Slade 11/7 and 11/8

blazerbrad · 11-10-2008, 02:59 PM

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.

11-10-2008, 02:59 PM	#1
blazerbrad - CORE Member - Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 831 Images: 6	Slade 11/7 and 11/8 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.