For the second annual JKOwners.com Easter Jeep Safari run we decided to step it up a few notches in difficulty from last year's run to Canyonlands National Park. They said we were crazy trying to take 50 JKs up the most difficult trail in Moab, but hey, this is JKO, right? We staged for the day's run at McDonalds in town at 7:00AM while everyone slowly filled up the entire parking lot with JKs. Our sponsors of the run were there to give out swag for the participants. Currie, Falken Tire, Polyperformance and Poison Spider were on hand to hand out koozies, tshirts, flashlights and hats. After we divvied up the loot, we took off for our run up Pritchett.
Our run was led by veteran rock-crawler and owner of Poison Spider Customs, Larry McRae. Larry was driving his PSC outfitted 4 door JK with 40" BFG Krawlers. He took off at a great pace to keep this large group flowing all day. I did not give us a chance in hell of finishing the run with this many vehicles before dark, but the initial pace was impressive for sure. Most of the JKs in attendance had winches, lockers front and rear, at least 35" tires and the majority were 4 door. The long wheelbase rigs really do well in Pritchett Canyon so we had high hopes of getting the job done.
Pritchett Canyon is one of the coolest trails in Moab. It works its way through a deep canyon with steep cliffs on each side. Unlike some slot canyon trails, Pritchett is a wide trail that is as often on the ridge beside the creek bed as it is in it. Elevation changes are a norm as the trail rises and falls from the start.
There are some small warm-up ledges that will get everyone used to their "Moab-bumps" before the trail begins to get nasty. The first hard section is an off-camber series of ledges that require the proper amount of commitment and wheel speed to get up. Of course, these types of obstacles favor longer wheelbase vehicles and the 4-door JKs really did well. We struggled a bit with the less experienced drivers and the short wheelbase rigs, but just as you would want to blame the shorter wheelbase for difficulties, one would walk right up with no problem. This section became our first major bottleneck, but after we found the line, we got all 50 rigs up and headed back into the canyon.
There are numerous play areas in Pritchett Canyon before you start the serious climb out. Some are ledges in the creek and some are perfectly smooth sandstone river beds with insane traction. We messed around in every area so we would not have to wait too long in the inevitable traffic at the infamous Rocker Knocker obstacle.
We rounded the corner after playing on the slickrock just to see Bob Sweeny's broken TJ backing off Rocker Knocker with a busted u-joint. Greg Adler, President of 4 Wheel Parts put on an awesome show attempting to drive straight up Rocker Knocker in his bad ass Hemi powered JK. Believe me when I say he was fully getting it! We were able to watch 3 4-door JKs literally walk Rocker Knocker without slipping a tire with excellent spotting by Lance and Larry. You should have SEEN the smiles on these guys faces! At about noon, the group called a halt to all the fun and the guys from T&T Customs jumped in and served everyone foot long Subway sandwiches and drinks for lunch. Polyperformance and JKO kept up the fun at lunch with random prize drawings for the participants. Rebel Off Road and Rock Krawler Suspension rounded out the sponsors for the superb event.
Knowing we had the hardest 1/2 mile of trail left to run, we broke from lunch and started the first group up toward the exit. The trail rounds the corner from Rocker Knocker to reveal a series of ledges that finally dump you out on the top of the canyon rim. Larry showed us all the line and was followed closely by a half-cab LJ on coilovers from Rebel Off Road. Our first and only roll of the day happened just after lunch as Adam from Rebel slid off the ledge under power, snapped a rear axle shaft and rolled on his side. It was fast and violent but luckily he was unhurt and the Jeep was not too badly bent.
The Currie guys jumped in right after the Rebel roll and made the climb look easy. Lots of great rock crawling experience in this group and it shows as they smoothly negotiated the rocks in Pritchett. Once the guys saw the Currie Jeeps do so well, they did not hesitate to jump right in and take on the ledge.
It was not long before the ledges took a major toll on our progress as a group. Each rig was taking time to get up the ledges but the spotters and the drivers kept things flowing nicely to the end. The final bad climb on Pritchett is called Rock Pile. This is a near vertical ledge that only the most sorted out rigs can climb without a winch or a strap. Our trail leader and two other Jeeps were the only ones to make the climb unassisted. The bypass is also insanely hard as only a select few made it without a winch or strap. Both sections slowed us down but there was plenty of action to keep everyone entertained. The last rig in our group was the Falcon Tire 4-door JK. They nosed up on Rock Pile and I was totally impressed with the way the Falcon Tires hooked up on the sharp climb. They took a bit of a strap to keep their nose down and they crawled it.
We finally crested the canyon at 3:00. That was only 7 hours. I would have bet my paycheck that it would have taken twice as long to navigate all of these rigs through one of the hardest trails in Moab. Some of us posed for a picture at the mouth of Pritchett and then peeled out for town. JKO hosted a happy hour (more like 3 hours of happiness!) for all the participants at Woody's Tavern afterwards. It was a well deserved reward for a bunch of excellent drivers and JK Owners. Special thanks to Falken Tire and Rock Krawler for helping out with the bar tab! We are already making plans for the JKOwners.com run at EJS 2012. Plans are to make it even more challenging! Make plans to be there and be prepared!
Be sure to check out all the photos in the photo gallery.
