February21, 2009 - Rausch Creek trail ride, discussion and pics

    i'll get this started.



    'twas an excellent day on the trails. the weather was quite mild, not as cold as expected. in attendance were myself, PhillyGuy (Wayne), B (Brandon), J-man (Jason), and Solomi (Sal), along with a few passengers.


    there are a number of factors that made this such a great group:


      [li]we are all friends,
      [/li][li]we've all wheeled together a number of times before,
      [/li][li]we were somewhat well-matched regarding rigs and driver experience/abilities (meaning we weren't dragging any anchors... well, except maybe me :D), [/li]
      [li]and my personal opinion is that five is the perfect size for a trail-ride group.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Great day with some cool people with little problems. The only trail damage was Brandon lost both upper and lower control arms on the driver side :doh: In the same hole Billy flopped last ride. Dont know whats up with the carnage in a bowl that takes 5 sec. :shrug: We strapped his axel up and got him back to the staging area and Linn had a control arm. Anyway made it home alive :up:

    trail conditions were fun. there was enough ice and snow to make it interesting and different, but not so much as to make the trails impassable or treacherous. some of the mud/water holes were well frozen over, and it was pretty clear that no one had attempted to cross them in a while, so of course i had to be the first to try.


    'Milkshake' i skated across without breaking through, but i could hear and feel the ice cracking as i crossed, so i knew that if someone followed me that they were going in. that 'someone' was brandon, whose rear end broke through so he ended up with his front tires up on the ice and the rear wheels with zero traction on the muddy bottom. i was on the slippery, rutted exit from the hole, so i didn't exactly have the best traction, and it took me quite a few yanks to pop him out of his stuck.


    'Smoothie' was a different story. i broke through the 4 inch thick ice shortly after entering. once i was in, the solid ice sheet in front of me would not allow any further forward progress. not willing to take 'no' for an answer, i used brute force to break through, using throttle, momentum, and my RockHard bumpers as a battering ram. it took a few back-and-forth passes, smashing into the ice a little further each time, for me to clear the path so the guys behind me could prance on through unimpeded. ;D

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    for me, one of the benefits of wheeling with experienced people whom i know and trust is that they are able to push me a little beyond where i might have gone otherwise. there were two particularly crazy-scary off-camber sections, very high on the pucker-scale, with very deep spaces between large slippery rocks tightly flanked with trees memacingly close on either side. on each of these, i was resolute in my choice to take the bypass. but some enthusiastic confidence-building (and a little peer-pressure) from my buddies gave me the push i needed to go for it. excellent spotting got me through with no harm to my jeep, but with a whole lot more adrenaline pumping through my veins.


    good stuff... thanks, guys. :suspicious:



    there was one extremely steep rocky descent which i declined. i'll let someone else describe that.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    I cant wait to see these Pics. It was one of the best rides I been on...except for the little :censored: break I had. Just want to say Thanks to ALL WHO HELPED ME!!

    Quote from B


    I cant wait to see these Pics.


    my (sorta) sister-in-law took well over a hundred pics and a bunch of vids. unfortunately, she accidentally reformatted her memory card at some point mid-day.
    :doh:
    but there is still a lot of good stuff there. i'll get to weeding them out and post the best ones up soon.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Quote from B


    I cant wait to see these Pics. It was one of the best rides I been on...except for the little :censored: break I had. Just want to say Thanks to ALL WHO HELPED ME!!

    get used to breaking the way we are starting to wheel :laughing:also great group of guys hope everyone is going next month. i want to go back to where Brandon broke i did not get to try.I know Brandon wants to give it another try also.Maybe at march Deja meeting someone could teach me how to post pics ??? Im going to my first one.


    Wayne

    Quote from Philly guy


    I do but i really think the way im ever going to be able to get one up is if i have someone write me out step by step cheat sheet.


    wayne, it's really easy if you have them hosted. call me and i can talk you through it. i can't really write you up a 'cheat sheet' without knowing where they are hosted. some different host sites have slightly different procedures that can save some steps.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Quote from Philly guy


    ...i was a deer in head lights.


    i'll tell you when you looked like a deer in the headlights: as you were comng down that rock hill. :D


    come to think of it, brandon had that same look. :laughing:

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    brandon, you got off easy with broken control arms.


    yesterday i went out to offload the XJ from the trailer. when i was removing the front axle strap, i noticed a broken u-joint cap and some needle bearings on the deck of the trailer. one of the yoke ears on the inner axle was cracked.


    how it got me through the day and onto the trailer without being noticed until i got home is a mystery to me.

    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Quote from altierior


    brandon, you got off easy with broken control arms.


    yesterday i went out to offload the XJ from the trailer. when i was removing the front axle strap, i noticed a broken u-joint cap and some needle bearings on the deck of the trailer. one of the yoke ears on the inner axle was cracked.


    how it got me through the day and onto the trailer without being noticed until i got home is a mystery to me.

    You are the KING of breakage :doh:I 'm runner up :laughing:


    Wayne

    Quote from Philly guy

    You are the KING of breakage :doh:I 'm runner up :laughing:


    a dubious distinction, to be sure.


    here is a crappy cell-phone pic of my broken u-joint and mangled axle. WTF?


    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    Edited once, last by altierior ().

    Quote from altierior


    my (sorta) sister-in-law took well over a hundred pics and a bunch of vids. unfortunately, she accidentally reformatted her memory card at some point mid-day.
    :doh:
    but there is still a lot of good stuff there. i'll get to weeding them out and post the best ones up soon.


    well, ok... not quite 'soon' :laughing:



    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

    this is me on one end of a tow strap:




    with Branden on the other end: :idiot:



    ~ JD
    * WARNING - The above post may contain trace elements of biting sarcasm. Those with known sensitivities should avoid staring directly at it.

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