AZKJ wrote:
I'll make one last contribution to this thread, and then I'll butt out....
I agree with JL Rockies... Elephant Hill is not a good choice for the stock Jeeps, and Fins and Things is pushing it. The reason I say that is... define a "stock" KJ. I see it as a daily driver with at the most, good A/T tires, skids and tow hooks. In other words, a 4x4 vehicle in which the owner still wants to go out to get dirty and see some of the back country without tearing up his Jeep. A stock KJ "does not" have a lift, nor rock rails. Why even mention that "a lift is helpful" when prefacing suggested requirements for the stock runs??
Please don't get me wrong, I have a stock height KJ with with skids and good tires. I've been out on real trails with it and did pretty good keeping up with the lifted guys without too much trouble... so I know what a stock KJ can do.
I'm not saying keep the stockers on gravel or dirt roads such as Potash, Salt Valley or Willow Springs Roads, but let's be a little more realistic what a "stock" KJ can safely do without worrying about tearing it up. I've never attended a LOST JEEPS event in Moab, but at first glance, little consideration is being given to the stocker guys and gals. If we truly want to make this an event for "all" Jeeps, let's take a better look at the trails and maybe we could get an even larger turn out.
I may be all wet behind the ears about what this event seems to be all about... the modified and SFA guys or the ones driving TJ's or KJ's having a good time. To be honest, when I first joined up with LOST a couple of years ago, I really wanted to head up to MOAB with you, but I just got a feeling the event did not consider stock KJ's and didn't go.
Well guys, those are my observations and opinions of this whole thread (and the of PM's I've sent on this subject). So take it for what it's worth, I'll sit on the side lines and watch how trail selection for everyone, stock to heavily modified plays out providing a "full day" on the trail "every day" except for the scheduled down day....
I would have been right there with you in the past, but this is overlooking one big thing... stockers don't tend to show. Last year in Ouray there wasn't one unlifted Jeep. Plenty of consideration was made for them, but they didn't show. The year before that in Moab I was the only unlifted Jeep. I ran my share of trails but decided to ride along and see what the harder trails were like...
The last time this event was in Moab, SFA KJ's outnumbered unlifted KJ's 2-1