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LINKS TO ENTIRE MOAB MEET UP TRIP REPORT SERIES:
Moab Meetup Day 1 Journal: Elephant Hill Rd 4-29-24
Moab Meet up Day 2: Gold Bar Rim 4-30-24
Moab Meet Up Day 3: Flat Iron Mesa 5-1-24
Moab Meet Up Day 4: Onion Creek 5-2-24
Moab Meet Up Day 5: Cliff Hanger 5-3-24 [This Entry]
Cliffhanger 5-3
Rated 8
Started off at 7:30
Felix 808
@NORCALGXP
@El Diablo & Cameraman Kenny both riding along & shooting videos Hope we can post them later if not I will direct a lot of snap shots from them when I can. We should have a lot of good footage.
We met 3 other Jeeps on 35ās at the trail head. This would turn out to be mostly a good thing. Dan in his 2-door was the Jeeper that was doing most of the spotting for the group, though I would disagree with some of his decisions at times. Chris was in a blue 4- door & Brett was in a 2-door. We were glad to have the help as it would have been a grueling day with just the two of us & our photo crew.
Donāt kid yourself, this is one tuff trail but one that is also extremely scenic if you can take the time to admire it. This trail has no warm up and starts kicking at you from the very start. You immediately start climbing down a large section of good sized ledges. Once off the ledges, just around the corner is an 8 foot rocky waterfall that takes some thought on how navigate down safely. You get a very short break and travel a sandy patch to the stream crossing.
Fortunately, it wasnāt very deep today. Sometimes it can be impassible at times and is nowhere you want to be when it rains due to flash flooding. Once across the stream you come into a grove of cottonwood trees. They were in full bloom wafting spores/seeds or the likes all over. It was like snowing down with the stuff. At this point you have a choice, go up the lower shelf on the left and risk body damage to the rear quarter panel and tail light or, climb a 6-7 foot wall to the right which has a tricky line. If you fall off the line you will drop into a hole that can pitch you onto your side and down the wall you will go over onto your lid. On the way up the wall you have to drive almost into the canyon wall to avoid falling off the line then turn hard driver.
Dan tried to climb the big wall on the right. Even using the winch to compress the front suspension he couldnāt get up. He took the band of Jeeps to the left where things got a little interesting. Dan and Chris made it up ok with some rock stacking, but Brett had a time of it, He crabbed along the ledge (not intentionally as itās not what you want to do) while his diff was a good 4 inches shy of clearing it. He got sucked into the big rock. Fortunately the Jeeps are forgiving at the rear unlike a bronco and he just crumpled his plate and roughed the rear bumper. He pulled cable but the pull direction was wrong & it just put him further into the boulder. They ended up moving Danās Jeep to the right to redirect the pull and finally dragged him up & out of the way.
The only line Iāve ever taken has been the large wall & I had no interest in playing on that ledge slanting into the boulder. I picked a line up the wall but was a little off. I reset & walked up the wall impressing the Jeeps. @NORCALGXP was able to take the same line and walk up with little drama.
Once through the gate (leave gates as you find them) you continue up and down a never ending series of rocky off camber ledges and narrow sections with big holes along your way. This trail has numerous off camber cliffhanger portions and plenty of areas to test your armor and thus it was tested
We reached the infamous Z turn and the Jeeps were having a time of it. I had a bright idea to try to climb a giant boulder to bypass some of the unpleasantness of all the big rocky section. It was a great plan only if it would have worked
. If I would have taken the time to stack a number of rocks it could have avoided what came next. My first two attempts to climb up the bus sized boulder failed as it would have taken a really hard bump to get the backend up, more than I was willing to try at the time. I decided to try a slightly different line which shocked the Jeeps as they saw what a I did not, I climbed up and then the truck got spit sideways into another bus sized boulder. Unbeknownst to me at the time was that I was briefly pinned under the second boulder which I painted with the top of my rock rails and rear passenger door. Thankfully @NORCALGXP kept this secret from me until I got through the Z- turn the traditional way at the expense of a little rash on the grill as the canyon wall was hungry. I heard the noise of what seemed to be crackling plastic and the sounds of $$$$ going up in flames. My fear was that it took the headlight but was relieved that it was just a scuff on the grill narrowly missing the light itself 
.
Once at the top of the obstacle they let me know the news. I surveyed the damage & it reaffirmed what I know to be true. I chose white for a reason & it is about to pay dividends. A little rattle can & it will blend in pretty good
.
Before the namesake obstacle, you will find yourself traversing a number of narrow off camber cliff sides. Getting down the namesake obstacle was a bit rough. There are some very big drops that jarred the sliders good.
After we dropped down we made our way to an overlook for lunch. I personally couldnāt eat much at the time as I was focused on getting out to the final overlook which was just a short ways away with minimal obstacles on the way. I started off and was a little down when @NORCALGXP called over the radio suggesting the smartest idea all day. The jeeps we were with were going to turn back as the real challenges of the trail had already been reached so they wanted to get back to try Moab Rim I believe. While disappointed, I agreed that would be the smart decision. Coming back on our own would have been an exhausting endeavor & much riskier. Heading back we made our way back up the large namesake obstacle.
Brett had dented his rim on his Jeep and it popped the bead for a moment but luckily sealed during his run up the Cliff Hanger Namesake obstacle.
After being slammed into the cliffhanger wall 2xās I optioned to pull cable and get out before my luck ran out. Gonzo @NORCALGXP decided to keep hammering away until he was able to drive up. At the cost of his mirror and driver fender. Fortunately, it was the same fender the escalator sampled the antimatter blue paint last year on. I really wanted the harder line to the right but our spotter Dan insisted we hug the wall. Knowing we would be Needing their help later I just winched it. We actually carry these things around for a reason. We should use them from time to time to save the punishment on our vehicles .
Returning to the z turn, we looked over our options. I decided it was time to ride the giant boulder I failed to climb up previously and skinned my rear passenger door. I figured I might not have been able to climb it but I sure the heck could slide down it because gravity always works. It was a big drop.
We made it back to the large wall just before the creek crossing. I first thought to go down the large wall we came up, but felt I wasnāt getting the truck lined up right for a good result & was tired of trying to keep from painting the wall & littering taillight plastic all over. Itās lousy trying to pick up all that mess
. I did about a 4 point turn to get somewhat square to the ledge and as far as I could from the sharp body eating boulders and dropped off the large ledge. Touchdown!!!
One of the mountain bikers commented to @NORCALGXP that it was the first time he saw someone use these (Broncos) doing what they are suppose for once. Made us both feel good .
Across the creek and to the hardest of the 2 remaining obstacles. The large rocky waterfall. I got a loop ready just incase I needed to pull cable again. Itās best to have things like shackles and your winch controller at the ready before entering a precarious situation and find yourself unable to access them when needed. I told Dan who was spotting that I didnāt want to keep mucking around on it and said 1 time then Iām pulling cable. Fortunately, the truck walked up shifted a little sideways for a moment and continued to walk up and out.
@NORCALGXP was working his way up the large rocky waterfall and having a bit of a time of it. He kept falling into a crack preventing him from making it up. As I was watering the weeds watching it all play out I was shouting pull cable, but after 2 more tries disaster struck . The way his driverās front tire pulled what looked greater than 45 degrees to the horizontal , I feared he broke a ball joint 
. Thankfully it was just the drivers side tie rod. Now he was forced to pull cable. First pull started to pull him off the waterfall all while he was looking at the sky due to the angle. Definitely sketchy at best . We readjusted the angle of pull. I climbed up the hill to the left and we laid down a moving blanket to protect the line and anchored off my rear and pulled him to flattish ground to work the repair. Told the Jeep guys thanks for all the help and said weāve got it from here.
Before commencing repairs, To quote @NORCALGXP, āI know what Iām doing just let me do thisā
I loaned @NORCALGXP a tarp, moving blanket and a 21mm ratchet wrench to while I relaxed in my chair finishing my lunch that I was too amped up to eat earlier. I talked to Skip from SoCal Broncos as well as my hometown, about Big Bear Bronco Bash coming up next month when they rolled through with their 3 classic Broncos as @NORCALGXP & @El Diablo conducted repairs.
I think @NORCALGXP found it fascinating how the classics used the winch on the final waterfall from the start instead of trying to struggle up then break and pull cable.
This was a long hard day. This trail is a kicker and the hardest trail I intend to ever take my Bronco on. The Bronco was impressive, but how many souvenirs is one willing to take home to accomplish the task?
37ās minimum if you intend to run this and it will still kick you good.
This is the Limit I will take my Bronco to. I ran this full trail many years ago in my XJ. The trail has become more difficult and my stones have shrunk some over the years, but what an amazing adventure that really proved to me that my Bronco will take me anywhere I really want to go.
At the time of us running Cliffhanger we could find no pictures or videos anywhere after extensive searches of a 6G Bronco having traversed the mighty cliffhanger obstacle even though some have been on the trail before us but never made it.
A special thank you to @NORCALGXP for helping complete this ambition Iāve had for some time & all his help running Tail Gunner all week long. I look forward to seeing you at Deer Valley.
Damage Report:
Felix808:
Bent tire carrier up some but not as bad as first thought. This happed on one of the many ledges. I did mention they were big right? Besides it has more clearance now.
Big dent in trans skid
Torn inner drivers CV boot, but not sure when it happens. This is my second boot both in Moab (last year it popped off)
Scuffed Grill
Scuffed slight dent in rear passengersā door.
@NORCALGXP:
Dented fender coming up namesake obstacle
broken driver tie-rod coming up final waterfall
Drivers mirror cap scuffed & flopping about.
Please post pics & videos & comment- Much more coming once we get them from the film crew
Unfortunately, I can't get my videos to upload
Moab Meetup Day 1 Journal: Elephant Hill Rd 4-29-24
Moab Meet up Day 2: Gold Bar Rim 4-30-24
Moab Meet Up Day 3: Flat Iron Mesa 5-1-24
Moab Meet Up Day 4: Onion Creek 5-2-24
Moab Meet Up Day 5: Cliff Hanger 5-3-24 [This Entry]
Cliffhanger 5-3
Rated 8
Started off at 7:30
Felix 808
@NORCALGXP
@El Diablo & Cameraman Kenny both riding along & shooting videos Hope we can post them later if not I will direct a lot of snap shots from them when I can. We should have a lot of good footage.
We met 3 other Jeeps on 35ās at the trail head. This would turn out to be mostly a good thing. Dan in his 2-door was the Jeeper that was doing most of the spotting for the group, though I would disagree with some of his decisions at times. Chris was in a blue 4- door & Brett was in a 2-door. We were glad to have the help as it would have been a grueling day with just the two of us & our photo crew.
Donāt kid yourself, this is one tuff trail but one that is also extremely scenic if you can take the time to admire it. This trail has no warm up and starts kicking at you from the very start. You immediately start climbing down a large section of good sized ledges. Once off the ledges, just around the corner is an 8 foot rocky waterfall that takes some thought on how navigate down safely. You get a very short break and travel a sandy patch to the stream crossing.
Fortunately, it wasnāt very deep today. Sometimes it can be impassible at times and is nowhere you want to be when it rains due to flash flooding. Once across the stream you come into a grove of cottonwood trees. They were in full bloom wafting spores/seeds or the likes all over. It was like snowing down with the stuff. At this point you have a choice, go up the lower shelf on the left and risk body damage to the rear quarter panel and tail light or, climb a 6-7 foot wall to the right which has a tricky line. If you fall off the line you will drop into a hole that can pitch you onto your side and down the wall you will go over onto your lid. On the way up the wall you have to drive almost into the canyon wall to avoid falling off the line then turn hard driver.
Dan tried to climb the big wall on the right. Even using the winch to compress the front suspension he couldnāt get up. He took the band of Jeeps to the left where things got a little interesting. Dan and Chris made it up ok with some rock stacking, but Brett had a time of it, He crabbed along the ledge (not intentionally as itās not what you want to do) while his diff was a good 4 inches shy of clearing it. He got sucked into the big rock. Fortunately the Jeeps are forgiving at the rear unlike a bronco and he just crumpled his plate and roughed the rear bumper. He pulled cable but the pull direction was wrong & it just put him further into the boulder. They ended up moving Danās Jeep to the right to redirect the pull and finally dragged him up & out of the way.
The only line Iāve ever taken has been the large wall & I had no interest in playing on that ledge slanting into the boulder. I picked a line up the wall but was a little off. I reset & walked up the wall impressing the Jeeps. @NORCALGXP was able to take the same line and walk up with little drama.
Once through the gate (leave gates as you find them) you continue up and down a never ending series of rocky off camber ledges and narrow sections with big holes along your way. This trail has numerous off camber cliffhanger portions and plenty of areas to test your armor and thus it was tested
We reached the infamous Z turn and the Jeeps were having a time of it. I had a bright idea to try to climb a giant boulder to bypass some of the unpleasantness of all the big rocky section. It was a great plan only if it would have worked
. If I would have taken the time to stack a number of rocks it could have avoided what came next. My first two attempts to climb up the bus sized boulder failed as it would have taken a really hard bump to get the backend up, more than I was willing to try at the time. I decided to try a slightly different line which shocked the Jeeps as they saw what a I did not, I climbed up and then the truck got spit sideways into another bus sized boulder. Unbeknownst to me at the time was that I was briefly pinned under the second boulder which I painted with the top of my rock rails and rear passenger door. Thankfully @NORCALGXP kept this secret from me until I got through the Z- turn the traditional way at the expense of a little rash on the grill as the canyon wall was hungry. I heard the noise of what seemed to be crackling plastic and the sounds of $$$$ going up in flames. My fear was that it took the headlight but was relieved that it was just a scuff on the grill narrowly missing the light itself .Once at the top of the obstacle they let me know the news. I surveyed the damage & it reaffirmed what I know to be true. I chose white for a reason & it is about to pay dividends. A little rattle can & it will blend in pretty good
.Before the namesake obstacle, you will find yourself traversing a number of narrow off camber cliff sides. Getting down the namesake obstacle was a bit rough. There are some very big drops that jarred the sliders good.
After we dropped down we made our way to an overlook for lunch. I personally couldnāt eat much at the time as I was focused on getting out to the final overlook which was just a short ways away with minimal obstacles on the way. I started off and was a little down when @NORCALGXP called over the radio suggesting the smartest idea all day
. The jeeps we were with were going to turn back as the real challenges of the trail had already been reached so they wanted to get back to try Moab Rim I believe. While disappointed, I agreed that would be the smart decision. Coming back on our own would have been an exhausting endeavor & much riskier. Heading back we made our way back up the large namesake obstacle.Brett had dented his rim on his Jeep and it popped the bead for a moment but luckily sealed during his run up the Cliff Hanger Namesake obstacle.
After being slammed into the cliffhanger wall 2xās I optioned to pull cable and get out before my luck ran out
. Gonzo @NORCALGXP decided to keep hammering away until he was able to drive up. At the cost of his mirror and driver fender. Fortunately, it was the same fender the escalator sampled the antimatter blue paint last year on. I really wanted the harder line to the right but our spotter Dan insisted we hug the wall. Knowing we would be Needing their help later I just winched it. We actually carry these things around for a reason. We should use them from time to time to save the punishment on our vehicles .Returning to the z turn, we looked over our options. I decided it was time to ride the giant boulder I failed to climb up previously and skinned my rear passenger door. I figured I might not have been able to climb it but I sure the heck could slide down it because gravity always works. It was a big drop.
We made it back to the large wall just before the creek crossing. I first thought to go down the large wall we came up, but felt I wasnāt getting the truck lined up right for a good result & was tired of trying to keep from painting the wall & littering taillight plastic all over. Itās lousy trying to pick up all that mess
. I did about a 4 point turn to get somewhat square to the ledge and as far as I could from the sharp body eating boulders and dropped off the large ledge. Touchdown!!!One of the mountain bikers commented to @NORCALGXP that it was the first time he saw someone use these (Broncos) doing what they are suppose for once. Made us both feel good .
Across the creek and to the hardest of the 2 remaining obstacles. The large rocky waterfall. I got a loop ready just incase I needed to pull cable again. Itās best to have things like shackles and your winch controller at the ready before entering a precarious situation and find yourself unable to access them when needed. I told Dan who was spotting that I didnāt want to keep mucking around on it and said 1 time then Iām pulling cable. Fortunately, the truck walked up shifted a little sideways for a moment and continued to walk up and out.
@NORCALGXP was working his way up the large rocky waterfall and having a bit of a time of it. He kept falling into a crack preventing him from making it up. As I was watering the weeds watching it all play out I was shouting pull cable, but after 2 more tries disaster struck
. The way his driverās front tire pulled what looked greater than 45 degrees to the horizontal , I feared he broke a ball joint . Thankfully it was just the drivers side tie rod. Now he was forced to pull cable. First pull started to pull him off the waterfall all while he was looking at the sky due to the angle. Definitely sketchy at best . We readjusted the angle of pull. I climbed up the hill to the left and we laid down a moving blanket to protect the line and anchored off my rear and pulled him to flattish ground to work the repair. Told the Jeep guys thanks for all the help and said weāve got it from here.Before commencing repairs, To quote @NORCALGXP, āI know what Iām doing just let me do thisā
I loaned @NORCALGXP a tarp, moving blanket and a 21mm ratchet wrench to while I relaxed in my chair finishing my lunch that I was too amped up to eat earlier. I talked to Skip from SoCal Broncos as well as my hometown, about Big Bear Bronco Bash coming up next month when they rolled through with their 3 classic Broncos as @NORCALGXP & @El Diablo conducted repairs.
I think @NORCALGXP found it fascinating how the classics used the winch on the final waterfall from the start instead of trying to struggle up then break and pull cable.
This was a long hard day. This trail is a kicker and the hardest trail I intend to ever take my Bronco on. The Bronco was impressive, but how many souvenirs is one willing to take home to accomplish the task?
37ās minimum if you intend to run this and it will still kick you good.
This is the Limit I will take my Bronco to. I ran this full trail many years ago in my XJ. The trail has become more difficult and my stones have shrunk some over the years, but what an amazing adventure that really proved to me that my Bronco will take me anywhere I really want to go.
At the time of us running Cliffhanger we could find no pictures or videos anywhere after extensive searches of a 6G Bronco having traversed the mighty cliffhanger obstacle even though some have been on the trail before us but never made it.
A special thank you to @NORCALGXP for helping complete this ambition Iāve had for some time & all his help running Tail Gunner all week long. I look forward to seeing you at Deer Valley.
Damage Report:
Felix808:
Bent tire carrier up some but not as bad as first thought. This happed on one of the many ledges. I did mention they were big right? Besides it has more clearance now.
Big dent in trans skid
Torn inner drivers CV boot, but not sure when it happens. This is my second boot both in Moab (last year it popped off)
Scuffed Grill
Scuffed slight dent in rear passengersā door.
@NORCALGXP:
Dented fender coming up namesake obstacle
broken driver tie-rod coming up final waterfall
Drivers mirror cap scuffed & flopping about.
Please post pics & videos & comment- Much more coming once we get them from the film crew
Unfortunately, I can't get my videos to upload
Sponsored
Last edited:
