4/22/08… 9:13 a.m.
We get to the head of the Poison Spider Mesa Trail just as the sun is creeping up over the eastern edge of the La Sal Range. Our Land Rovers are all placed into Rock Crawl mode, which raises the suspension for maximum clearance. The vehicles are put in low gear. And we’re off.
My LR3 floats forward, rolling over the first large boulders in our path, skimming over them. The sound of loose rocks can be heard scrunching under the treads. And then an occasional moment of silence as the tires grip the sandstone.
The rock formations are simply stunning. Exotic, petrified sand dunes lift up next to us like the backs of sleeping mammoths. We move over them, around them, up and down them. In the lead LR3, Burns shifts to a manual gear setting as he declines. He also makes use of a special brake/acceleration technique that places both feet on both pedals simultaneously. Control, I quickly learn, is the essence of good off-road driving. And control is what Land Rovers effortlessly provide.
Tags: Land Rover, LR3, Moab, Poison Spider Mesa Trail
