- First Name
- Erik
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2024
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 45
- Reaction score
- 92
- Location
- Van Nuys, CA.
- Vehicle(s)
- 2023 Ford Bronco Badlands
- Your Bronco Model
- Badlands
- Thread starter
- #1
Just got back to SoCal from a great Bronco event in Vernal Utah. I had been to Utah countless times over the years but never up to the northeast corner of the state. Like most of Utah, it has beautiful vistas and down-to-earth people. I was only able to do one trail, as my Bronco decided to throw the "service soon" followed immediately by "powertrain malfunction reduce power" warnings. I didn't want to get caught out there in a dead or limping rig. Turns out the code cleared itself but I took it to Heritage Ford, the local dealership, to put it on a scanner. It only code showing was a stuck turbo wastegate that cleared. They didn't think there was an issue since the wastegate was not stuck and the code had cleared itself. It ran perfectly with no loss of power the 800 miles home so I believe them.
The trail we did was called Butch Cassidy and it was rated a 4 but it was a mellow 4 with only one real obstacle, a 4-5 foot drop that had a tricky approach. It was narrow at the top with a nice flat rock that looked like the perfect spot to set up your passenger wheel for an easy decent into the drop off. Turns out not so much. It was a sheer drop behind it of the full 5 feet. An older eco-diesel jeep rolled the day before by making that mistake. Putting the passenger tire just inside the rock allowed for an even descent through the obstacle and made it really pretty uneventful. There were some whoops and some sand on the later part of the trail that made it pretty fun. Note if you ever go on the trails up in Vernal they are currently overgrown with brush and scrub oaks making it narrow for Broncos and really narrow for Bronco Raptors, which is what we were riding in. We took a little trail damage from a tight turn when a rouge tree branch jammed right into the corner of the trim piece below the grill and above the bumper. It was just one of the perfectly placed hazards that sometimes happen. The rest of the Broncos were coming back to base camp with well defined pinstripping from the other trails as well. Apparently, the locals generally use side-by-side to run most of the trails I guess.
We had a wash and shine show at the local Ford dealership with about thirty or so Broncos of all generations. There were vendors and food trucks and a massive micro burst thunderstorm that brought over 30 mph wind gusts mixed with sand and hail which really pleased the guys who just worked to polish up their show rigs. It only lasted about twenty minutes. No vendor tents were harmed during the burst as friends and family clung to the tents for dear life to protect themselves and their product. Motley Industries had our stuff out on tables with no tent so we threw our CAT blankets over everything and put a few jacks on the corners. It wasn't going anywhere after that. We didn't win Best of Show with our Motley Mayhem Raptor but the winner deserved it. A Gen 1 green with a white top and just enough upgrades to make it off-roadable while still looking showroom ready. It was a great looking rig.
On the drive home, I had a semi roll by in the opposite direction on Highway 40, a two-lane state road, and hit my rig with 5 to 6 rocks like a shotgun blast. It was so loud against the windshield that I thought I actually got shot at. It was crazy loud. After the initial flinch and shock of the loud bang, I saw the dreaded spider web crack coming from the bottom of the windshield. It was two cracks about two inches long at first. Then as I drove they marched along higher and higher into my view. Then they multiplied into more and wider cracks across the windshield. I was watching this in real time as I drove in stewing fury. It is what it is I suppose.
All in all, it was a great event and I believe Vernal UT will be a recurring event as the town and county support new events and want the business. The town is very focused on outdoor activity and once you get outside of town into the trails the scenic beauty is breathtaking. I wish I had pictures to show to convey the surrounding areas. It is a big mountain biking mecca, the Green River runs right by town so rafting is big, and of course, off-roading is a big draw. I feel like this is what Moab must have been like in the 70s and early 80s before crowds started going there and it became, "Moab."
The trail we did was called Butch Cassidy and it was rated a 4 but it was a mellow 4 with only one real obstacle, a 4-5 foot drop that had a tricky approach. It was narrow at the top with a nice flat rock that looked like the perfect spot to set up your passenger wheel for an easy decent into the drop off. Turns out not so much. It was a sheer drop behind it of the full 5 feet. An older eco-diesel jeep rolled the day before by making that mistake. Putting the passenger tire just inside the rock allowed for an even descent through the obstacle and made it really pretty uneventful. There were some whoops and some sand on the later part of the trail that made it pretty fun. Note if you ever go on the trails up in Vernal they are currently overgrown with brush and scrub oaks making it narrow for Broncos and really narrow for Bronco Raptors, which is what we were riding in. We took a little trail damage from a tight turn when a rouge tree branch jammed right into the corner of the trim piece below the grill and above the bumper. It was just one of the perfectly placed hazards that sometimes happen. The rest of the Broncos were coming back to base camp with well defined pinstripping from the other trails as well. Apparently, the locals generally use side-by-side to run most of the trails I guess.
We had a wash and shine show at the local Ford dealership with about thirty or so Broncos of all generations. There were vendors and food trucks and a massive micro burst thunderstorm that brought over 30 mph wind gusts mixed with sand and hail which really pleased the guys who just worked to polish up their show rigs. It only lasted about twenty minutes. No vendor tents were harmed during the burst as friends and family clung to the tents for dear life to protect themselves and their product. Motley Industries had our stuff out on tables with no tent so we threw our CAT blankets over everything and put a few jacks on the corners. It wasn't going anywhere after that. We didn't win Best of Show with our Motley Mayhem Raptor but the winner deserved it. A Gen 1 green with a white top and just enough upgrades to make it off-roadable while still looking showroom ready. It was a great looking rig.
On the drive home, I had a semi roll by in the opposite direction on Highway 40, a two-lane state road, and hit my rig with 5 to 6 rocks like a shotgun blast. It was so loud against the windshield that I thought I actually got shot at. It was crazy loud. After the initial flinch and shock of the loud bang, I saw the dreaded spider web crack coming from the bottom of the windshield. It was two cracks about two inches long at first. Then as I drove they marched along higher and higher into my view. Then they multiplied into more and wider cracks across the windshield. I was watching this in real time as I drove in stewing fury. It is what it is I suppose.
All in all, it was a great event and I believe Vernal UT will be a recurring event as the town and county support new events and want the business. The town is very focused on outdoor activity and once you get outside of town into the trails the scenic beauty is breathtaking. I wish I had pictures to show to convey the surrounding areas. It is a big mountain biking mecca, the Green River runs right by town so rafting is big, and of course, off-roading is a big draw. I feel like this is what Moab must have been like in the 70s and early 80s before crowds started going there and it became, "Moab."
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Being in Utah, I wish I could have made it.
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