wheeling Rausch Creek - Saturday, February 26, 2011

i can't make the club run on the 19th, but i also can't let a month pass without wheeling. so it looks like the 26th for me. as usual, i'll plan blues/blacks and adjust trail choices according to the wants and abilities of the group. i want to keep it a little more on the aggressive side, though; not a greens/blues kinda day. who's interested?

anyone? i have one other jeep so far - LJ on 37s, locked rear. two is ok, but i prefer a group of four or five.

i got few more rigs on board for my group (all bigger jeeps than mine ). i just found out that my buddy might have to work, so my passenger seat might be available. if so, is anyone interested in shotgun seat?

Quote from trikpony

John, how was the ride?

it was fun. lots of spinning tires - i put a lot more miles on my odometer than i did on the trails. atypically, i had no passengers, so i have no pics. but other guys in the group had cameras, so i'll put up links to their pics and vids if they post them up somewhere.

there was an 'incident' between me and one of the guys in my group. it was not pleasant. i'm still steaming about it. maybe i'll post up the story at some point.

Quote from 92Renegade

That does not sound like it was any fun John.

the wheeling was fun. we didn't cover much ground, because the iciness had us doing a lot of repeated attempts in some places and a lot of winching. plus, early in the day there was a major breakage and difficult recovery which took a good amount of time.

the short G-rated version:

five rigs in the group: a YJ, a CJ, and a JK, all on 35s, and a LJ on 37s. and me. a few of the guys had a little reticence because of the snow and ice, so I told them i could start us off on a mild blue, then everyone could decide what to do from there. the rocky sections of trail 2 were paved with packed snow, making it pretty easy going. the hillclimbs were really tough. on that rocky hillclimb just before crawler ridge, i pulled up a bit and walked back to help spot the other guys through. the guy on 37s had earlier been denied by the hill near froghole, so was determined to conquer this one. he came throttling up the hill like mad and hit his diff HARD against a huge rock. a moment later, i saw fluid pouring from the bottom of his rig. he had split his transfer case housing open. there was no fluid left within seconds. so we winched him up (not as simple as it sounds, given the bad position of his jeep and the icy conditions) and towed him back to the parking lot. he and his wife had driven the LJ from Norfolk, VA, and were staying at the Comfort Inn. after much discussion about their options, they decided to try to acquire something from U-Haul to tow their rig back to VA. but making those arrangements was gonna take quite a bit of time, and they wanted to get back to the hotel - they had brought their two dogs and left them in the hotel room. so i offered to put the LJ on my trailer and take them to the hotel.

when i returned to the park a while later, the group was finishing up yellow jacket and were heading to the south property. i caught up with them on trail E, and we wheeled boot hill and trail 22. we spent some time at the quarry, then finished up our day by running all of snakebite.

these were all guys i had never met, so i made some new friends (for the most part), and invited them to check out DeJA.

Quote from Keith_C

I would like to hear about the drama, but suggest if you do post it you do so in Members Only.

yeah, well, anything other than the 'edited for TV' version would dilute its vehemence.
otherwise, it is Rated R for frequent coarse language...

Quote from trikpony

wow, glad I couldnt make it (Ha), John, you have way more patience than I do.....

oh, that's not the 'incident' of which i spoke earlier. trail damage happens. i omitted that entire 'drama' chapter of the day from the above narrative.

Quote from trikpony

John, you have way more patience than I do.....

that much is true, regardless

what i have no patience for, however, is stupidity...

Quote from deadfeat

Please share... we are not just a Jeep club but a community group therapy session.

ahhh, that is comforting. now i have the warm fuzzies

Quote from Quantum73

So if you weren't going to tell folks what happened, then why did you bother mentioning the "incident" to begin with? I am sure people would like to know what took place so that they can either avoid the situation(s), or individual(s) in the future. What is the problem with putting it in the Members Only area, unedited?

i intend to post the uncensored version in Members Only. just haven't had time to write another story.

it's not THAT big of a deal. just really pissed me off. the story might be anticlimactic now, after all this foreplay discussion...