Trip Reports
| Spring Creek | ||||
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| Date: | Sep 9th, 2009 | |||
| Trip Leader: | Matt Dodds | |||
| Members Present: | Mike Borum, Glen McMullan, Dave Peaslee | |||
| Guests Present: | Greg | |||
| Picture Link: | Mike's Pics | |||
| Description: |
As I was preparing the Jeep on Saturday night with the rain and fog outside I was wandering how bad the weather was going to be the next day. Sunday morning was not much better; my first thought was to go back to bed.
I met Mike, Glen and Dave at Wal-Mart and we hit the road at 8am (Glen riding with Dave). As we headed up I-70 the clouds cleared and the Sun came out. It was a gorgeous day and we did not see rain until we were sitting in Tommy Knocker for dinner. We pulled off the road at Downieville and met our guest, Greg from www.fabfours.com. After airing down and getting the Range Rover off the trailer we hit the trail. Because I could not remember where the turnoff was for the trail head I had Mike lead to the trail head, we still took a wrong turn. I hit the first obstacle in my red YJ and with a liberal use of the skinny pedal got up the slick surface. Dave was next in the rover, after a couple of good attempts we pulled the winch cable and he winched himself up the obstacle. Greg was next in his Green LJ and with full size axles and big super swappers he walked right up. After a couple of tries Mike completed the obstacle last in his Yellow LT without too much difficulty. We headed up the trail to the next smaller obstacle (a rocky section near the edge of the mountain on a switchback, overlooking the highway with a nice view of Georgetown). We completed it without problem and stopped on the trail for a quick break. Did I say break? Yes I did. After the quick break The Range Rover would not start. We hooked a tow strap to the back of my jeep and pulled him a short way up the trail to get him off the main trail on a side trail. I un-hooked and headed down this short trail to turn around. With the liberal use of the skinny pedal I was able to quickly turn around and take a break while they worked on Dave's Range Rover. Did I say break? Yes, With speed comes damage, I hit a rock after turning around and chipped my rim and split the sidewall of my tire, but that's what spares are for. We left the Range Rover and the three vehicles continued. We got to the rock garden without problem. I took the wrong line, again, and ended up all crossed up at the beginning of the garden. After a lot of scraping and back and forth, my spotters got me on a good line (If you call the way I had to go a line) to get out of my predicament. I made the rest of the rock garden with some difficulty but without the need of a spotter. Greg was next and he picked some creative lines and did his share of back and forth but overall did not have too much difficulty. Next was Mike; somehow Mike saw the same line I saw going into the garden and slipped off the same rocks and ended up in the same place I was, wondering how he got there. Mike did the same back and forth and at one point could not move an inch in either direction. With the help of Dave's rock stacking and a tires are suppose to have a burnt smell to them attitude, Mike was able to get out. Mike also completed the rest of the rock garden with some more back and forth action. We completed spring creek without further incident. Playing a little back road baja, we got back to the frontage road, said goodbye to Greg and headed back to get the Range Rover. The Range Rover still would not start and we had fun turning it around to get it down the trail. We used a "push-me, pull-me" approach; I kept him tethered while he rolled down hill, and Mike pulled him up hill, and to his trailer. We loaded up and went to Tommy Knockers for dinner. What a great day! |
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