A group of members from The Bronco Nation just finished a trip to Moab. We were able to catch up with them, have a few dinners and run a couple of trails together. As many of you know who are reading this article, Bronco Nation is more than just an online presence, it’s a community of Bronco owners who can and do use the forum, like this group did, to plan adventures together. I have a feeling this group will be getting together again soon and wanted to understand how all of this came together.
I chatted with Dean, DeanoBronc, and a few others at a farewell dinner at Zax’s restaurant in Moab to get the scoop. Originally, according to Dean, this was a group going to the Bronco Safari together, as there was a Bronco Nation basecamp there last year. But, due to permitting issues, Bronco Safari didn’t happen as expected this year, but that didn’t stop the group. “We realized we had the resources to work together and decided to just do it.”
“It started with a wish list, what trails would everyone want to run”, Dean said, “Pretty soon it became clear that folks wanted to run easy, moderate, and difficult trails. It then built into a real project framework back in November, with a few informal leaders helping to shape what the experience might look like. If you build it, they will come……and they did.”
Brian and I had been included in those chats and later, the messaging groups. As the trip got closer to the April start, the activity picked up, and the excitement began to build. By the time there were just a few days left, the text stream really picked up. One day, after working a day at the Bronco Off-Roadeo without a cell signal, I discovered my phone had almost 300 texts on it when I got back to Basecamp. They were all from the attendees, some of them already on the road to Moab: from places like Michigan, Alabama, Texas, Canada, Arizona, Indiana, and Oklahoma. The incredible part of this is that many of them had never met face to face but were already fast friends through the forums and online participation with Bronco Nation.
Brian and I started feeling the infectious energy and decided to open our Moab house on Sunday for a welcome BBQ. It was just going to be some hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, providing a pre-trail ice breaker and opportunity for some lively conversations from those who had driven across the country. We had no idea that we would end up with almost 40 people and 23 Broncos at our little house. Luckily the weather was good, a little windy, but nice enough to get people outside on the deck.
What an amazing start to the week, connecting with so many Bronco Nation members, answering questions about trail conditions, looking at each other’s Broncos, and even my Sport, alone in a parking lot of Broncos, got some attention. Mike Heckman (SlashRacer) and Tim Kiely (TK1215) spoke a few words and gave everyone an idea about how the week might go. Then, everyone was off for a good night’s sleep with the promise of continued fun the following morning.
Tim, (TK1215) and his wife Elizabeth, and their puppy Jovi, were based out of our house, so we got lots of trail reports on Monday and Tuesday, since we had to work. On Tuesday evening, the group filled up the back room at Dewey’s restaurant, for another group dinner. Now, we were ready to join in on a couple of trails on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Wednesday, Brian and I went in our Iconic Silver 2-door Badlands (Not Bucky) along with a few others to the Dome Plateau area. We showed the group a few of our secrets, including a drink from Matrimony springs, La Boca Arch, and a fun sand hill. The day was timed well, and we got back to Moab around 5pm. Tim went out on Elephant Hill with Blake Torgerson, the Bronco Off Roadeo site director in Moab, and Dean, and had the time of his life. He couldn’t quit talking about how great the day was, and how beautiful.
Tim commented on the fact that this event would never have happened without Bronco Nation, and his goal is to continue to travel and connect with others, attending as many events as possible. He felt like his skill set grew over the week, learning to spot others through some challenging obstacles, and getting more practice with his GOAT modes. He hopes that Ford will continue to support the incredible community that’s developed through Bronco Off-Roadeo and the Bronco Nation.
On Thursday, we went out to the Fins N Things trail in the morning and a tour through Hell’s Revenge in the afternoon. We had 8 Broncos in total and most had never been on either trail. We had a great time on Fins, enjoying getting everyone through obstacles like Dipsy Doodle, Kenny’s Climb and Frenchie’s Fin. We had a brief lunch stop between trails and then we were on to Hell’s Revenge, with a few already wanting to try some harder obstacles like Hell’s Gate and Mickey’s Hot Tub. We had three takers on Hell’s Gate, everyone making it through successfully, although a few were a little shaky, when they needed to adjust a couple mid obstacle, including one backing down the obstacle a few feet. It was fun to hear the onboard heart rate reports, as high as 167 at times, coming across the radio.
We moved through the rest of the trail quickly, a couple of Broncos driving through the Carwash hot tub and stopping to watch a UTV come up the Big hot tub. When we got to Mickey’s hot tub, Chris (TechnicalDisaster) was having an internal and external debate with himself and his wife Alicia on whether he should try it. He had already driven Hell’s Gate that day and this other obstacle was also on his bucket list. I mentioned that I have seen many rigs go through successfully “on a leash”, meaning that a strap is placed on the front of the vehicle, and two or three people pull on the front end as you drive out. Chris decided he was going to do it that way.
After a safety briefing on what everyone’s responsibilities were, we had everyone in position, and Chris (TechnicalDisaster) was in the hot tub and on the right line. He came out like a champ, with a small driver wheel lift, but no hopping and a huge grin on his face. Reaching into his Bronco and giving him a congratulatory knuckle, while he was yelling with joy, was a real highlight for me. I think he floated through the rest of the trail, except when he stopped briefly, complaining that something didn’t feel right in his steering. After a scary moment where we thought he may have broken something, he realized he had forgotten to turn off his front locker. Adrenalin is a funny thing. (Please post pictures of Chris in Mickey's in the comments if you have them. I took zero....)
After a quick stop to watch our UTV friend drive the Escalator, we all decided we’d had good luck for the day and shouldn’t push it anymore. We headed back to the trailhead, hitting the pavement at around 4:15pm. While still in the parking lot, we started getting reports from the group out on Golden Spike (not the Trifecta as many incorrectly call it). They had just arrived at the Golden Crack, which my inner timekeeper told me that they had about four more hours to go and would be racing the sun to finish before dark. They made it out at 8:30pm, just as we were leaving our dinner at Zax’s restaurant.
This is just a few of the many, many great stories and reports from the exciting week. And now, just like that, the trip is finishing up, with some leaving on Friday and most leaving Saturday, for their long trips back home. What was heard over and over at the Thursday night dinner was how amazing the group is. We even met a new couple that had been at the Bronco Off-Roadeo on Monday and were now Bronco Nation members, because they had met some of the group there. They literally looked happily stunned at how welcomed they were, and they were planning on going on the 7 Mile Rim run on Friday.
The final question I asked the group, “Will there be more of these informal meetups and group activities?” The entire group yelled, “yes!”
Were you on this trip or want to go on a future trip with Bronco Nation members? Share your favorite story or comment below.
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