Rattle Snake Gulch
Utah 4-Wheel Drive Association Fall Trail Ride
November 6th, 1999

by Todd Adams

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On November 6th the U4WDA fall run was hosted by the Rebels 4x4 Club out of Hurricane Utah. For November the weather was more like September with the temperatures in the high 70’s to low 80’s. We could not have had better weather if we had ordered it as one of the participants told me. 30 vehicles, drivers and passengers gathered in La Verkin Utah on Saturday morning to head out on the two trails planned by our host club. The 3+ rated Devils Hole and the 4++ rated Rattles Snake Gulch were the two trails being offered. I guess I should have found out a bit information on the trails before going. Both Linda and I always take a change of shoes with us and I can’t remember a time that we needed them until now, and of course we left the extra shoes home this trip. Our trial leader Dave, during the drivers meeting, had described Rattle Snake as being similar to 21 Road in Colorado. Never having done 21 Road I did not realize he was suggesting there would be lots of water. Hence the need for those other dry shoes. More on wet feet later.

The first part of the trail was easy with a steep short down and then a much longer loose down that gave the trail it’s name. On one of the pre trips, a couple of rattle snakes were encountered on this hill.

Then we got to the creek bottom where the fun began. During the summer, a flash flood had scoured this creek to the point that there was nothing left of the original road and had moved everything around making new obstacles where that had been none before. It had been a tough trail before the flood and now it was even tougher. Our trail leader was having to find new lines over much of this trail. The problem with that is, lines negotiated by a 39.5 Bogger equipped built to the hilt Bronco was not the same line most of us could take in our 35 and 33 tired rigs. I kept in back of Dave so I was in a position to get some good pictures. I spent most of my time scraping the underside of RED YJ. Many of the creek crossings were so deep the rocks were not visible that were hanging on to our differentials and skid plates. Not to mention tire side walls.

Along the trail we did some bird watching or should I say he was watching us. A rare California Condor was giving us the eye. Word over the CB was to get help if he started to carry one of us away.

About the only named obstacle was called "Foot Deep". On one of the pre runs, Dave took Green Broke III down in and up the wall at the far end of this slot. The name "Foot Deep was not because the water was a foot deep but because Dave had a foot of water in his rig! After getting up and over, a frog was found hitching a rid on the passenger seat. This time, after the flood, "Foot Deep" was now 10 feet deep and proved to be impossible even for Dave. He did try to find a way but when the headlights went under at the head of the slot, He decided it was just too deep this time to try.

Dave is very proud of his new rig. This is the 3rd Bronco he has built with the Green Broke name. One of the Green Broke’s was on the cover of August ‘99 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility Magazine. So proud of the work he has done he just had to show me the rig from all angles to photograph, including the underside. Making his way over some large boulders at the top of a small waterfall, he gave his passenger an E ticket ride by doing a slow tip on to the right side. This is where a change of shoes would have been nice. The logical place for me to position RED YJ for the best winch angle to right Green Broke was in the deepest part of the creek. Getting out was about knee deep and time was important so that Dave’s rig not loose vital fluids. The rig was pulled over in just a few minutes just as gently as it had laid over.

Near the end of the trail the road crosses the top of a beautiful waterfall where we parked our rigs for the group hug shot. Even with all that had slowed us down, numerous straps, a couple of blown out tire side walls, kids we could not get back in the rigs because they were having too much fun and one tip over, we still managed to beat the other group back to town. A raffle was held, stories were exchanged and the consensus was that it had been a great day for both groups and worth the long drive to get there. South West Utah is not known for it’s 4-wheeling. It will be, Color Country 4 Wheelers out of Cedar City Utah just a few miles north of Hurricane, will be hosting one of the Goodyear Extreme Rock Crawling Championships next year. If you are going to be in the area and want some great four wheeling, contact both Rebels 4x4xclub at www.ute.net/rebels4x4 (435)635-9289 and Color Country 4 Wheelers www.off-road.com/~cc4wd (435) 865-7135. You can also contact Utah 4-Wheel Drive Association at (801) 963-1913

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