Fins 'N Things

Our first trail is accessible through the Slat Flats Recreational Area, which is very close to Moab, in fact about 2 miles from the campground we are staying. Luckily, this area is owned by someone other than the National Government, so it was open!

This is rated difficult, but doable in an aggressive stock SUV (such as a Jeep) with careful tire placement in the rocky ledges that frequent the trail, ATVs were not recommended. We did actually scrape the hitch and tow hook on the back twice (which we have never done on any other trail, ever). It was starting out fun, but definitely challenging in our stock Wrangler.

On the far left (very close to the fencing) of the rock in this picture, you can make out a whitish scrape, which is where our hitch and tow hook dug in, in one of the rock ledges.

We hiked back to this spot to get a picture, and we noticed 3 ATVs passed us while we were hiking (this got us thinking "should they really be on this trail"). We inspected the area where our Jeep hit a few minutes later, and that's when we heard a blood-curdling scream and frantic yelling for help coming from somewhere ahead of us on the trail. That's when I started running toward the screaming taking a short-cut through the desert hills (all kinds of scenarios running through my head), while Sean headed back to the Jeep to see if he could find them on the trail. After, a few minutes Sean met me at a part of the trail about 1/2 mile ahead while I was trying to listen for voices since the woman's screaming had stopped. We both saw a man walking down the trail about 50 yards from where we met up and I heard him say that his wife broke her arm (phew...thank goodness that was all). Her friend and I fixed her up as best we could (and as much as she would let us since she was in a LOT of pain) and waited for the Search and Rescue Team to find us (luckily, we weren't far from the major road that runs along the Recreational Area). This was the scene we saw...

The lady that was hurt was given some awesome pain-killers and soon the Rescue Team had her in the ambulance. Sean and I helped the husband get the ATVs situated so he could catch up to his wife in the now leaving ambulance. Lesson learned: if it says "not recommended" don't do it...

We skipped the rest of the trail on the South side, since we scraped the hitch and tow hook once more and went up the road to where the trail continues on the North side of the trail. It seemed the ledges got worse, so we bailed out.

This is when we saw something called Baby Lion's Back (doesn't the name sound awesome?). Of course, Sean HAD to attempt this...

At the bottom of the Baby Lion's Back, there is a pond (the depth of which is unknown). A guy in a UTV told us that everyone just turns around and do not attempt the water. Sean made a try at it, but thought better of it because the water was too murky and the bottom unknown to us.

 Day 1 Jeepin' done...