Cruise Moab 06'

Matthew and I made it back from MOAB, UT safe and sound with minimal carnage. We left Bonham (Baker's garage) around 4pm Tuesday and arrived in Moab at 9:30 a.m. After vehicle inspections and registration, we hooked up with some friends and took off to a trail named Coyote. Coyote turned out to be fairly mild compared to other trails we took during the week but it was one of the hardest ones Matthew and I had ever wheeled. Wheeled “Behind the Rocks” Thursday,

“Golden Spike” Friday and “Pritchett Canyon” Saturday. After being on the trail all day Saturday, we loaded up and left MOAB at 10:15 pm. Arrived dead tired in Commerce around 6pm Sunday.

We made many new friends, great memories, and had a few life experiences that we will never forget on this trip.

We cruised all 3 days with Jeremiah Proffitt (www.proffittscruisers.com) & his crew/friends and had a blast. Jeremiah & his son Devin & their dog Chief of Delta, CO, Peter Sloop from Steamboat Springs, CO, Chad & Kriss Deines and their 3 children Kim, Kourtney, Erik from Delta, CO, Jack Rice from Bend, OR, John Brazer from Delta, CO, Bob Anderson from Austin, CO, Barry Ruter, Ian & Mercedes Fradl and their baby girl Cameron all from Delta, CO, Ray Alexander from Glenwood Springs, CO, Matt Moyle from Salt Lake City, Lee Bender from Saratoga, Wyoming, and Murf from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

We witnessed 3 rollovers (including Jeremiah in The Newt), 1 amazing save by Barry, and 1 HORRIFFIC crash by Mercedes (Ian’s wife.) Ian works for Jeremiah at Proffitts Cruisers. Mercedes launched Ian’s FJ40 off a 25’ cliff after coming down White Knuckle. Somehow she hit the throttle instead of the brake. Only by the grace of God did she survive the crash. The truck ended up on the passenger side and Mercedes was hanging from her lap belt, unconscious and bleeding badly. There were approximately 10 vehicles on this run so everyone rallied around Ian and a couple of others that tended to Mercedes. She came to after a few minutes and was in a lot of pain and later went into shock.

The Rising Sun 4x4 club that sponsors Cruise Moab issued powerful radios & GPS equipment to all trail leaders so Jeremiah was able to call 911 & get a care flight chopper in to get Mercedes. She had 2 large cuts on her head, complained of neck & back pain. After a 45 minute wait for the helicopter, we were able to get her out of the vehicle and off to the hospital. Someone drove Ian back to camp to get a vehicle and then drove him 2 hours to the hospital. We received a report later that Mercedes had a broken collar bone, some cuts & bruises, and was sore but other than that she was ok. At the BBQ the final night, Jack made a wonderful speech and passed a box around collecting donations to help pay for the medical expenses and raised some $2,600. After Ian left, the crew worked on vehicle recovery. After some maintenance and fluids, the FJ40 started up and John drove it all the way back to the main road, some 10-12 miles. TOYOTA's are tough! Out of respect for Ian & Mercedes, I will not post up pictures of the accident.

During the trip, we saw friends break axles, driveshafts, & hubs as well as get new dents & scratches on vehicles. Even learned a few new words ! On the last day, Matthew broke a hub and I either broke a hub or outer axle. Have not had time to tear into Big Tex to find out yet. We each had to 3-wheel drive out of Pritchett Canyon Saturday but made it fine. Here is a picture of Joe Calleja's rig after it attempted an obsticle at Golden Spike. He was through for the day! Joe is the owner of CTS Toyota (www.ctstoyota.com) out of Conifer, CO.

Beautiful scenery, wonderful weather, and loads of fun.

Check out all the pics at www.4x4crawl.smugmug.com.