V19E7: Moab Adventure Behind the Rocks

Hey everyone, welcome to Venture Forward, a video series about four-wheel drive exploration, overland travel, and full-time mobile living. It's November 2022, and in this episode we're still out exploring Moab, Utah, and the surrounding backcountry. I've been visiting Moab at least once a year lately because it offers a wealth of adventure, whether that's hiking, mountain biking, ATVing, climbing, or four-wheel drive adventure. This sandstone backcountry is wildly rugged and diverse, and you can spend a lifetime exploring all the nooks and crannies. This morning I made a run back into town to pick up some supplies at City Market. I got groceries, spring water, dinner for tonight, stuff like that. Then I gassed up, and lately I've been noticing that the Jeep's power steering has been whining a lot lately. You might have noticed it too. It was rather pronounced in the Fins and Things footage, but it feels fine. It's just making a ruckus. It could be as simple as low power steering fluid, so I picked up some of that and I'll try adding it later. Now I'm out exploring BLM roads, and when I come to Moab, I do very much enjoy the popular destinations, but not nearly as much as I love to wander and explore no-name trails and discover things on my own. And that is exactly what I'm doing today in my 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited R&G. That was a really enjoyable BLM road spur. It was in fact a dead end, and it was marked as such at the very beginning. It was about one and a quarter miles in length one way, and it culminated at a hiking trailhead into the slick rock along the rim. The route was definitely rugged and does demand a modest suspension lift, marshmallow tires, and low range four-wheel drive, but it was a very enjoyable out and back with great views and hiking opportunities at the end. I don't know man... Oh, here we go. I definitely had no idea what I was getting myself into with this trail. As it turns out, it is a named route. It is the Behind the Rocks 4x4 trail. I think I ran about a third of it before I bailed onto this offshoot, but it's 3 p.m. and I want to turn my attention to finding a campsite where I can spend the night. And it's for the better, because that trail was a little more ambitious, and I'd personally prefer for a solo act. Here we go. An awesome campsite for tonight. A designated disperse site on BLM land, and I am right next to a massive wall of red rock. It is secluded. I'm several miles into the backcountry, but since this is such an impressive formation with campsites all around it, I imagine it's probably pretty popular. I know that I have neighbors a hundred yards away, but with these trees all around, there's ample privacy. There's a primitive stone fire ring, enough room for three or four vehicles, and not much in the way of connectivity, but that's okay. You don't need a modified vehicle to get here, but I do recommend four-wheel drive jeep, truck, or SUV. I'll put the cheese on soon enough. This is perfectly done. It's a little bit pink, it's juicy, it's well toasted. Check this out. How close can I get? This is a tasty burger. There were a couple of obstacles on the trail today that I think I could have managed with the help of a spotter, and more enthusiastic use of the gas pedal. But if I'm out there alone, and I am always alone, then I crawl absolutely everywhere. And if I can't find the traction through crawling, then I err on the side of caution and go around. If I don't have the option to go around, then I'll pull cable for a slow controlled ascent. But at the end of the day, the jeep needs to be not broken so it can get us off the trail and take us into town for tacos. Shannon's always like, send it, and I'm like, no. If you like what you saw on this episode and you're interested in retracing my steps, I've got my detailed GPS data available to Patreon subscribers, and I have campsites and points of interest available on the Thatch travel app for iOS and Android. I'm going to climb into the camper and call it a night, but we'll pick up where we left off and resume exploring in the next episode. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you again soon.