Epic Adventure: The Trails Bite Back

The day started out like any other day. A group of buddies get together to wheel. Thirteen started the day.

 I think this should have been an omen. There was carnage before the group even got there. Two of our buddies went up a couple hours before the rest of us sleepy heads. When we found them they were changing out both front axles. Yep you heard me right.  He took on the Little Rubicon while waiting for us. Rubicon 1 General 0. But he was back up in running in a short time. 

 While they fixed the axles the rest of us headed of to do a trail. We found more snow than any of us expected, but it was not to bad.

We came back and got the boys and off we went again. 

 We made up most of Cedar Tree trail with out much trouble

 Until I lost traction in the snow and my back tire slipped in to a culvert. It would not have been that big a deal except my tire got wedged between the bank of the ditch and the drainage pipe LOL Mom had to winch out. I can't complain it is the first time I have ever had to use the winch to get my self. :-) 

At the end of the trail the rest of the group waited for us last stragglers.  I felt my self start to slide a bit so I decided to  continue past everyone and park on the bank side of the road instead of the drop off side.  Dad on the other hand chose to park on the drop off side. Well he runs the same times Mom does. Guess what? Yep they sucked for him too :-) he tried to park on the flat, but once he started sliding he didn't stop until he was perched part way on the road and part way off.  The more he tired the farther he slipped down the side. He finally stopped when Mom screamed stop at the top of her lungs! Yes I admit it I was a bit panicked LOL I could only envision him tipping over then rolling.          

 They tried pulling just from the front. That didn't work he just kept slipping.So they used a snatch block and another winch from behind to keep him from slipping farther and he was able with their help to walk up the slop.  

After Dad and I were done with our winching fun, we all headed off 

to Fire Break 5. Mom was up for tackling her nemeses this day. I have only tried this trail one other time. I made it up but not with out a long struggle. This time Mom made it up in a fraction of the time! WOOHOOO I only killed the jeep twice and only got hung up once! WOOHOOO! So stinking proud of my self. 

Everyone saddled up and we headed up to the next section of FB5  Mom got stuck once backed up and relined a few times and off we went. The rest of this section was fairly quick. THEN!!!!

The third section.

Again my tires showed just what crap they are in snow. I got stuck on an up hill tight left turn. My driver rear tire kept sliding in to a hole behind a root.  So Dad and I dug around in the snow until we found enough rocks and branches to give me some traction and height to get over the root.  I  started up the trail while Dad went back to get his Jeep.  I got stopped at the next curve. OY!  By this point a buddy has walked back down the trail to see how we are doing.  He tried his darnedest to get me up that curve.  By this time we realize something is not right with Dad's jeep.  So I back down with my buddy guiding me. Dad's Jeep won't start.  He is parked on that hill so we decided to get him to a flat spot around a curve to see if that helps. She sometimes she is cranky on a hill.  This doesn't work. So we have to trying get off the Mountain somehow. So our other buddy and Dad came up with the idea to pull the YJ far enough back to get the winch hooked to a tree so we can start pulling the front end around.  This worked to a point, we then got the come-along out and hooked it to the back end and a tree to pull it in the opposite direction.  This got us about 3/4 of the way around. We got it far enough we could hook him up to my jeep and pull his rear end facing the right direction. This part takes us about 2.5 to 3 hours to do. All the while we are working in about 18 inches of snow, mud and slush puddles. Oh and did I mention it is raining the whole time?  Got to love Oregon.  We all kept stepping in the same slush puddle oy!. Now Dad and our other buddy are facing the right way, but his Jeep is not heavy enough to pull Dad's. Buddy # 1 had gone up the trail recovered another buddy, and came around to help us. With effort he was able to pull Dad down the Mountain. Not without damage though. It was after dark, Dad had no lights, no power steering, or power breaks being towed by a strap.  

 

We can not complain to much the only damage sustained in this after dark venture was the loss of the passenger side mirror and the passenger side rear finder. And maybe a little pride. 

While we are struggling to get Dad turned around we can here the guys that had gone on without us struggling up the trail too. They ended up with more damage.  Some Bashed in doors and a couple stuck's. 

Now it is my turn to make a U-turn. I have backed a ways down this trail and around two curves.  For some reason I just can't stay on the trail going around this last curve. ( what I thought would be the last curve I had to back around LOL) So buddy # 2 and I get me winched up the trail again and I end up making a 6 point turn to get around it without sliding off the trail. I have one more curve to make it around. By this point I am so done for the day. I just want to go home and go to bed. I'm soaked to the bone as is everyone else in our little group. I'm covered in gritty dirty slushy crap.  Again the  road is curving to the left, and I keep sliding toward a tree. I'm trying my best not to rip off my driver's side fender flare. Eventually with the guiding of buddy #2 I go past with out damage and was able to back between a few tree's and get turned around! WOOHOOO no more backing down a narrow curvy trail in the dark!  So Buddy # 1 and Dad are ahead of us by about half an hour or so, but we are still able to keep in contact via CB. 

Buddy #2 and I are finally making some good time. Well as fast as you can go in the snow and dark when trying to avoid tree's in tight turns LOL  about 5 minutes down the the trail I see a tire on the side of the road. What the heck?? My first thought is it fell off  Dad's rig.  Maybe he hit a tree with it or something. I radio to Dad and buddy #1 and get no response so I keep going. If it had not been for the previous 3 or so hours I would have stopped and picked it up. Then another five or so minutes down the trail I notice buddy # 2 has a very shinny front tire. It took a second for it to sink in that his front passenger tire was missing! Yep his tire popped right off his rim. He never felt a thing. Although he did tell me, while we spend the next 45 minutes for so changing his tire, that he was wondering why his traction in the front was not as good as it had been. The tire doesn't appear to be damaged in any way, the rim it's self is in relative good shape too. I think if it had been on a trail not covered in snow and muddy slush his damage would have been worse. 

After buddy #2 and I figure out how to use a Hi-Lift together :-) neither one of us had actually used one. We have watched others but never done it ourselves. We got the front end up high enough to get his bottle jack under the axle so we could get it up high enough to get the tire on it. WOOHOOO that done we made pretty good time to the service road. I tell you what after that ordeal even those pot hole riddled roads felt like pavement! 

We had no cell service so we had to drive back down the Highway in my Jeep to find cell signal. Then only to be told it will be a 2 to 3 hour wait for a tow truck.  I think we waited about 1.5 hours so I'm not complaining to much. The poor guy was not dressed for the weather and was freezing his bum off. He was thankful for my over abundance of off road lighting. It made the job of taking the drive line off much easier. He was also thankful for the fact I carry tarps with us. He was able to get down under the Jeep with out getting all muddy and wet. 

So all in all it took us about 8 hours from time of stuck to time of entering our home. I have to say I learned a lot about recovery yesterday. As well as never skip taking that extra pair of socks! I will be adding a towel to my to-go bag as well. 

Buddy #1 and Buddy # 2 I owe you guys big time! Like I said dinner is on MOM!

See you on the Trails next time!