Got back last night, it was 47 degrees here and I was still wearing shorts <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />

Had a pretty good trip overall, except for what happened to Jeff. Weather was much cooler this year, and I spent several nights wearing all my clothing in the sleeping bag trying to keep warm...but by Saturday we were back to more normal Moab weather.

Early in the week I was worried that no one of the old hands was going to show up...Monday hardly anybody was there so I and Cinder went for a very nice hike up Negro Bill Canyon to Morning Glory Arch (worth doing if you have the time). Tuesday the VX crowd had 20+ vehicles on their run lead by Todd and Linda Adams, so I went with Dave and Mike & Sara from Colorado in their Rodeos up Gold Bar Rim...they were a little intimidated by the Big Ledge (does it have a name? I forget), but got up it on their own, nicely done. Later that afternoon Desha showed up to brighten my day, even if she was driving her Mustang. Keith Johnson also rolled into Portal that evening to see who was around.

Keith and I took five vehicles (including 3 VXs) on Poison Spider on Wednesday; the trail was new to everybody else and they enjoyed it a lot. Desha rode with me and got to drive about half the trail in my Trooper or Keith's Air Amigo. Hopefully that taste will spur her on to actually install all the nice goodies sitting in boxes in her garage... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Thursday I lead a group including Larry and Jim on Steelbender. Jack got very tippy on the Wall descent, coming down the high route, but it was worth it because Joe got an awesome photo of Jack's VX on 2 wheels <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Many of the guys were excited to conquer the intimidating Wall and Joe in particular was amazed at what his VX could do (this was his first wheeling trip ever).

Gilbert arrived in his rented Infinity FX35 (heckuva business trip buddy), and other old hands were trickling in including Fernando, Arna, Corbin, Travis, Troy, Jeff, the other Jeff (Mason), Steve Jones, etc. (sorry if I missed anybody, by my standards I am doing well to remember this many names).

Friday I joined Fernando and friends and Arna on Golden Spike. We were at the Golden Crack when we heard the news about Jeff. Initial fragmentary information was even more scary than what actually happened, which was very sobering in itself. The fact that I broke a CV after the Golden Stairs was small potatoes, considering. I was able to drive out with only a tiny tug from Fernando to get up that big ledge on Gold Bar Rim. Desha and Gilbert rode along and were good company; Desha drove my Trooper for a while.

Since my Trooper was somewhat impaired, Saturday I (and Desha) rode along with the big rigs on Rusty Nail, with Corbin, Aaron, Travis, Aarons brother Phil (who I rode shotgun with), and another guy from Canada in a very nice Jeep (Joey I think). Somehow Corbin broke his track bar even before we got to any serious obstacles, but it was inspiring to watch the guys pull all manner of equipment out of their rigs to battery weld the bar back together, reinforced by a wrench welded along side. It lasted the rest of the day without a problem. Phil came within an eyelash of flopping his S10 truggy on a ledge climb, but in respond to the bellowed "REVERSE!!" from the spotter Corbin and the other onlookers, made the fastest gear change ever and backed out safely. Travis eventually found the weakest link in his "lightly modified" rig, which unfortunately was the rear output of the transfer case. He was limited to front wheel drive low range the rest of the day, and had to be strapped up various obstacles, not to mention a leisurely drive back to Moab afterwards. All of the rigs did well, it was cool to see what the next level of wheeling is like...42" tires and one-ton running gear.

All the Isuzoids met for dinner at Zaks that evening, courtesy of funds remaining from the now dormant ZuZoo organization. It was agreed by all that, even though these days there is no "event" per se, a tiny bit of organization would be desirable next year, even if it is as simple as a designated meeting place to assemble trail runs each day, and a swap of cell numbers for better communication in town.

Even with the haphazard nature of this year's non-event, I enjoyed seeing everybody and had a great time. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />