Ten years ago I had another van that I was obsessed with. It was a 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro. I had it almost 10 years and had done a lot of work to in including an engine swap to a 2008 Zetec motor out of a Ford Focus. It was my baby and I put thousands of hours into it. This picture below was my nephew and I in November of 2012 on the White Rim Road in Canyonlands National Park. In November Canyonlands is empty. We didn't see another vehicle for almost 2 full days. Still one of the best off road adventures I have had to date. Not super technical but beautiful. 100 miles of 8 mph. We slept at White Crack which points directly at the confluence of the Colorado and the Green rivers and you are surrounded by the most epic desert views everywhere you look. If you haven't done it you should.
As part of that love I got together with a few local enthusiasts Back in 2010 and we established an annual Syncro event in Moab UT. It is now on it's 8th year having over 100 vans attend annually. Because of my pioneer status the VW crowd tends to look the other way when my big Ford rolls into camp. There are a couple of other founding members that have switched to something else as well usually some form of Ford transit or E-series. Couple FJ cruisers as well. Such a fun crew that we make an effort to go every year. The VW crowd is full of good peeps. I also am in love with the Moab area in general so any opportunity to go is one I will jump at.
We basically take over a group camp area at Lone Mesa off Hwy 313.
We do lots of trails. Nothing crazy but Syncros are actually quite capable and we do a variety of trails that are definitely 4x4 van worthy. I didn't take a ton of trail pictures. Here are a few of Long Canyon. Normally Long Canyon is an easy trail but many of the easy trails have been savaged by the RZR crowd so obstacles that would normally be easy to pass are often way worse than usual. The park service does come out and rebuild the trails some. Also water and wind can really effect some of the trails. This time Long Canyon was a bit rougher and we had to stack rocks at Pucker Pass. The pictures don't do it justice. The Syncros all made it down with only one van getting mirror damage as it tipped toward the cliff face wall. They don't call it Pucker Pass for nothing. We had one 2wd vanagon running a rear locker that was a challenge to get through but experienced drivers got er done and my van just walked right down the stacked rocks. For some reason driving was more important to me this trip and the pictures were left to suffer. We went up Potash Road to the Shafer Switchbacks after heading down Long Canyon. We also headed out toward Tusher Tunnel and lead a group of newbies to check out the tunnel. Nothing crazy but really fun. The next day we did Hurrah Pass to Chicken Corners and stopped at the Wind Caves on the way back down. In the two full days we were there we did quite a bit of driving and also spent some time off Power House Road to swim in the creek. Moab is a blast.
Pucker Pass
Steeper than it looks. Biggest issue is tipping toward the canyon wall as you come down. It's a decent challenge for the VW guys.
Van coming down Long Canyon. Narrow walls and steep grades headed down toward the pass.
Pucker Pass
Stacking or in this case un-stacking a big rock at the bottom.
Famous spot under the rock just after Pucker Pass on the way down.
This picture is at the bottom of the Shafer Switchbacks. Right at where the White Rim Road splits off. One of my favorite pics of the trip.
This picture is from the top of The Shafer Switchbacks just before you round the corner where they filmed the Thelma and Louise movie. Pictures shows the split at the bottom where one side goes to the White Rim Road and the other goes off through Potash Road. You can follow the Potash road from Dead Horse Point on the top side.
We had a crazy but brief rainstorm come through which gave way to a spectacular double rainbow.
Lasted for a long time. I am not sure how long but felt like 45 minutes or so.
I can't take credit for this picture but I grabbed it from another member (Josiah Q. Roe Photography). Moab is one of the darker spots in the country and can be an excellent spot for night photography.