[78Buford]

Originally Posted by blazerbrad

- Devil's Brew first (I'd never seen it before) and fortunately was mostly dried out. The F-250 put on quite the show on the first ledge as he's not known for patience or trying to find that perfect line to crawl. After a few attempts he got the nose up on the far right side, then nailed the throttle (5 grand in a big-block with a 19:1 ratio and 42's = lot's of wheel speed). He basically slid/spun from the far right to the far left (rear tires rubbed the tree).

Are you suggesting that I'm not patient?

Part of my approach was based on last year's trip to Devil's Brew. Here is a cut/paste from last year's trail report that I wrote...this would have been late October of 2007:

The four of us met up on a connector trail and headed to Devil's Brew via the route that Howard discovered. Howard was first, Freelin second, yours truly third, and Jim brought up the rear. We drove up the trail until approximately 30' from the first nasty section. Louanne took pictures of this trail, so hopefully Tyler can load them in the future. The trail goes up a ravine with a rock wall/hill on the right. On the left is a large drop off. The center of the trail is recessed quite a bit, and it was muddy. The buggy guys said that they had seen several roll-overs on this trail, but had not observed anyone fall off of the ledge (on the left). With the center being recessed, you can pick the left side with the passenger side down in the center, the right side with the driver side down in the rut, or drive up the middle. The first large rock is convex/crowned….if you are in it in the center and start sliding either way, the rock will assist in keeping that slide going. While others were discussing possible lines, I asked Freelin if he could move out of the way so I could try it. Freelin parked behind Howard, off to the right.

I glanced at the wheel & was almost laughing nervously as I started the Ford. I flipped the trans cooling fan on, as I knew this was not going to be gentle on any part of the truck. I pushed the throttle slightly, and Buford grunted forwards. The torque was reassuring as I knew I would be needing it. Without over analyzing the situation, I simply drove up the center and pointed the driver front tire beside the tree on the ledge. Howard was standing behind the tree. I goosed the throttle, and all it did was spin. I backed up a couple feet, and hollered at Howard to get out of the way…in case I did start making progress. Howard walked in front of the truck and got out of the way. I backed up, hit the throttle hard, and the 42's were throwing all kinds of stuff down the hill behind me, Buford's frame was flexing, tires were bouncing, and the driver side door flew open, but I did not get any further. I made sure that the door was shut "good-n-tight" before I proceeded any further.

I backed up, and thought I'd point it to the right side. While backing up, even with 133" of wheelbase, I can see how people end up rolling over on this trail. With the tires spinning in the recessed center of the trail, I could feel it start to sink. Howard later advised that with my pervious line, I had three tires in the mud, and only one (passenger side front) on the rock, and that is why I wasn't moving.

After I made it backwards a truck length or so, I pointed the nose towards the right side, and started up the rock with "throttle level 5-ish." The front was making progress, but started sliding left in a hurry. I backed off. If I would have kept on it, the front could have slid all the way off the rock at an angle, and I had the distinct possibility of laying Buford onto it's driver side in the middle of the trail.

I backed up to roughly the same spot as the last time. Fear of committing 100% to an obstacle stops many rigs from conquering said obstacle. I was stopped, looking at Devil's Brew. Right foot on still on the brake, trans still in reverse. The engine was running smoothly, the tach resting peacefully at 800 rpm. Right hand dropped the C6 into 1st gear. Right hand grabbed top of blue vinyl bench seat. Left hand grabbed top of steering wheel. Right foot off the brake. Left foot braced on the floor. I could feel Buford sneer, "Say hello to my little friend…..fawker." Right foot hit the throttle. Throttle level 10. Front on rock. Front bounced in air. Right foot stayed planted. Front landed & slid left. Rear hit the rock, everything bounced & slid left again. Right foot stayed planted. 5,000 rpm on the tach. Truck headed toward the drop off on the left. Left hand turned steering wheel to right. Right foot stayed planted. We made it. Buford landed, I lifted & threw it into park. Louanne was trying to take pictures, but took off running in one direction or another. She was saying something as I looked out the window & advised, "I was tired of fawking around." Crawler gears have their place in this sport, and much of the time, are far superior to my setup. On this trail, on this date, there wasn't going to be any crawling over those rocks. Period.

Back to the present: Later that evening (last Saturday) at the motel, I joked with the guys that when I write the trail report for this year, that I could basically cut/paste the Devil's Brew section from last year.

Roy