The Trifecta: Poison Spider - Golden Spike - Gold Bar Rim in Moab

Hey this is Josh with Trails Off Road. We woke up this morning and decided we want to take an adventure of a lifetime and here we are in Moab, Utah and we're on the Trifecta. So sit back, stay tuned and enjoy this video. While we did decide to do the entire Trifecta on a whim, it wasn't that we didn't have a specific goal in mind and that was to create the Golden Spike Trail Guide. And with that we needed a plan. And then we'll split off a little bit, shoot over and get where eagles dare and then back up and then get back down to Gold Bar and then I'm sure by that time everybody's gonna be super hungry and dinner's on me. On this trip we had some of our most dedicated crew and the guys that really like the harder trails. Josh in the red TJ and Bobby following up and taking tail in the black TJ. The Trifecta is one of the longest and most rugged four-wheel drive routes in all of Moab, Utah. It starts off at Poison Spider and goes on to Golden Spike and then finishes on Gold Bar Rim if you run it from the south to the north. The day before Josh, Ryan and Bobby had gone out and mapped behind the rocks trail. On that Josh had pancaked his tailpipe and we noticed it and decided we needed to oval it out. We're breathing better now. We made it to the waterfalls on Poison Spider rather fast and who better to tell us about those obstacles than Josh. All right so here we're at the S-Turn and this is the hardest required obstacle of Poison Spider and why it's called an S-Turn is because there's three different waterfalls and you actually have to go up a waterfall bottom slalom up another waterfall then there's a big waterfall on here and then this section right here is a tore up so you could almost call it four waterfalls which makes it super hard. A lot of people are very nervous to do this obstacle. Can it be done in a stock vehicle? Yes but you need to have an amazing driver or amazing spotter but typically what you want for here is 33 inch tires maybe a two inch lift and you can make it. It still takes some good spotting and there's a couple spots these waterfalls are big and steep and we'll get that heart pumping pretty good. If you're ever wondering how the black marks appear on all that sandstone that's how it happens right there. We all made it up and over those no problem and now it was on to the wedgie. Yes you heard it right it's called the wedgie. This section we like to call the wave. If you're driving look out your side view mirror and you'll just see Jeeps popping up and down almost like ships far off in the ocean in rough seas. The trifecta is a commitment. It is an endurance because once you get into the middle of this route there's no bailing out. It is a commitment of mind and machine. You and your Jeep the vehicle that you're driving have to have the stamina. You want to start this route right around sunrise because you're not gonna finish until about sunset. Just to give you an idea here on the high-speed Mesa it wouldn't be another 10 hours until we saw smooth dirt again. But while you're on the Mesa be sure to check out some of the scenes. All right so here we're at the famous poison spider grave site and the person who said it died here was Mary Jane. She was supposed to be young a kid or even a teenager but the truth is there's not even poison spiders in this area. So was there a poison spider or was there not and that is sort of the myth and the legend of the trail poison spider. Here we are at the Golden Spike Southern Trailhead Golden Spike is a Jeep badge of honor trail. This is where the commitment really starts because once you start up Golden Spike there really isn't a good way to get off the trail other than turning all the way around and going all the way back. What we were going to do is take Golden Spike all the way to Gold Bar Rim and exit out that way. Shortly after you get to Golden Spike Southern Trailhead you drive just a little bit and then you get to the famous launching pad. When looking straight down the launching pad or straight up it you really get a good sense of just how steep this thing is. Once up and over the launching pad you're treated with one of many many blind drops that you've just got to have a little faith on. Just after the launching pad is Skyline Drive and Skyline Drive isn't really an obstacle so to say but it is a feature and some of these you have to pay your dues to get the views. Going up wasn't so bad but on the way down I heard Bobby say on the radio this would be a terrible time for my gears to give out. It is a steep steep decline. Sometimes it's the bird's-eye view that really puts into perspective where you're at and what you are doing. The deeper you get into Golden Spike the more interesting the trail gets and we started to experience some water and it's a good rule of thumb is to never just blindly drive into a waterhole. Always test it out first. This obstacle was right before Zuki Hill. Josh opted to not get his tires wet and go up the obstacle. With the named obstacle just ahead we couldn't figure out why this one didn't have a name because it certainly was worthy. It took Josh a couple tries to get up and over with his dry tires and Ryan opted to go straight through the water and up and over the obstacle. That obstacle was optional you could go around it but Zuki Hill not so much. You have to go up and over Zuki Hill. It's really just a little spot where you've got to bump the tires. We did see a group struggle here. We feel it was because they were just had way too much pressure in their tires. Air down four low you're good to go. I'm not pissing anywhere am I? I think it's just super unhappy. I don't think it likes the heat. It just it went from like a standard little whine to a like out of fluid whine. Once you get up and over Zuki Hill you're gonna notice that you definitely are driving on slanted ground. Everything leans to the driver's side and we think on TJ's power steering that the fluid just wasn't flowing properly. After seeing the face figure we realized that there's a lot of creative people out there. Our time however was being spent on this trail in the trifecta. I'm telling you it is an endurance. We are not even halfway through this thing. We still have the famous golden crack, the golden staircase, double whammy, the body snatcher, and the waterfall yet to do. That was the stuff of the day. It's always interesting to see the different drivers line choices. There's really not one way to do any certain obstacle. It really depends on you, your vehicle, and how comfortable you feel. It basically was like I want to be right here. I want him to run me over. And wheelbase makes a huge difference taking on these various obstacles on the trifecta. The trifecta offers a couple really great overlooks to soak in the views, get out and stretch the legs, and in this case if you're uncomfortable standing next to the edge, just lay down take a look. You get all the same views that you do and you can feel really comfortable. Our group needed a good leg stretch, a good break from sitting in those hot vehicles all day. We had four or five different conversations going on amongst ourselves and it was just generally a great time pointing out all the things that we want to do, all the things that we're experiencing. It's not bad for canned. You can see your chicken. I didn't lose one but the nuts are back and I was like something sounds weird. So Bobby got in it and he was driving it and he was hitting the brake and I was watching the pinion go like this. I was like what the hell? And the upper link was loose. Parts of this route follow right along the cliff edge looking down into the Spanish Valley. It has taken over 500 million years for this area to form and from this perspective you really get an understanding that some intense things happened in the past. Leaving the cliffs and views behind, Bobby knew it was next and he dubbed it one of those, I can't believe I'm here type obstacles. So here we're at Golden Crack and this is probably the most famous obstacle in Moab. When you see a photo of this, you know exactly where it's at. No matter where you're at in the world, people have seen the video of going across this massive crack. It's roughly about a foot and a half, two feet wide but the gap is ginormous because it tapers in but then you have this massive spread. What happens though, if you get too far sideways, you can actually roll over the back tire. Well, we got TJ lining up right now. Let's watch him. You're probably going to raise the tire. I guarantee it. You did. You floated. You didn't do what he did. Because being a little bit high forces the front back that direction. You just got to be easy not to, you just got to be easy not to break a u-joint. The Golden Crack certainly is not the end of this route. We've got a long way to go and some of the most rugged terrain is yet to come. One of the optional obstacles towards the end of Golden Spike is the Double Whammy and it is quite difficult for some vehicles to get up and over this. Our group had no problem taking the slightly easier line that was on the left. We're ready for Mexican food. Are we done yet? It's kind of one and a half, one and a quarter trails. One and a quarter trails? Because we got to go up and over Gemini Bridges to get to what? Mexican food. Mexican food. I cannot get it out of my mind. He wants an enchilada. I'm already thinking about it. I've been on Gold Bar. Gold Bar is pretty quick. It's the easiest of the three apparently. So cool. Well let's boogie. We'll do it. So I'll tell you what, from the crack to here was quite the haul though. I mean there's not, there is no reprieve. Well that's why I said like it's the western side of it or northern side of this trail that has like the most action. No reprieve. I mean that was a rugged, rugged trail from the crack to right here. I mean there was an obstacle every 50 feet. Yeah. Yeah. Which I liked but it's getting late in the day and I'm getting hungry too and hearing Todd say Mexican. I know. Let's get the jalapeño. I mean just think chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Chips and salsa. Now the really only thing that was on our group's mind at this point was Mexican food but we really wanted to enjoy going down Gold Bar Rim because at this time of day with the sun coming down it is just absolutely stunningly beautiful. We knew Fiesta Mexicana closed at nine o'clock so we had plenty of time but we had one more major obstacle to get up and over. We had a side-by-side group ahead of us that we knew were going to have some trouble getting up and over the waterfall. They were pretty, well let's put it this way, a little dejected that they had been out on the trifecta all day and didn't really know what to expect. If you've been to the waterfall on Gold Bar Rim you know how daunting that obstacle can look. If you don't have the know-how and the tools to get up and over it's going to be a problem. It's just like I remembered it. We helped the side-by-side group get up and over this obstacle and off the trail safely and then of course we had to try the hardest lines ourselves before we opted for some of the easier lines and using the winch points. It's better to be safe than sorry. So Bobby is trying to get up this hill. His rear tire ended up sliding against a rock. If he backs up it could potentially maybe 10-20% unload and roll him over. The safe thing to do and drive out of the trail is use your winch, use your tools. You don't have to be a hero to win the race. That's right it's always better to live and go out another day. Never no shame in pulling a winch out asking for a spot or anything else like that that comes to your safety for you and your vehicle. But I can tell you we had Fiesta Mexicana on our mind and we had one more little hurdle coming up that we had to contend with. The trifecta is going to test your stamina and your vehicle stamina. You're going to go over so many obstacles and your suspension is going to be pushed to the max. Make sure you bring tools and know how to use them or bring a friend that knows how to use those tools also because you're probably going to need them. And always make sure that your buddies are pavement ready before you leave the trail and go home or go to wherever you're going. On this trip we had some repairs to do before we hit highway 191. Comment below, ask us all about the trifecta. We sure would love it if you'd hit that like button, subscribe to the channel and most importantly we hope to see you guys out on the trail.