We had nine vehicles show at Rausch Creek on Sunday. Donnie (DCC) led the stocker group of four, and I led a modified group of four, with one (Randallman) runnng with another group.
The modified group -- Chris (quadna) and Erica (Icky), Chris (Omaha), and Ed (TheMistaken) and friend, and me (BlueJ) -- did mostly blue level trails, with a few extra obstacles. We started out on trail 2, which winds through the East property and ends up on Krawler ridge. Chris (quadna) was the first with some damage, taking the bark off a tree with his right fender (yes, the new one). But it was hardly noticeable (cough cough) so we kept on going. At the top of Krawler Ridge, Chris (q) and Ed drive their jeeps up vertical on the rocks for photo ops. Then Chris (Ohama) took the tough route down, and just at the bottom I spotted him onto a rock and got him stuck, so I could use my jeep to tug him off. Chris (q) spotted Ed down the same route and didn't get him stuck.
Since it was too early for lunch, we headed over to trail 4. We all rode up the Jellowjacket Ridge section in the middle of 4, then continued to the end. We had a leisurely lunch at the entrance to trail 8, with Chris's (q) XM radio playing though multiple jeeps.
Then over to the West side, with a slight detour because the gate on trail E was closed. By popular demand (Ed) we started out at trail 10. At the entrance to trail 10, Chris-q and Chris-O played on the big rocks, then we meandered through the woods and mud puddles. Skipping the big nasty puddle (dubbed "milkshake"), we ended up down at Rock Creek, about 100 feet from the cross-over section. Chris-q and I jumped onto Rock Creek, and Chris-O and Ed drove around to meet up. Chris-q took it gingerly up the right side, carefully listening to Erica's spotting instructions. I plowed ahead around the left side, passed Chris in the homestretch, and pulled onto the exit.
With Chris-O leading, we turned left onto trail 13, and waited for a few minutes while a group ahead of us from Michigan pulled one of theirs off some rocks. Then we passed them at the entrance to Otter's trail, and continued on 13 to the end. We headed over to trail 15 to get a look at the water hole. There were close to a dozen jeeps there already, with all the drivers egging on a stupid guy in a white Grand Cherokee. His one smart move was getting the tow strap hooked up before diving in. He made it maybe 7 feet across and four feet down before hydrolocking his engine. We watched him be extracted, then took off.
Our last stop was backtracking slightly to trail 17, which is a new black rated hill climb. Walking up the first section it seemed reasonable enough, with steep grade, loose dirt, and some boulders. Chris-O tried first, and couldn't get past the first section. Ed had a line picked out, and scooted up almost to the top. Chris-q followed him up, and got to about the same spot. Then the winch controller came out, but I don't know the details because I was busy getting stuck at the bottom. I got stopped at the same place as Chris-O, and with the loose dirt couldn't get any traction to move even one more inch. So moving backwards, I turned and backed onto a rock and got stuck. I whipped out the winch controller and tree saver, and with Erica's assistance got BlueJ free. I had an uncomfortable tippy moment during that maneuver, but, not wanting to test my new Holly Oak 4x4 roll cage quite yet, I leaned out and recovered back to all four wheels.
Then we headed out towards the park entrance. On the exit path, I heard a load snap from BlueJ's front end, and lost my steeting. I snapped yet another upper track bar bolt. But I now carry spares, so in five minutes we were moving again.
We packed up, got trail badges, and headed home. I was a fun day on the trails. Thanks everyone!
