After a fun morning on Fins & Things we decided to head over to Hell's Revenge. For those of you who have never done this trail, it is one of the most heavily traveled trails in Moab and once you have ventured into this land it is easy to see why.
The trail starts right off with a climb that is similar to that of a “peanut”, to quote one of our members, and continues through a small puddle that can come to the tops of 31 inch tires if rain was recent. Once through this area begins the roller coaster ride up and down the slickrock.
The first one up this fine day was Gene. Gene and Phyllis live part time in Moab and between his attendance with Red Rock 4 Wheelers and his many years leading trails on Easter Jeep Safari he has some excellent years of experience. Little did we know but on this day that experience was going to be used to it’s fullest.
Following Gene were Dan and Rachel, this was their second trip to Moab but it held the same excitement as the first trip 4 months earlier.
With Gene, Dan and Rachel safely at the top it was time to bring the rest of the club to the top. Next up was Sam, new this trip and his first time on slickrock he climbed the hill without trouble and not far behind was Ryan in is YJ.
With Ryan at the top next up came Don and Joan with little trouble.
Bringing up the end as Tail Gunner was Mark. Without his Pro-Photographer we had to compile pictures from three different cameras to capture the trip. We all knew Sherri was important and brought a lot to the trip, but we didn’t realize how hard her job really was. (Sherri – we missed you.)
With a short break at the top we continued down the back side and out over the slickrock
With a slight detour we took the opportunity to try the first of many optional obstacles. This gave everyone a little taste of what was to come.
One by one we conquered this little, but steep obstacle. Gene and Dan made it look easy, but while we were busy patting ourselves on the back up comes Sam, showing that a relatively stock Jeep and a little know how can get you a long way.
Ryan had no trouble making it over this small hill.
Like wise Don and Joan had little trouble meeting up with us at the top.
Once we were up Mark showed how simple this obstacle could be your Jeep is built to take on these adventures.
To this point the trail had progressed nicely without any mishaps. So Gene lead us to the Gates of Hell, optional obstacle. Everyone got out and took a look at what conquering the obstacle was going to require. Gene and Mark had both made it through this area without a problem, Gene had done it several times in a couple of different vehicles and never had a problem. The question was could he do it again or had his number come up and his luck changed.
Gene heads down the entrance to Gates of Hell. Today Gene, Mark and Ryan decide to put their vehicles to then test. Dan, Don and Sam decided to stay up top and just watch. This was going to play a crucial part in a very unepected turn of events.
Genes starts his climb and his line looks excellent.
Just after he clears this small section and hits the last little ledge things go terribly wrong.
Luckily Gene was fine due to his excellent roll cage, ROCK HARD 4x4 Roll Cage. We were able to get Gene over, it took approximately 2.5 hours but we managed to get him to the top. (Full Story on Recovery)
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Once Gene was safe we brought the remaining two vehicles up the obstacle, but pre-cautions were now mandatory and when we reached the last ledge out came the winch cables in order to ensure this day would close without any more unexpected surprises.
Once we had Mark safe and sound we packed up and drove out. Luckily everyone was safe and no one was hurt, but we all learned valuable lessons. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what equipment you have, how good a driver you are things can happen that show everyone is human and a little danger is why we enjoy this sport.
