Apparently I've been elected to do this so here goes 
Team Nightfoam, which consisted of just Nightfoam headed up directly from Thanksgiving dinner and arrived up at Horse Camp shortly after dark to find RedJeep 2.0 sleeping in his truck and a fire burning in the pit. With a little help from Nick, I got my camp set up then we hung around the campfire waiting for others to arrive. Eventually, Scott showed up and later, StreetPirate and then Bronzy and the wife.
We woke Friday morning to rain, the theme of the day, it didn't stop until early Saturday morning. It was a long, slow road to getting on the trail, with Torx amd Alyssa rolling into camp and hanging around for a good while before we eventually hit the trail after 11:30. We ran Powerline then University Firepower then headed for Firebreak 5. Scott quickly broke off his passenger side mirror below the rock of doom but otherwise we all made it up okay. I skipped the rocky section above the rock of doom and joined Dan waiting up on the road. We continued uphill, when we heard a call over the CB from Bronzy saying there was something going on. He'd pushed his exhaust around at some point and was trying to get it back in the right spot. Then we got a call from Nick saying he'd lost his rear yoke. Turned out to be a u-joint on the yoke but he didn't have a spare with him so we headed back to camp after less than 3 hours on the trail.
Later we headed on a night run, with Scott riding with me and Alyssa piloting the Torxmobile with Darren and Streetpirate along for the ride. We ran Hoodraiser and Hogsback with no difficulties and it record time then headed back to camp to have some fun party1:
Saturday we got another late start, though earlier than Friday, with Rockbilly and Too Big joining us for the day. We retraced our route from the night run then continued on Archers to Waterfall, where Scott decided to prove the weakness of Grade 8 bolts.
We got him patched back together and I escorted him back to camp then we headed back out to meet the group who had continued on. We caught up with them at the v-notch section way down at the west end of Archers. After rockbilly and Torx ran it, we decided to to head down to Rogers Road then see if we could find the new trail, Stick in the Nose. Headed up Rogers Road, we had to stop a few times to move fallen trees out of the road, and had to bust out the chainsaw once to clear a larger tree. Nick decided to show us why EVERYBODY should carry a spare in their rig but eventually we made it to the top of Fox Ridge. Bronzy headed back to camp with the gas light on while the rest of us continued up Fox Ridge, trying to find Stick in the Nose. Soon we realized we'd passed it and, after consulting the map, headed down the Class II section of Firefox before eventually finding Stick in the Nose. At the filter, I realized I'd lost my front license plate and one of the rollers from my fairlead at some point earlier, likely after I ran into a hillside while turning around. Scott and I traced our route while the group waited at the trailhead. We eventually found my license plate lying on the section of Firefox we ran but now roller. We caught back up to the group and started down the trail.
"Alyssa is in the ditch. She rolled." Came over the radio from Nick. Those of us in the back hurried downhill to find the Canman rig on its side in a fairly deep ditch. Fortunately, Alyssa was alright and after a fair amount of winch and snatch block work from Nick and Dustin, we got Alyssa back on her tires and on the road, with the Canman rig not showing any obvious new scars. We continued down a little ways further when Alyssa slid into another ditch, though she easily drove out of that one. Just after that happened, my drivers tires slid off the downhill side of the trail. Fortunately, the group was ready to jump into action and set up straps and my winch and got me back on the trail in no time. Once again, we continued down the trail, with everybody staying on it the rest of the way to the bottom. While going through a small rock garden near the end of the trail, I tagged my axle side drivers LCA mount on the last rock in the garden and broke the weld and bend the mount. Scott and I ratcheted things together and we limped down to the trail then back to camp. Our nice Saturday on the trail turned into a 12 hour trip, nearly 7 hours of which were spent not moving, according to my GPS.
Back at camp, those of us who had the longer of the days (like the guy with ratchet straps on his axle) proceeded to drink to forget. Unfortunately it didn't work.
This morning, Darren hooked up my trailer to his LJ and I limped down to Coalmans in Gales Creek and called up AAA. The tow truck showed up just as we were finishing lunch and delivered my Jeep to my driveway, while Darren delivered my trailer all the way into the garage.
Somehow I left out the part where I got stuck on a new section of Rogers Road up on Fox Ridge before I'd even made it past the sign. I think I may have done some damage to my LCA mount there when I got high centered on a stump between the LCA mount and the transfer case crossmember.
Also, I saw a mouse in the bathroom at horse camp while I was pooping last night.
I want to extend a HUGE thanks to everybody who helped me out last night to keep the Nightfoam rig on its tires and getting me back to camp safe and sound. I don't want to be that guy again.
Team Nightfoam, which consisted of just Nightfoam headed up directly from Thanksgiving dinner and arrived up at Horse Camp shortly after dark to find RedJeep 2.0 sleeping in his truck and a fire burning in the pit. With a little help from Nick, I got my camp set up then we hung around the campfire waiting for others to arrive. Eventually, Scott showed up and later, StreetPirate and then Bronzy and the wife.
We woke Friday morning to rain, the theme of the day, it didn't stop until early Saturday morning. It was a long, slow road to getting on the trail, with Torx amd Alyssa rolling into camp and hanging around for a good while before we eventually hit the trail after 11:30. We ran Powerline then University Firepower then headed for Firebreak 5. Scott quickly broke off his passenger side mirror below the rock of doom but otherwise we all made it up okay. I skipped the rocky section above the rock of doom and joined Dan waiting up on the road. We continued uphill, when we heard a call over the CB from Bronzy saying there was something going on. He'd pushed his exhaust around at some point and was trying to get it back in the right spot. Then we got a call from Nick saying he'd lost his rear yoke. Turned out to be a u-joint on the yoke but he didn't have a spare with him so we headed back to camp after less than 3 hours on the trail.
Later we headed on a night run, with Scott riding with me and Alyssa piloting the Torxmobile with Darren and Streetpirate along for the ride. We ran Hoodraiser and Hogsback with no difficulties and it record time then headed back to camp to have some fun party1:
Saturday we got another late start, though earlier than Friday, with Rockbilly and Too Big joining us for the day. We retraced our route from the night run then continued on Archers to Waterfall, where Scott decided to prove the weakness of Grade 8 bolts.
We got him patched back together and I escorted him back to camp then we headed back out to meet the group who had continued on. We caught up with them at the v-notch section way down at the west end of Archers. After rockbilly and Torx ran it, we decided to to head down to Rogers Road then see if we could find the new trail, Stick in the Nose. Headed up Rogers Road, we had to stop a few times to move fallen trees out of the road, and had to bust out the chainsaw once to clear a larger tree. Nick decided to show us why EVERYBODY should carry a spare in their rig but eventually we made it to the top of Fox Ridge. Bronzy headed back to camp with the gas light on while the rest of us continued up Fox Ridge, trying to find Stick in the Nose. Soon we realized we'd passed it and, after consulting the map, headed down the Class II section of Firefox before eventually finding Stick in the Nose. At the filter, I realized I'd lost my front license plate and one of the rollers from my fairlead at some point earlier, likely after I ran into a hillside while turning around. Scott and I traced our route while the group waited at the trailhead. We eventually found my license plate lying on the section of Firefox we ran but now roller. We caught back up to the group and started down the trail.
"Alyssa is in the ditch. She rolled." Came over the radio from Nick. Those of us in the back hurried downhill to find the Canman rig on its side in a fairly deep ditch. Fortunately, Alyssa was alright and after a fair amount of winch and snatch block work from Nick and Dustin, we got Alyssa back on her tires and on the road, with the Canman rig not showing any obvious new scars. We continued down a little ways further when Alyssa slid into another ditch, though she easily drove out of that one. Just after that happened, my drivers tires slid off the downhill side of the trail. Fortunately, the group was ready to jump into action and set up straps and my winch and got me back on the trail in no time. Once again, we continued down the trail, with everybody staying on it the rest of the way to the bottom. While going through a small rock garden near the end of the trail, I tagged my axle side drivers LCA mount on the last rock in the garden and broke the weld and bend the mount. Scott and I ratcheted things together and we limped down to the trail then back to camp. Our nice Saturday on the trail turned into a 12 hour trip, nearly 7 hours of which were spent not moving, according to my GPS.
Back at camp, those of us who had the longer of the days (like the guy with ratchet straps on his axle) proceeded to drink to forget. Unfortunately it didn't work.
This morning, Darren hooked up my trailer to his LJ and I limped down to Coalmans in Gales Creek and called up AAA. The tow truck showed up just as we were finishing lunch and delivered my Jeep to my driveway, while Darren delivered my trailer all the way into the garage.
Somehow I left out the part where I got stuck on a new section of Rogers Road up on Fox Ridge before I'd even made it past the sign. I think I may have done some damage to my LCA mount there when I got high centered on a stump between the LCA mount and the transfer case crossmember.
Also, I saw a mouse in the bathroom at horse camp while I was pooping last night.
I want to extend a HUGE thanks to everybody who helped me out last night to keep the Nightfoam rig on its tires and getting me back to camp safe and sound. I don't want to be that guy again.
