Mogs @ Moab 2004 Thursday, April 8th Kane Creek Canyon group
Participants were:
Ron DePugh - 404.1 Unimog
Kent Drummond - 404.1 Unimog
Greg and Maiser - 404.1 Unimog
Scott Ingham and family - 712M Pinzgauer
Kent:
Thursday looked like a beautiful day, so we finally got organized, loaded
up, and on our way to Kane Creek Canyon, with a stop along the way so
everyone could see the petroglyphs on the big boulder near the start of
Cliff Hanger. This trip was myself, Greg and Chris Maiser, Ron DePugh,
and all the Ingham clan, either loaded into the pinzgauer or sharing
available seats in the mogs. Eric Johnson and the other Pinzgauers went
out to do parts of Metal Masher.
Petroglyphs.
Kane Creek Canyon.
Kent:
Not far into the trip, the Pinzi
started acting up again. We tried a variety of solutions, such as
changing out the gas, and eventually Scott decided the coil was
overheating, so pouring cool water on it seemed to help. About half way
through the trail, the Pinzi died absolutely. The coil was fried, as was
the inside of the distributor cap. We were too far along to turn back, so
the only thing to do was tow the Pinzi the rest of the way. I borrowed
Greg's 6' snatch strap and it worked quite well. The Ingham family was
scattered out among all remaining mogs with Scott, Tim and Kevin, staying
in the Pinzi. I'm sure it was a wild ride for the guys riding in the
Pinzi, but we made good progress.
We stopped for a break.
The Pinz on the strap.
There are many stream crossings.
Kent:
When we arrived at the south end of the canyon and started up the rock
ledges was when things got interesting. I was in the lead of the caravan,
but lost traction in the loose rocks when it started to get steep. We
had to push the Pinzi backward a ways so I could back up, until we had
enough space that Ron and Greg could pass. Using 30' snatch straps, Ron
went first, then Greg, and then me, all three towing the
Pinzi. About half way up this first pitch, there's a pretty sizeable
step that is a challenge for a single vehicle, much less three hooked
together pulling a dead weight. We all got over it okay, but I was to
learn later that we nearly pulled the Pinzi over on its side, because
without power to the front wheels, it was being dragged sideways along
the steep edge of the step. Fortunately, nothing happened.
The upper canyon.
Kent:
There were several more occasions on the final leg of this trip, where it took all
three mogs strapped together to get up the hills, but we eventually made
it out to the highway just as it was getting dark.
Sunset on the rocks.
Kent:
We had the choice of leaving the Pinzi and coming back with a trailer, or just hauling it all the
way back into Moab. Since it's pretty much downhill all the way into
Moab, we elected to tow it, and made it back to Slickrock Campground in
about 1/2 hour. When we got back to camp we learned that Brian Gould's
6X6 Pinzi had broken on Widow Maker, so he had come back to camp to get
his truck and trailer and go retrieve his Pinzi. I guess it raised quite
a few eyebrows to see a regular truck hauling a trailer into that area,
but they got the job done.
