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jbjeep & MudBall's webpage ~
20-21-22 October 2006
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First off, a big thanks to Trayson for the
initial trip report, and also to 4RunnerRick for taking pictures of me. Not to mention to all the vendors and participants! Below are the highlights of the trip. Instead of getting there early Friday morning
to run with the gang, I was sitting in A night run went out on Friday, and they
managed to spear a |
Trayson: We arrived late at Hobo camp and found that
there wasn't a stinking place available to fit a motorhome (much less one w/
a trailer). So we backtracked 3 miles
and camped by ourselves. Jenn: Camp was packed this year. Worse than last year. We had people camped all up and down the
road this time. Lots more motorhomes
and trailers than last year. I was
glad that I had decided to take my chances and not trailer down. Trayson: Due to
an amazing amount of coercion, Braden had let me sign us up for the Bohemia
Ridge run (requiring lockers F&R and winch). It probably wasn't the BEST choice for
Braden and his son (as Garrett was the one that ended up losing his ring finger
in an accident that happened on this summer's PNW4WDA trailjam and it was the
first time that the rig and Garrett had hit the trails since). We ventured off with the group and I had
the privilege of meeting Jen who was great to hang out with and talk to over
the course of the weekend. We all had
a bit of challenge on a section of a hill climb on Jenn: It was good to finally meet you also, and Braden
& Garrett too. |
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Jenn: First off we hit the Knott II hill climb, also
known as Roll Over Hill, since on the very first event, back in 1997, we
promptly rolled a CJ on that hill. |
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Jenn: Then we hit Trinity Rocks, where one rig
rolled on Friday's run. Trinity is a
short wheelbase trap for the most part.
The longer Toyo's have less problems there. Don’t know about other rigs, as there
were only Toyo's and Jeeps there this day.
Then ABC and Andy's Sandbox. |
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Jenn:
Then down the Annie-Shoofly to the mine site where High Noon starts. Trayson: "High Noon". Garrett got scared and Braden almost turned
around and bypassed the obstacle completely.
However, after a great guy on the run suggested that he walk Garrett
around the obstacle and gave Braden a good dose of encouragement, he was able
to make it through "easier than he thought it'd be". I was down there and jumped in the FJ for
the big hill climb after the rock/tree squeeze he just did. Braden was able to relax more without
having to worry about protecting his son and had a great time on the hill
climb. Of course, after that we turned
around and ran it backwards! I had to
squeeze through a section between a small 3" tree and another much
thicker tree that corkscrewed up and was just begging to take out my
hardtop. I chose to err on the side of
the smaller vertical tree, smacking it with my ARB Bull bar. It then smacked my fender flare, finishing
off my already cracked side-marker light.
I then made it though the Rock/Tree squeeze section again with a guy
leaning on my hardtop at a key moment so it just 'rubbed' the tree instead of
cracking the fiberglass. (Someone
please remind me that wheeling a hard run w/ a hardtop is dumb!!!) Jenn: The hill was fun, the trees were not that
bad for me, but I had the advantage of the form fitting softtop. Also, the big tires help, as I don’t
end up with my body as near the trees.
Running in Trayson: After
some more obstacles, we eventually ended up at lunch. At about 2pm, Garrett was tired and wanted
to be done for the day. Props to
Braden for putting his son's wants above his own and they went back to camp. |
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Trayson: The rest of us proceeded to the next
section that included a steep hill climb that most of us had to winch up. Jenn: Not one hill, but several all stacked
together. This trail was called Upper
Peek-a-boo. I believe we ran Lower
Peek-a-boo getting there. This trail
goes to a mine site and then it starts to climb, and climb, and climb, and
then climb some more. There was a
small section, with some rock in the middle and trees ahead and on the right,
with a bad drop behind and on the left, to go up. That’s where many of us, both Jeeps
and Toyos's ended up winching. I got
crossed up and sideways on the rock and that was it for me, haul out the
winch line guys! Trayson: After that I was greeted by the site of a
rock garden that was equal to or greater than the rock garden that was always
run at TSF. However this time, there
was no bypass. It was "do or be
left". Jenn: This was about the size of the rockcrawl at
TSF that is on the side of Firebreak 5 (not the crushers). It’s just sitting there at the top of
the trail. It’s cross it or go
back (yea, right). Some rocks are
bigger, some smaller, most of them a lot sharper than those at TSF. Trayson: I let some more air out of the tires in
preparation (got down between 4 - 6 PSI).
I did all right. I'd say the hardest part was differentiating between
the spotters that were trying to help vs. the peanut gallery. I took the "trophy shot" line at
the end and got the serious articulation shot on camera. (Jen has the picture.) After that we cruised back towards camp. Jenn: Take note Trayson... if in doubt, choose
your spotter and don’t listen to any one else. That’s what the trail guides are
there for, amongst other things, to spot for us when needed. We had planned to run the trail backwards,
but we ran out of time due to all the playing that was going on in the rocks. |
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Trayson: Most of the group stopped at a little
section called the "Champion Slough" or something like that. I was going to do it, but decided that I'd
just cruise back to camp. There were a
few from my group ahead of me that had chose the same plan. I caught up to them quickly, finding that
the Orange TJ from Overkill Engineering (sweet with coilovers and tubed
fenders) was broken down. He'd lost 4
out of his 6 lugnuts on the driver's front wheel and they were rattling
around with his beadlock ring keeping them in. I was the only one of the 5 of us with a
highlift, so they were happy to see me. Jenn:
We did the Champion Sluice quickly and then headed down the road, and
promptly caught up with these guys.
What the...?? Trayson: After the quick 'fix-it' I went back to
camp, aired up a smidge and hung out to wait for the raffle. I didn't win anything, but took a free can
of glass cleaner they were giving away.
(better than nothing!) Jenn: I won a spacer lift for a TJ - compliments
of Sky Manufacturing. Thanks Sky! Not sure what I will end up doing with it -
I think maybe I have enough lift...but then again... Trayson: After a good night's sleep, Braden and I
went out solo to explore a little. We
both had a great time taking the Champion Slough that I bypassed yesterday. From there, we went over to the Bohemia
Saddle and then onto the Jenn: I grabbed my friend Ruth and went out
geocaching on Sunday. I had driven
right past 4 or 5 caches the day before and was anxious to get to them (we
found 3 out of 5). Trayson: We stopped at the Bohemia Saddle when we
saw Jen's Jeep with no one in it.
Shortly thereafter, Jen and her friend come tromping out of the brush,
telling us about their latest Geocache find.
We got a thorough introduction to the concept of Geocaching and
tromped through the woods ourselves to find the cache. We signed the log and swapped an item of
ours for an item of theirs. (Garrett
picked out a Bugs Bunny DVD) Jenn: It was a good cache, with some great views. Trayson: We chatted with Jen for a while before
starting to go down towards camp. About that time, Braden found out (much to
his alarm) that his brakes stopped working.
He jammed it into first and did a compression stop. We tried to bleed the brakes and added a
lot of fluid, but that didn't seem to help. Jenn: After we left the Saddle, Ruth and I ran up
to Trayson: So, as a precaution, we strapped us to each
other (with me in the back for braking) and proceeded SLOWLY down the
mountain. Luckily Braden trailered his
rig, so we didn't have to figure out the problem right there. We packed up, I aired up, and we headed
home. Again I was able to get over 17
MPG with Braden breaking wind for 110 of the 170 miles home! Jenn: Andy said that he saw you go by but
wasn’t sure which one of you was in trouble. I watched for you on the way down the
mountain, but figured you were fine when we didn’t run into you by the
time we got to Trayson: Great trip overall and it was good to be
out wheeling. The weather couldn't
have been better for a fall day and the colors of the trees were downright amazing
at times. Jenn: It’s some very beautiful country, any
time of year, but fall especially. I
agree that the weather was fantastic.
And certainly a vast improvement over last years monsoons. I rained so hard last year that I
wouldn’t take my new camera out.
This year that wasn’t a problem.
=) |
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