Images from our third day in Moab, Utah for the 58th annual Easter Jeep Safari.
by Matt Konkle
Managing Editor
MOAB, Utah — Monday morning in the Utah desert dawned a bit colder than what we enjoyed on the weekend. Still, we bundled up and headed south of town to a trail we hadn't done in a while — Flat Iron Mesa.
Our first two days were spent as more of 'studio' time. Filming products like Stealth and Carnivore lighting, Res-Q recovery gear and QRC bumpers with a more lifestyle background for future catalog presentations. And, just because Moab and its surrounding area are so picturesque, we also were going through several different front cover ideas. So don't be surprised to see something different on a catalog cover — perhaps even as soon as this summer.
So for our third day, we really wanted to get back on the trail and see some new things. That's why we picked Flat Iron Mesa.
The trail itself, for the most part, is more scenery than difficult, with dirt and stone track broken up by occasional slickrock and some up and down ledges. For the entire time, the La Sal Mountain Range dances in the background, with its snow-covered peaks clashing nicely with the surrounding red rock. Additionally, the high walls of Muleshoe Canyon and Kane Springs provide even more stunning views.
And then you reach the first real obstacle, Tilt-a-Whirl. This 30-foot (or so) sharp decline wedged between two ledges also requires solid concentration down a rock face before quickly turning almost 90 degrees right into another drop. That turn seemed like it would give our JTe a nice test, but Video Manager Rob Jarrell calmly handled the descent and turn, before resetting at the bottom and coming back up the obstacle as well.
Soon after came Easter Egg Hill and another tight squeeze between rock faces, this time with pesky off-camber experience leaning deep into the passenger side. Traversing this thing requires an angled, drop-in approach before about a 60-degree uphill left turn into a small space between the rock wall and an egg-shaped boulder. Trust in your spotter here is important. Then, after navigating that part, another drop-down over larger-size rocks requires proper tire placement to prevent strikes against the differentials or crossmember.
The final real obstacle on Flat Iron Mesa is coined 'The Intimidator' and it is every bit the part. Especially for those who aren't fond of off-camber driving while staring down a 700-foot drop into a canyon.
We approached with Hatch Canyon on the right and wall side on the left. This meant a slow approach over a good-sized rock, with driver-side tires on the rock — hence the off-camber situation. Now, as you crawl that rock, you need implicit trust in your spotter to keep those passenger tires from sliding too much toward the canyon drop, but still far enough out that you can get the driver tires clear of the rock wall so you can scoot into the angled left turn. It is an intricate dance, while still leaning on an angle, before you can make that turn and scurry off past the obstacle to safety. This one is definitely not for the faint of heart, and is what gives Flat Iron a slightly higher trail rating than most of it really deserves.
After a few more scenery pictures following Intimidator, we rushed back to town to join our friends at Oracle, Rock Slide Engineering and Armorlite for a dusk/night ride into Backwards Bill, up the Waterfall and eventually to Monitor and Merrimac Bluffs.
We had a good-sized group for this run and dropped into the trail at the Navajo Rocks entrance off US Hwy 313 northwest of town.
If you haven't run the trail in reverse like this, most of its initial surface is a rocky, sandy descent from the road into the desert. From there, dirt and sandstone with some small climbs here and there take over until you reach the bottom of Wipeout Hill.
While there isn't a bypass around the obstacle, there are two different routes you can take — with the right side of Wipeout being somewhat easier and straightforward than the left track, which is steeper and has a higher ledge to traverse before you read the top.
Our group saw almost an even mix tackle both sides, with no real issues except for some resets here and there on the left side to ensure proper tire placement over that larger ledge.
A few years ago, Jarrell took our YJL concept up and down both sides of Wipeout Hill as we came in from the normal Seven Mile Rim side. This year, he easily shot up the left side of Wipeout, bumping up the ledge and shooting over with no hassle.
After Wipeout, the group slid around a nice slickrock curve before riding up a few ledges leading into the area between Monitor and Merrimac Bluffs.
By this time, dusk was rolling in and the sun was beginning to disappear on the western horizon. So after some pictures, everyone who had auxiliary lighting on their vehicle hit the activation switch and illuminated the whole landscape. Both our JT with Carnivore lighting and the JTe with Stealth lighting certainly contributed to that lumen count as well.
With darkness really setting in, everyone said their goodbyes before heading around Sevenmile Rim and down through switchbacks to US 191 and Moab.
Excellent run and huge thanks to Armorlite, Oracle and Rock Slide Engineering for hosting the group.
