Day 1: The Crew: Bobbie with Max, Joe with his Full Size (hehehe) Grand Cherokee, and Tony with Mr Jeepy. Tony was to be Bobbie's publicist for the day as she hit the trails.
Made good time to RC... wheeled in about 7:45A... it warmed up to a whopping 22 by then I think.
We stayed in the nice warm rigs waiting for others, til Lynn said we had to sign in or go... we had no word anyone one else was coming, so we continued on to Paragon instead, figuring it would have a bigger crowd, plus the worry of Matt's news
:no:
Made quick time there... pulled in around 8:45... checked in and ready to roll by 9... kinda... Joe mingled in the staging area with some fellow Cherokee owners, and curious to see what they could do, we decided to tag with them. This meant light trails, which also meant Tony went from a passenger to driver.
So 30 minutes more to check back in, air down, gear up, and we rolled out (finally)
... it was about 27 and still snowing by then. YAY!!!
We met up at staging area 1. It was Joe, Bobbi, Tony, 2 more Cherokees (one stock, one lifted), a Red Rubicon TJ, and a Black Sahara. Both TJ's seemed well equipped for most terrain.
From Staging Area 1 we headed down to the play area, then up the hill. We followed Trail 7 for a bit toward 47.
We stuck mostly to the Greens and Light Blues since one of the Cherokees was totally stock. For the most part it was totally uneventful for all but the stocker.
Our first recovery was him getting stuck on an ice patch. One wheel fell into the 2 inch puddle (no joke), the other 3 just spun. So we strapped him back off.
Continuing on we wandered upon a group of 2 stock Wranglers and a Bronco. Unfortunately the Bronco broke a tire bead. He was lifted with what looked like 33s with a spare, but that was it. No Hi Lift between them, and no lug wrench. He had the stock one that does not reach into the deeper rims. Bobbi loaned a wrench, Joe the Hi Lift, and good deed served for the day.
Onward we went... Trail 47 Joe finally got to articulate. We found a NICE rock. A little tricky being snow covered with a tree to the right of it. Made it no problem. Then Bobbi followed suit. Tony wanted some shots of Mr Jeepy flexed out, so he figured what the heck... The line he took though did not cause flex... Joe and Bobbi caught the corner of the rock, while Tony just climbed right over the sucker on his first attempt. The other TJs in the group who were shy to approach it before now followed in our tire tracks.
Continuing on...not far though... barely around the corner we had our first breakdown. The stock Cherokee lost front diff power. So it was now just in 2WD. After quick assessment it was decided to get him back to the office as a group. So we turned around. At this point the stocker lost his temper and took it out on the Jeep... poor lights :roll:
Followed the same trails out. Joe, Bobbi, and Tony did the rock area again going back... just for fun.
It was slow since the stocker was towed most of the way out.
Made it back the play area by 11:30 AM. Joe, Bobbi, Tony, and the Black Sahara broke for lunch and waited, while the rest went back to the office. It was now maybe 30, had stopped snowing, but still EXTREMELY windy.
Lunch over, time to play. We assessed the vehicles, and Joe led us out for a little "Follow the Leader"
We hit 11 over to 19... we all remember the last encounter with 19. We won't go there, but it was in all our minds as we wheeled it.
Joe and Tony took the right side up, noticed Bobbi having trouble on the left, so stopped to spot her.
She made several valient efforts, but we discovered her new front lockers were not working, and that was not giving her enough power to put her up. To her disappointment and frustration she too joined Joe and Tony on the right (though she drove over all the rocks Tony simply drove around
)
At the mid point of the hill climb snaking back across Joe put his new rocker guards to the test. He got caught between 2 rocks on level ground. Could not go forward or back. The guard was pressed hard on a rock driver side. Using the guard, rock, and right pedal he was able to PIVOT the Jeep around the rocks enough to get a better angle... Nicely done Joe.
Tony tried to climb those rocks. Slipped down off the left one, down off the right one, and basically just slalomed out between them. Bobbi flexed over no problem.
Across the top, down back onto 11, no problems. The red TJ had rejoined us, and he and the Black Sahara were navigating through where Bobbie could not. We waited for them to go up and around, then continued on to the competition rocks where Tico got stuck.
Joe decided to up the ante a little since we all had no issues. Loose gravel hill climb... he got hung up himself a little bit. Then it was Tony's turn. No one thought Tony would make it since he runs open/open, but to his surprise and theirs he made it with little effort.
Once everyone was up we found an ever bigger rock pile around trail 9.
Joe went first. Around the pile to go across it. Kevin(?) broke off in the Black Sahara to climb all over everything on the pile. Everyone else followed Joe.
The rocks in were set up just right to pin Joe's driver side on one rock, and not let the front come up on the right. Not wanting to risk body damage he opted to strap out.
Tony next. Knowing Joe got stuck by trying right, Tony went to crawl the left rocks first. Once on the first, his front bumper would not clear the second rock, so in the end he got situated the same as Joe. Determined to get out under his own power, he did not give up, but it came at a cost. In the process he cracked the front passenger flare, and right rear flare/plate holder. No biggie, just brittle plastic in the cold weather.
Bobbie came up next... and made MANY great photos. She got a little tipsy. Still no locker and too many spotters put her at a bad angle. There were a few to many opinions on the best option which I think added to her frustration. Eventually with some faith in Joe's guidance and tow strap she made it through a little shaken.
Back down and around to the competition rock pile. We played some more. Joe and Tony continued follow the leader. Joe finally won when he took on a rock that was taller than Tony's front bumper. Tony made several hard attempts at it that had him looking skyward a lot, but even with Joe's guidance we could not get the right rear to hook up over the edge. It would grab then slip off.
So we backed down to the base, watched Kevin who seemed determined to roll his Sahara for some reason (nearly did twice while Tony was stuck on the rock).
At that we headed out early (in the lot by 3:30). Aired up, loaded... uh oh... Joe forgot his camera... hehehe. So Tony took Joe to the office, got permission to head back to the rocks, and high tailed it to the last known scenic shot. Luck was with him as it was still there in one piece.
Back in the lot by 4:03... not a bad day at all.
Carnage Total:
Stock Cherokee - Lost front diff power, numerous lights from temper
Bobbi - Lost Front Locker at some point
Tony - 2 flares and rear soft top window (cracked top to bottom from opening it cold)
Quote of the ride - "I'm not stuck, just not going anywhere" - Bobbi Sobwick
Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:54 am
