As much as Cindy and I love Moab, attending the annual Easter Jeep Safari was just becoming way too much work for us and far from being the fun that it used to be. After all, we got into Jeepin to get away from the crowds - not to surround ourselves with them. So, a couple of years ago, we decided that we'd still make regular treks out to Moab but we'd do it off season and when there weren't so many people out there. Needless to say, heading out to the 50th Anniversary of the Easter Jeep Safari where they were expecting thousands of more people than normal wasn't exactly something we would have preferred to do but, it is something that we ultimately did end up doing or should I say, for a part of it anyway.
After watching Mel race EVO 1 at the Mint 400 down in Las Vegas, we got an invite from our friend Jim at Dynatrac and he had asked if we could come out to Moab for a couple of days and help him with a photoshoot. Turns out that he was in need of another Jeep to use as a prop and another driver to help drive one of the other Jeeps he had with him. And, being that we had nothing better to do, were already down in Vegas and that this would all take place a week BEFORE the Easter Jeep Safari, we decided what the heck. Of course, once we were in Moab, there was always another reason why we needed to say longer and before we knew it, two days quickly turned into a week and then some.
Because we weren't really planning to do this trip at all and being that we were going more to help out than anything, we don't have as many pics to post up from our adventures and this is especially true of our time in Moab. However, we were able to snap a few and I hope you'll enjoy them just the same.
Here's a shot of Rubicat with the brand new set of Cooper Discoverer STT Pros that we had literally installed onto our ATX Chamber Pro II bead lock wheels a couple of days before. This was taken just as we were leaving Primm, NV after watching Mel place 2nd in EVO 1 at the Mint 400 Race.
Heading east and crossing into Arizona.
Unfortunately, there was a crazy amount of bumper to bumper traffic in the Virgin River Gorge.
Fortunately, the traffic did eventually clear up and before we knew it, we were crossing into Utah.
Light speed for a Jeep! Gotta love the 80 MPH speed limits in Utah.
Capitol Reef - Cathedral Valley
Rather than head straight to Moab, Cindy and I decided to take a side route across Highway 24 and through Capitol Reef. Here's a couple of shots of us taking a break along the shores of the Koosharem Reservoir.
Crossing into Capitol Reef National Park.
What makes the Waterpocket Fold area of Capitol Reef so cool is that you can literally see sedimentary rock records dating back to 270 million years ago everywhere.
Our plan for the day was to make a trek into the Cathedral Valley which is located in the northeast corner of the park. To do this, we needed to ford the Fremont River which is normally more of a shallow creek than anything but, when we were there, the water was a bit deeper and flowing quite fast. In reality, it was nothing difficult but here's a short clip of what it looked like.
On the other side with chocolate powdered Cooper STT Pros.
Continuing our way up toward the Bentonite Hills.
Up in the barren Bentonite Hills where it feels like you're driving on the Moon.
Looking across the Cathedral Valley and enjoying the breathtaking view.
Heading down into the Cathedral Valley.
Making a stop to check out the Gypsum Sink Hole.
It's hard to capture the true scale of this sink hole but it was created as gypsum that once resided underneath the ground dissolved over time.
Heading out to a monolith known as the Temple of the Sun.
And this monolith is know as the Temple of the Moon.
After paying homage at the Temple of the Sun and Moon, we made a stop over at a geological feature known as the Glass Mountain. Unlike the name suggests, this mountain is more of a large mound than anything and it's actually made of large selenite crystals or gypsum. 165 million years ago, gypsum was deposited and buried under sediments here as sea water evaporated and then over time, it migrated up through fractures in the form of layers. From what I understand, a mound or dome like this is quite rare.
Making our way out of the Cathedral Valley.
After watching Mel race EVO 1 at the Mint 400 down in Las Vegas, we got an invite from our friend Jim at Dynatrac and he had asked if we could come out to Moab for a couple of days and help him with a photoshoot. Turns out that he was in need of another Jeep to use as a prop and another driver to help drive one of the other Jeeps he had with him. And, being that we had nothing better to do, were already down in Vegas and that this would all take place a week BEFORE the Easter Jeep Safari, we decided what the heck. Of course, once we were in Moab, there was always another reason why we needed to say longer and before we knew it, two days quickly turned into a week and then some.
Because we weren't really planning to do this trip at all and being that we were going more to help out than anything, we don't have as many pics to post up from our adventures and this is especially true of our time in Moab. However, we were able to snap a few and I hope you'll enjoy them just the same.
Here's a shot of Rubicat with the brand new set of Cooper Discoverer STT Pros that we had literally installed onto our ATX Chamber Pro II bead lock wheels a couple of days before. This was taken just as we were leaving Primm, NV after watching Mel place 2nd in EVO 1 at the Mint 400 Race.
Heading east and crossing into Arizona.
Unfortunately, there was a crazy amount of bumper to bumper traffic in the Virgin River Gorge.
Fortunately, the traffic did eventually clear up and before we knew it, we were crossing into Utah.
Light speed for a Jeep! Gotta love the 80 MPH speed limits in Utah.
Capitol Reef - Cathedral Valley
Rather than head straight to Moab, Cindy and I decided to take a side route across Highway 24 and through Capitol Reef. Here's a couple of shots of us taking a break along the shores of the Koosharem Reservoir.
Crossing into Capitol Reef National Park.
What makes the Waterpocket Fold area of Capitol Reef so cool is that you can literally see sedimentary rock records dating back to 270 million years ago everywhere.
Our plan for the day was to make a trek into the Cathedral Valley which is located in the northeast corner of the park. To do this, we needed to ford the Fremont River which is normally more of a shallow creek than anything but, when we were there, the water was a bit deeper and flowing quite fast. In reality, it was nothing difficult but here's a short clip of what it looked like.
On the other side with chocolate powdered Cooper STT Pros.
Continuing our way up toward the Bentonite Hills.
Up in the barren Bentonite Hills where it feels like you're driving on the Moon.
Looking across the Cathedral Valley and enjoying the breathtaking view.
Heading down into the Cathedral Valley.
Making a stop to check out the Gypsum Sink Hole.
It's hard to capture the true scale of this sink hole but it was created as gypsum that once resided underneath the ground dissolved over time.
Heading out to a monolith known as the Temple of the Sun.
And this monolith is know as the Temple of the Moon.
After paying homage at the Temple of the Sun and Moon, we made a stop over at a geological feature known as the Glass Mountain. Unlike the name suggests, this mountain is more of a large mound than anything and it's actually made of large selenite crystals or gypsum. 165 million years ago, gypsum was deposited and buried under sediments here as sea water evaporated and then over time, it migrated up through fractures in the form of layers. From what I understand, a mound or dome like this is quite rare.
Making our way out of the Cathedral Valley.
