Trails: Behind The Rocks

Behind the Rocks (10/02)

Behind the Rocks started off a great week of four-wheeling for the NAXJA Fall Fling. Led by Mark Hinkley, this trail offers some great views of the whole Poison Spider/Golden Spike area across the river, and has several challenging obstacles that can be made as difficult as you want depending on the line you take. The trail starts off the main highway about 5 miles south of town and heads west towards the Colorado. There is a good hill climb immediately which slowed everything down and gave me a good chance to run over my sunglasses. Hagen made it up in his rented TJ with only a trash-lock in the back by driving with balls. A Wrangler broke his rear driveshaft yoke or something and had to be strapped down to go back to town for repairs, but this would not be the last bit of carnage before we made it back to pavement...

City Market, 8:00 a.m.

Lining up just off the highway

Group shot--waiting for the first half of the group to go up the hill

The first hill climb

Me coming up

My formerly pristine pair of Ray Bans

After winding around through the dunes for a while we stopped at the top of a very nasty looking climb down into the bottom of a wash called Nosedive Hill. There were some big holes and big drops, making the choice of a good line very important. It was easier than it looked, but some made it a little more dramatic by sliding a couple of feet after the first drop at the top. No real problems here. Immediately after Nosedive you go up Upchuck, a short little v-notch about a car's length that looks straight up when you're in the car. Most folks smoked the tires a little to get up but no real problems until (do I hear the cry of the Bonehead?)...

Dropping off a ledge near Nosedive Hill

Another shot

Beezil coming down

Me and the ominous XXX danger sign Set up for the upcoming bike race)

Norm and Pat coming down Nosedive

Another shot of Norm

The Woody up near the top

The Woody descending

Erik coming down

Mil giving a spot at the bottom

Me at the top

Starting down

Coming off the last drop

Just past Nosedive, Upchuck

Getting up Upchuck

Beezil was on his way up Upchuck and got a little too far over to the left, gave it some gas and bounced a couple of times before a big bang sound slowed him temporarily. The first thing everyone noticed was the rear driveshaft dangling below the Jeep, and the second was that his rear pionion was pointed straight up at the gas tank. Turns out his "mother" didn't fully weld the spring perches onto the axle tubes, which caused the tubes to spin and bust the little tack welds. We stopped and had an early lunch while Mark tried out his new welder. After about an hour we were back on the trail. Beezil won the "Bonehead Award" at the dinner and raffle for his "mother's" poor welding:)

Keith coming down

Beezil coming down

Uhh, Beez, I think you broke something

Stuck, on Upchuck

A view of the rear axle, pinion pointed skyward

Beez gets a strap

Mark welds up the spring perches, this time for real

The next little fun spot is Hummer Hill, so-named because the Hummers used to come up the thing sidehill or something. This is the steepest slickrock climb I've ever done, steeper I think than the one on Fins N' Things. It's easy but a little hairy, and more than a few people have rolled here who took the wrong line or got off line. Glad I had an automatic!

Going up Hummer Hill

A view from the side--still hard to tell how steep it is

Mark spotting, sort of

The view from the top, looking down

Keith coming down a hill near White Knuckle

Another shot of Keith

And another...

The last bit of fun on this trail is White Knuckle. This sis basically the rockpile in Pritchett backwards--going down a 5 foot drop instead of up. Another obstacle that looks a lot scarier than it is, but it definitely gets your adrenaline going as your front tires disappear over the edge. It was fun to sit and watch the expressions on some of the drivers faces after they came over. One guy even crapped a rod end he was so excited.

Lining up for White Knuckle

Over the falls

The view from the top of White Knuckle

A CJ trying to get up White Knuckle--he never made it

A good shot of White Knuckle from below

This trail is a lot of fun, particularly because there are a few tough spots punctuated by a lot of scenic driving. It's not non-stop abuse like some trails, and the few obstacles that it has definitely get your blood pumping. A few in our group continued on out to a canyon near Pritchett, while the rest of us headed back out for the long drive to the highway. Only downside of Behind the Rocks is the trail ends a long, dusty ways from pavement, but we had a great time. Thanks again to Mark and Mil for leadership and spotting, and thanks to Beezil for the repair seminar, it was very educational. Now I actually know how to use that C-press I bought to replace shredded u-joints!