May 13, 2023 - Metberry Gulch
13 May, Metberry Gulch:
So Jess and Tiffany wanted to hit another local fun trail, and a pickup game to Metberry seemed the ideal choice! One thing that made it a bit more sporty than usual for me was the night before I decided to not only bring Tracy’s ’94 Grand Cherokee...but also to install a 2” lift and a different set of wheels and tires on it, which with Ben’s help we managed to do in just 6 hours. Jess n Tiff in Guaco, Homer n Linda in their Jeep and Chad n Ainsley in the Ramcharger, and Sydney n me in our Grand Cherokee met at the Red Rocks Safeway, and rolled out and up HW-24 towards Divide, and on to the trail. We got to our typical air-down site, lowered our respective tire pressures, and proceeded down the access road towards Metberry. Here’s some Pics!!! 😊
So, down the access road we go...and ummmm yeaahhhhh...it is WET up here! Seems the previous days’ snow and rain were all melting and there were several DEEP unavoidable ponds we had to traverse before even getting to the trail head...and that’s how my troubles began for the day. I knew our right-front axle CV boot had a tear in it...but what I didn’t know was how bad the CV itself was...and the water level was up to our bumper at some points...which wasn’t doing the CV joint any favors.
Undeterred, we got to the trailhead, and started in. All was going well enough, but it wasn’t long before that CV joint started to ‘complain’, and about half hour into the trail it really started to complain...and I radio’d the others that I needed to pull off to check things out. Yeah – while maneuvering into a pull-off area I saw some of the others picking something up....actually several somethings...which turned out to be the big 1” ball bearings making up the internal guts of the CV joint – these ball bearings –
Wellll....that’s not good. Ok – it’s early, but being a unit bearing design I knew the front end of our Jeep was now potentially (if not already) immobile and that getting it off the trail could take several hours, so we made some calls and were able to reach Ben, who began his part of the rescue mission. In the meantime, after some deliberation Sydney and I jumped into Guaco, and we all decided to head to the rock slab, and then turn back. We got there and played around on it – each of us taking a turn at going down and back up the big loose slab, and started heading back to jump into the unknown amount of time and effort necessary to extract the Jeep.
I jumped in the Jeep, started it up, turned the wheel a bit and began to move the Jeep back onto the trail.... and nothing happened – no major popping noises or terrible sounds – just some quirky ‘bonky’ sounds...but nothing that had rendered the CV joint completely immobile. I knew there was a ton of play because I’d previously reached under the axle and could move the inner shaft up and down an inch or so...but apparently the joint itself had not completely grenade itself.....and not only did we manage to drive off the trail...but all the way out the access road, down the dirt road, onto the dry pavement, and all the way on out to McGinty’s, where we stopped for a late lunch. Horray! I parked the Jeep on the other side of HW24, and by the time we all worked our way into McGinty’s Ben was just pulling up – perfect timing! We all sat down, had a nice meal, loaded the Jeep onto Ben’s trailer, then proceeded to head our way(s) home.
All in all still a fun day, and everyone got home safe n sound. Thanks to everyone who came out, and Sydney is already asking when we can go out again! 😊. I’ve already got a replacement front axle shaft and should have the Jeep back in full-running shape soon.
Cheer’s y’all!
- Sam
