Our first trip to Moab from my 9yo's perspective

[stioc]

After several months of planning we just completed our first trip to Moab with a friend and forum member lbrito. The day-by-day narrative below is taken from my 9yo's journal. I'll set the stage as far as our overall plan, I'll include some pictures and let my 9yo do the talking

The Schedule:

Day 0 (Fri):
Leave early afternoon on Fri and make it to Vegas.

Day 1 (Sat):
Drive through Zion and arrive in Bryce to stay the night.

Day 2 (Sun):
Hit hwy 12 to Escalante. Drive the Hole-in-the-Rock road (HITR). Stay the night in Escalante.

Day 3 (Mon):
Leave Escalante, drive the Burr Trail Road and hook back up to hwy 24 towards Moab. Stay the night in Moab.

Day 4 (Tue):
Klondike Bluffs Trail (difficult towards the end before connecting to Salt Creek Road)
Tower Arch (moderate)
Balance Rock

Day 5 (Wed):
Baby Lion's Back
Fins and Things (*difficult)

Day 6 (Thu):
Gemini Bridges 4hrs (*easy)
Long Canyon (*easy)

Day 7 (Fri):
Onion Creek (easy)
Fisher Towers (easy)

Day 2​

When we left Las Vegas we got donuts for breakfast, then we got gas and headed towards Utah. On the way we saw small towns, birds and animals. After several hours we entered Utah and decided to get a brunch at a place called Black Bear Diner, it was a neat restaurant. I got scrambled eggs, fried chicken with gravy and a biscuit...and some hot sauce!

After our brunch we got back on the freeway and looked around to spot more cool things along the way. We then had to stop for gas again. Next to this gas station there were two horses and I got to pet them. Since the gas station was very close to the Zion National Park they had stickers and magnets about Zion so I got a couple as souveniers.

Soon we were back on the road and we crossed into the Zion NP after buying the park ticket from the park ranger at the gate. We then drove through the famous tunnel in Zion called Zion-Mount Carmel Tunnel. We then pulled into a parking lot which was the trial head to the famous hiking spot called Canyon Overlook Trail. When I got out of our truck I saw a little chipmunk. I tapped on the ground and it came closer, I kept doing it until it was just 2 inches away from me, then he ran away. We started hiking, I pretended to be the tour guide and was ahead of everyone else. We came to a rock where you could sit down and rest. After resting we crossed a bridge and got to a spot where I said something and it echoed, cool! Finally we got to the top of the cliff where the view was very nice. I got to climb on some more rocks at the top while the grownups were taking a break. We then turned around and hiked back to the truck. After that I don't remember much until we got to our nice hotel in Bryce where I got to go in the warm indoor pool and play boats. When we were done we went upstairs for a quick shower. Then we went to the store and bought some presents, some food and went to bed pretty tired.

Day 3​

In the morning we left Ruby's Inn and went on HWY 12 to go to a dirt road called Hole In The Rock road, because at the end of the road you get to see a hole that people created through the mountain in the 1800s so they could take their wagons down to the river. Along the way there are a few cool things to check out too. We stopped at Devil's Garden where we saw these really cool rocks to climb on. On one of the rocks I fell and got a bruise. I also climbed on top of a really high arch.

After Devil's Garden we got on our way to go to Spooky Gulch which is one of the slot canyons. Slot canyons are very narrow and sometimes you have to walk sideways to fit through them. At Spooky Gulch we had to hike a lot to get to the canyon. It was spooky because it looked like the walls were stroked with a paint brush and were never ending. Finally there was a little crack to go out of and take pictures. When we were done we had to turn around and walk back to where we came from. When we came out I wanted to go in a cave but I couldn't because there was a baby Rattlesnake there, it was good I spotted it before I climbed in.

After that we went to Peek-a-Boo slot canyon but IT WAS HARD to get up it. I wanted to go but my dad said it was too dangerous so we turned around to go back to the truck. Our hike on the way back was hard too because it was all uphill and it was getting warm. When we got back to the truck we made a quick lunch to eat in the car because we were going to Hole In The Rock but before getting there we made one more stop at a place called Dance Hall Rock. After that the dirt road turned really rough until we got to Hole In The Rock. There my dad was hoping around on those rocks like a mountain goat and I was too. We singed our names at the Visitor Register and took lots of pictures of the lake. When we were leaving around 5:30PM it was getting dark and it would take us another 3 hours to get back to the road. I was so tired that I fell asleep even as our truck was bouncing in all directions from the rough road. When I woke up I saw cows so close to us in the dark. Luckily my dad spotted them using the extra lights on our truck so we didn't hit them. We made it to our motel for the night. I plopped right on the bed after a quick dinner and fell asleep because I was sooo tired.

The main album: http://s25.photobucket.com/user/bimm328/library/Utah 2013

Poor man's Spot tracking

Dixie National Forest

Canyon Overlook hike

Devil's Garden

Spooky Gulch

iPhone pano from Dance Hall Rock

Hole In The Rock

 

[stioc]

Day 4

In the morning we left our hotel and had Subway for breakfast...which was yummy. After breakfast we filled up our tires, got gas and headed to Burr Trail on HWY 12. We saw lots of neat stuff including pretty yellow trees, mountains and a creek. I saw paw prints next to a huge rock that I tried to climb. Today was lots of driving on the highways until we got to Moab. We checked into our motel called KokoPelli, which means the flute player and is commonly found in the petroglyps (which are old drawings found engraved in the mountains and rocks from people who lived many hundreds of years ago). After settling in we went out for a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We also stopped at Moab Adventure Center and a gift shop to look around and buy a couple of things for our friends and family. We then got back to our motel and went to bed.

Along the Burr Trail road

Lunch somewhere near the back part of Capitol Reef NP.

We made it!

 

[stioc]

Day 5

Today was the day when we were going to start the real off-roading. So we got up early, my dad checked over the truck, we filled up our fridge in the truck with snacks, lunch, Gatorade, and then had oat meal for breakfast. I wrote a quick postcard and then we left. The trail started off easy but not for long. We saw dinosaur foot prints on the trail which was pretty neat. They're not as big as we thought they would be. I don't think they were as big as in the movies. My dad said that perhaps they were about the size of an average tree but there might have been some bigger and some smaller ones too.

The trail was getting pretty rough. After a while we decided to take a break and have lunch. We had eggs, cream cheese and turkey sandwiches. After lunch it was time to go on the hardest part of the trail. It was soo rocky I felt like closing my eyes to not have to look. After making our truck climb over one large rock after another carefully (and sometimes not very carefully) we finally got to the bottom of the trail to a smooth dirt road. We were excited to go see Tower Arch and Balanced Rock before it got dark! After a couple of mins of driving on the smooth dirt road we came to a stop. It seemed like the tough mountain that we just climbed down now we have to go back up it, oh no! My dad said we had no choice but to go up, my dad said not to worry our truck is very tough and it can do it. We slowly made our way up and finally reached Tower Arch. We had to hike a short distance to get to it, I made a cairn to help get to Tower Arch. Cairn's are rocks stacked in a shape of a tower to guide people which way the trail goes. On the way back I got a big scrape on my leg. My dad cleaned it with water and then put ointment on it when we got to the truck to prevent infection. Then we got back in the truck to go see Balanced Rock which took us a while but we made it just as the Sun was about to set. It was pretty neat and the sunset in the Arches National Park made for a nice scenic ending to the tiring day. We then stopped to have a quick dinner at Wendy's and went to our motel.

Dinosaur track

Tower Arch

Balance Rock

 

[stioc]

Day 6

In the morning we left our hotel to go to Baby Lion's Back which is a steep climb on a rock that's shaped like a lion sitting down, I guess.
After a few minutes we got to the trail as it wasn't too far from our motel. It was sooo steep that I didn't want to go in the truck so I climbed up it. We got to the top and found there was a pond we had to go through but the water was too deep. My dad didn’t want the water to get inside the truck so we turned around and went back the way same way we came up. When my dad drove the truck down one inch at a time some people stopped to watch because it was so steep. After that we headed towards Fins-n-Things which is another offroading trail in Moab. I thought it was going to be easy but it wasn't. We had to climb over huge boulders and rocks that were like small hills. When we would go up we couldn't see anything but the sky like the roller coasters. And when we were going down it felt the back of the truck was lifting up. It was scary because we had to do this lots of times. I walked several times instead of being in the truck.

Finally we reached the end of the trail and my dad said he would take us to a cool place called Hole “N” The Rock which used to be a restaurant that someone built long time ago inside a giant hill. We got to do the tour there. They also have a zoo there with zebras, camels, deer, cows, ostrich, lamas, donkeys, wallaby, racoon, turkeys etc. We got to feed them and I got to ride on a camel named Luke.

We then had ice-cream and back to our motel for dinner. We got to go in the hot tub and then go to bed.

 

[stioc]

Day 7

This day we were going to go on an easy trail and I got to drive the truck. We were at Gemini Bridges. We hiked a bit to get to Gemini Bridges. My dad asked me to count the steps to see if the sign was right. I counted 276 steps from the truck to the bridge. I guess the sign wasn't right because it said 300 yards which equals 900 feet.

I threw a couple of rocks down from the top of the bridges, the rocks took several seconds before hitting the ground and the sound echoed.

Soon we had to leave to a trail called Long Canyon. And Long Canyon wasn't even that long, it was pretty short. It was pretty though and we drove through a tunnel made by a huge fallen rock. From a distance it looked like our truck wouldn't fit through it but there was plenty of room on the top.

After the trail we got back on the road, we drove along the Colorado River (which runs from Colorado to the gulf of California, which is in Mexico). Swimming wasn't allowed here but I swam in the Colorado River on my trip to Yuma, Arizona.

 

[stioc]

Day 8

Today was the last day in Moab. We did two easy trails today called Onion Creek which had 26 creek crossings (I counted) and Fisher Towers.

After that we had a nice lunch at a ranch next to the Colorado river and then a loooooooooong drive home. My dad drove all day and all night until we got home at around 4AM. We were all very tired but excited to see our dog Buddy and cats the next day. It was a fun vacation.

The End.

 

[mortonm]

Truck is looking great, love how you have it setup, especially loving the tires. How were on this trip? It was your first real test with them no?

Great idea presenting this through the eyes of your daughter. Kids always see things in a different light and brings a different perspective to the trip.

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[roverrocks]

Very Nice. Thanks for the report and pictures.

 

[SDDiver5]

Looks like such an awesome trip!!

 

[Jr_Explorer]

Great report. You have quite the little journalist there. In a lot of those photos the tire didn't look too "aired down". What where you running for tire pressures?

 

[nwoods]

In a lot of those photos the tire didn't look too "aired down". What where you running for tire pressures?

LOL, BFG AT's could be flat and still not look aired down. They are a stiff tire.

Loved your daughters write up!

So, what was your favorite part?

 

[mortonm]

LOL, BFG AT's could be flat and still not look aired down. They are a stiff tire.

especially E-rated 235 85 R16s on a 4000 lb truck, mine are the same on my Xterra. Unless I get below 20psi or so I don't see much bulge on level ground

 

[Scott Brady]

fantastic trip report and what a wonderful thing to do with your daughter.

Nice shot too

 

[stioc]

Truck is looking great, love how you have it setup, especially loving the tires. How were on this trip? It was your first real test with them no?

Great idea presenting this through the eyes of your daughter. Kids always see things in a different light and brings a different perspective to the trip.

Looking forward to the rest!

Thanks! as you know it's taken a lot of trial and error to get the truck to this point but I'm finally feeling quite satisfied with its overlanding capabilities. At one point I accidentally hit a pretty large rock (totally spaced) on Fin-n-Things which jolted the truck so hard as it tried to go over it I thought for sure I bent at least a tie-rod if not the control arm or broke the original ball joint but nothing and the minute we got back on the highway it was smooth and quiet again. It's not as easy as say a Land Cruiser or a Jeep or a 4Runner to modify due to the dismal aftermarket support and the lack of documented builds but it's a tough and capable platform that doesn't beat you up as much thanks in part to the unibody and IFS.

The tires worked great too, a bit on the skinny side from some angles in real life but they out perform my previous Duratracs in everything but mud (haven't tried snow yet). Great traction, tough, quiet and smooth. I guess some old designs do stand the test of times. There were a few very rocky sections where they took a lot of beating but the only damage was the surface abrasions. The Duratracs would've had sidewall cuts all over as was the experience with my previous set.

Great report. You have quite the little journalist there. In a lot of those photos the tire didn't look too "aired down". What where you running for tire pressures?

LOL, BFG AT's could be flat and still not look aired down. They are a stiff tire.

Loved your daughters write up!

So, what was your favorite part?

especially E-rated 235 85 R16s on a 4000 lb truck, mine are the same on my Xterra. Unless I get below 20psi or so I don't see much bulge on level ground

Thank you and I'll let her know about her journaling, I did make some minor corrections as I was typing it and added a couple of things for clarity but it's pretty much as how she wrote it down.

As others mentioned the E rated BFG ATs have pretty stiff sidewalls. I was running 26-27psi on the trails (normally 38psi) and they were fairly compliant over the rocks, just don't look so on flat surface. I would've gone down more but traction wasn't the issue and the comfort was decent enough with 26psi. It was the ground clearance I needed as much as possible. I felt that 26psi was a decent compromise between traction, clearance and my compressor's ability to refill the tires in a decent amount of time at the end of the trail.

Favorite part? that's a tough one because every part had its own character and awesomeness but from a purely fun perspective it was without a doubt Fins-n-Things for me. From the scenic point of view it was the Arches NP and from the most scenic route's perspective it was the Burr Trail road. The Hole In the Rock washboard took a few years out of my truck's life and reaching the end was anti-climatic to be brutally honest. If I were to do it again I'd do that road in a soft-roader (Subaru, CRV etc) with fully independent suspension, go as far as the slot canyons and then turn around. Then again that's just me :snorkel:

fantastic trip report and what a wonderful thing to do with your daughter.

Nice shot too

Thanks Scott, part of the credit goes to you for creating this community. Until the past few years I was more into autocross, track days and crotch rockets. I much prefer this over the others at this stage in my life. I was a bit bummed we didn't do backcountry camping on this trip to qualify the trip as an overlanding trip but in hindsight it would've been a lot to ask for on an already jam packed trip.

The picture credit goes to my gf, she can take some pretty nice pics with her iPhone. That particular one is a large pano...you can see the rest of us as little spots in that picture.

 

[mph]

Good memories...great memories...for the both of u!