redrider2911
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Yakima, WA
Let me know if I have some of the facts wrong, I wrote this in a hurry.
Alright. So we didnt have as big of a turn out this year probably because of a combination of gas prices, trail/road closures and such. Still had about 30? rigs though.
THURSDAY
We headed up and got to the little naches campground around 11:00. Set up camp real quick and went and BS'd with the guys. Around 11:30 we set out for a quick trip to funny rocks. Takeing 410 down to 1701 (Bald Mt.) up to the main entrance of 694. Once we got to the rocks I found that I had ripped my passenger brake caliper off the bracket so we pinches the line and we played around the rocks for a while. It was a short session for me as I ended up blowing up my rear aussie and breaking my drivers side u joint and ears attempting "the ledge"? (2nd run from the right when standing at the base of the rocks) . As I changed out a donated spare shaft our NW Chapter Pres Dustin (Torx) attempted the "snag line"? (run to the right of the crack). He almost came over backwards and had to run a winch line to him to pull him up. We headed back to camp taking 694 back down and heading out the middle entrance (trail number?). Once back we tore apart my rear end and deemed it wasnt fixable, have to send it back to aussie.
FRIDAY
I woke up at 7:30 and headed back to town in a hurry to fix my disc brakes and put spider gears back in my carrier. Had to wait for Webers to fix my torn brake line and after putting my spiders in the carrier I decided I didnt want to run the rest of the weekend open in the rear. So I welded it up. Got back to camp a little late around 11:00 to find that a group had already left for the "epic run". Lots of the guys had been waiting around trying to decide what to do so we came up with a plan to run 676 (Kaner Flatts) up to the ridge to try and meet them. We had about 11 rigs so it was slow going. Once we got to the top all the guys except 3 of us decided to had back down 1903 to camp. We kept going and met up with another jeep club at Lily Pond. They said Shoestring was imapassible and everyone had been taking 617. Assuming thats where the guys on the epic run had gone we took 617 to 590 down to the top of 1708 (Milk creek). This was all real fast going considering we were down to 3 rigs. We headed up milk creek to 694 and the fingers hill climb finally ending up at funny rocks.
At the rocks we played on a few lines and decided to check out moon rocks. Moon rocks has quite a bit of snow in the deeper valleys but we have seen it melting off quick the last few days. By the time we got back over to funny rocks the guys on the epic run had finally arrived and we were just in time to see Darren (goblazers) fall into the crack. Suprisingly he escaped with little body damaged. I then ran the crack and came back down to do a line far to the left of the crack dragging rear diff the whole way up the rocks. Finished that up thanks to some great spotting then started eyeing the snagline. I saw what happened to Dustin when he attempted it so I decided to hook my winch around my front housing to act as a suck down. Was almost out of it when all of a sudden my torque converter wouldnt grab anymore. Frustrated being so close I backed up a little more to bump it but the trans just wouldnt push it. I waited a few minutes as they went to go get a strap to help. Finally trying it one last time I made it up while they were just bringing the strap over. I dont know if I was low on fluid or if I over worked the trans or what. We all headed back down to camp taking the usual 694 to Bald Mt. in time for dinner.
SATURDAY
After talking to some of the guys friday night we really wanted to do a more difficult run. We put together a group of 4 capable rigs and drivers.
-Me in my 91 xj, 7" long arm 3 link, rear leaf, locked 30/44, 35 KM2s, 10,000lb winch.
-Kaleb (catchmytalon) in his 94 xj, 7" long arm 3 link, rear leaf, locked 44 full widths, 35 Toyos, 8,000lb winch.
-Joe (josefxj97) in his 97 xj, 4.5" short arm 4 link, rear leaf, locked 30/8.25, 33 MTRs, no winch.
-Brandon (98cherokeesport) in his 98 xj, 8" leaf sprung front, rear tri 4 link, locked 44/60 full widths, 35 MTRs, 8,000lb winch, hybrid exo cage.
The girls got in the drivers seats. Melissa with me, Bailey with Brandon, Kristen with Kaleb. To try and make the trip quick (ha!) we cruzed up 1903 to the top and finished Kaner out to Lily Pond and continued up to 688? We started hitting pretty good snow drifts so we aired down to 5 PSI and the guys got back in the drivers seats. The group stopped as I fixed a blown trans line and contemplated heading back down and taking 617 again to the rocks. Being the stubborn adrenaline junky I can sometimes be (sorry guys) I played a big hand in convincing the guys to push forward knowing that it had to get better sometime. Joe ended up tearing off a valve stem and luckily we had 1 spare. Took no time to break the bead, install it, and reseat the tire. Soon we couldnt hardly see the trail and relied on half melted tracks from guys that did this run a week ago as well as looking for bark rubbed off the trees. Not sure how but I blew my first bead hear but easily reseated it with Brandons OBA. All was going decent and we came to a good up hill section. The snow was real slushy and when packed turned to a sheet of ice. We had to winch and come up with creative ways to snatchblock Joe up the obstacles. Not another mile up the trail I blew another bead trying to winch out of a soft tree well but quickly got it reseated as the guys worked up the hill. Once to the top we could see previous tracks taking a left onto 308 (shoestring) down a STEEP 200 yard hill. Sliding sideways down these embankments and almost going end over end a couple times kept things interesting. Once hitting this there was no turning back. It was there that Joe tore off his 2nd valve stem! Having no more spares we mounted his spare BFG and continued on hoping for the best. Here we got to a promising clearing but found that it quickly turned back into the tight trees for a nice switch back section. After we came to the new shoestring reroute there was a nice side hill ahead and sliding into the trees was inevitable. It now being 8:00? and everyone starting to get a little uneasy wondering if this was ever going to get better we had a group meeting. After deciding as a group that it would be more work to winch back up the 200 yard decent to head back we kept pushing forward through the trees. We worked hard in teams of 3 pulling cable and moving snatchblocks to make quick work of getting everyone through. After this section mine and Kalebs drivers doors wouldnt open because the pinch seam had been folded over the top. After a sharp left and down hill slant then a quick run to the top we had reached the flat rock quary area and headed back down to the original shoestring trail. The tempature started to cool and the consistency of the snow improved. Picking up the pace we were off and rallying down the trail making better time. Both me and Kaleb lost our rear driver side glass on some trees and Joe lost his hatch glass somehow. We came to an area in the trees where we couldnt tell exactly which direction the trail led. While breaking trail I seemed to get hung up on something and couldnt shake it. I had Melissa check out the passenger side to check only to tell me "hun, your rear tire is laying beside the Jeep..." I had lost ALL lug nuts and ALL the studs had been sheered off. While the guys were hiking around trying to find signs of the trail I quickly removed the disc brake and rotor. I was able to get 1 stud off my drivers rear but not any more without dismounting tires. Luckily we found my brother had a old broken unit bearing in the back of his jeep complete with studs. I grabbed those and a lug nut off each tire as soon as the guys found the trail and we were on our way. Brandon now leading we mashed through 4 foot snow drifts and up some decent hills, the snow now getting patchy in areas once we hit tripod flat. Having no more issues eventually getting to solid ground we hit 694 and reached funny rocks around 1:30. Gave enough time for Joe and Chris (his passenger) to call home (they were supposed to be home in Bonney Lake by 10:00 that night) then we hit 694 the rest of the way down to Bald Mt. and reached camp around 2:30/3:00. We missed out on the raffle and the NW Chapter dinner and worried our fellow chapter members a little but we still had fun. Was it worth it? I still dont know. lol
Specs of the trip courtesy of Joe's GPS
TOTAL DISTANCE:______________________49.82 MILES
TOTAL TIME:__________________________17 HRS 40 MIN 17 SEC
TOTAL MOVING TIME:___________________ 12 HRS 5 MIN 57 SEC
AVERAGE SPEED:_______________________2.82 MILES/HOUR
AVERAGE MOVING SPEED:_______________ 4.12 MILES/HOUR
ELEVATION GAIN:______________________ 7,016 FT
MIN ELEVATION:_______________________ 2,125 FT
MAX ELEVATION:_______________________6,161 FT
MIN GRADE:___________________________-19.2%
MAX GRADE:__________________________ 30.3%
Alright. So we didnt have as big of a turn out this year probably because of a combination of gas prices, trail/road closures and such. Still had about 30? rigs though.
THURSDAY
We headed up and got to the little naches campground around 11:00. Set up camp real quick and went and BS'd with the guys. Around 11:30 we set out for a quick trip to funny rocks. Takeing 410 down to 1701 (Bald Mt.) up to the main entrance of 694. Once we got to the rocks I found that I had ripped my passenger brake caliper off the bracket so we pinches the line and we played around the rocks for a while. It was a short session for me as I ended up blowing up my rear aussie and breaking my drivers side u joint and ears attempting "the ledge"? (2nd run from the right when standing at the base of the rocks) . As I changed out a donated spare shaft our NW Chapter Pres Dustin (Torx) attempted the "snag line"? (run to the right of the crack). He almost came over backwards and had to run a winch line to him to pull him up. We headed back to camp taking 694 back down and heading out the middle entrance (trail number?). Once back we tore apart my rear end and deemed it wasnt fixable, have to send it back to aussie.
FRIDAY
I woke up at 7:30 and headed back to town in a hurry to fix my disc brakes and put spider gears back in my carrier. Had to wait for Webers to fix my torn brake line and after putting my spiders in the carrier I decided I didnt want to run the rest of the weekend open in the rear. So I welded it up. Got back to camp a little late around 11:00 to find that a group had already left for the "epic run". Lots of the guys had been waiting around trying to decide what to do so we came up with a plan to run 676 (Kaner Flatts) up to the ridge to try and meet them. We had about 11 rigs so it was slow going. Once we got to the top all the guys except 3 of us decided to had back down 1903 to camp. We kept going and met up with another jeep club at Lily Pond. They said Shoestring was imapassible and everyone had been taking 617. Assuming thats where the guys on the epic run had gone we took 617 to 590 down to the top of 1708 (Milk creek). This was all real fast going considering we were down to 3 rigs. We headed up milk creek to 694 and the fingers hill climb finally ending up at funny rocks.
At the rocks we played on a few lines and decided to check out moon rocks. Moon rocks has quite a bit of snow in the deeper valleys but we have seen it melting off quick the last few days. By the time we got back over to funny rocks the guys on the epic run had finally arrived and we were just in time to see Darren (goblazers) fall into the crack. Suprisingly he escaped with little body damaged. I then ran the crack and came back down to do a line far to the left of the crack dragging rear diff the whole way up the rocks. Finished that up thanks to some great spotting then started eyeing the snagline. I saw what happened to Dustin when he attempted it so I decided to hook my winch around my front housing to act as a suck down. Was almost out of it when all of a sudden my torque converter wouldnt grab anymore. Frustrated being so close I backed up a little more to bump it but the trans just wouldnt push it. I waited a few minutes as they went to go get a strap to help. Finally trying it one last time I made it up while they were just bringing the strap over. I dont know if I was low on fluid or if I over worked the trans or what. We all headed back down to camp taking the usual 694 to Bald Mt. in time for dinner.
SATURDAY
After talking to some of the guys friday night we really wanted to do a more difficult run. We put together a group of 4 capable rigs and drivers.
-Me in my 91 xj, 7" long arm 3 link, rear leaf, locked 30/44, 35 KM2s, 10,000lb winch.
-Kaleb (catchmytalon) in his 94 xj, 7" long arm 3 link, rear leaf, locked 44 full widths, 35 Toyos, 8,000lb winch.
-Joe (josefxj97) in his 97 xj, 4.5" short arm 4 link, rear leaf, locked 30/8.25, 33 MTRs, no winch.
-Brandon (98cherokeesport) in his 98 xj, 8" leaf sprung front, rear tri 4 link, locked 44/60 full widths, 35 MTRs, 8,000lb winch, hybrid exo cage.
The girls got in the drivers seats. Melissa with me, Bailey with Brandon, Kristen with Kaleb. To try and make the trip quick (ha!) we cruzed up 1903 to the top and finished Kaner out to Lily Pond and continued up to 688? We started hitting pretty good snow drifts so we aired down to 5 PSI and the guys got back in the drivers seats. The group stopped as I fixed a blown trans line and contemplated heading back down and taking 617 again to the rocks. Being the stubborn adrenaline junky I can sometimes be (sorry guys) I played a big hand in convincing the guys to push forward knowing that it had to get better sometime. Joe ended up tearing off a valve stem and luckily we had 1 spare. Took no time to break the bead, install it, and reseat the tire. Soon we couldnt hardly see the trail and relied on half melted tracks from guys that did this run a week ago as well as looking for bark rubbed off the trees. Not sure how but I blew my first bead hear but easily reseated it with Brandons OBA. All was going decent and we came to a good up hill section. The snow was real slushy and when packed turned to a sheet of ice. We had to winch and come up with creative ways to snatchblock Joe up the obstacles. Not another mile up the trail I blew another bead trying to winch out of a soft tree well but quickly got it reseated as the guys worked up the hill. Once to the top we could see previous tracks taking a left onto 308 (shoestring) down a STEEP 200 yard hill. Sliding sideways down these embankments and almost going end over end a couple times kept things interesting. Once hitting this there was no turning back. It was there that Joe tore off his 2nd valve stem! Having no more spares we mounted his spare BFG and continued on hoping for the best. Here we got to a promising clearing but found that it quickly turned back into the tight trees for a nice switch back section. After we came to the new shoestring reroute there was a nice side hill ahead and sliding into the trees was inevitable. It now being 8:00? and everyone starting to get a little uneasy wondering if this was ever going to get better we had a group meeting. After deciding as a group that it would be more work to winch back up the 200 yard decent to head back we kept pushing forward through the trees. We worked hard in teams of 3 pulling cable and moving snatchblocks to make quick work of getting everyone through. After this section mine and Kalebs drivers doors wouldnt open because the pinch seam had been folded over the top. After a sharp left and down hill slant then a quick run to the top we had reached the flat rock quary area and headed back down to the original shoestring trail. The tempature started to cool and the consistency of the snow improved. Picking up the pace we were off and rallying down the trail making better time. Both me and Kaleb lost our rear driver side glass on some trees and Joe lost his hatch glass somehow. We came to an area in the trees where we couldnt tell exactly which direction the trail led. While breaking trail I seemed to get hung up on something and couldnt shake it. I had Melissa check out the passenger side to check only to tell me "hun, your rear tire is laying beside the Jeep..." I had lost ALL lug nuts and ALL the studs had been sheered off. While the guys were hiking around trying to find signs of the trail I quickly removed the disc brake and rotor. I was able to get 1 stud off my drivers rear but not any more without dismounting tires. Luckily we found my brother had a old broken unit bearing in the back of his jeep complete with studs. I grabbed those and a lug nut off each tire as soon as the guys found the trail and we were on our way. Brandon now leading we mashed through 4 foot snow drifts and up some decent hills, the snow now getting patchy in areas once we hit tripod flat. Having no more issues eventually getting to solid ground we hit 694 and reached funny rocks around 1:30. Gave enough time for Joe and Chris (his passenger) to call home (they were supposed to be home in Bonney Lake by 10:00 that night) then we hit 694 the rest of the way down to Bald Mt. and reached camp around 2:30/3:00. We missed out on the raffle and the NW Chapter dinner and worried our fellow chapter members a little but we still had fun. Was it worth it? I still dont know. lol
Specs of the trip courtesy of Joe's GPS
TOTAL DISTANCE:______________________49.82 MILES
TOTAL TIME:__________________________17 HRS 40 MIN 17 SEC
TOTAL MOVING TIME:___________________ 12 HRS 5 MIN 57 SEC
AVERAGE SPEED:_______________________2.82 MILES/HOUR
AVERAGE MOVING SPEED:_______________ 4.12 MILES/HOUR
ELEVATION GAIN:______________________ 7,016 FT
MIN ELEVATION:_______________________ 2,125 FT
MAX ELEVATION:_______________________6,161 FT
MIN GRADE:___________________________-19.2%
MAX GRADE:__________________________ 30.3%
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