Finally had some time to sit down and do a write up. We had a fun day Saturday up at Rausch Creek; it was myself, Tyler (usgaone), his friend Brian who was riding along and Jack (1984jeep). We met up at the park about 8:30, signed in, aired down and headed over to the West Property via Trail B, Pole Line and Trail J (all Greens).

We took Trail 15 (Blue), an easy Blue trail with some small rocks to climb over, a good trail to start the day on. That took us over to Trail 11 (Green) where we picked up Trail 10A (Blue).

Trail 10A has a couple of good mud holes. We all made it through Milkshake, Tyler had to back up once or twice, it was a struggle for me to make it through, and Jack made it look easy. Tyler made it through Smoothie once he figured out which line he needed to take to get past the rock in the middle of the hole, I bogged down and Tyler got to pull me out (the first time I have ever gotten the JK stuck, it wouldn’t be the last ), Jack made it through with some spotting. The waterline on my Jeep was above the lower door hinge, thank goodness for good seals .

After we finished playing in the mud holes we headed across Rock Creek to Trail 13A (Blue-Black). Tyler was able to navigate the entrance to the trail fairly easily, being on 35” tires. Jack and I were both running 32” and had to pick our lines and have Tyler and Brian spot us through. The rest of the trail had some nice medium size rocks to crawl over and we were all able to make it through without any problems.

Trail 13A took us back to Trail 11. We then decided to try Trails 12A, B, & C (Blues), trails with some small to medium size rocks and a couple of muddy creek crossings. At one point on 12A my tire slipped off a rock and I ended up stuck on my front control arm and needed to build up some rocks underneath my tires to get off. On 12B Tyler and Jack had some fun getting over a good size rock obstacle. Tyler got over pretty easy, it took a few tries to find the line Jack need to take before he was able to get up and over. On 12C there was a small hill climb that all three of us were able to get up with some spotting help.

After Trail 12C we came out onto Trail H (Green) and decided to head back over to the East Property and picked up Trail 2 (Blue) off of Pole Line. Trail 2 has some small to medium size rocks to crawl over. It is also home to Frog Hole which we all decided to bypass. We did take on the hill climb near Frog Hole and the rain the day before made it pretty slick but we were all able to make it up and over, Jack did it both ways a couple of times. A little farther down the trail Jack got on rock and ended up high centered on his transfer case skid. After placing some small rocks under his wheels and a small tug on the tow strap buy Tyler, Jack was rolling again.

Trail 2 dumped us onto Trail B and we headed over to Trail 1C (Black). Trail 1C is a series of short and steep hill climbs and descents with a trench at the end that can be bypassed. Again with the rain the day before these hills were very slick. Tyler went first and got up the first two hills. I was next and tried the first hill twice in first gear and couldn’t make it up, on the third try I was in second gear and made it over and down the first hill. Jack then came up over the first hill. Tyler then made it over the next couple of hills with out much problem. Then it was my turn to try the second hill, I tried twice in second gear and just couldn’t quite make it to the top, my all-terrain tires weren’t cleaning out and I was loosing traction. On the third attempt I tried third gear and almost made it but lost traction just short of the top of the hill. On the fourth attempt Brian suggested I try a different line on the left side of the trail, when I ended up losing traction this time I slid into a tree and crunched my driver’s side mirror. At that point I couldn’t go up by my own power and couldn’t go back without ripping off my front fender flair so we had to break out the winch to pull me up the hill and off the tree. I was able to make the rest of the hills with out any more drama. Jack came after and made it up and over without a problem.

The last obstacle on the trail was the trench at the end Tyler made it through and spotted Jack through, I decide to bypass around it after my experience on the hills. This dumped us back onto Trail B where we headed back to the staging area to see if anyone was playing on the competition course, there wasn’t much going on so we decided to call it a day and headed down to the gas station to air back up. While we were there Tyler realized that at some point during the day he ended up bending a lower flange on his fairlead and lost a roller, in another thread I saw he posed that he thinks he also blew out a rear shock.

Overall it was a really fun day on the trail, even with the damage sustained. Sorry I don’t have any trail pics, I brought my camera but no batteries . Here are a couple of pics of what the Jeep looked like the day after, mud is good it covers up the scratches , and my damaged mirror .

 

wow! sounds like you all had a fun day. sucks about the mirror tho. and nice new front bumper you got there (even got a winch on it already). its the LoD one right? get some rubi BFG's off the for sale section and you'll be rock'n... pun intended. wish i could've made it saturday but my weekend got completely booked.

btw, got a trip planed for Casparis in march, so mark your calanders.



EDIT: duh! didn't read your signature section till after posting and i see that it is the LoD bumper.

 

Looks like you had fun...nice pics.

 

Tires are definetly on the top of the list for the next mod.

 

Great pics. Tough luck about the mirror.