4/9/2017 Day 4 RS 4x4s on Metal Masher

We all got up and met at the park and ride at the north end of town, as we pulled in Carl noticed something wasn’t right with his clutch. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with bad luck, they decided to stay in town and drop his YJ at Moab 4×4, while the rest of the group headed north to catch the trailhead, along with a couple of other friends Don Man, and Jim Mueller.

Metal Masher was open for the day meaning it wasn’t reserved for group runs for the event, but it wasn’t empty, we ran across a few other groups on the trail throughout our day.

The very beginning of the trail was a rocky dirt road that quickly turned to sand, then we came upon Gooney Bird Rock, a rock that actually looks like a gooney bird, and legend has it that rolling across the bottom (His feet) is good luck. So I tried to high mark it and hit his knees, nearly rolling the Jeep, but was later bested by Steve & Stephanie in their Black & Blue TJ on our way out.

Metal Masher is known for some fairly famous obstacles and viewpoints such as Rock Chucker, Mirror Gulch, Z Turn, and Widow Maker along what is called Arth’s Rim.

About halfway through the trail, there was a nice overlook and it was decided the girls would drive out. Mandi jumped at the chance to drive and as usual did very well, right up until we reached an obstacle called Widow Maker, where she had me balled up into my seat fearing rolling off a cliff, but she was able to pull it out, and proceeded to the start of Widow Maker.

Now Widow Maker is very intimidating, as a nearly 10 ft vertical wall with a handy PERMANENT winch point placed in the rocks some 25 feet beyond and above. Stephanie, wasn’t thrilled about Steve trying it, and he dutifully steered clear. Mike was doing it so we pulled his winch up for safety, clicked him in and he stared up the rock face setting his LJ square on his rear mounted spare before crawling/winching his way up.

I was pretty intimidated and in my mind was saying maybe not this early in the trip, until Mandi quickly urged me to do it too. How do you say no to that? So I was next up it, and while my longer wheel base and 40s helped I still dragged my hitch and spare on the back before crawling/winching my way up and over. Besides I couldn’t let Mike go out that way alone…

Andy jumped up next in his Super charged JKUR, he’s running 37s so dragged a little more than me but made short work of it and the rest of the group decided to take a bypass and meet up with us on the other side, however, looking at the map it would seem they mistook the bypass for an ATV trail, and took another trail meeting back close to our entrance near the Gemini Bridges trailhead.

After completing the Metal Masher trail, we all decided that we’d take in Gemini Bridges. This is more of a scenic drive with some walking involved. A nice way to finish the day, and a great spot for pictures. After a good time checking out the bridges, we headed back to camp to relish in our daily fun, and catch up with Carl and Anne to see how things turned out with their YJ. Upon return to camp we found out Carl was able to get his Jeep fixed by Moab 4×4, they replaced the clutch, and throwout bearing, which was making the noise that morning. Apparently their refer in their motorhome died that morning also but that was also fixed in our absence, and they got some time together in town as well. So a good end to our day. Next up our first “sponsored” trail, Rose Garden Hill.