I am so sorry to have missed Happy hour tonight. At 4:03 Barb and I remarked on the CB radio that we had officially missed the event.
We were 2 hours from being back.
I have been to Moab many many years and had never had the courage, stamina, interest nor time to go on the White Rim Trail. I am here to tell you it was one of the best trails I have ever seen in Moab. It had incredible scenery, vistas to die for, pit toilets every 20 miles or so, fairly good roads. Any stock 4 wheel drive vehicle could have covered the ground. I ran out of vocabulary to describe the views. I have more photos to process than I ever have. Not one time during the 10 hours on the trail ( YES 10 Hours) was I bored. Frank and Barb did a wonderful job of leading the trail. We started the trail with 4 vehicles,Barb& Frank,( leaders), Ken & Sheila, Bill & Corrine (who was ready with 6 minutes notice) , and Terry & Betty who were tail gunners.
The Schaffer Switchback Trail was fun and Sheila had the good eye to spot a "Big Horn Sheep" running right in front of their vehicle. We knew the animal was above us on a ledge, because he kicked a rock from the ledges above to nearly hit our vehicle. I hope our photos caught him. I know I need a camera with a longer telephoto. In hind sight we should have all gone on to Musselman Arch as it was not far from the turn off.
The trail was a 10. Near the end, Frank was able to supply his tow strap to an old couple who missed the Visitor Center Turn Off and got stuck in the soft sand. A pumper truck finally pulled them to safety( using Frank's tow strap) after a two hour struggle with the pumper truck driver straps. So not only did we do a 138 mile ride in 10 hours using 13.9 gallons of fuel, we rescued a senior citizen couple.
We plan to send a commendation to the driver of the pumper truck who tried for 2 hours t pull them out before we arrived. He told us he was going to get tow strap tomorrow!
Only in Moab can our retirement days be filled with so much fun!
Up an at em in the morning. More rides!
Betty