Dang y'all! Go hard or go home!! I like that !!
Blanca Peak August 23rd-24th 2014
- Thread starter karas
- Start date
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Huge props to rocktoy industries, only toy specific shop in Denver for loaning me the links. We called everywhere and had no luck finding these in stock. I'll be swapping those out for some beefy links this week from rti.
It was awesome that my old wheeling bud happens to work next door to rti at nisstec and was up for the 450 mile parts run adventure.
And I'm super thankful to Matt and is wife for the 4:30am hike back to jaws 3 for the trail swap While she not only watched my kids at the camp but had all my camping gear packed up for me when we made it back. Matt and I honed are mechanic skills in the dirt. What we lacked in talent we made up for in creative trail fixes to get the rear axle lined up for the new links. My kids and I had a great time thanks for letting us tag along.
It was awesome that my old wheeling bud happens to work next door to rti at nisstec and was up for the 450 mile parts run adventure.
And I'm super thankful to Matt and is wife for the 4:30am hike back to jaws 3 for the trail swap While she not only watched my kids at the camp but had all my camping gear packed up for me when we made it back. Matt and I honed are mechanic skills in the dirt. What we lacked in talent we made up for in creative trail fixes to get the rear axle lined up for the new links. My kids and I had a great time thanks for letting us tag along.
- Thread starter
- #103
How about some pics
- Thread starter
- #104
Laddy up.jaws 1
Jess up jaws 2
Jess up jaws 2
- Thread starter
- #105
Me on jaws 2.5
Laddy on jaws 3
Laddy on jaws 3
- Thread starter
- #106
The lake
Helping wrench. We got up at 4:30 to head up to fix it so we could reunite with the group on the way down.
Helping wrench. We got up at 4:30 to head up to fix it so we could reunite with the group on the way down.
- Thread starter
- #107
Since I didn't have to drive I could actually take some pics. This trail was pretty tough that I didn't cAre to take pics as there was to much going on.
I call this a man taking a picture of a man
Here is what he is taking a pic of
I call this a man taking a picture of a man
Here is what he is taking a pic of
- Thread starter
- #108
Nice rock
- Thread starter
- #109
I am sure more will have pics
- Thread starter
- #110
To easy
I have vids of Vic on 1 and 2.5, and a little after jaws 3. Jess coming down just above 3 and Patrick (yellow FJ?) On 2.5. Let me see what it takes for goobertube account or I can just mail a DVD to someone.
Still surprised that the links got hit but not much else, at least that I know of...
Still surprised that the links got hit but not much else, at least that I know of...
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- Thread starter
- #112
Wall after jaws 3,
these last 2 pics are from Jess
- Thread starter
- #113
Big rock ledge was the problem. It took us a while to get that back together. It is way easier to do in the garage then on the trail that is for sure. I will have more pics when I download the wife's camera tomorrow.
Maaaaaaan am I jealous! I feel like I haven't been wheeling in forever and I'm stuck on duty until 830 in the morning and had to miss out on all the action! Looks like you guys had a great time, even with the mishaps. Looks like a solid group of rigs too .
I did get to see some carnage of my own on Saturday. But my wife taking a digger off a mountain bike was far less exciting than the pictures you have posted lol
I did get to see some carnage of my own on Saturday. But my wife taking a digger off a mountain bike was far less exciting than the pictures you have posted lol
AWESOME PICS Y'ALL!
Looks like a very fun trail! This is the kind of wheeling i'm all about!
Can't wait to run it!
Looks like a very fun trail! This is the kind of wheeling i'm all about!
Can't wait to run it!
- Thread starter
- #116
I think my wife likes the bronco just as much as she likes my fj. I may be a little jealous.
- Thread starter
- #117
Lined up after jaws 2
- Thread starter
- #118
Coming down jaws 2 it was Jess, Brett, and I. I tried this line and got turtled and as I was backing up I started to slide passenger. It didn't feel good and since this is the death spot I had Bret winch me back. I sometimes am too careful but I didn't want to go over the edge.
I thought the first line would have worked but my little tires and no travel limited me. So I had to go closer to the edge. And get real tippy feeling.
I thought the first line would have worked but my little tires and no travel limited me. So I had to go closer to the edge. And get real tippy feeling.
- Thread starter
- #119
Sorry if I didn't get pics of some of you but pics were not on my mind. I will sift through video and I am pretty sure I have video of Brett and Ryan doing some stuff.
Well a sort of a report anyhow. I got to leave work early so we got loaded up and headed out. We met Laddy and Jess at fort garland, gads up, and tried to find the trail. We got a little lost but eventually found it. We started down and passed a 4 runner which turned out to be justin and his son link, Luke's buddy who was gonna go with his group after our little group. We found a camping spot, set up our tents, and got the fire going. Jess hung out for a while and then she left to her hotel as she doesn't enjoy sleeping in a tent and we hit the hay. We got up early and packed up camp and I headed down to meet everyone. I thought we were doing 2 groups but everyone showed up at the same time so we had one big group. We started on our way and everyone at camp joined in and we kept chugging along. We stopped to tighten Jess's upper control arms as they came real loose right away. Then Justin's front drive shaft fell off and mr. Wonderful came to the rescue. He actually had Toyota bolts in his jeep, what a guy. We got going and I think it was still before jaws 1 but justin almost drove off the trail as his tie rod was severely Bent. He got it off and it took Luke ,justin, and a little bit of my help to bend it back using his slider. Back on our way. We got through jaws 1 and the solid axels defiantly had an advantage on every obstacle. Jaws 2 Brett had the craziest line but it seems to be the line if your big enough to go there. I would have been there half the day stacking rocks to go that side. Everyone did good but I had to pull cable as maybe it got wet and I have no front locker or solid axel. At least that is what I am gonna say anyhow. There was a spot before jaws 2.5 I got hung up on (wife was spotting me) but after that I did 2.5 with no issue. It's hard to see everyone since the trail is so tight and we had a big group but everyone else I am sure made short work of it. Then Laddy took out his rear lower control arms on jaws 3. We put him in a convenient camp spot that was near by so we could work on it. I took the bypass over to him so I never did jaws 3 but It didn't look bad to me at all. He is lucky he didn't break a drive shaft as his axel was pointing up at about 45 degrees with bent trailing arms. Everyone continued on as we tried to figure out how we were going to get parts. Couldn't really do anything without them. Only place that had them was a dealership in Denver and they want 250$ for one. So I called rock toy industries, the same guys that did my gears, because I knew they were open at least until noon on the weekends. They have a pair that they use as a template but wanted them back at no charge. So now we just had to find a parts runner. We had a few people lined up but laddy's buddy came through. Laddy's buddy Chris started out fom Denver with the parts. Now we had a plan in motion. Jess really wanted to go to the top and I agreed that we had come that far we at least needed to do that. She went up the wall after jaws 3 and her driver tire came off the ground about 3 foot. My wife said your not going to do that are you. I found an easier line but the wife decided to walk to the top with dog and kids anyhow. Since laddy's truck was disabled he walked with his kids to the top as well. We didn't spend a lot of time up there as we needed to get down and set up camp and both Jess and Brett wanted to head home anyhow. Laddy rode with Brett,I took his kids, and Jess took his camping gear for the ride down. Brett dropped of Laddy and his pack and chugged on home. We Found a better camp spot closer to jaws 1, set up camp, and ate some food. I hopped in with Jess and headed down to meet Chris from nisstech to help him find the way and get more gear out of the wife's jeep. He brought his supped up Nissan x-terra, very nice. Picked up my gear and we headed up to camp. We tried pulling my links for him to use so he wouldn't booger up rock toys but mine were seized up. Well we would just have to take it easy coming down with the same week factory ones. We got to bed about midnight and had to wake up at 4:30 so we could make good time. I didn't really want to drive through all the obstacles again so we had a bit of a hike on our hands. It was a 40 minute drive to get to jaws 1 where I left my car. We hiked the last mile which was a 1000 foot elevation gain carrying all my tools, water, and food. Luckily we left my high lift jack in his car the night before because we sure used it. Took a while to get the axel right but we finished just as Vic came down the mountain. Put everything away and hopped in with the group again. I had to get out to spot and stack so we would protect the borrowed parts from rock toy. We made it all the way down without any problems and said our good byes. I stopped at camp and got our stuff together and headed to fort garlin for some awesome well deserved pizza. I had a blast and so did my family. Thanks to everyone for any help provided during the trip. Weather it was spotting or any trail repairs that happened.
Brett came up with a great idea after we had our parts on the way. He suggested cutting the high lift down to use as links. It already has holes in it he said. I am pretty sure that it would have worked. It would have been noisy but if we would have thought of that we would have done it. Next time if that happens that will be the fix. Good idea Brett. Thanks for calling to make sure we got down too. I appreciate it.
It was a pretty big coincidence but laddy's buddy Chris was on the summer fun run with me. That is the run I did on chinaman's about 4 years ago with the fj cruiser magazine and Charles wells. He had the toy tech 4 runner that helped the explorer and Chevy pick up off the trail. His shop is also conveniently located right next to rock toys shop. He is a pretty awesome dude.
Well a sort of a report anyhow. I got to leave work early so we got loaded up and headed out. We met Laddy and Jess at fort garland, gads up, and tried to find the trail. We got a little lost but eventually found it. We started down and passed a 4 runner which turned out to be justin and his son link, Luke's buddy who was gonna go with his group after our little group. We found a camping spot, set up our tents, and got the fire going. Jess hung out for a while and then she left to her hotel as she doesn't enjoy sleeping in a tent and we hit the hay. We got up early and packed up camp and I headed down to meet everyone. I thought we were doing 2 groups but everyone showed up at the same time so we had one big group. We started on our way and everyone at camp joined in and we kept chugging along. We stopped to tighten Jess's upper control arms as they came real loose right away. Then Justin's front drive shaft fell off and mr. Wonderful came to the rescue. He actually had Toyota bolts in his jeep, what a guy. We got going and I think it was still before jaws 1 but justin almost drove off the trail as his tie rod was severely Bent. He got it off and it took Luke ,justin, and a little bit of my help to bend it back using his slider. Back on our way. We got through jaws 1 and the solid axels defiantly had an advantage on every obstacle. Jaws 2 Brett had the craziest line but it seems to be the line if your big enough to go there. I would have been there half the day stacking rocks to go that side. Everyone did good but I had to pull cable as maybe it got wet and I have no front locker or solid axel. At least that is what I am gonna say anyhow. There was a spot before jaws 2.5 I got hung up on (wife was spotting me) but after that I did 2.5 with no issue. It's hard to see everyone since the trail is so tight and we had a big group but everyone else I am sure made short work of it. Then Laddy took out his rear lower control arms on jaws 3. We put him in a convenient camp spot that was near by so we could work on it. I took the bypass over to him so I never did jaws 3 but It didn't look bad to me at all. He is lucky he didn't break a drive shaft as his axel was pointing up at about 45 degrees with bent trailing arms. Everyone continued on as we tried to figure out how we were going to get parts. Couldn't really do anything without them. Only place that had them was a dealership in Denver and they want 250$ for one. So I called rock toy industries, the same guys that did my gears, because I knew they were open at least until noon on the weekends. They have a pair that they use as a template but wanted them back at no charge. So now we just had to find a parts runner. We had a few people lined up but laddy's buddy came through. Laddy's buddy Chris started out fom Denver with the parts. Now we had a plan in motion. Jess really wanted to go to the top and I agreed that we had come that far we at least needed to do that. She went up the wall after jaws 3 and her driver tire came off the ground about 3 foot. My wife said your not going to do that are you. I found an easier line but the wife decided to walk to the top with dog and kids anyhow. Since laddy's truck was disabled he walked with his kids to the top as well. We didn't spend a lot of time up there as we needed to get down and set up camp and both Jess and Brett wanted to head home anyhow. Laddy rode with Brett,I took his kids, and Jess took his camping gear for the ride down. Brett dropped of Laddy and his pack and chugged on home. We Found a better camp spot closer to jaws 1, set up camp, and ate some food. I hopped in with Jess and headed down to meet Chris from nisstech to help him find the way and get more gear out of the wife's jeep. He brought his supped up Nissan x-terra, very nice. Picked up my gear and we headed up to camp. We tried pulling my links for him to use so he wouldn't booger up rock toys but mine were seized up. Well we would just have to take it easy coming down with the same week factory ones. We got to bed about midnight and had to wake up at 4:30 so we could make good time. I didn't really want to drive through all the obstacles again so we had a bit of a hike on our hands. It was a 40 minute drive to get to jaws 1 where I left my car. We hiked the last mile which was a 1000 foot elevation gain carrying all my tools, water, and food. Luckily we left my high lift jack in his car the night before because we sure used it. Took a while to get the axel right but we finished just as Vic came down the mountain. Put everything away and hopped in with the group again. I had to get out to spot and stack so we would protect the borrowed parts from rock toy. We made it all the way down without any problems and said our good byes. I stopped at camp and got our stuff together and headed to fort garlin for some awesome well deserved pizza. I had a blast and so did my family. Thanks to everyone for any help provided during the trip. Weather it was spotting or any trail repairs that happened.
Brett came up with a great idea after we had our parts on the way. He suggested cutting the high lift down to use as links. It already has holes in it he said. I am pretty sure that it would have worked. It would have been noisy but if we would have thought of that we would have done it. Next time if that happens that will be the fix. Good idea Brett. Thanks for calling to make sure we got down too. I appreciate it.
It was a pretty big coincidence but laddy's buddy Chris was on the summer fun run with me. That is the run I did on chinaman's about 4 years ago with the fj cruiser magazine and Charles wells. He had the toy tech 4 runner that helped the explorer and Chevy pick up off the trail. His shop is also conveniently located right next to rock toys shop. He is a pretty awesome dude.
Great trip report, thanks Matt--that pretty much sums it up. As usual, I didn't get many pictures. I wasn't ready to get back to civilization, and hate highway driving , so I ended up splitting off from my group and headed out Medano Pass. Filled my rig and gas can at the store by the park gate and headed out solo. 3 bucks to get into the dunes, had a great time out there too!
