Slade 11/7 and 11/8

[blazerbrad]

Thought I would copy a quick summary our trip to Slade/Natural Bridge this past weekend (different group than mentioned on another post).

6 vehicles on Friday, a 7th ran with us Saturday.
- my fullsize Blazer on 39.5 TSL, 60/14 bolt locked, 6.2 diesel/auto
- fullsize '78 F-250, 42 TSL, 60/70 locked, "moderate" 460/auto
- YJ, 37 Bogger, Dynatrac 60's spools, 4.0, NV4500, 4-speed atlas
- Samurai, 35 TSL/Bogger combo, 8" Toy's locked, built 302/C6, very stretched
- Early Bronco, 36 Irok, D44/9" locked, 351/4 speed
- Samurai, 31 SX, SOA, 6.5 t-case, locked

Stayed at Lil' Abner's (the little one off Rt. 11).

Friday:
- Slider before the rain and it was dusty and everybody walked right up it (little Sami didn't try). First time I've been up it as all the other times it's been very wet.
- Last Chance, started raining. First ledge was easy but nobody could get up the second ledge (the one that tilted towards the tree). A couple rigs, including myself, winched over the top because we couldn't back down.
- Little Widowaker, nothing exciting but a fun little trail. Rain was now steady but light
- Widowmaker, got all 6 vehicles up the waterfall (we call it Granny's Hatbox) in about 15 minutes. I got lucky and was able to crawl right up the middle in one continous motion, no stopping or backing. Everybody took a few tries at various parts on the trail but nothing major. Rain was hard enough at times to keep you in your vehicle or under an overhang....wet rocks are more interesting.
- Rattlesnake (heard it called different things, but the big v-notch on the way to Carb). Nice and greasy by now. Most people tried the "Y" to the right of the tree but nobody was close. The longbed F-250 on 42's hit it hard several times but couldn't even get the front tires up...would hit the wall at 5,000 rpm, jump up, and slide backwards with the tire still spinning. Everybody went up the left Y with no issues.
- The ledge you go up and make a hard left to go to Carb caused some minor issues because of the rain and mud caked tires.
- Carb - super slick with the rain and 2" of chocolate pudding at the base of it. Nobody could get up the normal middle line. Took the far right side rubbing the tree and myself, YJ, stretched Sami, and F-250 made it past that section with lot's of throttle. The last little ledge before the top required a light bump. The early Bronco didn't want to tear up the body (he had the hard top) against the tree and winched up along with the little Sami.

Went out the top trail and headed back to the hotel as it was cold, rainy, and getting dark.

Saturday a guy in a TJ (D30/D44 with ARB's, 34" LTBs) showed up.

- 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). The top ledge wasn't as exciting but still required lot's of throttle.

The YJ was next and after finding the right line was literally able to craw up the first ledge, I followed his lead and went right up with no wheel spin at all.

Neither of us could get up the second ledge, mainly because after trying to bump it we got sideways in a bad position and risked rolling if we tried to back up. We both winched up.

The little TJ made a few attempts but after almost rolling on the first ledge winched up.

After this two of the vehicles were injured. The F-250 had the fan get into the radiator when bouncing around a full throttle, and the V-8 Samurai was making some bad clicking noises from the front locker so they were done with anything hard for the day.

Went back down and ran Little Widowmaker both ways, and were heading to Widowmaker again (mainly to show the TJ guy since he missed the day before) but decided to turn around as there was group in front of us that had spent at least 30 minutes getting two of the 10 vehicles up the waterfall (and I hate to offend anyone, but at least I know where the four-wheeling stereotype comes from).

Tried to find Holiday Hill but gave up, and then decided to head back to the motel.

[boomhauer]

holiday is off limits without prior permission

[yellowjacket]

reading your post makes me satisfied, knowing that i know where all those trails are, exept holiday. took me forever to learn all those locations!!!
im with jon sullivan's group (ugly offroad). ive seen jon spank everything on the list exept last chance. but im pretty sure he's redesigning his rig to conquer that one, too.

[blazerbrad]

Originally Posted by boomhauer

holiday is off limits without prior permission

Is it on Booth's land? We were under the impression it was "public" land (obviously, or we wouldn't of tried to find it). A cousin of one of the guy's in our group said he had property right at the top of Holiday so the original plan was to take the trailers there and unload them at the guy's place, but something came up at the last minute and he couldn't come. We drove around the area (gravel roads) but didn't turn down any signed paths.

The F-250 (he puts stuff on the for sale board here periodically) can do everything except Last Chance, and I think that's mainly because his approach angle is really bad and simply can't get his front axle up on the ledge.....generally if he get the front axle up it's no problem because 1) 500+ ft-lbs. of torque 2) 42" tires 3) long wheelbase 4) rear axle is very light (no bed or anything)

[KargoMaster]

I believe Holiday is on Mr. Booth's property... as is Upper and Lower Staircase, Lover's Leap, and more.... trying to remember which one took a bite out of my driver's side cage... been so long, it's getting fuzzy.

I dig the diversity of your group...

[fabricator]

Originally Posted by KargoMaster

........................ it's getting fuzzy.

...

LOL.....

[yotaholic]

Looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend, got ants in me pants just from that report!!!! LOL....

[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

[78Buford]

Originally Posted by blazerbrad

The F-250 (he puts stuff on the for sale board here periodically) can do everything except Last Chance, and I think that's mainly because his approach angle is really bad and simply can't get his front axle up on the ledge.....generally if he get the front axle up it's no problem because 1) 500+ ft-lbs. of torque 2) 42" tires 3) long wheelbase 4) rear axle is very light (no bed or anything)

Poor approach angle: The front bumper was installed when I still had a full grille and 38's...in 2004. I'm in the process of changing this, as it is nearly always my limiting factor on the trail:








I've wheeled this truck for over five years, and the nose and cab are coming off in the next couple weeks...I have replacements. The bumper will be chopped off on both sides at the frame rails and new material will be added to protect the corners....much higher up than the existing bumper.

Light rear end:



Yes, I know that it's ugly. Just don't hate me because I have gold wheels...

Roy

[KargoMaster]

I dig it... form follows function. It's beautiful.


I thoroughly enjoyed both accounts of the events... fantastically written.

I can recall quite vividly the two sets of tcase gears that Devil's Brew has taken from me (Dana20... hence no more 20) and VanWort (edit: make that Celina) Joey in the rockwell axled CJ that rolled in that exact spot and black EB (Michigan guy?) that also rolled there.


Drive it on the street much? Ohio po-po give you any problems?


What's up with the Dana70 passenger side caliper...? You buy two of the same side calipers or something? Just looks like a rock catcher... IMO.

[78Buford]

Originally Posted by KargoMaster

I dig it... form follows function. It's beautiful.


I thoroughly enjoyed both accounts of the events... fantastically written. Thanks dude, I'm currently in the process of writing this year's report.

I can recall quite vividly the two sets of tcase gears that Devil's Brew has taken from me (Dana20... hence no more 20) and VanWort Joey in the rockwell axled CJ that rolled in that exact spot and black EB (Michigan guy?) that also rolled there.


Drive it on the street much? Not any more. I drove it to/from every ride until February 2006 when I bought a trailer. In March of 2005, I drove it to Slade, wheeled it hard, and drove it home....it was a 700+ mile round trip. It had a bed on it until the spring of 2007. Ohio po-po give you any problems? Earlier this year, my tow rig suffered a failed idler pulley, I lost the serpentine belt and had to have it (tow rig and trailer towed home). I unloaded the Ford off the trailer and drove it roughly 60 miles on the interstate home + 15 miles of backroads. While I was on the interstate, someone that I work with had a friend who saw it on the interstate that day (they had no idea that this person knew me)...they took pictures of it....simply because they were laughing at what it looks like. If I can find the pictures of Buford pimping down the interstate, I'll post them later.


What's up with the 14 bolt passenger side caliper...? You buy two of the same side calipers or something? Just looks like a rock catcher... IMO.

Good eye. The original right side Dana 70 rear wheel hub had broken studs in it for years and always leaked. I finally got around to replacing it this year, and good old Ford's habit of changing parts for no apparent reason bit me. The Ford Dana 70 wheel hub that I bought bolted on, but it had a different offset. I had to use a different brake rotor, add spacers, and move the caliper to it's current crappy location (it would not clear the leaf spring/U-bolt plate). The caliper itself is a regular Chevy front item....but I had to mount it way down low. It's not ideal and I do want to get the correct hub...one of these days.

[blazerbrad]

He drove it on the roads to and from the trails for years before finally getting a trailer. I guess he did have a bed (looked kinda' like crumpled aluminum foil) on it during those times, including several trips down into Kentucky. I guess there's really nothing illegal about it as it sits......unless ugly is a crime.

[78Buford]

These are the pictures from the person that I've never met:






I drove 60 mph home...it started getting the vibes above 60.

[KargoMaster]

That's awesome... license plate covered and everything...

Did you know at that time that someone was clicking pics?

When towing... I would occasionally get the "rock-on.." hand signal.... always thought that was amusing...

[mckeddie]

Originally Posted by KargoMaster

and VanWort Joey in the rockwell axled CJ that rolled in that exact spot .

correction, that was celina joey. that to this day is still the slowest roll i've seen. i vividally remember how perfectly you could read his sidewall imprint in the mud the next da still. that weekend was probably my favorite weekend on the trails to date.

greg

[uglyoffroad]

I remember that old ford a few years back at slade. We rode arround with a group that included him, and I can't remember anybody that was with him because I thought that the ford was so cool I didn't pay attention to anyone elses rig. I had a yellow yota cab truck at the time, and was having oveheating issues, and so was he. He graciously used his pump sprayer to spray my radiator and keep me wheelin. I never really got to thank him, so i guess now i am saying thanks. The coolest thing was that he had no lift on 42's, and drove the thing all the way from ohio ran the hardest trails then drove it home. Back then it had a bed, but honestly the cab doesn't look much worse than i remember. Anyway just saying hi, and hope to see ya on the trail again someday.

[78Buford]

Originally Posted by KargoMaster

That's awesome... license plate covered and everything... That was by chance, not intention.

Did you know at that time that someone was clicking pics? I had no idea. Whoever took them put them on their myspace page. That person was a friend of a lady I work with. (My official job title is a social worker/child abuse investigator). Sometimes I will trailer Buford to work on a Friday before a ride. Needless to say, it sticks out amongst all of the Civics and other eco-friendly cars in the parking lot). The point being that the woman I work with recognized it instantly, as she had saw it at work before. She saw the pictures, started laughing, and showed them to me the next week....I had her download them and email them to me. The woman I work with said, "I knew it was yours because of the gas cans on the back." I found it amusing that with all of the goofy things that stand out about the truck, the gas cans were the giveway to her. :)

When towing... I would occasionally get the "rock-on.." hand signal.... always thought that was amusing...

...

[78Buford]

Thanks Jon...no problem on the sprayer. I think I remember you. Did we meet back near the cave in the afternoon?

[blazerbrad]

Originally Posted by 78Buford

Thanks Jon...no problem on the sprayer. I think I remember you. Did we meet back near the cave in the afternoon?

Was that March '05? That was when the auto shifter seized up and we removed the lever......the ol' Ford hasn't had a lever on it since, you just grab and twist the column to shift gears.

The early Bronco (then yellow), the Sami, and myself in the Blazer (then red and black) were all there with a couple of other rigs.

Fall '04 (I believe) we ran into a group with KargoMaster (had the H1 beadlocks, but still the stock H1 tires) at Rattlesnake/Carb. Still remember watching the big CJ buggy on 44" Boggers and 4-wheel steer Rockwells trying to get through the left line on Rattlesnake.

[uglyoffroad]

Originally Posted by 78Buford

Thanks Jon...no problem on the sprayer. I think I remember you. Did we meet back near the cave in the afternoon?

I believe it was near the cave. Now that I am thinking about it I remember a few of the other rigs too. I talked to the guy in the early bronco about his yellow paint job, and his iroc tires. It's all coming back to me.

[mckeddie]

Originally Posted by blazerbrad

Was that March '05? That was when the auto shifter seized up and we removed the lever......the ol' Ford hasn't had a lever on it since, you just grab and twist the column to shift gears.

The early Bronco (then yellow), the Sami, and myself in the Blazer (then red and black) were all there with a couple of other rigs.

Fall '04 (I believe) we ran into a group with KargoMaster (had the H1 beadlocks, but still the stock H1 tires) at Rattlesnake/Carb. Still remember watching the big CJ buggy on 44" Boggers and 4-wheel steer Rockwells trying to get through the left line on Rattlesnake.

hey, i was there with that too, in my old blue YJ. had the wife with me that year, that was the last time i think she went wheeling with me. somewhere i have the pic of joey on his side there too (i think he flopped it 3 times that weekend), and the biggest plume of smoke i've seen after a flop too. god that weekend was good.

another friend of ours owns that cj now. it si currently black and blue on 5 ton rockwells and 49" michelins i believe.

[78Buford]

I found this in the members section of Ohio4x4. I just scanned through it....I did mention meeting the Yellow Toyota. I tried to paste it in it's entirety, but there is a 10,000 character limit per post....this is 53,000+ characters....I'll have to break it up. I wrote this on 3-28-2008:

Slade KY Trail Report March 24-26 2005

Chapter #1: Getting There.

I left the house at 9:15 am Thursday morning. I met Jamie (afastfour) in the green YJ and Pete (Lugie) in a clean red 2wd Ranger at the #100 exit on I-71 South around 10:30 am. Jamie had been there a while and had breakfast before Pete arrived. Lugie’s Ford was in need of motor oil and his hood release had broken earlier that morning. A Ford in need of oil would be a recurring theme over the next few days. Lugie fixed his hood release problem, and gave the Ford the needed transfusion.

Lugie and Jamie commented on my “Mad Max” doors as each side now has four strips of ¾”x 1/8” thick tubing, and three strips of 1” x 1x8” tubing welded onto the stock doors. Far from pretty, but I was hoping it would keep the doors from crushing in so easily. I had to retighten my passenger side rear D70 hub bolts due to them not having loctite on them. We tightened them down, and headed south.

Jamie was concerned that the 4 cylinder YJ would not be able to keep up with traffic on the hills we would soon encounter. I told Jamie that we had left way early, and not to be in a hurry……and that my Ford wasn’t exactly Speed Racer with the 4.10’s, 42’s and 2 bbl carb. Jamie led, I followed, and Pete brought up the rear. We all BS’d on the CB about vehicle mods, the terrain of KY, and I got a kick out of listening to Jamie and Pete begin their weekend of insults towards each other. I was laughing aloud on several occasions. We stopped across from a Pilot truck station, and after we fueled up, we proceeded to have the Ford weighed on the scales. After the kind staff at Pilot advised Pete “You can stop pushing the button,” I discovered that the big piled weighed 7140 lbs, with me in it. Figure an extra hundred pounds of camping gear over “regular club ride weight” but still it was pretty porky. It should be noted that Pete guessed the truck would weigh 7200, before I handed him the slip. On we went.

We stopped for gas a couple more times, and for bladder relief a couple other times. Pete commented that Jamie had to urinate about as often as a woman. Jamie retorted that it was due to medical reasons, and suggested that Pete go have sex with himself, using different terminology. Jamie and I also managed to calculate fuel economy on a couple of occasions. He was getting about 17.5 mpg. During one 95 mile stretch, the Ford consumed 8.5 gallons, making it 11.0 mpg. I was expecting about 8.

We arrived in what I believe was Winchester KY and picked up some more camping grub. Jamie grabbed a pack of fancy hot dogs for nearly $2.00. Pete and I were looking for the cheapest food products we could find, sharing stories of foul items we had consumed in the past. When I met up with Jamie in the line, he commented, “You bought more hot dogs?” I advised Jamie that being the savvy shopper that I was (cheapskate) that I was able to purchase three packs of “Meat Dogs” for 59 cents, which was still cheaper than his single pack of “fancy dogs.” Jamie returned his wieners, and bought some cheapies.

Chapter # 2: Scouting A Couple Trails

We arrived at the trails before we went to the campground. It was approximately 3:30 pm at this time. We did not plan on running any trails on Thursday, but I wanted to see the start of Widowmaker (Granny’s Hatbox) in person before we went to the campground. Pete had advised that it was much better to stop on the way down, rather than setting up camp, and backtracking 15 miles of pavement. We arrived at a relatively remote location that Pete had camped at on many occasions. Pete parked his Ranger and jumped in my Ford. He took us to a steep gravelly-rocky hill that he figured we could climb in 2wd. With 30 lbs of air in the 42’s, we didn’t make it very far. Jamie put his YJ in 4wd and crawled up the hill. Pete assisted in putting in the drive flanges, and we idled up the hill. Pete showed us “Moonshine” off to the right at the top of the hill. Moonshine is a knarly looking muddy, rocky climb that runs up a deep ravine. If one were to back down carelessly, one could go over a hill, seriously wounding one’s rig and or body or worse. Two days later, Jim, Brad, Howard, and I would be the only people to try Moonshine.

The terrain looked a lot different to Pete, as a new power line system had been installed in the past several months, making much of the previously dense forest look relatively barren in comparison. After mild backtracking, we came to the creek where Widowmaker starts. With the tires aired up, the ride was very rough, and I stopped the Ford in the creek, and the three of us walked upstream about 100 yards and noted that the rocks kept getting larger. When we arrived at Granny’s Hatbox, Pete observed the trail to have two distinct different features than the last time he had been there. For one, a large rock on the far left (that looked impressive, but was not something that people ever drove up) had fallen to the bottom, and was now an obstacle on the trail that did not use to be an issue. Also, there was about one foot of water at the bottom of Granny’s Hatbox. Pete stated that he had never observed there to be water in this area……that it was always dry. I remembered Mike Lambert always telling me that Widowmaker was a “dry creek-bed full of large rocks” so Pete’s story made sense. My stomach felt a little antsy with both anxiety and anticipation to see if I could drive my truck over the trail that many experienced wheelers had said would not be a good idea to attempt it. Would I have enough gearing, enough power, enough ground clearance, etc. I pestered Pete quite a bit asking him questions about my chances. Pete’s basic advice: I had a decent chance to make it up Granny’s Hatbox, but there was one section further up the creek-bed that he feared that the truck “simply may not be able to fit through………stock width Jeeps rub both sides of the tires fitting through…..I just don’t know if it will fit through there.” I gave it one more glance before turning my back on it, and we walked back to my truck and Jamie’s Jeep.

[78Buford]

Chapter #3: The Campsite, the Hippy Chick, and the Fire

We headed back to Pete’s Ranger & went in search of Middlefork Campground. We made our way to the back of the campground and parked our rigs in the final camping spot. A creek runs very close to the spot, and there is a paved access road on the other side of the creek. We set up our tents. Jamie and Pete wanted Pizza, and we needed wood to start a fire. Jamie cell phone worked in the remote location, and was able to call Brad. Brad was still in the Cincinnati area, a good two and a half hours away. Jamie and Pete took off for Pizza and wood. I wondered if they would start beating the snot out of each other while traveling together. I cracked a Natty Ice, called my wife on Jamie’s phone and told her about the trip down, looking at Widowmaker, Jamie and Pete comically saying vulgar things about each other, etc. I asked her if anyone had replied on the message board about my “Ford vs. Widowmaker” post that I had made only hours before taking off. I told her to check it later, and I’d call back. I quietly played some Hank Jr. on the CD player, had another beer, and organized the interior of the truck. I called my wife back a short while later, and she advised that Jim thought I’d have a chance……running it downhill, and Stroud thought that it may come to a fight if Jim was right, and/or I grenaded my junk all over the trail. I laughed at Stroud’s comments, and told her I was hoping to find out the answer tomorrow……didn’t think I could wait until day #2.

Jamie and Pete arrived back, and appeared to have not scratched each other’s eye out on the way. They had the odd combination of wood and Pizza, and a bizarre tale of a “hippy chick’s breasts and lack of personal hygiene.” Some things are better left unsaid.

This is where the fire debacle began. The three of us placed a few logs on the fire, and used an empty carton of beer and some of the pizza box to get it started. The fire would start, but soon die. So we dumped some gasoline out of one of my cans into the fire. This worked for a while, but it would go out. Gas into an empty water bottle, toss it on the fire, same result. Eventually, the fire was going……kinda…… and we would pour some gas into an empty beer-can, wallow out the top, and toss it onto the fire. The other problem arose when someone missed getting the beer-can-bomb into the fire……it landed close, but not in the fire…..too close to go & try to pick it up, and far enough away to not know if\when it would ignite, and what the results of said ignition would be. Keep this in mind.

Brad arrived later, on the wrong side of the creek. We waved at him & hollered to turn around. When he met up with us, we asked if he knew it was us. He said something to the effect that he thought maybe there was another group of three goofballs playing with fire in the middle of nowhere.

Brad had some nifty pieces of charcoal and lighter fluid which he said was a better idea to start the fire than pouring gas onto it with empty beer cans.

A short while later, the fire was going, and we were all BS-ing about the day’s events, and about the upcoming trail ride. A kind gentleman in his mid 30’s with a four-five year old child on his shoulders arrived at our site, and asked where the restrooms were. Brad advised him that they were at the other end of the campground. Both Brad and I were engaged in conversation with the man for approximately one minute or so.

“WHOOOOSHHHH!!!!” Remember the beer can full of gasoline? I turned in the direction of the fire to find Jamie laughing hysterically, Pete dropping the F-bomb, I was looking at both of them scurry about stomping out the small patches of fire in the gravel (not like the woods were on fire) then Brad calmly advised Jamie “You better put the picnic table out.” This made me start laughing, [smilie=t: and Jamie quickly stamped out the couple parts of the picnic table that were burning with gasoline. The kind gentleman (and his family whom had caught up with him) thanked Brad for the restroom advice, and quickly walked away from the four of us.

It was chilly outside, and the combination of the now decent fire, and a couple shots of Jamie’s fifth of Crown Royal kept us warm until we went to sleep a little after midnight.


Chapter # 4: The Group

Yours truly in the ’78 Ford F-250: 460, auto, 42’s, dual lockers, crappy gears, see sig.
Brad in the ’90 Blazer: 6.2 Diesel, auto, 38’s, dual lockers, decent gears.
Jamie in the ’95 YJ: 2.5, 5 speed, 34’s, dual lockers, decent gears.
Jim in the ’74 Bronco: 351, NP 435-4 speed, 36’s beadlocks, dual lockers, great gears.
Cliff in the CJ-7: 4.2 EFI, 3 speed, 33’s, beadlocks, dual lockers, crappy gears.
Howard in the Samurai: small carbed 4 cylinder, 5 speed, 31’s dual lockers, great gears.
Mike H. in the Superman TJ: 4.0, 5 speed, 36’s, dual lockers, long-arm suspension, great gears.

Chapter # 5: The Nature Trail, the Natural Bridge, the Narrows & Picture Rock

The ride started around 10:00 am Saturday morning. At this time, Jim and Howard were not with us. I led in the Ford, with Pete riding shotgun, giving direction. We started out on the Nature trail which has a lot of tight switchback turns, some mud, and some decent sized rocks as the trail winds its way back & forth up a small mountain. Due to the well built group, no one had any major problems, but Pete noted that this trail is one of the staples of the Jeep Jamboree, and it can take a group of stockers half a day to run the Nature trail. After short distance, I spied a steep muddy climb that was optional off to the right. Pete said that very few people are able to make it up the hill. I tried crawling up it, and lost traction near the top. I backed up and “kicked in the 2bbl.” The truck did pretty much the same thing as before…..climbed near the top, and spun the tires (not very fast either). I backed down, and realized that the truck is definitely a different animal with the 42’s. No longer can it rely on wheel speed to conquer hills such as this……..with the pathetic crawl ratio less than 20 to 1, 7,140 + Pete’s 200+ pounds was quite a task to drag up the steep hill with any authority. Jamie tried the hill next, and with his foot the floor, he neared to top of the hill & lost traction. He backed up a slight distance, romped it again, and conquered the hill. Good job Jamie. I complimented him on taking his 4cylinder where my 460 would not go. Jamie eventually decided to name the obstacle “Deuce & A Half Hill” based upon his 2.5 liters of engine……not having Rockwell axles. The hill didn’t go anywhere, so Jamie carefully drove back down and he plodded onward.

We came to the Natural Bridge, which is a freakish sight of nature. We were on a shelf trail way up. There is a rock off to the right that literally sits on the edge of a drop that has to be approaching 1000 feet, straight down. Pete strongly warned everyone to stay off the rock, it wasn’t something to fawk with. Brad, of course drove the driver side slightly up onto the rock, and this perturbed Pete. Brad sneered at Pete , and drove on. Several members of the group walked down a narrow path to see the Natural Bridge. I am not overly fond of heights, and advised to adventuresome group “I’ve seen it in pictures……I’ll stay right here.” Superman had a slight slip when walking with his girlfriend down the trail. I wondered aloud, “I hope Pete and Jamie don’t get in a fight down there.” Pete and Jamie arrived back at the top throwing vulgar insults at each other. While it may have been childish, I could not help but laugh at them.

The Narrows consist of large permanently buried rocks, and the trails width is “approximately 3 vehicles wide” for lack of a better term. On either side, there is the fall to your death aspect that I mentioned earlier. It should be noted that unless someone acts completely stupid or irresponsible there is no reason to be afraid of this…….but is still is in the back of one’s mind. While the rock-faces looked impressive, traction was excellent, and our group proceeded to picture rock.

Picture Rock is a large table-top looking rock that is probably 3'-4’ high and about large enough to hold 2 fullsize trucks with a little room to spare. When driving down picture rock, one must pay attention to come off it at the wrong angle or the “roll & fall to your death factor” rears its ugly head again. Cliff, Superman, and Jamie drove down the rock, with Jamie being nervously high centered on his skidplate…..all four wheels off the ground. A few of us pushed him gently with our hands from the rear, and he escaped the situation without any further trouble. Cliff and Superman descended the rock as well, with a couple scary moments, but without major problems. I had no interest in driving down it, I wanted to drive up on it from the steep end.

[78Buford]

I drove ahead, turned around and came back to drive up the steep part. Cliff and Superman had tried to climb it before me. Superman changed lines several times, but was able to get up the right side of it (when looking at it as I was). Cliff kept bottoming out, and was within a fraction of an inch from rear yoke and driveshaft damage before he stopped, backed off, and drove around. I approached from the far left/middle region, and had to reverse once, as my front bumper prevented me from climbing it. I got the nose up on the rock, and barley rubbed the driver side rocker panel on the rock……pretty steep to cause that to happen. I allowed the 460 to grunt the big pile up onto the rock. Driving off, I took my time, and even posed a few times for some suspension (well mostly frame) flexing. I got out, and had a couple people take pictures of Pete driving the Ford on the rock. I later asked Pete if he had ever driven a vehicle with a bench seat, and a column shifter. He thought about it for a while, and believed that he had…..at some point. “Dirty Peter” as I called him throughout the weekend, made an obscene gesture with his finger towards Jamie in one of the pictures, and I’ll be looking forward to see how they turned out.

We all turned and headed back the way we had came in. We had to drive through a deep muddy hole that had a pretty nasty climb coming out of it. Going in, we simply dropped the passenger side into it, and gave it some throttle. On the way out, Brad stopped once, reversed, and hit it a little harder, quickly climbing out. I idled though with minimal hassle, Jamie may have went around the hole, and I believe that Superman did as well. Cliff generally tries anything within reason with his CJ on smallish 33’s, and was almost through the muck when his clutch pedal went limp. I gently tugged Cliff out of the hole, and onto relatively dry ground. Cliff quickly diagnosed the problem as a clutch linkage part that had popped out of place. Jamie assisted him, and the two went to work fixing the relatively minor problem.

It was decided that Brad and I would run the entire trail back to the start to pick up Howard and Jim, who were to meet up with us at 1:00 pm. We traveled the mile or so back to the trail head. We met up with Jim, his wife, and two children in the yellow ’74 Bronco, and Howard and his buddy in the Sammy. We discussed what to do the rest of the day, and I quickly piped up that I wanted to run Widowmaker today. Jim gave me an odd look, but did not have a problem with doing it later in the day. Brad surmised that “Roy just wants time to be able to fix the Ford after he breaks it…..so he can get home.” “Yeah, we’ll see about that……fawker,” is what I thought, but I kept my trap shut…..for once.

We headed back through the Nature trail, and on one sharp turn/rocky climb, I banged the front diff (hard) off a rock. Pete was shaking his head laughing at me, saying something to the effect of, “Dumba$$, you put your tires on the big rocks and drive over them……you don’t run your axle straight into them.” Pete was talking smack indeed…….but I had to agree with what he had said. The front diff observed to be unharmed by my ignorance. We met back up with the group, and they had just finished up with Cliff’s Jeep. We headed on out of the Narrows, and started the fairly long scenic/not too challenging drive through the woods to get to Widowmaker.

The sunny skies had darkened up, and this observed to be an ominous sign of what was to about to take place.

Chapter # 6: Widowmaker

We were at the trailhead of Widowmaker. I suggested to Pete that it may be best if we followed someone, preferably Jim in the Bronco because he had ran Widowmaker before. Pete said, “Fawk that dude, you’re driving, I’m spotting, and we’re going to get this pig through Widowmaker…….and it’s going through first!” What the hell, might as well go first and see what happens, I thought. Pete jumped out and began spotting me through the tight section that leads to Granny’s Hatbox. We arrived there a few minutes later, with Brad and Jamie close behind. Cliff was spotting Brad for certain, and possibly Jamie as well. I could not see what was going on with the back end of the group. A few of us approached Granny’s Hatbox, and looked for a decent line. I figured that I’d be best by starting at the far right, and pointing left, going up the rocky mess at an angle. Pete advised me to hit it straight on. He was standing up on top of it, giving direction. I immediately put my front tires in good position to climb, but when I went to proceed, my front bumper hit, and I slid left off of a large rock, causing me to reverse. This happened twice, before I managed to pull the front end up onto the rock pile. After pausing for a moment, and getting the OK from Pete and a couple others who were watching, I gave the 460 about ½ throttle, and the rear 42’s hit the rocks at the same time. I felt it jerk to a halt, and I stayed on the gas. The truck grunted it’s way over the rocks with several items in the bed flopping up, hitting the ratchet straps that holds them in place, then settling back down. One plastic box that holds my large reserve of spare motor oil did a somersault, and landed upside down. Part one of the mission was accomplished.

I pulled ahead several yards, and let the engine run with the auxiliary fan on. The fan is in front of both trans coolers, and with my poor crawl ratio, I knew I’d be stressing the C6 on this technical trail. Brad went next, and tried a few times a little further to the right (when looking at the obstacle head on). He came to a halt each time when his passenger front tire falling into a hole. Brad reversed and tried a slightly different line. Soon after, Brad had the nose up on the rocks on the right side, turned left, and the rear of the Blazer followed. Brad had conquered Granny’s Hatbox as well.

Jamie went next and was having a lot of problems with his spring shackles hitting rocks. I felt that he risked tearing his leaf springs off the frame. Pete said he was more worried about Jamie breaking an axle due to having to “drive jerky” because the lack of super-low gears, and having a manual trans. I spoke up and told Jamie, “If it was me, I wouldn’t keep trying……it’s a long way home.” After thinking about it for a moment, he agreed, and moved out of the way for Jim.

Jim is the only person to have completed Widowmaker (to my knowledge) in this group. I have the tape of when Jim did so in the fall of 2003. At the time, he had his 36” IROKS, but he was without bead locks. Jim noted that the trail looked to be worse, because of the large rock that had fallen on the left side…..it was now part of the obstacle one had to contend with. From what I understand, it used to be easy to drive up to the Hatbox, and it was now more difficult to get the front of one’s rig to the large pile of rocks. Jim tried several different lines, and his rear bumper kept catching on a rock, stopping his forward progress. Jim was able to get his driver side front tire up against the rock, but it was a 3’ climb, and the beefy Bronco could not get up it. Jim suffered some rear quarter panel damage, and may have broken a shock mount on the passenger side front. Jim decided that it wasn’t his day, and backed out of the way.

Howard gave a few attempts in the Sammy, but quit after it looked like it wasn’t going to happen. Cliff gave several attempts at the far right (when looking at the obstacle from the driver seat) and his leaf springs would hit the rock preventing progress. Howard and I stacked some rocks because Cliff was trying hard and with 33’s a little help couldn’t hurt. Cliff (with the 3 speed manual) began to smell burning clutch, and backed away from the obstacle.

Mike in the Superman Jeep with 36’s, 4-1 T-case, long arm suspension, etc observed to be the most well equipped (on paper) rig for rock crawling in this group. I’d say Jim in the Bronco would be a relatively close second. My Ford would likely be way at the bottom of the list. Anyway, Mike drove up to the Hatbox.

Mike tried several lines, and repeatedly had trouble dropping the passenger front tire in a large hole. At one point, the TJ looked like it might roll onto the driver side. I observed Mike’s girlfriend to have a concerned look on her face throughout the ordeal. From what I remember, Mike spent the most time of anyone trying to get up the obstacle, but his perseverance paid off, and he managed to get the TJ up Granny’s Hatbox. The rest of the group decided to go run some other trails and meet up with us in an hour, because as Jim said, “You guys still have a good hour finishing the trail.”

[78Buford]

Pete was back in front, helping spot my junk through the rocks. A couple times when I had front & rear tires against rocks at the same time, the 460 was giving everything it had just to move the overweight/undergeared Ford. When we approached the spot where Pete was unsure if it was possible for me to fit through, I climbed the driver side high up onto a rock to allow the passenger side as much room as possible. When the front descended the rock, I felt the lower driver side door bang down on some rocks. “Wonder if the strips of steel did any good?” I thought to myself. The larger problem quickly became apparent. When I tried to go forward, the truck wouldn’t move. All four tires were hitting rocks. I couldn’t back up either. Reverse/drive/apply throttle…..all it did was grunt. “Come on old buddy, we’re almost out of this fawker” I thought to myself. The Ford must have heard this profane prayer. The next time I tried to go forward, at full throttle, the truck jumped up over all four rocks at the same time, and I was out of the wedge. After this point, I let the trans cool for a few minutes and watched Brad and Superman further back the trail. Both appeared to be progressing nicely with Cliff spotting them through the mess. Pete jumped back in the truck, and the rest of the trail was definitely rough, but a spotter wasn’t necessary. When I drove out of the creek bed, having successfully completed the trail, Pete and I checked out the truck. One little “new” dent in the rear of the bedside, and both doors were unscathed. My tailgate had popped loose on one side……off the “ball” that holds one side in place. Pete again noted that this was:
a) The only longbed fullsize truck Pete had observed on Widowmaker, and
b) Definitely the heaviest vehicle he had ever observed on Widowmaker.

Pete assisted and we corrected the tailgate issue, I shook his hand for being a kick arse spotter, and breathed a sigh of relief. I had driver over 300 miles for one trail, and I had completed it. No winching. No pulls, no major damage. It was approximately 4:00 pm on Friday. Plenty left to do, but I felt really good about the conquest.

A few minutes later, Brad and Mike came out of the creek bed. Brad said the he had been careless at the end and managed to get the front D60 stuck on a rock, and he couldn’t get off of it. Mike tugged him backwards, and they were off the trail soon after. All three of us were happy that our rigs had completed the trail. We took off to head to Rattlesnake.

Chapter # 7: Rattlesnake

Rattlesnake is a long hill climb that is entirely in a rutted V-notch. At the top, one has the choice of the super difficult “basically no one makes it” huge muddy rut, and the “less and less people are able to make it” right side which is a churn & burn type affair in the mud. Pete and I were leading, and he was telling me what a biotch the left side was at the top. When we got to the top, I stayed on the throttle and headed left. The muddy rut is huge, and with the width of the Ford, I was riding it high. Pete started hollering, “Holy sheet dude, you’re making it, you’re gonna make it!!!” All of the sudden, the truck was pretty much on the driver side in the ravine. “We didn’t make it,” I advised Pete. Pete was laughing his arse off, and quickly got out, well up through the passenger side window. I started to winch, but the engine stalled. It could have been the carb, but it could have been all of the fuel going to one side of the tank, uncovering the sender. Either way, I was stuck. I was in the truck the entire time, and I heard some things going on, but I could not see them. Jamie was next, and couldn’t get up the right side. I believe that he winched, and began hearing a noise that was a bad driveshaft U-joint. Pete was hollering at Jamie to hook up his winch to pull me out. Jamie was hollering at Pete that he needed to look at his Jeep first. I hollered that if they were going to winch they needed to double it up. Brad hollered that they couldn’t double it up. A lot of hollering was going on. Eventually Jim or someone else suggested that Brad pull me from behind, and this observed to be a good idea. Brad tugged about three times, and it simply felt like the truck “stretched out a little” but it did not really move. I hollered out the window, “Come on Brad, hit it!!” Eventually he did, and the big Chevy pulled the Ford backwards out of the mess.

Back on level ground, I started it up and pointed towards the right side. It should be noted that the transition of the trail is a Y. It was difficult to get the truck back to the right side. The nose was high in the air, my foot was on the floor, and the 42’s were clawing for grip. The truck sat still, spinning all four at a moderate pace (moderate is all it could manage) and after 5-10 seconds, the truck began to inch forward, and pulled itself up the nasty right side. I parked and walked back when I heard Brad’s Diesel screaming. Brad tried many times to make the transition to the right side, and was finally able to do so with the Diesel at full speed. A couple onlookers noted that Brad was able to produce quite a bit more wheel speed than my Ford. Seems funny, it used to be the other way around. Brad’s Blazer clawed it’s way to the top. Cliff couldn’t make it, although he tried hard. Jim couldn’t make it, although he put on a good show with the 351 making powerful sounds through the dual exhaust, Superman didn’t even try. Jim, Mike (Superman), Cliff, and possibly Howard (not sure what Howard did) backed all the way down the hill and took a bypass that may have caused some damage to Superman’s Jeep. One or more of the group had to winch up the bypass, but I’m not sure exactly who it was.

Chapter # 8: Carburetor Hill

I parked at the bottom of Carb, and looked at it with mild interest. Carburetor Hill is a fairly long hill that has massive drop-offs on both sides. It is approximately 25’ wide, and there are trees along the sides. If one became really stupid with the throttle, it would be possible to fall off the sides, but if one is a prudent driver, there isn’t rally anything to worry about. I added two quarts of oil to the dribbling 460, got in started it up, and proceeded to start up carb hill. I made it about half way, and slid left, and reversed. I thought that I put the truck back in low (transmission, not the T-case). I started up carb again, hugging the tree on the bottom right, and pointing at the next set of trees on the left, about halfway up. The truck felt sluggish, and continued slowly up the hill. Halfway up, it felt really slow……felt like it was towing Brad’s Blazer…..but I made it to the top……wondering where my power had went. I grabbed and column shifter, and found that I had the transmission in 2nd gear. Ford C-6’s will start in 2nd gear if it is manually selected. I cringed for the poor old C-6 as I had just driven it up carb hill in second gear……..that poor thing. Anyway, my junk was sitting at the top of the hill, and the sun was going down.

Brad tried many times in the Blazer, seeing air under the front end on several occasions. At one point, Brad’s Blazer nose popped up, and slid quickly to the left. Brad came close to making it a couple times, but backed off the throttle. I believe it was safe to say that Carb Hill had the pucker factor going for Brad. To be honest, I was much more intimidated by the “Natural Bridge walking trail” and getting within a few feet of the edge on foot. Carb didn’t really scare me. To each his own, I guess. Brad gave up on the hill. Jim Locker went next, and was really working the Bronco to get it to the top. It took a few tries, but once he got on it, he had one helluva look of determination on his face as he quickly modulated throttle and the steering of the yellow Bronco. Jim stated that he had never observed there to be so much we sand on the hill, as there was on this date. Jim made it to the top and parked behind my Ford. Howard tried a few times and decided to quit. Cliff and Superman did not try the Hill. Jamie wanted to try, but by the time he had is driveshaft U-Joint replaced, it was dark. It was a pretty cool deal….the only two Ford’s on the trip sitting at the top of Carburetor Hill. Kinda ironic that they had carburetors under the hood…..both Motorcraft 2bbl’s……not fancy smancy EFI. Jim and I drove down the nasty hill with out headlights on, and the group was ready to head off the trail. I led with Lugie giving directions in the dark. As soon as we turned off to the right, I hit a rough spot in the trail, and had my steering at full lock up against a bank. Fearing breaking a steering component, I asked Jamie to winch me from behind, and he did. I remember Brad’s tale of breaking steering at Slade, being out half the night, etc. I definitely didn’t want to take any chances, and appreciated the winch pull from Jamie. After winding around the trails for quite a while, Lugie had us back to civilization.