Some trails have names while other trails are named for nearby obstacles or landmarks. Here are a few of the runs I've made recently. Also included are places I've enjoyed exploring around Utah. Please enjoy. Based on the comments I receive I'll expand this area as time permits.

• Poison Spider Mesa. A perennial favorite. First time was many years ago in a stock CJ with open diff's. It was great and we made it. This trail and several others we experienced opened my wife's eyes to the added capability to a vehicle with the addition of lockers, lifts and taller tires.
  I pre-run this trail several weeks before the Easter Jeep Safari 2000. Quickly after leaving the highway the trail throws a few hairpin turns and some ledges in you path but the first real obstacle is the waterfall. Its a bit off-camber but staying to the right as you negotiate this obstacle helps. Further on up are more slickrock ledges and shelfs.

• Moab Rim. Came down this trail once with a small group of friends, at night, using only parking lights.

Above photos are Lion's Back Fin, Salt Creek Canyon, Squeeze Play and Silver Stairs on Elephant Hill Trail. Future Moab trail write ups with photos are planned for Cliff Hanger, Steel Bender, Flat Iron Mesa, Sevenmile Rim, Hey Joe Canyon, Top of the World, Fins & Things, Pritchett Canyon, Porcupine Rim, Elephant Hill, Salt Creek Canyon, and the trip up and down Lion's Back Fin.

This photo is Dan Mick going ballistic at the top of White Knuckle Hill on Pritchett Canyon. Click the thumbnail to see a bigger photo and a better perspective. Pretty much we were all running to help as he wavered. Dan was yelling "take pictures, take pictures," as his Suzuki teetered on the brink. All four tires are off the ground. After posing for a few pictures we pulled him forward rubber-side down. He then picked a slightly different 'line' and drove right up the ledge without further problem.

I've spent lots of time exploring many of Utah's backroads from Moab to northern Utah and the west desert. I enjoy the Moab slickrock but also enjoy exploring the west desert where my father herded cattle as a boy. A few of our favorite places include Death Canyon, Marjum Pass, Joy, Ibex, Sinbad, Topaz Mt. and the Pony Express Trail.

I like these trails for the sheer pleasure of the magnificant views.

• Imogene Pass. The start of Imogene seems to start in a driveway of a house on the hillside of Telluride. It's narrow but vehicles in both directions can pass with care. Generally uphill traffic has the right-of-way. Courtesy between drivers is much appreciated. We like to stop at the Tomboy mine for lunch. Try and imagine the effort it took to bring heavy boilers up a narrow, twisting and steep "jeep" road to an altitude above the tree line. Many of the old mine structures are gone now a victim to erosion and the forces of nature. The road continues up and over the pass to descend finally to the south edge of Ouray.
• Engineer Pass, Pougkeepsie Gulch, Cork Screw, Ophir.

A bit of a long drive these days to get anywhere, especially from Utah. After the drive I'm beginning to understand why many of you have never been to Moab. It was worth the trip to see the Rubicon first hand.

• Rubicon. Driving the Rubicon was a dream come true in many ways. I am working on full write-up with photos. Over the months of planning and preparation our group put their assurances in the fact that our leader had been over the trail before. However, the week before our trip his scrambler rolled throwing the trail leader into the hospital. When the subject of a new leader came up I think everyone else took a step backwards leaving me out in front so to speak. Being a leader on an unfamiliar trail like the Rubicon is the story. Stay tuned.