Pre-Turkey Day Run - November 2003
by Derek Podgorni
I had a passenger with me and he was surprised at the opening part of the of the trail, i.e. the trail head immediately off the road. I knew then that he was in for additional surprises in this trip.
So we got lined up at the first challenging part which was the sandy/gravely climb that starts to the right and turns back left as you go up hill. I had my trXus aired down to 16 psi, but apparently this wasn't low enough and I was doing more bouncing off rocks than crawling over. I had to back down 10-15 feet several times to get some momentum built up to get a bump off a rock that was holding me up. I didn't end up getting strapped, and the '03 Rubicon in front of me w/ a 4" lift also struggled a bit. I felt good that I got through it on my own. During the stop waiting for others to come up, I aired down to 12 psi on Bad Chris' (Chris Schuch) advice.
The next interesting thing was heading down Double Locker hill. I thought for sure that the undercarriage of my car was going to get remodeled, but when I saw someone go through it and the diffs cleared by several inches, I felt a bit better. I managed to work my way down the field without any "events". My spotter told me that I was about two inches away from ripping open my passenger rocker panel however. Now I am more anxious than ever to get to that welding course so I can build me some sliderz.
The next interesting part of the trail was just before an access road where everyone stopped. You have to make it over some rocks where the trail turns right. Jim Higgins was spotting the '03 Rubi in front of me and sent him over the hardest part. The Rubi struggled, sliding on the rock face and such but finally made it over. Fortunately Jim spotted me to the other side (read that as easier) of the obstacle and I made it through without incidence, although once again my rockers approached some rocks according to my passenger.
We stopped to eat at a rock outcropping where Joe, Bad Chris, and others provided the halftime entertainment. On the left side of the trail, was an outcropping that apparently called out to the soul of the little child inside each person who attempted it. Several people made it up one portion of the rock face, albeit with much expended effort. Then Joe attempted a clearly riskier line. Although he tried his hardest, the slippery rock was not helping him. I'm guessing Joe felt a little sheepish when Bad Chris mounted the obstacle using the same line. In an effort to recover his pride he attempted the obstacle in reverse. Alas, although the spectacle was highly entertaining, this was not Joe's day for the limelight. (As it turns out however, Joe apparently surmounted Double Locker heading uphill in reverse, but I was not able to view this feat, and hence cannot positively confirm it. I am however, willing to give him the benefit of a doubt.)
So we forged ahead. The main trail on the power lines was flooded and we took a go-around that was very narrow. You just know that the two new Rubi's were in for some buffing the following day. On this go-around, there was a fairly small fallen tree that lay in the trail as the trail turned right. At the corner on the right hand side was a small tree waiting to greet any door of a car that slid down the log on this positive camber section of trail. I worked my way as far left as possible, in anticipation of some sliding to the right. Sure enough once my tires were up on the log I slid a couple feet to the right and when they came down on the other side, I immediately began to lose air in the front right. With a quick squirt of the throttle and turn of the wheel I stopped the bleeding. My co-pilot took a look and gave me the thumbs up.
Some water crossing lay ahead but they weren't of any consequence to any of the vehicles. Following Paul Kelly's lead, I took an alternate path other than the folks up front had chosen. A few seconds later, across the radio came this, "We prefer that you don't follow him". Too late! So everyone after came through that section. The primary point of interest was a rockface that armored vehicles could slide down, and on the way back, climb up. This obstacle took quite a while to get through as everyone wanted to take a shot at the various spots of interest in this rock field.
So we eventually got going again and headed into the woods with the goal of making it to Lookout Point. After a couple hundred yards the trail turns hard right and uphill. There are several areas along the way that are challenging. Some uphill climbs across rocks appeared hazardous to the underside, and the narrow passes between trees caused the driver to pay particular attention to location. For a novice like myself it provided much entertainment. And since the vehicle leading me had much greater capability, and the driver much greater skill, I really had to pick my own lines rather than just following his. This was a good learning experience. There was a rock face that caused a Stock YJ to get hung up a bit, but other than that, it was a straight ahead trip upwards.
We made it too lookout point. There was an obstacle to wedge between. On the left was a rock, more like a large glacial deposit, and on the right was a tree, which had obviously greeted some folks in the past. The line to make it through was to point the left front of the vehicle at the rock, climb it a bit, and then turn right to line up to get past the tree. I suppose that after seeing the three people in front of me hit the tree and get winched out I should have opted to turn around. Well, I started the line anyway, turned right and the vehicle listed into the tree, lightly impacting the passenger side door on the trunk of the tree. The winch line was hooked up, and thanks to the efforts of no less than four people pushing on the side of my rig, I was winched out without further damage. Thanks to everyone who helped. I'll knock out those dents this coming weekend.
So it was time to head back down and out. On the way down I involuntarily released more air from the front right tire while turning on a rock with the weight of the vehicle on it. I continued down and again, with a spotter even, I managed to lose air from both the front tires. Eventually on that section, I lost the bead seal on the front right, while in the rock field and facing down hill. Deciding that working on the tire at that angle was too hazardous I finished that section and stopped on as flat a section as possible. I got out to inspect the damage. The rim looked intact and the tire appeared that it might be able to be "blown" back on with some high pressure air. I got the tires chalked, someone lifted the front, and we got a hose on the tire. Luckily the tire reseated, we put 10 psi in and I was on my way again. These are the times when you are glad to have such experienced and helpful people around you.
So, downward I continued. Again, I lost more air from the front right on a rock. What I have determined is that turning the tires while heading downhill, aired down and having no forward momentum is too much for the sidewalls of my trXus tires. I'll have to make a conscious effort in the future to turn only while moving to avoid this problem.
So we finally made the sharp turn (this time to the left) to head out of the woods. At this point, I figured I should be all set since there was nothing major left to deal with on the way out. About 50 feet past a long mud hole I just passed through (luckily) the front right tire blew the bead for the second time. Again, with the assistance of others, we got the car jacked up, and blew the tire back on. That trick is awesome. This time, I'm sure that the air I had lost after the first "repair" was just too much. I aired up the tires to 18 psi and was set for the rest of the ride out.
Feeling a bit deflated (pun intended), I didn't really feel like dealing with more obstacles. However, while being egged on by Jim Higgins, who has successfully spotted me on this trip and a prior trip, I crawled the face of a rock, against the advise of my co-pilot. With a minor scraping of the transfer case cross member, I cleared an obstacle that I had no confidence in clearing. Thnx Jim, for showing me what this little Cherk can do! What really made my day was the fact that a stock Rubi was unable to make it over the same obstacle as he got hung up on the his TC skid, something I don't have on my XJ (yet). To get a Cherokee through an obstacle that a Wrangler cannot, is a point of pride for XJ any owner. Let me point out to be fair, that the limitation was the vehicle's problem, not the driver's skill. So, people played on the rock face for quite a while more and that really was the end of the trip for me. There was some more action on the way out on Double Locker hill, but I didn't get to see much of it.
So with this run, I doubled my off road experience, and learned that it pays to ride with a great bunch of folks like Baystate Jeepers.
When we got back to the Community Center, we I had time to sit down, chat, and eat. I got to hear some announcements, but I had told my passenger that I would get him home at a certain time, so I didn't stay until the end, and I didn't get to see the video of the Paragon trip. The biggest news from the meeting, was that fact the Joe and his wife are having a second child. Congrats!