Prichett Canyon Trip Report October 7, 2006
On the Rocks Jeep Club
By Gary Sheets
Pritchett Canyon is rated a 4+ on the Moab scale of 1-4. It is just about the most difficult trail you can do in the Moab area. Unless you take a rock buggy or other highly modified extreme 4x4 vehicle there are obstacles that you will normally winch or strap to get over safely. Trail breakage and vehicle damage are both common on this trail. It requires a lifted vehicle with at least 33" tires, lockers, low gearing and preferably a winch.
The obstacles only span about three miles, but it will take a long time (all day) to get through them. We started the trail at about 10:00 a.m. and we reached Rt. 191 at 9:00 p.m. This a crowded trail with long waits at the major obstacles. Now we know where many of those buggies and modified crawlers that you see around town in Moab disappear to during the day.
There are five major named obstacles on this trail. They are: Damen's Hot Tub, Rocker Knocker, Suicide Hill, Rock Pile, and then Yellow Hill. We found that some of the unnamed obstacles are more difficult than anything that we normally encounter on Colorado trails such as Iron Chest, Spring Creek, Holy Cross, or Chainmen’s Gulch. Due to the recent rainfall and erosion, many new and difficult obstacles are emerging. The Moab area had over 3 inches of rain in the 4 days prior to our arrival.
To get to the trailhead turn west at the McDonalds on Kane Springs Road and follow it past the entrance to Moab Rim. After a total of 4 ½ miles from Rt. 191, you will see on the left a parking area and the trail head sign. There is a camping area at the trailhead as well. Since the trail goes through private property, there is a check in registration sheet and each driver must sign in. In addition, there is a self-pay donation box to leave $2.00. When you start the trail, you go down into the creek bed and follow it to the left. There used to be a major obstacle not far from the start of the trail but it was graded in 2005 to allow those vehicles not capable for the ruggedness of the trail to now get back out. Before it was removed, you could not easily climb back up it to exit if you decided that this trail was too much to handle.
The major named obstacles start at approximately 3 miles into the trail. But before that, there are some challenging ones to get over.
The 1st Unnamed Obstacle is a ledge to climb that lots of horsepower and a longer wheelbase would have made it much easier for most of our group. What made it extra interesting is that a creek filled with water went through the base of the ledge making for a pretty slick rock climb. The easier line was to the left and more difficult the further right you go. No winches or straps came out at this point.
Ryan awaits his turn near the trail begining
Ryan takes his turn up the 1st unnamed obstacle
Roy's jeep met some new friends of similar persuasion
Prichett Arch
The 2nd Unnamed Obstacle was a long wide climb over a series of off camber shelves that was very steep and seemed to lull you into its trap. This was just one huge ledge. There are many different lines to choose from on this one. Not one of our groups jeeps made it up with out a strap. We used people power by pulling a strap on the front of the vehicle to help keep it from going belly up. We had more people pulling on straps verses vehicles pulling on straps, than on any trail I can ever recall doing. The easier lines were to the left and more difficult again the further right you went. Ryan went right and this is where he rolled his jeep on to its side. With a strap wrapped around his drivers side frame rail he was righted and his engine fired up with no damage. His vehicles body was pretty well protected by the roll bar, and steel tube fenders with flares front and rear. Ryan sustained a dent in his windshield frame and a tear in the bimini top but that was pretty much all. Thankfully, Ryan was not injured in the flop.
Ryan climbs half way up and gets tippy
Ryan flops on the passenger side
Ryan gets the all okay to exit the vehicle since it appears to be stable
Ryan prepares to hook a recovery strap to his frame rail
A strap is connected
A winch pulls Ryan's jeep back to it's normal posture
Next came the first named obstacle Damen’s Hot Tub. It is a sandy area surrounded by slick rock with ledges to climb over. There are many optional lines that are fun to try. On one of these optional climbs is where Gary got on the gas a little much and snapped his front axle. There is little axle forgiveness when using too much power causes hopping and bouncing on steep slick rock ledges.
While Gary pulled his axle and we had lunch at Damon's Hot Tub, we also could hear the roar of mighty horsepower not far up the trail ahead of us. As we enjoyed the food and the excitement of the trail up to that point, we all wondered how each would fare getting through the toughest, steepest, and before unseen obstacles that were still yet to come.
An exploded u-joint takes out the axle ears with it
Gary inspects his broken axle
Roy was a big hit with his new air supply, power tank, and air tools
Soon after Damen's Hot Tub and around the corner is Rocker Knocker. Longer wheel base vehicles may have an advantage here but it is not easy no matter what. Rocker Knocker is a huge series of ledges with sand on the bottom. At first it appears you could climb up the center, especially with a longer wheelbase. Then you find out that the best line is to start up the middle and then do a slide to the left for about ten feet. The awkward 3-wheel slide is an unusual thing that just naturally happens as you spin your tires trying to power up the ledge while maintaining a 30-degree angle to the ledge. Soon you run out of real estate and pressed against a rock the tires grip and up you go. Ya gotta see it to believe it!
Ryan makes it up Rocker Knocker with little problems
Suicide Hill is next. It is about a 12-foot tall two-tiered slick rock wall. There are different lines to take to get up it but we found that starting in the center and steering to the right half way through it was the easiest line. Ryan was able to climb it after a few attempts. Then the rest of us all used the winch point to get up Suicide Hill. This was an extremely steep obstacle that has frequent rollovers.
Mike aligns his approach at Suicide Hill
Mike climbs suicide Hill
Mike at the top of Suicide Hill
Tim climbs the 1st portion
Tim over the tough middle section
A view of Tim from the bottom looking up at the monster obstacle Suicide Hill
Roy lines up
Roy winches towards the top
Roy finishes off Suicide Hill
Suicide Hill from the top looking down. This was atleast a 16 foot total climb
Next came the Rock Pile. The bypass was to the right and after one roll over and now with Gary on 3-wheel drive we all decided to take the bypass. We soon found that the bypass was more difficult than most obstacles on most Moab trails. These obstacles are called rock piles because you need to stack rocks at the bases of them in order to climb them. It’s also another good place to have some people pull the strap on your front bumper to help keep your front end down as you climb them.
Ryan at the Rock Pile
Gary at the Rock Pile
Michael at the Rock Pile with 2 tires in the air
The next and final obstacle is Yellow Hill. We found a large group of vehicles parked at the top watching a disabled vehicle get winched and pulled up the 200-foot long steep smooth slick rock formation on the left. The difficult line is to the right climbing steeply up a “V” groove like deal with lots of opportunity for flopping, doing substantial body damage, and winching.
We finally had the the top of the canyon in sight
On the Rocks group lined up and awiting their turn on the final obstacle of Prichett Canyon
Roy climbs the final obstacle with a vengence
Once at the top there is a wonderful feeling of having conquered something like Godzilla or King Kong. There is a view down both directions from where you just came up and the other side going down towards Behind the Rocks. So far, you’ve only traveled about six miles with only the last three miles having the most difficult and named obstacles. The will be another 12 miles or so to go if you exit on Rt. 191 through the end of the Behind the Rocks Trail. You’ll come out about 10 miles south of town. It is the easy way out but seems to take forever and is very bumpy and dusty. Alternatively, you can exit via the way you came up if you don’t mind going through hell in the dark.
Back at the Club Condo we took time to relax
A weld repair on Mikes LCA bracket
Trail damage report:
Ryan Geiser TJ - Dents in w/s frame, and hood torn soft top/ roll over
Gary Sheets TJ - Replaced front axle / failed u-joint
Mike Sheets ZJ - Broken Tow hook and UCA mts - rewelded
Tim Baptist XJ - Broken Tow hook / hit a rock
Roy Lenhardt TJ - Broken rear locker replaced with a Detroit Locker
While in Moab we also played around a little on Moab Rim and on Dump Bump. Here are a few more photos ...
Our group on Moab Rim
Gary at the Crack
Roy Flexes his front at the Devil's crackl
Ryan crosses the Devil's crack
Ryan climbs the 1st wall at the Z turn
Mike demonstrates how to climb Dump Bump
Ryan went right up Dump Bump with no problem
This is when Ryan came right back down Dump Bump and stopped while balanced on the rear stinger. Mike went up and pulled his front back down.
The fresh rain made it too slick to conquer Dump Bump...But, there's always next time.
Happy Trails!
Gary