Write up:
We met in the parking lot, and the jeepers locked their doors (and my camping gear) to a tree in the camping area. We also picked up a couple of strays who joined our group. We had two cherokees, five jeeps (one on steriods), and my lone Nissan.
I decided we would "go west, young men." We headed over to the west side, and ran Trail 14 as tune up. Everyone did great, with hardly a pause at the left hand drop into the hole by the tree (a/k/a the diff hole). At that point, I knew it would be a good day -- everyone had rigs capable of any of the blues, and knew how to drive.
We went on to trial 12, and ran its entire length almost non-stop. We paused a bit until everyone got up the initial hill (where Greg was playing on the big rock not too long ago). No-one had any real difficulty -- at most one or two people had to re-adjust their line once, but we basically motored up the hill. The rest of trail 12 was pretty uneventful, until we hit the creek. The creek posed no problem, but was fun. On a short break, Jeff nearly ran into one of his buddys, and from that point on there began a lot of "chop busting" that would escalate through the rest of the day. The rest of trail 12 was a breeze.
On to Trial 19B -- the blue lower section. I became the first stuck of the day, getting hung up on the initial drop into the muddy-rutted-stream part of the trial. I could not be pulled back, so I got yanked forward, plowing the front bumper into the bank and taking a good chunk of it with me. Others made the drop ok, and some chose the bypass.
Up the rutted section of Trial 11. No problems there. On to Trail 18a and Pizza Rock. No stacking required. Pizza rock was no problem for anyone (the X just climbed up it this time -- no stalling), but was still fun. Then on to lunch at the intersection of Trail H and Trail J.
After lunch, we went to the East and did Trail 2, starting from Trail B. The Frog Hole Hill was not too badly rutted, and everyone made the hill on their first shot. Frog Hole was pretty high, but not too high that you could not skirt the edge of it. From there out to the Pole Line was relatively uneventful. We continued on Trial 2 towards Crawler Ridge. The mud hole on Trail 2 where it turns from the Pole Line was pretty deep, but passable. We had one truck decided to by-pass it.
The last segment of Crawler Ridge was possibly the best part of the day. At the top of the climb up, I took the "easier" of the two routes -- still a pretty hard blue route. Jeff, however, chose to try the heavily bouldered route, much to the amusement of all. A lot of "diff hits," a lot of stacking of rocks for his Rubicon, and lot of use of lockers, and finally a nice stuck that required a yank off. At this point, the chop busting probably reached its peak, and I was just laughing so much all this time. Probably the some of the most fun I ever had. Once Jeff got unstuck, he tried the "easier" route and still got hung up a bunch of times (in part because everyone was messing with him as to the line to take) before he finally got to the top. However, a couple of the real old jeeps, with lesser tires, just crawled right up that route. More chop busting. Then, at the top of Crawler Ridge, there was a relativley easy route down that was right next to the large rocks. I tried, and it was quite do-able. However, Jeff tried a minor variation that was easily do-able, but then got himself mis-aligned and up banging a rock. After backing off, he took the easy exit and still had to work it a bit. Again, more chop busting. (Note to self--- do not get a Rubicon unless I want to have my chops busted every time I fail).
On to Trail 4 -- entering from Trial C. First segment was relatively uneventful. Upon arrival at Yellow Jacket, I advised all that Yellow Jacket just loved Green Rubicons. Jeff didn't bite at that one, but we did have three others climb Yellow Jacket. Nice show, more chop busting. Continuing on Trail 4 ----- just as we entered that last section the front skid fell off of my X. I just put it in the back, and continued.
With about an hour of time left, we went and ran Trail 1A. Jeff partially redeemed himself by running one of the big, long sinkholes. I bailed out of the blue section without my skid. After Trail 1, we exited by way of the hill climb on Pole Line. No problems for anyone, and this was probably the quickest time I have seen a group get up that hill climb.
Overall, a great day. A lot of fun. Everyone had rigs and skills appropriate for the trails we were running. Two stucks for the day, not major. I don't think there was any mechanical carnage -- I am not sure about body damage (but if so, it would have been minor).
On a side note, by the end of the day I was having problems with my seatbelt. While it would retract fine when I took it off, it would only pull out a bit and then lock up when I went to put it on. It would take 10 to 20 attempts before it would pull out enough to fasten (even worse today, cannot get it more than a foot or so). However, it looks like I have some good luck -- the truck has a lifetime warranty on the entire seatbelt assembly. Hello, dealer.
k_enn
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C'mon Kenn, you're the king of write-ups! I wanna hear about your day! I have heard thru the grapevine that you did a super job leading (as usual......wish you came down more often....we'd have a job for you!!!!) I'm going next to chekc out the pics! Glad you guys had a fun run!
