Probably not one of my brighter ideas, but I wanted to get back to this incredible little camp spot I found a year ago, but this time bring the new trailer down....
Took an 1.5 hours to drive to the trailhead, which here in PR is an eternity when most lakes are only a 30 minute drive, and then from the trail head down to the campsite is maybe 500m, through an old, very twisty, logging slash that wound its way down hill. That took 8 hours.....
Started off winching a stump out of the way right at the entrance which I new would be an issue, one problem solved.
Around the next corner was two small stumps on either side that needed to be weaved through, but only after stacking a bunch of rocks to get the trailer over one. One more problem solved.
Around the next corner was, what I had remembered incorrectly anyways was another stump on an off camber slope. It was around the next corner, but was mostly out of the way now. Just needed some encouragement to get it all out of the way, and fill in some holes, Another problem solved.
Around the next, 90 deg corner, was the real problem. A huge boulder that I could not make the turn with the trailer. I was rather committed at this point, and the only way to get around was to unhitch, drive the 80 down and around into the slash area below, winch the trailer sideways, and also try to winch the boulder out.
Unhitching was a bitch. The trailer has a max coupler hitch which works great, but are a little finicky to align even when on flat ground. I was not on flat ground. I was on a hill, truck 90deg to the trailer and all twisted up. The trailer has an awesome "Ark Xo" jack, the handle on it is not. It broke. The truck was so twisted up I couldnt open my swing outs to get the hi lift off, or open the hatch to get tools. I was kinda ****ed, or so I thought. We managed (oh yeah, the wife was with me
) to wiggle things loose eventually, get the 80 down below and was able to winch the trailer over (twice) and then tried that boulder, it was pretty big. To my amazement, the old Titan 12k moved it! And also the other slightly smaller boulder below it.
Now with the trailer somewhat aligned, we attempted to re-hitch and probably spend another hour or so trying to do that. It was a bitch and could not get the pin aligned, Quite exhausted now, I made the silly decision to drag the trailer down un-pinned (the max Coupler kind of cradles in its mating part), we got it down past the rock section and then it came off, plowing in the dirt. It was so dug I couldn't get my jack on anywhere to lift it, so turned the truck around and winch it up and tugged it backwards for a bit until some levelish ground. Hours again later and we finally made it into camp a little after 8 pm, exhausted.
Spent most of the next day relaxing, watching herring feed in one of the two bays beside us. Started packing up in the afternoon, decided I should winch those rocks out some more (which turned out to be a rare great idea), and only had to winch up one small section that had a short ledge which was no issue when going down. Only took 40 minutes to get out.
Great spot, but I think I'll just RTT it next time.
The trailer did rather magnificent tho, just two slightly tweaked checker plated running board lips which can be bent back out.
I did also smash the 80s rear window on some branches while backing up into some scrub. Done it a million times, but finally caught one.
Took an 1.5 hours to drive to the trailhead, which here in PR is an eternity when most lakes are only a 30 minute drive, and then from the trail head down to the campsite is maybe 500m, through an old, very twisty, logging slash that wound its way down hill. That took 8 hours.....
Started off winching a stump out of the way right at the entrance which I new would be an issue, one problem solved.
Around the next corner was two small stumps on either side that needed to be weaved through, but only after stacking a bunch of rocks to get the trailer over one. One more problem solved.
Around the next corner was, what I had remembered incorrectly anyways was another stump on an off camber slope. It was around the next corner, but was mostly out of the way now. Just needed some encouragement to get it all out of the way, and fill in some holes, Another problem solved.
Around the next, 90 deg corner, was the real problem. A huge boulder that I could not make the turn with the trailer. I was rather committed at this point, and the only way to get around was to unhitch, drive the 80 down and around into the slash area below, winch the trailer sideways, and also try to winch the boulder out.
Unhitching was a bitch. The trailer has a max coupler hitch which works great, but are a little finicky to align even when on flat ground. I was not on flat ground. I was on a hill, truck 90deg to the trailer and all twisted up. The trailer has an awesome "Ark Xo" jack, the handle on it is not. It broke. The truck was so twisted up I couldnt open my swing outs to get the hi lift off, or open the hatch to get tools. I was kinda ****ed, or so I thought. We managed (oh yeah, the wife was with me
) to wiggle things loose eventually, get the 80 down below and was able to winch the trailer over (twice) and then tried that boulder, it was pretty big. To my amazement, the old Titan 12k moved it! And also the other slightly smaller boulder below it.Now with the trailer somewhat aligned, we attempted to re-hitch and probably spend another hour or so trying to do that. It was a bitch and could not get the pin aligned, Quite exhausted now, I made the silly decision to drag the trailer down un-pinned (the max Coupler kind of cradles in its mating part), we got it down past the rock section and then it came off, plowing in the dirt. It was so dug I couldn't get my jack on anywhere to lift it, so turned the truck around and winch it up and tugged it backwards for a bit until some levelish ground. Hours again later and we finally made it into camp a little after 8 pm, exhausted.
Spent most of the next day relaxing, watching herring feed in one of the two bays beside us. Started packing up in the afternoon, decided I should winch those rocks out some more (which turned out to be a rare great idea), and only had to winch up one small section that had a short ledge which was no issue when going down. Only took 40 minutes to get out.
Great spot, but I think I'll just RTT it next time.
The trailer did rather magnificent tho, just two slightly tweaked checker plated running board lips which can be bent back out.
I did also smash the 80s rear window on some branches while backing up into some scrub. Done it a million times, but finally caught one.
