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Trail Leaders Needed for the 35th Anniversary Celebration Event in Moab

Nimrod

Degenerate Jeeper
NAXJA Member
Location
Duck River
The Board of Directors is working hard to plan a great 35th Anniversary celebration event in Moab, Utah, from Tuesday, October 7 through Saturday, October 13, 2018. Of course the event will feature multiple options daily for runs through Moab’s world-famous offroad trails. To make this happen, we need volunteers to lead the runs!

Tentatively, and in no particular order, we need leaders for the following trails:

Seven-mile Rim
Strike Ravine
Hell’s Revenge
Top of the World
Fins & Things
Steel Bender
Flat Iron Mesa
Moab Rim
Pritchett Canyon
Secret Spire
Dome Plateau
Poison Spider Mesa
Kane Creek
Cliffhanger
Klondike Bluffs
Metal Masher
Behind the Rocks
Shaffer Trail/Lathrop
Porcupine Rim
Elephant Hill
Gold Bar Rim/Golden Spike

As you can see, we’ll need a lot of volunteers to lead these runs, especially since some of the same trails may be scheduled for runs on more than one day. Without volunteers, the event cannot be the big success we all hope it will be. So, if you are familiar with any of these trails, please step up and volunteer! If you’ve ever led any runs on these trails before, please step up and volunteer! If you’ve ever led any runs anywhere else, please step up and volunteer! If you’ve never led any run anywhere but you have GPS or can read a map and you have a CB or ham radio and a reliable rig and a can-do attitude, please step up and volunteer!

Please respond here if you can help, or feel free to contact me backchannel if you prefer by pm, or by e-mail to my screen name @ NAXJA.org, or by call or text to (five 6 too*) six 7 six - seven 7 zero 2.

If I’ve omitted from the list above any trails that you think should be included, please let me know.


*Mis-spelling is intentional. No need to point it out.
 
A handful of folks have stepped up so far, and their help is much appreciated! But for this event to be the success that we are all hoping for, we need several more trail leaders. So, come on. Please don’t make me beg and grovel. That’s so undignified!

Seriously though, if you think you’re not qualified to lead a run because you’re not very familiar with the trails in Moab, or maybe not familiar with them at all, here’s a tip: The Third Edition Guide to Moab, UT Backroads & 4-Wheel-Drive Trails by Charles A. Wells (2016), available on Amazon.com or directly from the publisher at funtreks.com, includes really precise directions, including for each trail a “mileage log” identifying topographical features and giving really clear directions at each decision point along any given trail. I can’t vouch for its accuracy from personal experience, but it does look like any nimrod should be able to follow the directions pretty darned easily. So if you can wheel, and if you can read, and if you want this event to be great, please get in touch with me and volunteer to lead a run.
 
To heck with dignity. I’ve reached the begging and groveling stage.

In 2013, we had 18 leaders for 29 trail runs over five days for the big Moab event. In other words, we had five or six runs officially scheduled for each day. We’d like to be able to offer as many run options to choose from at this year’s event, but we still need a bunch more leaders to make that happen.

If you have already volunteered, thanks again! I’ll be in touch with you again as plans firm up.

If you haven’t volunteered, please do!
 
The BOD will be finalizing a tentative trail list for Moab this month and we expect to have it posted up the first week in August. If all goes as planned, we hope to offer a total of 24 runs over the five days of the event, giving participants a choice of four or five runs per day of various levels of technical difficulty, including one scenic run every day that can be done by unmodified or mildly built rigs. So far, nine guys have stepped up and offered to lead one or more runs, which is hugely appreciated. To those guys, again, I say thank you! But, really, we are going to need more trail leaders to fill out the schedule and make this event a success. If you plan to attend the event, please volunteer to lead a run.
 
I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I’m getting really excited about meeting up with you all and wheeling in Moab! I’m down to just four small items left on my to-do list to have my rig set up the way I want it and ready to roll. The BOD’s been discussing the trail runs and we have a schedule almost ready to be posted up. You all should expect to see it within the next week or so. But we’re still in need of more trail leaders. As I’ve said before, if you can wheel, if you have GPS or can read a map, if you have a CB or ham radio and a reliable rig, and if you have a can-do attitude, you are qualified to lead a run. So please step up. We need you!

Again, to those who have stepped up already, thank you! Rest assured that I haven’t forgotten about you and that I’ll be in touch, probably within the next few days, to discuss specific run assignments.
 
I’ve pm’ed everyone on my leaders list with proposed trail assignments and have already had a few confirmations. If you’ve volunteered to lead a run and did not get a pm from me then I goofed. If that happened, please let me know. But if you did get a pm, please get back to me ASAP. If I’ve suggested a trail or a day that doesn’t work for you, there are still plenty of options at this point, so we can work it out.

Also, we still could really use some more volunteers to fill out the schedule!
 
Believe it or not, there are still some scheduled runs with no designated run leader.

Can I get a volunteer, please, for Flat Iron Mesa on Tuesday, October 9?

Or how about Strike Ravine on Wednesday?

Cliff Hanger, Thursday, anyone?

Poison Spider Mesa and Where Eagles Dare, Friday?

Anyone want to lead the long run Saturday from Gold Bar Rim to Golden Spike to Poison Spider Mesa?

The sooner we get the schedule filled in, the sooner I can stop pestering all you good people with these tiresome posts!

Oh, and once again: a big heart-felt THANK YOU to those who have already volunteered!
 
I guess my whining is paying off because people have really been stepping up recently and volunteering to lead runs, which is greatly appreciated!

Here is the complete up-to-the-minute list of runs that are still in need of leaders:

Dome Plateau – a moderate level run – on Wednesday, October 10;

Cliff Hanger on Thursday;

Moab Rim – likely a shortish three- or four-hour run – on Friday;

Behind the Rocks, Saturday, and;

La Sal Pass – a moderate level scenic run – also on Saturday.

Any takers?
 
Here is an updated list of runs for which we still need leaders:

Dome Plateau on Wednesday, October 10;

Cliff Hanger, Thursday;

Lathrop Canyon, Friday;

Behind the Rocks, Saturday, and;

La Sal Pass, also Saturday.

Any help with these would be greatly appreciated!
 
Cliff Hanger is covered. So that leaves just:

Dome Plateau;

Lathrop Canyon;

Behind the Rocks, and;

La Sal Pass.

We’re getting close!
 
We're getting down to the wire. We still need leaders for:

Lathrop Canyon on Friday;

Behind the Rocks on Saturday, and;

La Sal Pass -- a moderate level run -- also on Saturday.
 
I hope to finish up and post a link later today to the official run list, with staging and communications information, and all that good stuff. So stand by for that.

Meanwhile, we are still looking for leaders for Behind the Rocks and La Sal Pass, both of which runs are scheduled for Saturday, the final day of the event. If no one steps up to lead these runs we'll have to cancel them, which may be OK as that'll still leave two NAXJA-sanctioned runs to chose from on Saturday, though nothing for stock or mildly built rigs.
 
The member who was going to lead the Moab Rim run on Friday will not be able to attend the event due to unforeseen circumstances beyond his control. Will someone else please step forward to lead this run?

Behind the Rocks on Saturday also still needs a leader.

Thanks to all who have stepped up!
 
Another of our volunteers has unfortunately had to change his plans, which puts us down one trail leader. As it stands right now, it looks as if we have all trails covered except Flat Iron Mesa on Friday and Behind the Rocks on Saturday.

Somebody PLEASE help us out by leading one of these runs!
 
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