WY/Moab/SW UT/Sedona ‘22 - and Off Road Camper Build ‘23, and EJS 23

[GATORB8]

We've started our month long October journey.

Left Charlotte Friday evening in the midst of Ian, made it to Wyoming Sunday afternoon.

So far: 2k miles @14.5 mpg in the 4xe

We stayed in Fort Collins, CO, Saturday night, and took the Snowy Ridge scenic byway west. First week we're working out on af Air BnB just north of Pinedale, WY. We checked in and drove a few miles down the road to hit the Monument Ridge BOH.

Exploring Jackson Hole this evening, planning to hit the Red Desert Driving Tour and Fishermen's Creek Road this week, and explore Yellowstone this weekend.

Remaining week long stops: Moab, Bryce/Zion, and Sedona.

Moab lodging is limited and pretty expensive right now, so we may rearrange the weeks a little bit. We have camping gear, but are working remote Monday-Thursday so we need Wifi (or a shower and a starbucks, lol). We brought the dogs, so it’s making it tougher to find good air bnb’s.

@mgroeger Mike, any recommendations on a good place to stay when we're down in your neck of the woods in a couple weeks? Any good trail reference sites?

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[WIJLU]

If you have camping gear, check out KOA camping cabins in Moab. I've found them to be a good compromise, have showers and wifi available, and allow dogs!

Wow...14.5 mpg!? I made the trip from WI to Moab for EJS in my 392 and averaged almost 15 mpg on the trip out there and back...with a V8 on 35's.

You are certainly in some beautiful country out there!!!

 

[GATORB8]

If you have camping gear, check out KOA camping cabins in Moab. I've found them to be a good compromise, have showers and wifi available, and allow dogs!

Wow...14.5 mpg!? I made the trip from WI to Moab for EJS in my 392 and averaged almost 15 mpg on the trip out there and back...with a V8 on 35's.

You are certainly in some beautiful country out there!!!

Im on 37s and 4.10s (4xes can’t be regeared until someone figures out the computer). Wind, rain, and speed were the killers. I was in the 16s until hitting Kansas, with 75 mph limits and head winds it sucked it down fast. I cruised at +5 the whole way.

I can stomach the cost, but I wasn’t even getting 200 mi between fill ups with the smaller tank. Probably the first time I’ve traveled with my wife and dogs and had to stop for gas before someone needed to use the restroom.

Thanks for the suggestion on KOA cabins. I’ll check them out!

Edit: snagged the last cabin in Moab, Thanks!

 

[GATORB8]

Nice surprise this morning looking up from the computer.

Group of Pronghorn walk in the property gate, and walk up to grab a drink of water right by the Air BnB before going on their way.

 

[Jeep4Win]

If you go to Arches NP you should run the Tower Arch trail. Extremely fun! Also highly recommend Diamondback Gulch and Broken Arrow in Sedona.

 

[GATORB8]

If you go to Arches NP you should run the Tower Arch trail. Extremely fun! Also highly recommend Diamondback Gulch and Broken Arrow in Sedona.

Moab's gonna be tough to fit everything we want to do in with just a week. We've gone before in a rental and done Arches, Fins, and Onion Creek, so I doubt we'll have a chance to do those again.

I'll make sure your Sedona recommendations are on our list, I've definitely heard/seen both before. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[mgroeger]

We've started our month long October journey.

Left Charlotte Friday evening in the midst of Ian, made it to Wyoming Sunday afternoon.

So far: 2k miles @14.5 mpg in the 4xe

We stayed in Fort Collins, CO, Saturday night, and took the Snowy Ridge scenic byway west. First week we're working out on af Air BnB just north of Pinedale, WY. We checked in and drove a few miles down the road to hit the Monument Ridge BOH.

Exploring Jackson Hole this evening, planning to hit the Red Desert Driving Tour and Fishermen's Creek Road this week, and explore Yellowstone this weekend.

Remaining week long stops: Moab, Bryce/Zion, and Sedona.

Moab lodging is limited and pretty expensive right now, so we may rearrange the weeks a little bit. We have camping gear, but are working remote Monday-Thursday so we need Wifi (or a shower and a starbucks, lol). We brought the dogs, so it’s making it tougher to find good air bnb’s.

@mgroeger Mike, any recommendations on a good place to stay when we're down in your neck of the woods in a couple weeks? Any good trail reference sites?

First I gotta say I'm shocked at your gas mileage for a partially electric vehicle. I had the 3.6L regular engine with 5.13 gears and 38" tires and I was getting that mileage, I would have thought the hybrid would do better. But enough of me pointing out your Jeep's flaws and back to your question
In Moab check out the Big Horn Lodge. Call them directly, their prices have always been reasonable and they allow pets and you can work from the room. The rooms are clean and rustic and they just replaced all of the mattresses the last time we were there a year ago.
Regarding Zion, DO NOT stay in Springdale as you will pay dearly for it. Stay over in La Verkin or where I am in Hurricane. Prices will be lower and it's only a 25 min drive to Zion. PM me and I'll give you my cell and we can go play at Sand Hollow if you want. Right now it's a $hit show here with Trail Hero going on but that is just this week.
I can give you the scoop on trails and where to check out and where not to check out when we talk.

 

[mgroeger]

BTW, a lot of Eastern folk probably don't know this but there is a battle going on to keep certain trails open in Moab. Specifically the Gemini Bridges area which contains such trails as Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim. The day may be approaching where those will no longer be accessible, and I'm not exaggerating. You may want to hit those trails now while you can.

https://www.trailsoffroad.com/blog/...504761657&mc_cid=ab7a29494c&mc_eid=65e4092b19

 

[GATORB8]

First I gotta say I'm shocked at your gas mileage for a partially electric vehicle. I had the 3.6L regular engine with 5.13 gears and 38" tires and I was getting that mileage, I would have thought the hybrid would do better. But enough of me pointing out your Jeep's flaws and back to your question
In Moab check out the Big Horn Lodge. Call them directly, their prices have always been reasonable and they allow pets and you can work from the room. The rooms are clean and rustic and they just replaced all of the mattresses the last time we were there a year ago.
Regarding Zion, DO NOT stay in Springdale as you will pay dearly for it. Stay over in La Verkin or where I am in Hurricane. Prices will be lower and it's only a 25 min drive to Zion. PM me and I'll give you my cell and we can go play at Sand Hollow if you want. Right now it's a $hit show here with Trail Hero going on but that is just this week.
I can give you the scoop on trails and where to check out and where not to check out when we talk.

It's kind of interesting when you look at what's impacting our mileage. Once I'm out of a plug in charge, for all intents and purposes I'm running a 2.0T carrying an extra 800 lbs. The exception to that is we can recover energy when slowing down or engine braking. In the 250 miles we've driven since being here, we've added about 2 mpg to the overall average, during that we were able to get about 10 miles of charge while parked at the brewery in Jackson Hole last night.

I've gained a net of about 7k ft of elevation so far, I'm interested to see how different the long return trip will be loosing that back.

I've got a call into BHL, and I'll PM you my cell when I get a chance, would love to get some ideas and try to meet up.

 

[GATORB8]

BTW, a lot of Eastern folk probably don't know this but there is a battle going on to keep certain trails open in Moab. Specifically the Gemini Bridges area which contains such trails as Golden Spike and Gold Bar Rim. The day may be approaching where those will no longer be accessible, and I'm not exaggerating. You may want to hit those trails now while you can.

https://www.trailsoffroad.com/blog/moab-trails-are-in-danger-of-closure?utm_source=New Sign Ups&utm_campaign=ab7a29494c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_09_11_04_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b0d90a0a96-ab7a29494c-504761657&mc_cid=ab7a29494c&mc_eid=65e4092b19

Yeah, I actually listened to the Modern Jeeper podcast on it on the way. I need to drop a comment into the BLM.

The Modern Jeeper crew had a Moab local on that did a good job explaining the cause and alternates. Crazy that a 15 year old environmentalist lawsuit is causing it all.

 

[GATORB8]

Well, It's a bit too cold up here for us southerners to tent camp. My wife decided the next best thing would be to stay in a heated covered wagon for the weekend:

Buffalo Valley Ranch in Moran, WY

 

[mgroeger]

Well, It's a bit too cold up here for us southerners to tent camp. My wife decided the next best thing would be to stay in a heated covered wagon for the weekend:

Buffalo Valley Ranch in Moran, WY

 

[GATORB8]

This evening’s run took us pretty deep in the National Forest at the recommendation of the bartender at Elkhorn. No kidding, the directions included “turn after you see the white Buffalo” and sure enough:

Pretty sad, the first section took us through a good chunk that we assume was in a fairly recent wildfire.

The GoPro footage should be pretty awesome when I get a chance to edit it.

Ended up having to fall back to the Forrest service map after multiple “exits” on OnX took us into private property roads that were gated off, ended up adding a decent amount of time and pushed us well into dark.

 

[GATORB8]

Last night's run on the FS map, you can see all the fun we had trying to get back to the highway. Reminder to check service maps against GPS before heading out.

 

[Murphydog]

Thanks for sharing, and I am impressed at your stamina! I thought the drive from Seattle to Moab was long.

If you have time, the "Subway" cave hike in Sedona is very pretty and not too hard. I think dogs are allowed, but cannot remember. Broken Arrow is a fun trail and one of the first places I went wheeling in a Jeep, however if Moab is "Varsity" Sedona is definitely "JV" at least in terms of Jeep trails. The Sedona scenery is just a beautiful though

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