So, I've finally had time to sit down and gather my thoughts (and pictures) from the wheelin' trip I took to Rausch Creek this past Saturday with the Jeff Daniels crew.
The day started with me waking up late. We needed to leave the house by 6:15 to make it to Rausch at 8 which is when the JD crew was showing up. We ended up not hitting the road until about 6:40. I bent a few speeding laws and was able to make it to the park by about 8:10. I aired down and pulled into line with the other Jeeps. The crowd was dominated by Wranglers of various years, but there were a few XJ's sprinkled in.
There was some initial confusion about which guides were going with what groups and where each group was supposed to line up. There were 5 groups - "Novice/bone stock", 2 "Intermediate" groups, an "Advanced Intermediate" group, and an 'Expert' group. There were only 3-4 rigs in the Expert group. There were 10-12 (guessing) rigs in the novice group, 7-8 in the advanced intermediate, and 16-20 total between the two normal "intermediate" groups.
I was in the first intermediate group. The first problem arose when it was discovered that the guides for whatever reason didn't have their own rides and would have to ride shotgun with someone from each group. All the groups except for mine had someone wheeling by themselves so this wasn't an issue. However it took about 15 minutes of rearranging gear to find room for our guide to ride. Anyway, we finally hit the trails shortly after 9am.
We wound around a bunch of green trails that were pretty mild. The first test we got to is pictured below. You had to go down a 25-30 foot drop into a small valley, then back up the other side. Going down was no big deal, it was the ascent on the other side that could get a little hairy. It was so steep that the guide was unable to walk it on foot. The guide stopped the group prior to the descent into the valley. He walked back to the XJ that was behind me and asked if the XJ was locked. Turns out he had a limited slip rear end. So the guide then determined that the two XJ's would try the obstacle, but he didn't think anyone else should attempt it. XJ #1 (the green one) slowly drove down to the bottom of the valley, stopped, backed up, turned and aimed for the other side. He made it about half way (where you see the real dark ruts in the picture) before sliding back down. He continued to try, and after 5-6 attempts he finally made it all the way up. The next rig in line was a yellow TJ. The guide advised taking the bypass, but the driver asked "Why can't I try it?". The guide said he was welcome to try but he probably wouldn't make it. So the yellow TJ slowly drove to the bottom, stopped, backed up, turned and aimed, then lurched towards the hill. He too made it about halfway before sliding back. It took him 4-5 tries, but he did finally make it. After that, pretty much everyone decided to try it, using the same strategy (slowly downhill, stop, back up and aim, stab the gas). Another TJ did it in 3 tries. One YJ wasn't so lucky and ended up having to retreat and use the bypass. The TJ in front of my Jeep came up with a different strategy. He got halfway down the hill into the valley and just stomped the gas, flew around the curve and shot up the hill, clearing the obstacle on the first try. After seeing the secret revealed, I followed suit and also cleared the hill on my first try. Everyone ended up making it except for the one YJ.
After that, we proceeded on down the trail where we drove around the rim of a large bowl with a pond at the bottom that was mostly frozen. The advanced intermediate group had gone down in the bowl and was in the process of climbing out, but one white TJ couldn't get her done and had to be winched up. After watching their hillclimb, we continued on, looped around past the watch tower (if you've been to Rausch you know what I mean) and did a fairly short but pretty technical trail that wound up and down the side of the mountain. It would have been pretty uneventful, but the snow and ice caused some slipping and sliding. All made it through without incident though.
We then took some access roads down to the power line area, which for those who don't know has a bunch of small but challenging hill climbs that is basically a play area. After walking a few lines and getting some tips from the guide, we cut loose for a half hour or so just playing around and trying to climb some hills. The first one I attempted was short but very steep and deeply rutted. I didnt make it on the first try (which almost kicked me sideways off the trail and nearly rolled the Jeep!). I backed up and went to an easier access to the high line. I followed the YJ which struggled making it to the top due to the ice. He did finally clear it. I was able to stay just right of the ice and made it up without incident. After we crawled back down to the road I went back to the first climb that I had failed to clear a few minutes ago. I kept trying to make it up, but I kept getting sucked into the deep ruts and getting hung up. Finally, after 4-5 tries I tried to get some momentum up. When I first hit the bottom of the climb, witnesses in the group said both front wheels lifted in a pretty nice wheel stand. I was trying to stay left of the ruts and made it halfway up before getting thrown back into the ruts. Fortunately I had enough momentum left and was able to make it to the top. I was pretty proud of myself. 8)
Shortly after this, the white XJ after clearing a pretty impressive climb cut a tire so we had some downtime while they put the spare on (which was a lot smaller than the other 3 tires he was running). We took this as an opportunity to grab lunch.
After lunch, we wheeled up some more greens where we met up with the other intermediate group. Some of our members went to their group, and some of their group came with us, including a cameraman that JD had brought along. I was third in line at this point, behind our guide and the cameraman (so I know they got some good shots of my TJ!). At this point we decided to do some rock crawling. We did a fairly long blue trail that was nothing but rock beds. At the very beginning of the trail I caught a rock the wrong way and 'tweaked' my Rusty's skid. Oh well, better the skid than the oil pan! My TJ did quite well, gliding over, through, and around the rocks with ease. It was during the first part of this trail that a black TJ with a 4" Skyjacker lift broke an (aftermarket) track bar and had to limp back to the parking lot. That was shortly after the YJ got stuck and had to be pulled out. So this trail had some victims, but fortunately I was able to follow a good line and didnt have any problems other than a CEL that came on in the middle for some reason - turned out to be a bad O2 sensor, apparently).
We eventually came out of the rock fields and worked our way up behind the obstacle/competition course where the picture of the mountains was taken (the one with the white XJ in it). We drove right over the side of the hill and down a trail that looked like it would have a lot of pucker moments if you were going up it. It was pretty steep and slick and at one point during a little off-camber section I did briefly lift a wheel off the ground and about ruined my upholstery :redface: .
After making it to the bottom it was a fairly mild ride around the property and back up to the parking lot. At this point a lot of people decided to get ready and leave (it was about 3pm). However, we heard on the CB that Dan (of Jeff Daniels) had broken an axle on his YJ back on the pole line trail. Our guide decided to take his personal TJ out to deliver a replacement axle and asked if we wanted to follow him, so 3 of us went with him on unquestionably the fastest trail ride I've ever been on. It was fun and went through some interesting areas we didnt go through earlier. We saw the YJ perched at the top of a hill climb winched to another YJ which was winched to a tree. A couple of Dan's mechanics were laying under the rear end wrapped in a blanket working on removing the old axle. We hung out for a bit watching them work (they didnt need any help), and swapping stories, then we decided to head back. We left the park shortly after 4pm none the worse for wear, with only a slightly bent out of shape skidplate and a CEL that wouldn't go away.
I only have a few pictures because my fiancee/passenger/photographer claims she was too scared for her life to worry about pictures :?| .
By the way, that's my blue TJ about the climb the hill in the 4th picture. I'm sure the photographer from Jeff Daniels got some shots of me rock crawling, if I find those pictures I'll be sure to share them.
The day started with me waking up late. We needed to leave the house by 6:15 to make it to Rausch at 8 which is when the JD crew was showing up. We ended up not hitting the road until about 6:40. I bent a few speeding laws and was able to make it to the park by about 8:10. I aired down and pulled into line with the other Jeeps. The crowd was dominated by Wranglers of various years, but there were a few XJ's sprinkled in.
There was some initial confusion about which guides were going with what groups and where each group was supposed to line up. There were 5 groups - "Novice/bone stock", 2 "Intermediate" groups, an "Advanced Intermediate" group, and an 'Expert' group. There were only 3-4 rigs in the Expert group. There were 10-12 (guessing) rigs in the novice group, 7-8 in the advanced intermediate, and 16-20 total between the two normal "intermediate" groups.
I was in the first intermediate group. The first problem arose when it was discovered that the guides for whatever reason didn't have their own rides and would have to ride shotgun with someone from each group. All the groups except for mine had someone wheeling by themselves so this wasn't an issue. However it took about 15 minutes of rearranging gear to find room for our guide to ride. Anyway, we finally hit the trails shortly after 9am.
We wound around a bunch of green trails that were pretty mild. The first test we got to is pictured below. You had to go down a 25-30 foot drop into a small valley, then back up the other side. Going down was no big deal, it was the ascent on the other side that could get a little hairy. It was so steep that the guide was unable to walk it on foot. The guide stopped the group prior to the descent into the valley. He walked back to the XJ that was behind me and asked if the XJ was locked. Turns out he had a limited slip rear end. So the guide then determined that the two XJ's would try the obstacle, but he didn't think anyone else should attempt it. XJ #1 (the green one) slowly drove down to the bottom of the valley, stopped, backed up, turned and aimed for the other side. He made it about half way (where you see the real dark ruts in the picture) before sliding back down. He continued to try, and after 5-6 attempts he finally made it all the way up. The next rig in line was a yellow TJ. The guide advised taking the bypass, but the driver asked "Why can't I try it?". The guide said he was welcome to try but he probably wouldn't make it. So the yellow TJ slowly drove to the bottom, stopped, backed up, turned and aimed, then lurched towards the hill. He too made it about halfway before sliding back. It took him 4-5 tries, but he did finally make it. After that, pretty much everyone decided to try it, using the same strategy (slowly downhill, stop, back up and aim, stab the gas). Another TJ did it in 3 tries. One YJ wasn't so lucky and ended up having to retreat and use the bypass. The TJ in front of my Jeep came up with a different strategy. He got halfway down the hill into the valley and just stomped the gas, flew around the curve and shot up the hill, clearing the obstacle on the first try. After seeing the secret revealed, I followed suit and also cleared the hill on my first try. Everyone ended up making it except for the one YJ.
After that, we proceeded on down the trail where we drove around the rim of a large bowl with a pond at the bottom that was mostly frozen. The advanced intermediate group had gone down in the bowl and was in the process of climbing out, but one white TJ couldn't get her done and had to be winched up. After watching their hillclimb, we continued on, looped around past the watch tower (if you've been to Rausch you know what I mean) and did a fairly short but pretty technical trail that wound up and down the side of the mountain. It would have been pretty uneventful, but the snow and ice caused some slipping and sliding. All made it through without incident though.
We then took some access roads down to the power line area, which for those who don't know has a bunch of small but challenging hill climbs that is basically a play area. After walking a few lines and getting some tips from the guide, we cut loose for a half hour or so just playing around and trying to climb some hills. The first one I attempted was short but very steep and deeply rutted. I didnt make it on the first try (which almost kicked me sideways off the trail and nearly rolled the Jeep!). I backed up and went to an easier access to the high line. I followed the YJ which struggled making it to the top due to the ice. He did finally clear it. I was able to stay just right of the ice and made it up without incident. After we crawled back down to the road I went back to the first climb that I had failed to clear a few minutes ago. I kept trying to make it up, but I kept getting sucked into the deep ruts and getting hung up. Finally, after 4-5 tries I tried to get some momentum up. When I first hit the bottom of the climb, witnesses in the group said both front wheels lifted in a pretty nice wheel stand. I was trying to stay left of the ruts and made it halfway up before getting thrown back into the ruts. Fortunately I had enough momentum left and was able to make it to the top. I was pretty proud of myself. 8)
Shortly after this, the white XJ after clearing a pretty impressive climb cut a tire so we had some downtime while they put the spare on (which was a lot smaller than the other 3 tires he was running). We took this as an opportunity to grab lunch.
After lunch, we wheeled up some more greens where we met up with the other intermediate group. Some of our members went to their group, and some of their group came with us, including a cameraman that JD had brought along. I was third in line at this point, behind our guide and the cameraman (so I know they got some good shots of my TJ!). At this point we decided to do some rock crawling. We did a fairly long blue trail that was nothing but rock beds. At the very beginning of the trail I caught a rock the wrong way and 'tweaked' my Rusty's skid. Oh well, better the skid than the oil pan! My TJ did quite well, gliding over, through, and around the rocks with ease. It was during the first part of this trail that a black TJ with a 4" Skyjacker lift broke an (aftermarket) track bar and had to limp back to the parking lot. That was shortly after the YJ got stuck and had to be pulled out. So this trail had some victims, but fortunately I was able to follow a good line and didnt have any problems other than a CEL that came on in the middle for some reason - turned out to be a bad O2 sensor, apparently).
We eventually came out of the rock fields and worked our way up behind the obstacle/competition course where the picture of the mountains was taken (the one with the white XJ in it). We drove right over the side of the hill and down a trail that looked like it would have a lot of pucker moments if you were going up it. It was pretty steep and slick and at one point during a little off-camber section I did briefly lift a wheel off the ground and about ruined my upholstery :redface: .
After making it to the bottom it was a fairly mild ride around the property and back up to the parking lot. At this point a lot of people decided to get ready and leave (it was about 3pm). However, we heard on the CB that Dan (of Jeff Daniels) had broken an axle on his YJ back on the pole line trail. Our guide decided to take his personal TJ out to deliver a replacement axle and asked if we wanted to follow him, so 3 of us went with him on unquestionably the fastest trail ride I've ever been on. It was fun and went through some interesting areas we didnt go through earlier. We saw the YJ perched at the top of a hill climb winched to another YJ which was winched to a tree. A couple of Dan's mechanics were laying under the rear end wrapped in a blanket working on removing the old axle. We hung out for a bit watching them work (they didnt need any help), and swapping stories, then we decided to head back. We left the park shortly after 4pm none the worse for wear, with only a slightly bent out of shape skidplate and a CEL that wouldn't go away.
I only have a few pictures because my fiancee/passenger/photographer claims she was too scared for her life to worry about pictures :?| .
By the way, that's my blue TJ about the climb the hill in the 4th picture. I'm sure the photographer from Jeff Daniels got some shots of me rock crawling, if I find those pictures I'll be sure to share them.
