Both groups then met up at the Crushers around 1:30. Pat and one of the Toyotas wanted to give it a shot.
The Toyota on the upper loop. He completed it in under 10 minutes.
Pat on the upper loop.
After completing the upper loop, the Toyota then headed for the lower loop. Some of stayed around to watch him, while others decided to call it a day. Probably an hour or two later those of us who stayed behind were ready to back head to camp. On the way to camp we made a short stop at Mini Rubicon for Matt, Pat, and Josh to try an conquer.
Matt attacked it first at full throttle and instantly realized how slippery it was. Full throttle attempts only. Needless to say he was unable to conquer it. Pat and Josh gave it a shot after and both ended with the same results.
We headed for camp afterwards to warm up and get some food. Those who came up for the day headed home, and those who were camping headed to get gas. Around 9:00 everyone decided it was time for a night run. We ran Hood Raiser and Hogs Back as usual, but then headed over to Archers Firebreak for a night attempt at the Waterfall.
Up until our arrival we had no problems other than one wrong turn. Then they began one by one. Roger in the camo Cherokee tried to get over the rocks leading to the Waterfall without any luck. After several tries he decided to take the bypass. Josh then arrived at the rocks and started to crawl over them when Matt saw his front passenger shock ripped from the axle. A couple minutes later with one less shock Josh was on his way. Matt was first to run the Waterfall and with a little bit of throttle he made it up. Rod was next in line to give it a try. He made it probably 90% of the way up when someone noticed his tires looked funny. \ \ / / = Tie Rod #1. He winched up to flat ground and swapped it out for one of his three spares. Ken, Josh, and Joe followed him up without any problems.
On our way back to camp we made a stop at Mini Rubicon. Rod jumped on it first with his newly swapped tie rod. After giving it several tries and coming close to making it, he began to back down. Some how while dropping off a rock on his way down he bent his tie rod again. Once on the road he began swapping in his second of three spares. Joe then headed up to give it a try. With his new 4.88s and Aussies installed he headed up with full confidence. But just as the last four people before him found out, it was to slick to get any traction. His run ended after coming down hard on a rock and some nasty noises were heard.
Wanting to give it another try Matt started up it at full throttle. After his first attempt was unsuccessful he backed down, realigned a bit and gave it a second try, but this time one gear faster, 2nd gear full throttle. With some severe momentum he got up to the chute and came down HARD on the rock below him. Instantly you could hear his fan chewing at the shroud. Fearing for the worst he backed down to check for damage. All joints and shafts were intact luckily, but his rim was bent, fan shroud was in pieces, and unibody tweaked (find anything else?).
Rod finished up changing his tie rod and we all headed back to camp around 2:30. Josh aired up and headed home, while the rest of us went to bed.
I got home Sunday afternoon wet, hungry, and exhausted. I cant wait for the next one.
