hill
Saturday - Fins & Things and Lookout Trail
Sunday - Arches National Park and Poison Spider Mesa
Miscellaneous Photos