Wayne arrived Wednesday evening and Wendy, I and Gracie arrived Thursday morning with John L. with Ric/Lisa arriving in the evening and Randy M on Friday morning. He decided to stay in a hotel at the Outlet Mall. The weather was great the whole weekend with slight breezes and moderate temps. Campfires were the norm for the evenings.
Thursday was Gracie’s first ride in a 4wheel vehicle. She enjoyed it so I expect to start bringing her out more.
Friday, Dwayne, Rick/Lisa, Randy M.,John l. and I started out looking for obstacles to wheel on. John L. managed to blow his Eaton electric rear locker before noon and spend the rest of the trip riding with me. Later Dwayne decided to take out his tail pipe so he could get a new one. And Randy decided to drive with his e brake on and tore out the brake including the back plate. Another on the trail fix and we were on our way.
For those of you who have done Shaner’s revenge at HDR there is a wash after you come off the hill. Several years ago a group of us decided to run the wash and it ended up being very challenging. To my knowledge no one but OTR has run the trail. I would rate it a 4+. We ran the trail and most everyone came out unscathed, although winching did occur.
We had the usual snacks and drinks around the campfire every night.
Saturday morning Joe P arrived around with Richard and Vicki arriving later that morning in their new diesel pusher. Sadly, they arrived after we left for the day.
We ran Shaner’s Revenge with the usual challenges and winching in the harder obstacles. Joe P managed to do a nice one tire pirouette for a couple seconds on the first obstacle before landing back on all four. The lower section is definitely getting more challenging.
After having lunch in the canyon we headed over to Richie’s crack. The trail up to it is a 4 with a lot of large rocks. At the crack I was the only one to make it and did not chirp a tire on the way up. Considering how many times I have tried and not made it, I was surprised. The V notch to the left has been washed out and much easier to go down. Joe tried the crack several times, but with a big tire on back and no way to winch down the front he managed to get the front tires airborne a couple times and we suggested he pass on this trip.
After that we headed back to camp and meet up with Richard and Vicki. It was great to see them on the trail again and I have the feeling we will see them out more on the trail. Another great evening around the fire.
Sunday, John L left and the remaining decided to do some exploring. Again, great wheeling in the morning. We were back by noon as some wanted to leave. When we were back in camp it was determined the loud noise from Ric’s jeep was the on board air pump had locked up and was burning the fan belt. Sadly, I think John L’s busted rear locker beat out Ric for trophy consideration.
Most of us were gone by one. Another great trip and again it was great to see Richard and Vicki out on the trail.