[OCC] Trip Report - Rausch Creek 25 Aug 2012

Last weekend a group of us went to Rausch Creek. Charles Galpin led a group on Friday and I led a group on Sat and Sun. The Sat group consisted of:

myself, Rich Martinez, 80 CJ-5, member (it's not cool to nickname yourself)
Keith "Muddy Kid" Robertson, 07? JK Unlimited Rubicon, member
"Adventurous" Randy Wood, old, kick-butt Bronco on 42s, member
Jeff "Cigar Man" Huff '94 D90 on 34's, locked/locked, member
Charles "Leaky" Galpin '94 D90 on 33's, locked/locked, member
Jason "Pelican Man" Lavender '94 D90 on 33's, locked/locked
Dana "Where's the goat" Hammersley '97 D90 on 33's, locked/locked
Randy "I gotta part for you" Williams 200x Discovery 2 on 33's, open/open

We headed directly to the West side to hit some blue and black trails. We wanted to give Randy the opportunity to run Rock Creek while we were close by. Starting on Trail 12 then Trail 20 we were moving a long well until we hit a rock garden. Getting everyone thru took some time as we approached from different angles trying to find the best line. Then as Charles who was trailgunner at the time, made his pass he noticed a "wet spot" under his front grill. A quick check revealed a transmission oil leak in the the vicinity of his cooler. We took out his grill (not his teeth), removed the cooler and found a small crack one of the cooler's ports. We removed the cooler and connected the 2 lines to/from the tranny together using spare rubber tubing and clamps. A few minutes later the tubing split so we cut out that portion and wrapped the tubing with duct tape hoping to give it a little more strength. It held the rest of the day. I later learned it gave out on I-81 but Charles was able to get to a parts store to get stronger tubing and made it home.

From Trail 20 we headed to Trail 10 where Randy showed his Bronco's prowess playing on some large rocks. Continuing on Trail 10 our goal was to cross Rock Creek and let some folks play in the big rocks of the creek for a little bit. But before we got to the crossing a call came over the CB that Keith lost a bead. Sure enough on the off-camber section going down to RC, Keith's driver-side front tire decided to go it's own direction. The JK was pointed a little downhill and off-camber, leaning towards the driver's side. It took a bottle jack, a highlift and various attempts but we finally got the jeep high enough to re-seat the bead using Charles' CO2 tank. While we were doing this we took to the opportunity to have a quick lunch.

We continued towards the Creek and decided to make the easy crossing as things were not mving as fast as we would have liked. Randy decided not to go down or up RC and stay with the group. After crossing the Creek we picked our way on Trail 13, then onto to Trail 15 and 12C to cover more ground and work our way back to the East side.

On the other side we decided to go to Lake Christy on the South property. Once there Charles took the first plunge down the southside steep entrance that dives straight into the lake. We hugged the side of the lake and all made it to the beach without a problem. The water was about 33" deep and water throughout the park was a few inches deeper than usuall, I guess due to recent rains. We dismounted on the beach and watched Dana go around the lake (in the water) to the other side where he says he almost got stuck. Then he came back to our side thru the little gap between lakes and went straight to deeper water. That's when he really did get stuck in about 40" of water. It was pretty cool but we all had to give him a hard time about it. Charles didn't waste much time and started walking into the lake pulling up his shorts to show off his creamy white legs. Someone (nameless but I think it ryhmes with Jeff) said he looked like Magnum PI. We quickly extracted Dana and watched as water poured out of every nook. NOTE TO DANA: We know it's a diesel and you have a snorkle (IIRC) but it's still not a boat or submarine.

At this time 2 more groups were comming down the north entrance to the lake so we decided to cross the lake and make the climb out the way we entered. Then we headed to the Quary. Most in the group had not been to it before so I led them down the hard way. Although not much of a technical challenge it is steep and off camber in a few spots plus there were a couple of boulders you had to drop off to get to the bottom. I think everyone, except Rand Wood of course, had at least one wheel in the air and I heard a lot of puckering rears as the seats were sucked up.

A couple of us played in the Quary for a minute then we decided to hit one more trail before calling it a day. SNAKEBITE! And bite it did. We were having a good time picking our way thru the rock garden trail and I was enjoying the chatter on the CB mostly about what year the D90 had auto tranny and what didn't etc. Those Rover guys know their vehicle and soon they had the opportunity to prove it. We were at the very end of the trail, the very south end of the Rousch Creek, when the dreaded call came over the CB, "Stop, I have no steering". Ugh! I walked back to the now stopped D90 and asked Jason what's wrong...."broken tie rod"....or at least that's what I heard. Sure enough the drag link or link from steering box to wheel had broken and spit out the rod end which was still connected to the wheel's steering arm. All the Rover guys came to the rescue and quickly said "here's what we need to do"....and Jason quickly got to work doing it as we watched and joked. I have to admit I was imperssed with Jason's organized kit.....almost everything in marked Pelican boxes, neatly stowed. What I also found impressive was the Rover guys would call out the bolt size and therefore wrench needed every step of the way. In fact, it became a topic of discussion and then a slight debate about any exception to the rule...."they are all even sized nuts..." Being out-numbered I kept my mouth shut.

After about an hour we were moving again. The repair was "iffy" and we kept a slow pace on our way back to camp. When we go to the "B" trail the repair gave out. "The Rover guys" quickly jumped back into action and made another repair in about 5 min. Soon we were back at camp getting ready for some good food, beer and banter around the campfire.

On Sunday morning Jason, Charles and others went to the RC shop and borrowed a welder to make a stronger repair. I think it held and got Jason home in one piece.

As usual a great time was had by all!

Thanks for the beer! I will bring a case next time ;)