Sorry I don't have many at all, just got too busy doing other stuff.
PICS
Carnage Report:
NGAFJC--Rear Differential
Hendog: Broken Hub (good job of it too)
Downhill: Slipping clutch
Pillguy: front skid plate
Steenh, don't know for sure but clicking noise from transfer case
Tkinze: burnt air compressor
Well it was the first official ride of the Ga cruisers 2009 season and it got off to wet start for sure. Our convoy consisted of 8 trucks for the trek w/Eric playing lead and Kodek running tail gunner.
We made it to Morris Mountain by about 10:30 ATL time w/out issue only to find a very muddy parking lot and several trucks from the TTORA board. After somewhat figuring out what we were going to do Eric took the lead again as he was the only one who had been here before, the rest of were running blind.
We all poked along until we came upon "The Good/Bad/ and Ugly", John and I stopped to scope out the obstacle and while very wet it was calling my name. I picked my way up to the base of the steep rack face, planted the nose head on and promptly pushed up the rock face. I could hear my rear bumper contacting on the ground indicating the steepness. With the nose pointing up I gave her a little gas and the tires just spun, tried again and the same result. Backed down to reset and tried the obstacle one more with similar results. It was just too slick for the tires to grab so i backed down and quietly took the bypass.
We all bounced down to "The Gauntlet" (
i think) so we could stretch our legs a little. Eric, our trail leader took the first shot at it and after navigating his way through the rocks he made it near the top and final 2 rocks. Without any trouble Eric placed the front tires on the rocks and climbed over then gave it a lIttle gas to get the rear over and BANG, ggggrrrriiiiiindddddd........!
, that didn't sound good. Maybe it was just a rock or something, gave it a little gas again and ggggrrrriinnnddd, yep, it was trouble. The now notorious ring gear on the FJ-Cruisers had lived up to its reputation and Eric was out for the day. After winching Eric back to level ground John followed him back to the parking lot for some damage assessment.
Well now what? Watching Eric kind of deflated the group and things came to a quick halt, damn we need to do something. To Steenh's credit he shrugged off the carnage and jumped in his 40, quickly climbed the same spot Eric had just broken on so DD and Zack did the same. DD then went back for a harder line and successfully navigated the tougher line at the expense of one clutch.
It took awhile but we finally got going again, decided to just poke around and find some obstacles. We found ourselves headed back toward the parking lot so we opted to find a trail map and check on our downed drivers. After waiting for John to return from delivering Eric's truck to pavement we migrated over to "Soggy Bottom" in search of some real fun. It didn't take long.
Soggy Bottom is aptly named. It had rained all morning and part of the night before. Ahead of us lay just 2 deep ruts with a lot of standing water and a creek on either side.
. Armytaco and Zack had already scouted the trail for us with a "mixed" report. Chris had managed to get stuck in a creek and Zack had no winch so there was no option but to go in and get them. I leaned into the muck first and while avoiding the deepest hole maneuvered through to the other side .
Then came John who fell just short and had to winch with Steenh having similar results. This left 3 mainly stock trucks on the safe side. Pillguy decides to wade in with bone stock Fore-Runner which made it half way before he got stuck. The only way to get him out was to go back so I jumped in my truck w/ Olga as a copilot to get him. We got through the first hole and into the 2nd, didn't make it, back up, try again, didn't make again. Olga now wants to drive, okay have at it in my truck. (
have you ever watched someone else driver your truck)????
Several valiant attempts and still no luck (good try Olga) so it was my turn again. Our goal is to traverse the 1st and 2nd hole which we finally did, YAY. Now on the other side of hole 2 we try to climb out of the ruts to avoid the 3rd and "DEEP Hole" FAIL! The result is my truck buried to the hood in muck with water coming in Olga's door. She was a trooper but I was more than a little concerned as the computer was going under water. John works his way in behind me and winches me out of the water, then winches himself out of the rut by strapping to the only tree within 100 yards, a small 4" tree not 15 ft tall. I follow suit and get back to dry land. Now what? 2 trucks still on the other side, 3 in the middle with 1 stuck and everyone else on the wrong side. In comes Hendog and crew to drag Pillguy back out (Thanks)! With the group now fractured we had a problem, there was no good way to reconnect the smart guys with us so they unfortunately were left to fend for themselves, sorry guys.
By now it's getting late, we're tired and ready to go home. We're hunting for an exit from our side of Soggy Bottom without luck. After 30-45 mins we opt to make our own trail out by finding a small soggy creek with a tree about 100' away. John buries the nose of his 40 in the middle, pulls cable and winches to the other side, 1 down 2 to go. I'm next and bury the nose in the creek, Johns pulls me through, Steenh does the same and now along comes the late group. Have to do the same for these trucks and now we had 8 trucks across and heading back to the parking lot to dry out and go home.
Got home about 9 PM and had a great time.
with everyone tackling morris mountain. As everyone said it was very muddy and I obviously go even muddier as I tried to tackle the bog area that was a challenge to all.
CruisinGA
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