MBATF

I must say that I personally think that the complete trail from the trail head all the way to Summit City made Rubicon Trail looked like a joke. The terrians are very unforgiving and many tight turns with sharp rock edges. And obstacles are one after another without much of rest time.

The Fordyce trail is about 9.5 miles long from trail head ends near by Fordyce lake Dam/ Committee Cross. However, we decided to continue driving above the 9 mile mark and headed toward Summit City. Which was a huge headache.

So story goes, begin with the first major water crossing. The dam have been releasing water last week so the water level is some what high with strong currents. Somehow my dog decided to take a short swim and about 2 min later she got washed down the river for about .15mile and we were lucky enough to rescue her with all of us ended up soaking wet. We soon proceed to crossing the water, and man the water turned out to be about 4-5' high and one point everyone were sitting in water (water level was up to the seats). Then I got stuck on 1 of the 5 winch hills. then the same time the XJ who tried to take the by pass and head for rescuing my rig lost a bead and a valve stem on one of his tire, then got stuck while trying to make his way toward me... So I ended up winched myself out of the winch hill by strapping the winch cable/tree saver to a rock. After I free myself I went ahead and winched out my buddy's XJ. However nothing was going as planned....soon after winched the XJ out he once again got stuck and somehow unloaded his front end of the rig, all I saw was his front end leaned backward and pointed straight into the sky and came slowly back down just enough not to flip backward so just we think it situation is bad enough already....well NOPE! his radiator hose exploded about 1 min later after we secure a strap from my rig to his and brought the front end down to a saver level. for the next 1 mile with 3 tries of repairing the hose and super hot engine temp. We decided to leave his XJ on the trail at the 9mile mark and everyone plus 2 dogs jump into my JK and head toward summit City then trying to find a replacement hose the next day and back on to the trail to repair/recover his rig. at this point it was about 9-10pm pitch black. I must say... the trail after the 9.5 miles mark got extremely tough and even tougher with bunch cargoes and the weights of 5 people and 2 dogs.


Next day morning we were able to locate a replacement hose in Trukee and headed back to to the XJ by taking a short cut through Committee Cross. Which the water level was even higher, the current was much stronger since it was so close to the dam. With our fingers crossed, we made it through the crossing safely and once again soaking wet in the cold water... We then fallowed waypoint of his rig and was able to repair his XJ and back to the deep water crossing then made it back out of the trail safely

I literally kissed the first pavement I saw after 2 days of non-stop beating mentally, physically, and to our rigs.


Damage report:

JK:

Dented/scratched -rear P side rail right above the rocker...
Smashed - radiator support
Scratched - ARB bumper
Dented/smashed - P side rear corner of the bumper
Dented - Driver side transmisson cross member
Bent - tie-rod
Broken - front driver side shock with stud went into my engine bay.
Wet- entire floor/carpeted area
Ripped- front P side fender

Recoveries:
Strapped x1
winched x 2

XJ:

Bent- tie-rod
Lost beads twice
broken valve stem
exploded radiator hose
broken trail gate and lights with rear tire carrier smashed into it.
Retarded E-fan w/ a very toasty engine temp

Recoveries:
Strapped- x6
Winched- x4


All pictures can be seen at the link provided
http://s349.photobucket.com/albums/q...ce%202008/

Some of the pictures below

Indian Spring Camp Ground.


Fordyce Trail.

MBATF

From 2nd Camera

First tire damage.


second tire damage.



Rest of the pics.































We were pretty busy trying to make out of the trail so we had to stop taking pictures at about 9 miles mark point.

kidjeep

Looks pretty tough! Looking forward to more pics

vgullotta

Looks like a fun and very difficult run. Glad you made it out ok =)

deconstructionist

ABSolutely Cool looking pics! Thinking I need some bigger meats before I ever head out with you guys!!!!!!!

MBATF

Fordyce was my last trip for this year. I will be leaving to Taiwan for 3 months and hopefully the new business venture will work out well. and Hopefully I will be back for few weeks. And I will try and plan out the trips for 2009

Munday

nice pics man .I might have to add this to the list of places I'm going to hit next year , along with Moab and the rubicon.

rampage

Unbelieveable! However you manage well so far with different tough trails which mean you = and your JEEP = some damage which is - I guess that you will add some more beef on your jeep after your trip from China! YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!

rampage

Want to see your JK with pictures - show us the damage!

Gravel Gertie

Great story and awesome pics! Thanks!