That one trail moment you’ll never forget

We all have that perfect Jeep moment maybe it was your first real trail, a sunset drive with the top down, or the first time your JL got seriously muddy and came out victorious.
I just saw some photos from my first real off-road trip with my JL, and looking back, I can’t stop smiling. The sun, the mud, the freedom it’s why we all bought these rigs.

What’s your “never forget” Jeep moment?

I have to say when my wife and I did Moab in 2007. We were broke but had a Jeep. We went down and because we knew we wouldn't be able to go back to Moab for a while we decided to make the most of it. We ran 17 trails in 7 days. Including the hard ones like Pritchett, Moab Rim, Steel Bender, etc. It was so cold at night and we were in a tent. I remember on the last morning we were so cold we decided to splurge and eat breakfast at Denny's so we could warm up. It carries some great memories for me.

I almost slid a Toyota into the flooding Ohio River once. Scared the carp outa me.

I respect mud now.

When the road collapsed under the passenger side rear wheel of my Rubi. Jeep ended up with the nose pointed at the sky and the driver's side front tire high in the air. This was a primitive two-track that led to a cabin I was taking care of, and I'd traveled this road many times before. This time the creek had undercut the roadway and I didn't notice. Despite the extreme angle the engine kept running and I locked both diffs and the Jeep just eased back up onto the road. I was alone (no other vehicles) and nearest anything was around 100 miles away. Took a while to get my heart rate back down......

2015 Moab fins and things trail during a jeep jamboree. This is 30 seconds into the trail right after the 3 foot gate keeper climb. The drop off on either side is about a 100 feet drop.

If your unfamiliar this is a fin that I am driving on.

Friggin death grip on steering wheel for the first 10 minutes. Scared to take a picture but just had to do it.

The first time I teetered on three wheels while flexed. I had my jeep for about a week when this occurred. It was probably only inches, but it felt like feet and tippy. Cool memory!

A Sedona trip last year, wheeling alone, when I realized we were on an “offshoot” and not the trail. As we banged and screeched along on the skids my wife kept saying, “This isn’t the trail” with a variety of expletives mixed in. I kept smiling (grimacing) saying, “Good thing we have skids on our skids”. As we got right up to the final pair of trees arching across the “not a trail” and the large rock outcropping on the right I realized I was going to have to admit I was wrong and painstakingly back out. It was very quiet in the passenger seat for the rest of that trail which ironically is called Smiley Rock. My wife suggests other names are more appropriate for the trail especially since the rock was less than impressive

memorable are some of my day long chilling driving enjoying the moment on the back road.
On the trail I think it was the day I climbed a crazy hill off the trail and near the top I stopped and ponder if I wanted to continue because my logic was telling me this was a bad idea but my pride: hey you make it that far finish it, so I send it. I bounced out on the gas tank skip plate and make it on the top. Later on my friend told me both my front wheels where airborne for a moment there. I ended up with a big dent on the gas tank skid place even bending the 1/4 angle iron reinforcement that was welded on it.

I would have to say that competing in Four-Wheeler Magazine's Top Truck Challenge way back in 1997 was my most unforgettable trail moment. There were 10 different competitions that made up the event, and I finished 2nd overall with my 1997 TJ. It is hard to pick which event was my favorite. Winning the Obstacle Course event, which was essentially a very tough motocross course sized for Jeeps, was a ton of fun. I actually got a little air with my Jeep on that one. Winning the Frame Twister event, which was big water holes and a series of slick logs you had to cross, was a lot of fun as well. But the most unforgettable competition, even though I didn't win that one, was the Tank Trap. The Tank Trap climbed a deep canyon with vertical walls and had a series of artificial dirt dams and huge water holes you had to navigate through. I remember the first really deep water hole being deep enough that I knew my engine would ingest water being as I didn't have a snorkel. I had to shut the engine off, stuff the air intake with rags to prevent water entry, and winch through the water hole with the engine off. Watching the water level come up over the hood and to the base of the windshield as I silently winched through was something I will always remember.

I detailed the whole adventure in a different thread, im too lazy to find the link. But 3 years ago, when my JL was only a month old, I joined the Tucson Broncos on Charouleau Gap. A 9 hour trail ride turned into a 29 hour trail ride. This is my JL making it up the last real obstacle. We had been going 26 hours at this point, everyone was tired, and we didn't know if we could make it up this huge washout caused by a recent storm. We had an AZ offroad recovery company on standby.

In the end, I made it. JL to the rescue.

Megawatt said:

2015 Moab fins and things trail during a jeep jamboree. This is 30 seconds into the trail right after the 3 foot gate keeper climb. The drop off on either side is about a 100 feet drop.

If your unfamiliar this is a fin that I am driving on.

Friggin death grip on steering wheel for the first 10 minutes. Scared to take a picture but just had to do it.

Click to expand...

This reminds me of the entrance to Hell’s Revenge…and the fact that it starts immediately at the parking lot is INSANE.

I made a whole post about this when it happened, and it’s hard to see that my tire is in the air, but this 3 wheeled teeter-totter situation was on Steel Bender at EJS this year and I was TERRRRRRRRRIFIED, lol.

Megawatt said:

2015 Moab fins and things trail during a jeep jamboree. This is 30 seconds into the trail right after the 3 foot gate keeper climb. The drop off on either side is about a 100 feet drop.

If your unfamiliar this is a fin that I am driving on.

Friggin death grip on steering wheel for the first 10 minutes. Scared to take a picture but just had to do it.

Click to expand...

On my bucket list to get out there and do. Know so many on this forum have been out there, with a lot going multiple times. This is the kind of picture I'd be looking for as part of that memory. The kind that I'll show my wife and family AFTER I'm safely home. I've done enough narrow trails with drop-offs now that I wouldn't have as much of a death grip on the wheel as I might have earlier, but definitely not something you want to lose your focus on... Great pic!

No pictures…for obvious reasons.

Riding passenger in my friends TJ doors and top off(Was working on my TJ I believe), my GF in the back blabbing away. Riding back roads, hit a water crossing with some speed. Water splashed up high and up as we know it does with these vehicles, my buddy and I were perfectly dry, but the blabbing had suddenly stopped. Stop and look back, GF was drenched (white t-shirt) tells my buddy to turn around .


In hind site I didn’t think about the fool having the rear view mirror, which he later admitted may have been used…. Honestly can’t blame him, she was a smoke show, and I had other things on my mind.

This is pretty much nothing compared to the other posts here, but it was a ”moment” for me - particularly because it involved @Roky

This was my first JLU, a Sport. All stock except for 33” ATs. This was a particular obstacle at Citrus WMA in Florida, that Roky insisted all newcomers HAD to traverse. This photo was the entrance to the obstacle; in front of this was a short but very steep climb of about 4-5 feet (Roky, correct me if I’m wrong).

Approaching this there was a really deep hole on my passenger side, and I steered to straddle it. Roky, who I had just met and didn’t really know, was spotting. He was directing me the opposite way, to make my passenger side drop INTO the hole, causing what you see in the photo.

So, I’m looking at this old guy, with a small smile on his face, as he’s spotting me. I’m thinking, is this guy nuts, stupid, or can he not see the big-ass hole he’s directing me into?

I don’t usually let idiots spot for me, but *something* in Roky’s ugly mug told me I could trust him. Perhaps it was the gay twinkle in his eye, or maybe because he winked and blew a kiss at me. I don’t know, but I did the counterintuitive thing when he calmly said to me, “Trust me Jeff, it won’t hurt.” I trusted him, for some damn reason, and I trust him to this day, implicitly!

All joking aside, Roky knew every grain of sand in that obstacle, and wanted us all to feel the thrill of traversing it with one front wheel ridiculously high. He was spot-on in his directions, and it was a lot of butt-puckering fun! (FYI, my butt also puckered when he winked and blew a kiss at me…)

Roky, you’re the best, and thank you for tolerating my bad jokes at your expense, brother. I am honored to call you my friend.