I met up with some guys from Ohio 4x4 Trail riders at Oaktree at 9:30 saturday morning. The group consisted of a 91 k5 (6.2 Blazer), 78' Ford longbed (78Buford), a ranger, 3 Jeeps, and me (77 k5).
We started with a warm-up trail, on our way down to the rock garden area.
Once we got down to the bottom, we hit the Ugly Trail. I led, finding the Ugly Trail was much rougher that it was 6 months earlier, with many large rocks that were exposed due to the fall rain we had. Right off the bat, we lost the ranger due to front tie-bar damage. Cliff's white Jeep, had lock-out hub enguagement issues. Once we fixed that we went back down the "Killer" bypass trail to explore more of the rock garden.
Next it was the rocks on the bottom of the bypass trail. I hit them with some snotty 44" TSL's about 3 times before I could get over them. After the guys saw me spinning/beating my rig to get over those rocks, they decided that they wanted to save there rigs for the rest of the trip.
After some discussion Brad and Roy talked me into showing them Clay Hollow.
We started up the trail, only to find a large tree down in our way. We studied it for a minute, before to see if we could make the trail passable. It looked like 1 cut would do the trick, so I pulled out the chainsaw. I cut about 1/3 though the tree and the chainsaw died, I was out of fuel. No one had a fuel mix, so a handsaw was our next option. Taking turns with the handsaw, finally dropped the tree to a height that we could climb with our rigs. I went first, next Roy, hoping we could mash down the tree a bit. Then Brad (6.2 Blazer) here's a pic of him.
The tree made the easy part of the trail more challanging, then we headed up to the more difficult section where a huge rock sits. It took about 3 shots before I got my rig over it, next was Roy, he saw the issues I had, so hit he hit that section with plenty of speed, much like a NASCAR driver at Daytona hits a banked curve. Brad and I ran for our lives, when we turned, we found Roy had put Buford on his side after getting around the obsticle.
We winched Buford, along with a come-a-long, we got him back on his feet after 45 minutes. Next Brad gave the k5 a shot, after several tries, having a huge rock as a armrest, he made it by with some winching.
The smaller Jeeps got though that obsticle pretty easy and we went on the the more difficult part of the trail. I banged the crap outta my rig and with some help from my winch, I made-it through. Roy was too wide so he took the bypass trail along with Brad. Jamie was unconcerned about body damage, so he went next. His $300 top was ripped off, then he worked on caving-in the sided like I did. With some winching, his YJ, a bit mangled, made-it out alive.
After some discussion, we decided at sunset, it was time to head back. I almost got the group lost, but managed to find my way back to Oaktree.
Once back at Oaktree, I found a hill climb that I wanted to try before loading up. I hit the climb way to hard, and almost flipped my rig. Then on the 3rd try I ripped up, all I could here is "Get'r'done Jerry"!!!
You guys missed a fun run, I didn't notice any YAWNING!!!!
More pics: http://coloradok5.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4275
We started with a warm-up trail, on our way down to the rock garden area.
Once we got down to the bottom, we hit the Ugly Trail. I led, finding the Ugly Trail was much rougher that it was 6 months earlier, with many large rocks that were exposed due to the fall rain we had. Right off the bat, we lost the ranger due to front tie-bar damage. Cliff's white Jeep, had lock-out hub enguagement issues. Once we fixed that we went back down the "Killer" bypass trail to explore more of the rock garden.
Next it was the rocks on the bottom of the bypass trail. I hit them with some snotty 44" TSL's about 3 times before I could get over them. After the guys saw me spinning/beating my rig to get over those rocks, they decided that they wanted to save there rigs for the rest of the trip.
After some discussion Brad and Roy talked me into showing them Clay Hollow.
We started up the trail, only to find a large tree down in our way. We studied it for a minute, before to see if we could make the trail passable. It looked like 1 cut would do the trick, so I pulled out the chainsaw. I cut about 1/3 though the tree and the chainsaw died, I was out of fuel. No one had a fuel mix, so a handsaw was our next option. Taking turns with the handsaw, finally dropped the tree to a height that we could climb with our rigs. I went first, next Roy, hoping we could mash down the tree a bit. Then Brad (6.2 Blazer) here's a pic of him.
The tree made the easy part of the trail more challanging, then we headed up to the more difficult section where a huge rock sits. It took about 3 shots before I got my rig over it, next was Roy, he saw the issues I had, so hit he hit that section with plenty of speed, much like a NASCAR driver at Daytona hits a banked curve. Brad and I ran for our lives, when we turned, we found Roy had put Buford on his side after getting around the obsticle.
We winched Buford, along with a come-a-long, we got him back on his feet after 45 minutes. Next Brad gave the k5 a shot, after several tries, having a huge rock as a armrest, he made it by with some winching.
The smaller Jeeps got though that obsticle pretty easy and we went on the the more difficult part of the trail. I banged the crap outta my rig and with some help from my winch, I made-it through. Roy was too wide so he took the bypass trail along with Brad. Jamie was unconcerned about body damage, so he went next. His $300 top was ripped off, then he worked on caving-in the sided like I did. With some winching, his YJ, a bit mangled, made-it out alive.
After some discussion, we decided at sunset, it was time to head back. I almost got the group lost, but managed to find my way back to Oaktree.
Once back at Oaktree, I found a hill climb that I wanted to try before loading up. I hit the climb way to hard, and almost flipped my rig. Then on the 3rd try I ripped up, all I could here is "Get'r'done Jerry"!!!
You guys missed a fun run, I didn't notice any YAWNING!!!!
More pics: http://coloradok5.com/photos/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/4275
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Brad should have a few pictures to add as well. Jerry definitely led us on one hell-of-an adventure this past Saturday. 
