Just ran the Swamp Lake Trail. This was our first big run since puting on the lift ourselves last weekend.

It was a lot harder than we thought it would be, luckily we found a group of about 6 Jeeps and 4 Toyotas that invited us to join them. They guy leading the group (Fred) just happened to be the park ranger in charge of OHV trail maintainance for the southern central valley. Dude was awesome, has 9 Jeeps, including the Jeepster Commander he was driving that day.

According to Fred, given current trail conditions, Swamp is the 3rd hardest trail to do in CA. He said that currently Dusy is the hardest trail, followed by Rubicon.

Our damage was minimal: leaving more than our fair share of skid plates behind, some wheel and tire chunks, as well as scratching up our fenders. We had to get winched out one time when we slipped off a rock and got the front differential stuck between two rocks. We were pretty lucky, one guy bust a bead and screwed his wheel up pretty bad, fun to watch Fred pop the tire back on with some WD-40 and a lighter. Another guy's entire rear left wheel fell off when his lug nuts got too loose, took two jacks and a winch to get the rear end up high enough to put it back on. One guy got so close to flipping his Toyota that we all stopped breathing for a sec.

We were the only Unlimited in the group and the only JK. There were parts where the long wheel base was a hinderance, especiall when making the tight turns with the lockers on. Lots of 3 point (or 10 point) turns. There were other times where it was a big help. We watched some of the 2 door Jeeps strugle through some boulder patches that we breezed through. Think we may have converted a few people by the end to the JK life!

Overall great time, but very challenging, great learning experience. Took over 8 hours with almost no stops (other than to deal with the tire and wheel that fell off). At the end, the group invited us to the BBQ they were throwing and we ended the night with some great tri-tip and a live band!













Fred was a lifesaver! He could spot like no one else.








Rooster Rock














Busted his bead.




The group.


The choice was rear vs tree or front vs rock.


We chose tree. Sap comes right off with break cleaner!


Slipped off rock.




Ouch. I think you are looking at part of our differential, drive train, control arms...


Make sure your lug nuts are tight!

 

nice pics man. What happend in the last shot there?

 

On the way back to camp decided to take the hard way, all the sudden his jeep just hit the ground. Found two of the lug nuts within 10 feet, they had just gotten looser and looser all day and finally decided to drop. His daughter was sitting right above that wheel in the back too, she was freaking out (understandably), though they had fallen off the edge of the cliff.

 

wow, i would have been freaked out too! rig is looking good though man!

 

Thanks for sharing the cool pics flamered! Looks familiar. I need to get back there soon! I recognize the steep climb (rooster rock). Also I think I recognize one of the boulder fields.

 

I'm sure glad I decided to get a 2 door over the 4..looks like alot of TIGHT places for the 4 door to get through.....great pics Flame....I kinda like the butt clinching steep climbs...they put you in your place. You almost really took out your driveline there .

 

Funny you said that, the first thing we said getting done was I am so glad we got the 4 door. It was a pain trying to make the tight turns but getting over some of the big rock fields it was actually a big help. Best analogy is think of a tall guy versus a short guy in a rock climbing gym. That being said I have never taken a 2 door out on a trail so

 

But with the long wheel base crawling over rocks the 4 door would get high centered before a 2 door would...there ARE advantages with the 4 door but all I ever hear is "short wheel base vehicles" on alot of the trails. Anyone else please feel free to chime in on the advantages and disadvantages between the 2 and 4 doors. I do know that going up steep climbs that have steps the 4 door is better because it keeps the angle of the Jeep less drastic....I hope I am not putting my foot in my mouth about any of this but this is just the stuff I see.

 

P.S...I guess we need to check this out on the trailI'll let you drive mine

 

The 4-door rules in Moab and on waterfalls and steep ledges, but the 2-door is nice in tight mountain trails like the ones we have here in our backyard.

That said........how nice would it be to have all of that room the unlimited hasnot to mention the extra 2 doors for my kids? It seems like everytime I go up nowadays I have 3 or 4 in my Jeep.