Rausch Creek Trail Ride Oct 14 2012
Reluctantly written by Rich Martinez
We had some people left over from the Sat run willing to go out again on Sunday and risk (on GREEN trails) not making it home. (You do see the sarcasm, right?)
In the group was:
John "I still need a knickname" and Terri Crowe, in their gold? YJ
Chip "I got a vag#$@" Woods, in his silver TJ
Virgil "Moore, in his red XJ, with his son "I love donuts" Bradley
Alan "where's my antenna" Staiman, in his decal ladden CJ-7 with dog
Rich "land yacht" Martinez, in his JK
Since it was Sunday we decided to do another easy run. The plan was to head directly to Lake Chrisy and do some skinny dipping. But on Trail B John stopped his YJ to check a funny noise and discovered a leaf spring had moved out of alignment and was rubbing the tire. We lifted the jeep with a high-lift and hammered the leaf back into place only to discover one side move and the other didn't indicating a broken leaf. Since removing the leaf would cause other problems. We placed both pieces of the broken leaf back into place and use zip ties to keep them from moving sideways. We all went back to camp with John and the leaf stayed in place. From there John and Terri headed home while the rest of the group made another attempt to reach Lake Christy.
Chip led the way asking for directions at almost every intersection. If he would just camp he would find out the map, trails, and every rock becomes imbedded in your brain. But since he can't take not having a porcelan throne handy, he will never know. (more on the throne idea later).
At lake Christy we showed Virgil the back way down into the lake and provided some guidance on what people do there. He learns quick. As he landed safely on the beach, the rest of the group went around to the "normal" entrance and met Virgil on the beach. We chit-hcatted a bit and I pointed out the path most people take around the lake, over the hill, into the other side of the lake, thru the gap, into deeper water along the shore landing back at the beach where you started. He almost got it right. I had to yell across the water and let him know he was not heading in the direction I explained and the he was heading into unchartered waters. Unchartered for me anyway. So Virgil backed up and headed to shore along the edge of the lake. The water was about 3 feet deep and he made it without any problems.
We then made the ascent out of the lake area only to discover that Chip "I don't do hard stuff on Sundays" Woods never descended into the lake. What's up with that?!?!
From there we went to the Quarry and ate lunch, looked around, walked the "Shoot the Moon" trail and discussed which lines we might take if we ever had the gonads to try it.
After lunch we decided to try a little more difficult trail and headed to Snake Bite. I started down the trail and after hearing bang after bang I decided my JK was still too new, so I backed out. But hey, at least I traveled te first 20 feet or so and it was rough. Heck Chip Woods made a u-turn at the trailhead! (by the way he's really not married either but that's another story). Alan and Virgil continued on Snake Bite while Chip and I followed along on S. Once Virgil and Alan met up with us we decided to head back towards camp.
On the way back we hit the B trail, 1, 1b and 1a. I think Chip was more worried about my JK than I was. Alan and Virgil took the black section off 1a and when they were done we headed back to camp as it was after 2pm and Chip was worried about some meeting or something.
Overall we had a nice day on the easier trails. The weather was great after a record cold a couple nights prior. For those of you who didn't make it, wel, you missed out on a pretty good day. So get your butts out there next time!!!
Reluctantly written by Rich Martinez
We had some people left over from the Sat run willing to go out again on Sunday and risk (on GREEN trails) not making it home. (You do see the sarcasm, right?)
In the group was:
John "I still need a knickname" and Terri Crowe, in their gold? YJ
Chip "I got a vag#$@" Woods, in his silver TJ
Virgil "Moore, in his red XJ, with his son "I love donuts" Bradley
Alan "where's my antenna" Staiman, in his decal ladden CJ-7 with dog
Rich "land yacht" Martinez, in his JK
Since it was Sunday we decided to do another easy run. The plan was to head directly to Lake Chrisy and do some skinny dipping. But on Trail B John stopped his YJ to check a funny noise and discovered a leaf spring had moved out of alignment and was rubbing the tire. We lifted the jeep with a high-lift and hammered the leaf back into place only to discover one side move and the other didn't indicating a broken leaf. Since removing the leaf would cause other problems. We placed both pieces of the broken leaf back into place and use zip ties to keep them from moving sideways. We all went back to camp with John and the leaf stayed in place. From there John and Terri headed home while the rest of the group made another attempt to reach Lake Christy.
Chip led the way asking for directions at almost every intersection. If he would just camp he would find out the map, trails, and every rock becomes imbedded in your brain. But since he can't take not having a porcelan throne handy, he will never know. (more on the throne idea later).
At lake Christy we showed Virgil the back way down into the lake and provided some guidance on what people do there. He learns quick. As he landed safely on the beach, the rest of the group went around to the "normal" entrance and met Virgil on the beach. We chit-hcatted a bit and I pointed out the path most people take around the lake, over the hill, into the other side of the lake, thru the gap, into deeper water along the shore landing back at the beach where you started. He almost got it right. I had to yell across the water and let him know he was not heading in the direction I explained and the he was heading into unchartered waters. Unchartered for me anyway. So Virgil backed up and headed to shore along the edge of the lake. The water was about 3 feet deep and he made it without any problems.
We then made the ascent out of the lake area only to discover that Chip "I don't do hard stuff on Sundays" Woods never descended into the lake. What's up with that?!?!
From there we went to the Quarry and ate lunch, looked around, walked the "Shoot the Moon" trail and discussed which lines we might take if we ever had the gonads to try it.
After lunch we decided to try a little more difficult trail and headed to Snake Bite. I started down the trail and after hearing bang after bang I decided my JK was still too new, so I backed out. But hey, at least I traveled te first 20 feet or so and it was rough. Heck Chip Woods made a u-turn at the trailhead! (by the way he's really not married either but that's another story). Alan and Virgil continued on Snake Bite while Chip and I followed along on S. Once Virgil and Alan met up with us we decided to head back towards camp.
On the way back we hit the B trail, 1, 1b and 1a. I think Chip was more worried about my JK than I was. Alan and Virgil took the black section off 1a and when they were done we headed back to camp as it was after 2pm and Chip was worried about some meeting or something.
Overall we had a nice day on the easier trails. The weather was great after a record cold a couple nights prior. For those of you who didn't make it, wel, you missed out on a pretty good day. So get your butts out there next time!!!