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Driving to Moab...

German tourists are everywhere in the Southwest.

I am one of them.

I just happen to live in the US and drive a K5... :pimp:
 
German tourists are everywhere in the Southwest.

I am one of them.

I just happen to live in the US and drive a K5... :pimp:

:) These guys said they just followed their GPS that came with the rental RV and didn't purposefully go over a trail that was marked "impassible and subject to flooding during rain." Maybe next time I'll check it out.
 
The scenery along that road is certainly worth it. The rock and earth colors change quite a bit as you get to the higher elevations (i.e. traveling north).

There's one short stretch of road that apparently has known drainage problems - mud when wet.

They also put a darn power line thru that canyon that does get in the way of photography.

Oh, and just because...Go Bayern :D

 
On the Golden Spike run, Claudia and I stopped for a bit to pay our respects...


The canyon below is recovering from the fire damage; there's more green down there now than in previous years :D.
 
That's cool:waytogo:. I didn't know Jason other than all I have read, so is this where the accident happen or was it favorite spot of his. I've always wonder this but I couldn't figure that out for sure.

On the Golden Spike run, Claudia and I stopped for a bit to pay our respects...


The canyon below is recovering from the fire damage; there's more green down there now than in previous years :D.
 
That's cool:waytogo:. I didn't know Jason other than all I have read, so is this where the accident happen or was it favorite spot of his. I've always wonder this but I couldn't figure that out for sure.

Simply a favorite spot of his. Jason passed on the Rubicon trail in California. He frequented BB and when the guys from California came out with him they traditionally ran this trail. There were several photographs taken with him and his closest friends sitting on the ledge in front of the Plaque.

His parents decided that the canyon below would be his final resting place.

Michael, when was the fire? I know everything was burned out when we spread Jasons ashes but I don't know when the fire actually happened.
 
Simply a favorite spot of his. Jason passed on the Rubicon trail in California. He frequented BB and when the guys from California came out with him they traditionally ran this trail. There were several photographs taken with him and his closest friends sitting on the ledge in front of the Plaque.

His parents decided that the canyon below would be his final resting place.

Michael, when was the fire? I know everything was burned out when we spread Jasons ashes but I don't know when the fire actually happened.


Thanks for the great explanation.:waytogo:
 
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Michael, when was the fire? I know everything was burned out when we spread Jasons ashes but I don't know when the fire actually happened.

I don't know; I've googled but can't find anything...
 
You guys who've never made it out here are truly missing out on something awesome :laugh::


Switchbacks of the Burr trail down into Capitol Reef National Park:


Turns out that besides that photo of my truck on the Golden Crack, I don't have any truck-on-rock pics this time. Methinks I've photographed almost every obstacle on 'Spike with trucks of various makes over the past years, and somehow it seemed to get a bit stale. Well, the photography part, not the driving itself - it's still my favorite Moab trail.
My own focus this time on 'Spike was to drive everything clean and keep moving. Well, that worked until Golden Stairs - towards the end of the video, courtesy of Jeff from Canada... :)
I've managed to drive the 'Stairs clean only once - back when my K5 had a stock suspension, skinny 33" BFG ATs with 25 psi in them, a rear 10-bolt with an ARB, and an open front, No tire slip. Ever since I've lifted the truck, I needed to bump it... this time it was a little much for my taste.
 
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Got a little air going up the stairs. :)

Yup, a little more than I wanted...:D I blame it on the missing shock on the passenger front side. The seal let go on the short one of my quad-5125 setup somewhere on Golden Spike, and I removed it so as to not leak oil all over the trail.

Turns out the shock is 'factory-rebuildable' - which, incidentally, costs as much as a new 5125 :rolleyes:. But the quad-5125 setup was a temporary solution anyways, workable and better than the single 5125, but only until I would be able to make up my mind what I want to do re shocks. Back to the drawing board, for now. The rear has RS9000XL adjustables, set for '9' on the trail, and it feels I could use more shock there as well.

The right rear corner is a bit worse for wear...



But I guess the good news is that the traction bar is still on the truck...:)

I'm mulling over either getting a new rear bumper, or cutting the carriers off of this one. I think I'm done with having to swing away the carriers every time I want to open the tailgate.
I can fit the 35" spare inside easily, and I'm tired of the jerry cans and their low 'flow rate'. Since I now have a decent 12V connector in the back, I think an electrical fuel transfer pump back there would be the ticket, possible together with a 12gal polyethylene tank originally designed for a boat... or maybe just a fuel cell.
 
I think an electrical fuel transfer pump back there would be the ticket, possible together with a 12gal polyethylene tank originally designed for a boat... or maybe just a fuel cell.

I like the electric pump idea. The nozzles you get with the cans suck.
 
I like your style.

Thanks, appreciate it :laugh:.

The reason I'm posting anything here, and the message that I'm trying to get across, is that if a truck is reliable enough, there's plenty of things to see that most people have never seen, and will never see in their lifetime. All you've got to do is get out there, keep the eyes open - and the camera ready to go.
 
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View of Blue Notch Canyon, with Lake Powell in the distance:



... and a pic of the stickers on my truck...:laugh:. That's down at the Lake; a really neat drive, and plenty of potential camp spots down there.



We inquired whether it would be possible to connect to Red Canyon down at the Lake, but it turns out that only works when the water level is really low. So we'll do Red Canyon separately on the next or so outing.

The next trip will be the 'Tripod Trip'. I have a tripod that by now I've schlepped to Moab about six times now, only to never use it, because we got places to go, things to see, trails to drive, etc. - but somehow no leisure to set up a tripod for photography...
 
hi new member of ck5 and im wanting to try and make it out to blazer bash 2012 and i was wondering if there would be any trails for beginers all we have around my place is muddy roads and if my suburban can handle those trails or not its on 33s with factory suspension and a yukon posi in rear the gm 10 bolt and just factory 10 bolt up front with a granny low 4-speed trans and np231 transfer case
 
hi new member of ck5 and im wanting to try and make it out to blazer bash 2012 and i was wondering if there would be any trails for beginers...

Sure, there's plenty of easy trails. Check with management, though; I won't be there.

Here you go; it says 2011 in the link, but it's the trail schedule for 2012:
http://blazerbash.com/2011_schedule.html

Two things: first, driving to Moab, and running trails there doesn't have to be that big of a production that it's usually made out to be; and second, if a truck can't survive driving a bit on nice, smooth blacktop roads, it'll have no business being on a Moab trail. Given the distances involved in many Moab trails, vehicle reliability is a big factor.
 
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Coming out from Blue Notch Canyon, we left the dirt for a while, as we drove UT95 to Blanding, and UT191 on to Moab.
Claudia put the '40 through CruiseMoab tech inspection, we got caught up with some acquaintances from prior years, and then the two of us set out for Spring Canyon Point, north of Moab.

We came by Secret Spire along the way:



Here's the view at the Point, high above the Green River:



... and a stylish hat at lunch :)



And since we were up there, we did a quick look-see at Dead Horse State Park; here's a view right outside the visitor center:

 
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