Ok,,, I'll chime in...
First off, I would just like to say, THANKS to all who were involved with this run, Dirtman,,, you are one crazy s.o.b.!!! Cody, had a blast wheeling with you and finally getting to meet you and you're wife!!! and to all who attended, it was nice to meet the ones I had not met yet, and to wheel with you all,, my son and I had an absolute blast!!!!!! Thanks to all who spotted for us! and got us thru without killing our selves!!!
Now to the stories...
Starting off Sat. our group took off on some of the more difficult trails, not so much at first, but as the day progressed, we were doing some real crazy shit! I think we made a wrong turn and ended up on some extreme ATV trails that no "normal" person would do in a jeep! but we did it, ( as I said, Dirtman is not "normal" ) with the help of a good chain saw and some winch time, we all made it out way after dark, and with only 1 broken axle in the group and some minor cosmetic damage which is just amazing after doing some of the trails we did!!! I did damage my e-disco so it is not working at the moment, which did not help me out for day 2!
Day 2 started at a trail that had a sign reading... " extremely difficult, enter at you're own risk"!!! and the day was on!!!! It never let up and we just kept doing more and more single black and double black diamond trails.... WHAT A COMPLETE BLAST!!!!!!!! Never have I thought a jeep could do some of those trails, let alone a whole group making it through relatively unscathed!!!
I, myself went vertical 4 times over the weekend, with only a slim margin from going over backwards!!! what a rush that was!!! I think it took me a while to get my underwear out of my pucker!!!!!!!!!
All in all I saw and did some shit I never thought anyone without a true crawler could do! most of it was just a little difficult, but there were 1 or 2 spots that were pretty extreme!!!! ( at least for me it was!)
I have not gone through my pix yet, I will post some when I get to it. but the pix won't do any of this weekend any justice any way!!!
Thanks again for all you guys that spotted for us, and to Cody for starting this trip!
I really look forward to wheeling with you all again soon! Willy and I had the best time, and we are stoked to do it again!!!

P.S.... I would like to throw out an idea... The next big run we do like this, what would you guys think if we all pitched in a hired a professional videagrapher to tag along and document the meyhem?!?!?! then compile it all onto a video we could have and share with friends....
What do you guys think?

 

I think video documentation is a great idea.

One of my co-workers, also a forum member ashmc84, is a photographer. He currently doesn't have a video camera though. I have had him ride with me on a trip to Bundy Hill. He is always looking to tag along.

I also know a someone who owns a professional video production company. He does fantastic work, but at a price. It would be fairly expensive to have someone with his skills shoot and edit the trip.

I own a Canon T3 & GoPro Hero HD. Both take High Definition video. I highly recommend the GoPro to everyone. In the world of HD video, it is really inexpensive ($299). I am seriously considering getting another one. GoPro also has daily giveaways.

If ashmc84 is available on the next trip I am on, I will bring him along and let him us my Canon.

 

I think you did an excellent job of editing the video you took! I have an idea. I have a friend who does professional photography.. I bet i can get him to go with us if we paid for his gas to come down.. he lives like 3 hours north of me. I have an HD camcorder. So between your cameras.. my camcorder.. and my buddies cameras i bet we could get some good footage. then.. I can work with you on editing it all. then I can make DVDs for everyone and send them out. I plan on buying a blu ray burner over the winter.. but for now i only have a couple dvd burners. I think we could make it happen!

 

Any one else have more pics?

 

Great run guys! Had a great time and got some awesome pictures. I am uploading them now and will post a link later on.

Derek, I didn't get to wheel with you, Mike, and Josh much, but what we did was a blast. I hope to get a chance to do it again yet this year!

 

what the heck is that second picture of? the blackberry bushes you kept stopping to pick?

 

Here are a few

 

Here is a link to the entire album for:

Coal Creek 2011 Photos

 

I was kinda thinking of a true professional who is not really involved in the operation of a Jeep, someone who would be able to be at the more difficult places and set up to capture the moments... someone with the real equipment to do a professional job, maybe even have more than one camera to capture more than one location or angle....
I'm not putting any body down or slamming any one's equipment, but if this person is trying to wheel, or trying to be a passenger, he or she is not as likely to get the best angles and capture the "moment". I have an HD video camera too, and it's great for taking family videos, or other not-so-far away home videos, but a real deal, professional set up is what it would take to do a professional job in my opinion...
If there were a group like this past weekend (14) jeeps, and we all pitched in 50-100 bucks, that would probably be enough to get someone interested in a gig as our movie maker!?!?!?!?!?!????

I personally am going to be looking at a go-pro myself soon... That vid Mixilpidilstick made was awesome! and that was a cool set up...

Cant wait to see more pics from everybody....

 

On a run to a place like coal creek, I would probably chip in at that price. It was def more unique than Badlands or redbird. That was a run I wouldn't mind doing each year, or atleast to a place that had so much to offer.