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MOAB - Jamie Evans had no trouble on Saturday maneuvering his 1966 Army deuce-and-a-half along the challenging series of ledges and steps that mark the first mile of the Moab Rim Trail.
"I call it the 'Green Beast,' " Evans said, patting the side of the monster-sized green truck that has been modified with a Dodge cab. "We can go almost anywhere in it."
A resident of Provo, Evans was one of more than 1,700 participants in the 41st Easter Jeep Safari, a nine-day off-road event held near Moab each spring.
Evans smiled broadly after successfully navigating "Devil's Crack," a high sandstone ledge where two rocks meet to form a deep crevice between. The driver behind Evans was not so fortunate. As his black Jeep Wrangler spun and bounced against the steep rock ledge, a loud clank announced that the vehicle's drive shaft had broken.
The trail leader quickly enlisted Evans' "Green Beast" to tow the damaged vehicle out of the way.
About 34 groups headed into the backcountry surrounding Grand and San Juan counties for the Jeep Safari's "Big Saturday" - the day when every participant in the event lines up along Moab's Main Street for the 9 a.m. parade before following an event leader on an assigned trail ride.
In the past two years, Jeep Safari organizers and the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the majority of the trails used for the event, have instituted changes to help reduce congestion on the trail and minimize the environmental impact to the area.
During Jeep Safari, seven trails, including the Moab Rim, are now reserved exclusively for Jeep Safari guided trail rides on days the event has scheduled them for use. Three trails in the area also are restricted to one-way traffic during event trail days.
The BLM continues to monitor the trail to assess the impact of the changes, said Russ von Koch of the Moab BLM office.
"The Moab Rim went very well today [Saturday]," von Koch said, explaining that the BLM has monitors at many sites where environmental damage has been a problem in the past. "The overall use during this week has grown to the point where it became difficult for the club to present a quality experience for their participants. The changes are a way to turn back the clock and give them more of the experience they had 30 years ago."
Red Rock 4-Wheelers member Doug McElhaney said participants are "getting used to" the route restrictions.
"There's a little bit of a learning curve, but most of the people have had a chance to adjust now," he said.
Grand County law enforcement reported several minor incidents and accidents, and one accident that caused severe injuries to a Colorado man's hand when the vehicle he was riding in rolled. The man's right thumb and a portion of his left middle finger were amputated as a result of the accident.