When we arrived to the park, Jodi went to check in while I aired down the tires. I wound up running 7psi with the new beadlocks but could probably get a couple pound slower for more extreme wheeling. We hung out for a bit as the massive number of vehicles grouped up and headed out on the trails. All told, there were over 160 rigs and 300 people attending.
Since this event was created to expose women to off roading, Jodi took the wheel and we headed out into the park following our good friends Bill and Paula. Our group was for intermediate drivers and trails and we wasted no time in exposing the ladies to a nice drop down into the creek that was a bit intimidating to Jodi at first but I calmly talked her through it from the cab while Bill spotted her down. If my Jeep were an automatic, it would be a lot easier to wheel. It takes some getting used to as to how to use the clutch, brake and gas pedal when on the trails. It's not like driving a car on the street at all but she followed our direction and brought Nemesis down the ledges and hill perfectly. You could see both a sense of relief on her face as well as her confidence level go up at the same time.
After getting everyone down the hill safely, we jumped into the creek before jumping back out and working some hill sides, going up and down the trails. We wound up doing a couple black trails, giving everyone some experience on some tougher routes. We only had to winch once when Bill guided Paula up a steep hill that was just too slick to get up and we had to winch her to the top. Afterward, I took the rest of the group through the creek rather than winch everyone up to follow.
We headed back to the staging area and pavilion for lunch and the raffle. Victory Chrysler, Dodge & Jeep sponsored the taco bar that was on hand and it was really good. I wound up winning a set of Pro Comp 5" LED lights in the raffle which retail for $340. Not a bad prize to win.
After lunch, we went back out on the trails for a couple hours. I jumped behind the wheel for some more extreme wheeling and we dropped down in the park's new section for me to attempt Shredder, a tough black trail coming out of the creek. I had gone down it once but it is far more difficult to go up do to the rocks and ledges at the top. I worked my way up to the top and a few attempts to clear the top fell short as I kept hanging up on my slider and gas tank skid. Rock crawling is all about finding the right line of giving it a bump when needed and that is all I needed to figure out on this obstacle. Bill had me back up a little and then told me that when I felt my right front drop as I turned passenger to give it a bump. He nailed it the guidance as I did as he said and popped right over. Only one other rig would give it a try from our group of 15 and he struggled quite a bit. We wound up having to move rocks and stack rocks for him to get him up but sometimes, that is hat you have to do as well.
We headed over to Carnage Canyon as we headed to the front of the park. I had never done Bad Axe before and others wanted to see me do it so, done. I only had a little difficulty at the top and needed to change my line a bit to bump over. My friend Ray, who had gone up not long before me and struggled quite a bit (he may need a new driveshaft) scolded me for making it look too easy!
We finished the day by going through Rust Bucket backwards and then aired up to make the two hour drive home. What a day! Jodi was passed out before me, which is really rare. I guess she was wore out from our 13 hour adventure. :) Videos to come.
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