Tale of Two Runs 1-26-2019

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tobyw
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Tale of Two Runs 1-26-2019

Postby tobyw » Fri Feb 01, 2019 9:54 am

We met up at the Maverik for an 0730 departure amid cold, damp, and foggy conditions.

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As we rolled West on I-82, the headlights of the rest of the group were barely visible through the dense fog:

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Looking good at mission control:

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The wife was quite comfortable:

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We unloaded the wagon at the Tampico church, and quickly met up with the rest of the gang at the Nasty Creek corrals to air down:

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Somehow, The Madi had missed the turn off at the corrals and had continued West, so Boyscout peeled away from the group to start the rescue mission. The rest of us headed up, and quickly found clear blue sky and ample snow:

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At the summit of the first hill, which for the record has been the bane of our existence many many times, we stopped for a few minutes hoping that Boyscout and The Madi would catch up. After a good 20 minutes, we decided to press on because, well, they know the rules:

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Up on the first hogs back, the conditions were absolutely perfect. Paul took the opportunity to break some fresh trail:

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At the next stop, we broke out the tube and the boy hopped on for some fun. The CB chatter indicated that Boyscout and The Madi had made it to the first hill, so we proceeded onward to get the fire going and BBQ lit up for lunch:

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Unfortunately, over the course of the next couple of hours, the group slowly thinned out… You see, while the boy was hanging on for dear life on the tube, I missed a CB call from Boyscout asking for help on the hill. OG heard the call, and turnt around to offer assistance.

After the rest of us had been at the designated rendezvous spot for quite a while, Paul decided to backtrack and see what was taking them so long. About an hour after Paul left us, we finally received word that everyone was stuck, Boyscout’s winch was toast, and Paul had broken a front axle shaft. We broke camp and headed back down the mountain to find the rest of the group spread about the hillside at that very first hill (remember the part where I had mentioned that very hill having been the bane of our existence many times??). Winch ropes were deployed, spooled, and deployed again, ditto for snatch straps. Once everyone was in a decent condition, we broke out the BBQ and another bundle of fire wood, and proceeded to have a grand time cooking, eating, and sharing war stories from the day and many others like it.

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With the shadows starting to grow long, we decided it best to pack up and head down in elevation. On the way down that very hill, both OG and the Miller’s got mired in the deep snow and required extrication:

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After finally making it all the way down the hill, everyone aired up at the church in Tampico and we loaded the wagon back onto the trailer:

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Overall it was a tale of two very different trips for the same day, and I’m sure Paul, OG, and/or Boyscout will chime in to share the rest of the story (that’s a nod to Paul Harvey for all of you millennials out there :wink: ).
Yep, I've wheeled one of those, too...
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Wrench
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Peak Putters Member
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Joined: Sat May 30, 2009 7:23 am
Location: in a van down by the river

Re: Tale of Two Runs 1-26-2019

Postby Wrench » Sat Feb 02, 2019 12:35 pm

"The rest of my story"

After we waited for a while for OldGreen and Boyscout to return, I decided to go check on them. A few miles back on the trail, I found OG stuck against a log in some deep snow, in the process of pulling Madi up the hill. I tried to turn around by OG to help get him un-stuck, and something popped in the front end with the wheel at full lock right. After that, I was stuck, with nothing more than 3-wheel drive. I carefully backed down the hill, where I found Boyscout at a standstill with all 4 wheels turning, trying to get up the hill. He was able to back out make it up the hill after a few more throttle-flogging attempts.

With the limited 3-wheel drive taking the wind out of my sails, I decided to get the rig back home to fix it, since there was another run the following day. Ran home, pulled the rig in the shop, and found my Jeep had literally lost it's balls. No kidding. The drivers side CV (Dana 30 Grand Cherokee unit) didnt necessarily break, but it spit the balls out of position and the bearing retainer cage was shattered. Luckily, I had a spare complete CV/axle unit and had the rig ready within an hour.

It was a great day. Once we left Tampico that morning, we cleared the fog and hit sunshine. It was such a nice day, you didnt even need to wear a jacket on the top of the mountain. :thu2:
Paul
'84 XJ, '19JL


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