Participants were:
Ron DePugh - 404.1 Unimog
Eric and Jessica Johnson and sons - 416 Unimog
Brett Pickering - U1300L Unimog
Greg and Maiser - 404.1 Unimog
Paul and Eric Buckner - 710M Pinzgauer
Brent - 416 Unimog
Eric:
**Friday: Steel Bender
Kent had to leave Friday morning, but we gained another Mog in the way of
Brent Risley, from Provo, Utah, and his clean 416 troop carrier. Ron, Greg,
and Paul also came. We headed off to Steel Bender. We left at 8:30 to beat
the safari group. It was a really fun trail and nice weather. The only
thing that made me nervous was a big drop-off coming down a steep hill with
a sharp turn right at the bottom of the drop off. I opted to have Greg
Maiser hook on behind me with a strap for safety.
Eric at the big drop-off.
Brent's 416 on the strap.
This photo of Paul's Pinzgauer shows how steep it really was.
Eric:
After coming down it, I
don't think it was necessary, but better safe than sorry. The rest of the
crew did the same and then Greg drove down with no problem.
Greg's Mog does it without a strap.
Eric:
We ran the trial kind of fast because I had a conference call to make at
1:30. We just came out of the canyon by Ken's Lake when it was time for my
call to start, so I parked at Ken’s lake and the family played around while I
took care of business.
When we got back to camp, we took down Mog Central and everyone started
packing.
Loading up Scott's Pinzgauer.
Kent:
I had to leave Friday morning, because my wife was going to be gone that
night to a dressage clinic and I needed to be home to feed our livestock.
It was kind of a gray day and I ran into occasional rain and hail along
I-70 eastbound. By the time I got into Wyoming, it was looking more and
more like snow, and as I got into the mountains west of Laramie it was
snowing hard and the highway was glass ice. Traveling
through Laramie, I could hear the westbound truckers talking about
accidents all over the Summit, which is just east of Laramie where the
wind blows pretty hard and visibility is nonexistent when it's snowing.
Just as I got to the east side of Laramie, a state trooper was in the
process of closing the Interstate. I talked to him for a couple minutes
and he agreed my vehicle looked like it could handle the roads, so he let
me go through.
Kent's Mog ready for the next snowstorm.
Kent:
This last picture was taken the following morning after I'd put the
chains and plow on my truck so I could clear out our roads. Just goes to
show that Unimogs are working ranch truck which also happen to be pretty
nice for four wheeling vacation trips.
The weather during Moab week is always interesting. It was a great week.
If you weren't there, you missed out on a great time, and we missed your
company. I hope to see more of you there next year.
