The first day of the event, Friday, September 10th, had 2 trail runs. The larger group of approximately 30 trucks went to Area BFE for an unguided day of trail runs through out the private offroad park south of Moab. A smaller group of 7 trucks and 13 people went on a guided trail run called Hey Joe Canyon located north of Moab.
The trucks on the Hey Joe Canyon run ranged from mostly stock on 33” tires to trucks equipped with upgraded 1-ton axles, front & rear lockers, and 38” tires. The trail begins on Spring Canyon Bottom which is an easy trail with a breathtaking ledge road winding its way down along the side of a canyon wall. The trail starts with an awe inspiring overlook into the canyon below and in the distance the drivers could make out the portion of the trail they would eventually be navigating.
Once at the bottom of the canyon the trail eventually reaches the banks of the Colorado River and runs along beside it. The trucks worked their way through heavy vegetation on either side of the trail constantly leaving unique pinstriping along the sides of each vehicle. Often times the river was within 5 to 6 feet of the trail.
A gate marks the beginning of Hey Joe Canyon and the group proceeded through on their way to the eventual destination of the abandoned Hey Joe Mine. The Hey Joe Canyon trail is considered to be moderately difficult. Everything was proceeding well and all of the trucks were traversing the trail with ease until the group encountered what appeared to be a new obstacle in the trail. The Moab area had recently experience heavy rains which had caused many trails in the Canyonlands National Park to be severely damaged and consequently closed. Apparently Hey Joe Canyon had not escaped unscathed. All of the drivers piled out to take a look at the obstacle that appeared to be slowing up the trail leader. A large pile of rocks had fallen down across the trail and made a challenging little rock garden to cross.
All of the trucks in the group made it past the new rock slide with some keen driving and experienced spotting. The trail continued to follow the Colorado River with a few narrow places forcing the trucks very close to the edge of the river bank. It wasn’t long before the group encountered another section of the trail damaged by the heavy rains. Once again all of the trucks stopped and the drivers got out and inspected the obstacle. After much discussion and head scratching it was decided most of the trucks in the group would not be able to cross this section of the trail so the decision was made to turn around. The trek back out of the trail was uneventful and everyone headed to get ready for the event BBQ sponsored by Offroad Design.
The event BBQ is the big social event of Blazer Bash. This year’s BBQ was hosted in Moab’s Old City Park. A large dirt parking lot across the street was filled with fullsize GM, Ford, and Dodge trucks. The variety of vehicles is a wide sampling of offroad trucks from stock to full race trucks that compete in events such as King of the Hammers. While the crew from Offroad Design prepared the evening meal, participants milled around the parked rigs, socialized, and scoped out the raffle prizes.
A very special part of the BBQ includes the awarding of the Jason Payne Memorial Trophy. Jason was a valued member of the offroad community that regularly attended Blazer Bash and loved the Moab area. Following his sudden passing in August 2007, it was decided to honor his memory each year at Blazer Bash by awarding a trophy in his honor. The winner is chosen by the participants voting for the vehicle they feel best embodies the innovative spirit Jason Payne epitomized. This year’s winner was a GMC Sonoma pickup mounted on a 1972 K5 Blazer chassis outfitted with a coilover suspension and custom exo-cage.
Following the awarding of Jason’s trophy, a raffle drawing is held to give away several items donated to Blazer Bash by generous companies. Some of the headline prizes were a 10# CO2 system from Ultimate Air, custom tube doors by DIY4x.com, GM NP205 stainless steel twinstick kit from JB Custom Fabrication, and a heavy duty winch bumper from Hefty Fabworks. Other door prize sponsors included High Angle Driveline, A to Z Fabrication, Aussie Locker, Offroad Limited, Offroad Design, Advance Adapters, Warn, The Street Rod Manufacturing Company, Barnes4wd.com, and Magnum Ink.
The raffle concluded the night with the much anticipated awarding of the Hefty Fabworks winch bumper.
Following that, all of the participants headed back to camp to get some sleep before the next days trail run.
Saturday is the biggest day of the Blazer Bash event in regards to trail runs. This year there were a total of 5 groups running 4 different trails; Hell’s Revenge, Cliffhanger, Golden Spike (aka the “Trifecta”), and Pritchett Canyon. There were 2 groups running the Trifecta because of the number of vehicles signed up to run the trail and the demanding nature of the trail. It is called the Trifecta because it consists of 3 trails beginning with Poison Spider Mesa leading into Golden Spike and exiting on Gold Bar Rim. It is a long day on the trail with a minimum of 8 hours for a clean run in most well equipped trail rigs. Past events have seen Trifecta runs take as long as 18 hours when the day is filled with numerous mishaps.
The first Trifecta group left their meeting spot at about 8:30AM. Unfortunately 30 minutes late because the day was off to a bad start when one of the drivers discovered they had a flat tire. Out came the highlift jack and ratchet strap to get the tire changed as quickly as possible with the help of several other drivers. Once that was taken care of it was time to roll out. The group of 9 fullsize GM trucks (seven K5 Blazers, a pickup, and a suburban) and 2 fullsize Ford Broncos made the 6 mile highway drive to the Poison Spider Mesa trailhead without further incident.
Everyone had aired down at the meeting spot, so no time was wasted getting started. The run started off smoothly as all of the vehicles trekked along without any difficulty clearing the first obstacles along the trail. However it was long before one of the vehicles was having overheating issues. One of the other trucks was gracious enough to stay behind and make sure the distressed vehicle and driver would make it off the trail okay. The Blazer Bash group practices the “leave no truck behind” policy.
Now down to 9 vehicles the group pressed on approaching the obstacle called the Launch Pad. All of the vehicles were able to conquer the steep climb without trouble.
The group continued on winding it’s way through the slickrock challenges of Poison Spider Mesa drawing closer to Golden Spike trail. However the group didn’t make it far on Golden Spike before one of the trucks had a very unique problem that no one was prepared to fix.
A suburban in the group suffered a punctured oil filter when its suspension compressed enough to allow the front axle yoke to contact the filter. As luck would have it, no one in the group thought to carry a spare oil filter since it never occurred to anyone that one might be needed.
A trail repair was attempted and everyone was sure it would be worthy of the offroad hall of fame. The hole in the filter was plugged with an RTV coated screw and then the entire filter was wrapped in a combination of high-speed duct tape and ziplock sandwich bags. The completed product looked like an oil filter that could survive a war.
The filter was reinstalled along with a block of wood to keep the axle from articulating enough to hit the oil filter again. Unfortunately the repairs to the filter were not sufficient enough to contain the oil pressure of the big block 454 engine. At this point one of the trail leaders turned back to get the necessary parts to repair the downed suburban. Fortunately the parts run vehicle was a 2009 and 2010 King of the Hammers top finisher so the driver of the suburban wouldn’t need to wait terribly long to get his vehicle up and moving again.
Once again there were volunteers to stay with the injured vehicle to make sure driver and vehicle stayed safe while waiting for repair parts. Three vehicles stayed with the suburban while the 4 remaining members of the original group continued on with the Golden Spike trail.
At this point the 4 vehicles decided it was time to get down to business and just trek on with as little delay as possible. The small group pressed on to one of the most popular obstacles in Moab, the Golden Crack. None of the drivers in the group had been to this obstacle before so everyone jumped out to see how best to approach the Golden Crack. Luckily one of the passengers, James Watson from Offroad Design, was familiar with the Golden Crack and he guided the 4 trucks through without issues. Of course the cameras were out to capture tires in the air and suspensions at full articulation.
The rest of Golden Spike trail was completed without any issues for the four remaining vehicles. After the Golden Crack the trail is full of well known obstacles such as Golden Stairs, Golden Coaster, Double Whammy, and Body Snatcher. Then it was on to Gold Bar Rim to finish the Trifecta run.
Near the end of the Gold Bar Rim trail, the group took time to pause at a memorial plaque placed in Jason Payne’s honor. It is located at a spot in the trail that was one of Jason’s favorite memories of wheeling in Moab with his friends. It was an opportunity to reflect on Jason and the group also took the opportunity to give thanks to all of the men and women who have served and are serving in the United States armed forces so that we could have the freedom and opportunity to experience four wheeling in Moab, UT.
After exiting the Gold Bar Rim trail onto the Gemini Bridges Road the four vehicles stopped for a group photo opportunity. This group consisted of two Chevy K5 Blazers and two Ford Broncos. Eleven hours after starting the Trifecta run the first group of vehicles was off the trail.
The three vehicles that stayed with the suburban were off the trail at about 10:00PM. The second group of vehicles running the Trifecta had started the day at 9:30AM. They had several problems and eventually met up with the suburban in time to help finish with the repairs so it could finish the trail. That group was off the trail at approximately midnight.
The third and final day of Blazer Bash 2010 consisted of two guided trail runs, Behind the Rocks and Tip-Toe Behind the Rocks. Just a few years ago the Behind the Rocks 4x4 trail was considered to be the most difficult trail in the Moab area (that title is now held by Pritchett Canyon). High Dive, Upchuck, Hummer Hill, and White Knuckle Hill are some of the popular obstacles on the Behind the Rocks trail. Tip-Toe Behind the Rocks allows the less experienced drivers and less equipped vehicles to enjoy the same area as Behind the Rocks but bypass the more difficult obstacles. If everything is timed right the group on Tip-Toe can watch the group on Behind the Rocks to attempt High Dive and Upchuck.
Seven trucks started the day on Tip-Toe and eight trucks headed out to Behind the Rocks. Both groups quickly found the effects of the heavy rains mentioned earlier. The trail leader for the Behind the Rocks run told his group the beginning of the trail would be smooth but as it turned out the rain had exposed the underlying rock and made for a much rougher journey. The Tip-Toe group ran across a severely eroded section of the road but luckily the course was wide enough to allow passage.
However it did make wayfinding a little more difficult because all of the tracks had been erased by the rain it wasn’t obvious with path was the correct one to follow. Normally it’s a little more obvious which direction to choose at the intersections when there are tracks to follow.
The group running Tip-Toe managed to make it to High Dive and Upchuck before the Behind the Rocks group. Turns out one of the trucks in the latter group lost a tie rod end so the group was delayed making repairs. Most of the trucks decided the bypass the precarious decent down High Dive. The trail leader, Dirk Phillips, decided to put on an exhibition of driver and truck capabilities by driving up High Dive. The Behind the rocks group all conquered the difficult climb up Upchuck and continued down the trail.
The Tip-Toe group loaded up and headed out on their portion of the trail. The path wound the group through the sandy area eventually along the edge of Hunters Canyon. As the trail turned back away from the Canyon it joined the Behind the Rocks trail in time for some in the group to attempt Hummer Hill, a steep climb up a slickrock dome. A few in the group made the climb to the top and circle around behind to rejoin the trail along with those opting for the bypass.
The next obstacle was the Roller Coaster consisting of 3 drops down a series of steep ledges in succession. The Tip-Toe group had to hurry through this obstacle as safely as possible as the Behind the Rocks group was coming up fast and following them down the Roller Coaster.
After this obstacle the Tip-Toe group turned south as the other group continued on to finish Behind the Rocks.
The rest of the Tip-Toe trail was uneventful. It did have several exposed slickrock ledges to challenge all of the drivers and provide plenty of entertainment to finish the trail.
The group took some time to enjoy the small sand dune area on the exit road. A couple of trucks managed to get some air under the tires cresting the dunes. It was decided the dunes were a good spot for a group photo.
Everyone in the group made it out under their own power. It was a sad end to the trail as this was the last organized run for the Blazer Bash event. Everyone in the group said their goodbyes and loaded up to head for home already talking about what they were going to do for next year’s Blazer Bash.
The trucks on the Hey Joe Canyon run ranged from mostly stock on 33” tires to trucks equipped with upgraded 1-ton axles, front & rear lockers, and 38” tires. The trail begins on Spring Canyon Bottom which is an easy trail with a breathtaking ledge road winding its way down along the side of a canyon wall. The trail starts with an awe inspiring overlook into the canyon below and in the distance the drivers could make out the portion of the trail they would eventually be navigating.
Once at the bottom of the canyon the trail eventually reaches the banks of the Colorado River and runs along beside it. The trucks worked their way through heavy vegetation on either side of the trail constantly leaving unique pinstriping along the sides of each vehicle. Often times the river was within 5 to 6 feet of the trail.
A gate marks the beginning of Hey Joe Canyon and the group proceeded through on their way to the eventual destination of the abandoned Hey Joe Mine. The Hey Joe Canyon trail is considered to be moderately difficult. Everything was proceeding well and all of the trucks were traversing the trail with ease until the group encountered what appeared to be a new obstacle in the trail. The Moab area had recently experience heavy rains which had caused many trails in the Canyonlands National Park to be severely damaged and consequently closed. Apparently Hey Joe Canyon had not escaped unscathed. All of the drivers piled out to take a look at the obstacle that appeared to be slowing up the trail leader. A large pile of rocks had fallen down across the trail and made a challenging little rock garden to cross.
All of the trucks in the group made it past the new rock slide with some keen driving and experienced spotting. The trail continued to follow the Colorado River with a few narrow places forcing the trucks very close to the edge of the river bank. It wasn’t long before the group encountered another section of the trail damaged by the heavy rains. Once again all of the trucks stopped and the drivers got out and inspected the obstacle. After much discussion and head scratching it was decided most of the trucks in the group would not be able to cross this section of the trail so the decision was made to turn around. The trek back out of the trail was uneventful and everyone headed to get ready for the event BBQ sponsored by Offroad Design.
The event BBQ is the big social event of Blazer Bash. This year’s BBQ was hosted in Moab’s Old City Park. A large dirt parking lot across the street was filled with fullsize GM, Ford, and Dodge trucks. The variety of vehicles is a wide sampling of offroad trucks from stock to full race trucks that compete in events such as King of the Hammers. While the crew from Offroad Design prepared the evening meal, participants milled around the parked rigs, socialized, and scoped out the raffle prizes.
A very special part of the BBQ includes the awarding of the Jason Payne Memorial Trophy. Jason was a valued member of the offroad community that regularly attended Blazer Bash and loved the Moab area. Following his sudden passing in August 2007, it was decided to honor his memory each year at Blazer Bash by awarding a trophy in his honor. The winner is chosen by the participants voting for the vehicle they feel best embodies the innovative spirit Jason Payne epitomized. This year’s winner was a GMC Sonoma pickup mounted on a 1972 K5 Blazer chassis outfitted with a coilover suspension and custom exo-cage.
Following the awarding of Jason’s trophy, a raffle drawing is held to give away several items donated to Blazer Bash by generous companies. Some of the headline prizes were a 10# CO2 system from Ultimate Air, custom tube doors by DIY4x.com, GM NP205 stainless steel twinstick kit from JB Custom Fabrication, and a heavy duty winch bumper from Hefty Fabworks. Other door prize sponsors included High Angle Driveline, A to Z Fabrication, Aussie Locker, Offroad Limited, Offroad Design, Advance Adapters, Warn, The Street Rod Manufacturing Company, Barnes4wd.com, and Magnum Ink.
The raffle concluded the night with the much anticipated awarding of the Hefty Fabworks winch bumper.
Following that, all of the participants headed back to camp to get some sleep before the next days trail run.
Saturday is the biggest day of the Blazer Bash event in regards to trail runs. This year there were a total of 5 groups running 4 different trails; Hell’s Revenge, Cliffhanger, Golden Spike (aka the “Trifecta”), and Pritchett Canyon. There were 2 groups running the Trifecta because of the number of vehicles signed up to run the trail and the demanding nature of the trail. It is called the Trifecta because it consists of 3 trails beginning with Poison Spider Mesa leading into Golden Spike and exiting on Gold Bar Rim. It is a long day on the trail with a minimum of 8 hours for a clean run in most well equipped trail rigs. Past events have seen Trifecta runs take as long as 18 hours when the day is filled with numerous mishaps.
The first Trifecta group left their meeting spot at about 8:30AM. Unfortunately 30 minutes late because the day was off to a bad start when one of the drivers discovered they had a flat tire. Out came the highlift jack and ratchet strap to get the tire changed as quickly as possible with the help of several other drivers. Once that was taken care of it was time to roll out. The group of 9 fullsize GM trucks (seven K5 Blazers, a pickup, and a suburban) and 2 fullsize Ford Broncos made the 6 mile highway drive to the Poison Spider Mesa trailhead without further incident.
Everyone had aired down at the meeting spot, so no time was wasted getting started. The run started off smoothly as all of the vehicles trekked along without any difficulty clearing the first obstacles along the trail. However it was long before one of the vehicles was having overheating issues. One of the other trucks was gracious enough to stay behind and make sure the distressed vehicle and driver would make it off the trail okay. The Blazer Bash group practices the “leave no truck behind” policy.
Now down to 9 vehicles the group pressed on approaching the obstacle called the Launch Pad. All of the vehicles were able to conquer the steep climb without trouble.
The group continued on winding it’s way through the slickrock challenges of Poison Spider Mesa drawing closer to Golden Spike trail. However the group didn’t make it far on Golden Spike before one of the trucks had a very unique problem that no one was prepared to fix.
A suburban in the group suffered a punctured oil filter when its suspension compressed enough to allow the front axle yoke to contact the filter. As luck would have it, no one in the group thought to carry a spare oil filter since it never occurred to anyone that one might be needed.
A trail repair was attempted and everyone was sure it would be worthy of the offroad hall of fame. The hole in the filter was plugged with an RTV coated screw and then the entire filter was wrapped in a combination of high-speed duct tape and ziplock sandwich bags. The completed product looked like an oil filter that could survive a war.
The filter was reinstalled along with a block of wood to keep the axle from articulating enough to hit the oil filter again. Unfortunately the repairs to the filter were not sufficient enough to contain the oil pressure of the big block 454 engine. At this point one of the trail leaders turned back to get the necessary parts to repair the downed suburban. Fortunately the parts run vehicle was a 2009 and 2010 King of the Hammers top finisher so the driver of the suburban wouldn’t need to wait terribly long to get his vehicle up and moving again.
Once again there were volunteers to stay with the injured vehicle to make sure driver and vehicle stayed safe while waiting for repair parts. Three vehicles stayed with the suburban while the 4 remaining members of the original group continued on with the Golden Spike trail.
At this point the 4 vehicles decided it was time to get down to business and just trek on with as little delay as possible. The small group pressed on to one of the most popular obstacles in Moab, the Golden Crack. None of the drivers in the group had been to this obstacle before so everyone jumped out to see how best to approach the Golden Crack. Luckily one of the passengers, James Watson from Offroad Design, was familiar with the Golden Crack and he guided the 4 trucks through without issues. Of course the cameras were out to capture tires in the air and suspensions at full articulation.
The rest of Golden Spike trail was completed without any issues for the four remaining vehicles. After the Golden Crack the trail is full of well known obstacles such as Golden Stairs, Golden Coaster, Double Whammy, and Body Snatcher. Then it was on to Gold Bar Rim to finish the Trifecta run.
Near the end of the Gold Bar Rim trail, the group took time to pause at a memorial plaque placed in Jason Payne’s honor. It is located at a spot in the trail that was one of Jason’s favorite memories of wheeling in Moab with his friends. It was an opportunity to reflect on Jason and the group also took the opportunity to give thanks to all of the men and women who have served and are serving in the United States armed forces so that we could have the freedom and opportunity to experience four wheeling in Moab, UT.
After exiting the Gold Bar Rim trail onto the Gemini Bridges Road the four vehicles stopped for a group photo opportunity. This group consisted of two Chevy K5 Blazers and two Ford Broncos. Eleven hours after starting the Trifecta run the first group of vehicles was off the trail.
The three vehicles that stayed with the suburban were off the trail at about 10:00PM. The second group of vehicles running the Trifecta had started the day at 9:30AM. They had several problems and eventually met up with the suburban in time to help finish with the repairs so it could finish the trail. That group was off the trail at approximately midnight.
The third and final day of Blazer Bash 2010 consisted of two guided trail runs, Behind the Rocks and Tip-Toe Behind the Rocks. Just a few years ago the Behind the Rocks 4x4 trail was considered to be the most difficult trail in the Moab area (that title is now held by Pritchett Canyon). High Dive, Upchuck, Hummer Hill, and White Knuckle Hill are some of the popular obstacles on the Behind the Rocks trail. Tip-Toe Behind the Rocks allows the less experienced drivers and less equipped vehicles to enjoy the same area as Behind the Rocks but bypass the more difficult obstacles. If everything is timed right the group on Tip-Toe can watch the group on Behind the Rocks to attempt High Dive and Upchuck.
Seven trucks started the day on Tip-Toe and eight trucks headed out to Behind the Rocks. Both groups quickly found the effects of the heavy rains mentioned earlier. The trail leader for the Behind the Rocks run told his group the beginning of the trail would be smooth but as it turned out the rain had exposed the underlying rock and made for a much rougher journey. The Tip-Toe group ran across a severely eroded section of the road but luckily the course was wide enough to allow passage.
However it did make wayfinding a little more difficult because all of the tracks had been erased by the rain it wasn’t obvious with path was the correct one to follow. Normally it’s a little more obvious which direction to choose at the intersections when there are tracks to follow.
The group running Tip-Toe managed to make it to High Dive and Upchuck before the Behind the Rocks group. Turns out one of the trucks in the latter group lost a tie rod end so the group was delayed making repairs. Most of the trucks decided the bypass the precarious decent down High Dive. The trail leader, Dirk Phillips, decided to put on an exhibition of driver and truck capabilities by driving up High Dive. The Behind the rocks group all conquered the difficult climb up Upchuck and continued down the trail.
The Tip-Toe group loaded up and headed out on their portion of the trail. The path wound the group through the sandy area eventually along the edge of Hunters Canyon. As the trail turned back away from the Canyon it joined the Behind the Rocks trail in time for some in the group to attempt Hummer Hill, a steep climb up a slickrock dome. A few in the group made the climb to the top and circle around behind to rejoin the trail along with those opting for the bypass.
The next obstacle was the Roller Coaster consisting of 3 drops down a series of steep ledges in succession. The Tip-Toe group had to hurry through this obstacle as safely as possible as the Behind the Rocks group was coming up fast and following them down the Roller Coaster.
After this obstacle the Tip-Toe group turned south as the other group continued on to finish Behind the Rocks.
The rest of the Tip-Toe trail was uneventful. It did have several exposed slickrock ledges to challenge all of the drivers and provide plenty of entertainment to finish the trail.
The group took some time to enjoy the small sand dune area on the exit road. A couple of trucks managed to get some air under the tires cresting the dunes. It was decided the dunes were a good spot for a group photo.
Everyone in the group made it out under their own power. It was a sad end to the trail as this was the last organized run for the Blazer Bash event. Everyone in the group said their goodbyes and loaded up to head for home already talking about what they were going to do for next year’s Blazer Bash.
