Friday evening John (Bronzewyrm) joined us at camp. A few of us didn't have enough excitement for the day, so Ryan led us on a quick night run on Powerline, Hood Raiser, and Hogs Back.
Saturday morning rolled around rather quickly, and a few more people joined the group. Joey (FiveNDime) brought out his XJ for it's first wheeling shakedown run. Nick (nickfast) came out in the new TJ, and Dave (99redxjbuilder) brought out the YJ.
We rolled out around 10:00 with a group of 9 rigs. Cedar Tree trail was first on the list to ease us into the day. A rock snuck up on Joey (FiveNDime) and tagged his drag link, which put a nice quality bend in it. We stopped at the end of the first section to try and fix it. We used a jack to get the drag link pretty close to straight. It was still drivable, but definitely was a bummer.
We caught back up with the group, and made our way to Firebreak Five again. The bad luck streak still wasn't done with Joey though. Coming down a short hill he discovered he no longer had brakes. Turns out the brake line tried to hitch a ride on the lug of the tire. After another quick trail repair we were on out way again.
Luckily no more issues for the rest of the day. The group carried on up the trail, and had lunch at Saddle Up. Some of us ran it down.
After Saddle Up it was onto Airplane Hill where Rod and I decided to settle our competition. Here's Dave giving the filter a go. Without a front locker it just wasn't happening.
I didn't get any pictures of the main obstacle in the middle, but both Rod and I made it up pretty easily. It was so dry, traction wasn't even an issue. As long as you kept your diffs clear, you were golden.
After Airplane hill we dropped down to Hogsback, and then had a long dusty drive back to camp. Most people left Saturday afternoon/evening, but Dave, Rod, and I stayed one more night.
We somehow had the brightest camp fire in the campground that night.
Like I said before, this was another great trip. Thanks to all who made it out.
