..First, I just had some time to read some of Martin's trip report and apparently his wife is and has been in the hospital since just after he got home from this trip...I hope all is well and maybe he will fill us in when he gets a chance..
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...I would like to think of our trips as a one off..
..It takes close to a year planning and researching where we want to go to get the most out of the trip just to get there and still be flexible enough to change at the last minute due to weather, road conditions, etc..
..I add a tiny bit to the mix but must give credit to Brian1, ScottB, Martinjmpr, for being the main participants this run as in maps, reservations, and constant researching before the trip..I was a part timer but was available for all important stuff..
..One thing I did add to the trip was to make sure to go thru Arches during the "Free National parks" weekend..
..To follow in our footsteps would actually be more difficult than to plan ahead to join us on the
"3rd annual Desert Expedition" which is about to get into the planning stages pretty soon..:biggthump
..As for mileage just on our journey from Moab to Monument Valley I want to say I put 700 miles on with only about 150 miles being on pavement..:scratch:..I could be off but we went thru a bit of gas...
..Talking about gas, everyone averaged loaded down about 17-18 mpg highway and 12.5-13 offroad..
..Then the guys who were running their a/c the last couple days were really sucking the gas...Out on trail a couple of the guys were saying they needed to think about getting more gas before the next big stretch as the were a little over a quarter tnk and Brian and myself were looking at each other cause we both had over 3/4 of a tank..The a/c running guys gas must a went down to about 7mpg offroad..
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..As for rock crawling and this trip...It was pretty much how you just described you would like it to be...There were a couple trails that had "Guardian" entries that we decided if all couldn't pass thru we wouldn't either..
...This is common on our trips as in there is no one left behind, out on their own, but this also means everyone is on the same page, understands this,
and that's just how we roll..
..We could do harder rated expedition trips but with the trucks loaded down for a 1-2 week trip the carnage factor not only outside but also inside can be costly real quick...Plus, EF already has several other annual runs designed just for this type of fun..
