Cruise Moab 2018

Details: By Daniel Markofsky

How do you report on an event that has been going on for 21 years? Most everyone has probably already heard about it and read about it, and we͛ve certainly covered it in these pages before.

We could talk about the trucks. That never gets old. There are always innovations, new products, new designs, and people doing things that no one has seen before. Fifteen years ago the rides were 40͛s, 55͛s, 60/62͛ and mini-trucks. Many still attend, and wheel as hard as ever. Now there are many newer trucks. In 2003 some 80 series first showed up. There was a lot of head scratching and many nay-sayers, but everyone quickly learned just how capable those newer͛ Land Cruisers were. This year there was at least one 2016 model 200 series Land Cruiser. No one questioned its ability, just its owner͛s sanity. GX470s, 4Runners, Tacomas, all share the trail and represent Toyota.

We could talk about the trails. If you͛ve never attended Cruise Moab, you want to hear about legendary trails like Hell͛s Revenge, Fins N Things, Poison Spider, Kane Creek Canyon, Kokopelli, and Golden Spike. If you have attended Cruise Moab, you still want to hear about them. How has Poison Spider changed, what͛s the waterfall like, what got dug out, who climbed what.

We could talk about the town. Formerly a sleepy old uranium mining town where the sidewalks rolled up at 8:00 PM, you are now greeted by construction north of the Colorado River and new condos climbing the valley walls. There is constant traffic. Yet like many great places, the majority stay in the center, and the gems lie just out of sight and there is still a lot of space. Back in town there͛s a huge variety of places to eat and shop. There are more gas stations than t-shirt shops, testimony to the motorized recreation engine driving town. Even the Subarus and Prii1 shuttling mountain bikers and hikers have to fuel up to cross the vast deserts encircling this Colorado River fed oasis.

We could talk about the people. People from all over the country, occasionally from other countries, arewell represented. Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia, and New Hampshire are quite a bit farther and were all present this year. New this year: registrants from Moab. Even locals who can run Moab trails any day of the week pay to register for Cruise Moab, because of the people.

We could talk about gear. Gone are the days of struggling to set up a tent and sleeping on a deflated air mattress, shivering in a paper-thin sleeping bag. And then it starts to rain, as you eat a cooler-soggy ham sandwich. Now reach down from the memory foam mattress in your roof top tent and hit the start button on the coffeemaker. Or perhaps grab an ice-cream sandwich from the onboard freezer. Silky smooth HAM radio communications are quickly overtaking the still-required CB.

People come year after year for the same reason you are reading this article. They..we.. you.. love Moab, Cruise Moab, and Toyotas! At every Friday night raffle dinner, with a show of hands there is an acknowledgement for years of attendance. Half the hands in the room go up asking for first-timers. Half of the hands are up for tenth-timers. A couple of hands are still up for 20.

Every trail run is different mix of trucks, people, and gear. Every morning and evening is an opportunity to explore a new part of town and grab a souvenir to bring home. Every day is an opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones. Every moment that a nicely built Toyota is spotted becomes an opportunity for inspiration. It͛s nice to know that in this fast-paced and constantly changing world, we can rely on the trails, the people, the gear, and the town that are Cruise Moab.