Peak Putters - Rimrock - Aug 4-6, 2007
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:39 pm
The idea behind this run was to run some of the "easy" trails at Rimrock. The truth is, there are no easy trails at Rimrock, but some are more conducive to nightmares than others.
Friday afternoon, those of us that were already in camp headed up the hill for a shakedown run. It was Don in the Bunny Slope Bronco II's debut, The Wilcox's white YJ w/full compliment of Wilcoxes, Scott and his shotgun (man that is one ugly chick), and the Mad Kauers' Comancheishlike thingy and OG/Jessy in the 7. We headed up to Cryin' Frank's hill, FW651A cutoff. It looked as though we were the first on this trail this year. There were numerous fallen trees that had to be driven over to stay on the first downhill. ALMOST everyone made the hill climb out of the creek bottom unscathed. Bunny Slope made a valient effort and, after about 29 tries, I strapped him over the final root. Scotty was trying to save his bodywork and, therefore, destroyed a tail light and maybe even bruised his ego a little, but he did make it. Everyone else climbed without incident leaving a few people with "V8 Envy". On up the trail, Bunny Slope required that we winch a tree out of the trail after I drove over it. It took a 4K RPM 2nd gear launch to clear it, so I don't blame him at all. Toby's winch proved much easier on equipment. Once this was out of the way, it was smooth sailing to the end of the trail. Since it was getting late, I made the call NOT to run Cryin' Frank's backwards and to just head up to the gatekeeper obstacle on 641, Leaning Tree. Everyone made it over some with very little drama (Toby, David, OG), some with no drama (Bunny Slope OWNED this one) and.. .weeeeellll. ..Scott made it.
Back on to camp we drifted under the lights.
In our absence, RoyBoy and his miracle machine had made campfall. There was also a lone 4 door Taco complete w/camping gear that turned out to be Scumby looking for a shotty seat. Jose and Sveta con perros showed up a couple of hours later. Jafo with his girls and Larry with his girlfriend (name escapes me. . sorry) showed up first thing Saturday morning to round out our field of 8 Jeeps and 1 Bunny Slope for the run.
After a FABULOUS Breakfast of Burrittos con huevos that Don whipped up, we check our gear and headed for the hills. The trail numbers that we ascended and decended won't be posted here, but they all started with a 6 and were three digits long, on the map, and completely legal. The trails were tight, twisty, off-camber, dusty, muddy and completely perfect. The hill climbs proved to be very challenging for some. I even had to pull cable on an optional verticle when the talcum powdered bowling balls of Rimrock got the better of me. Everyone else had the sense to go around . On up the trail we found a perfect place in a rocky ravine for a lunchtime BBQ. Burgers were present, but Carne Asada RULLED lunch. After lunch we found some more LOOSE climbs, some 3 wheeled action and a bunch more fun. Spare tires were applied where needed. Near the end of the first trail that starts with a 6 after lunch, we came to a big STEEP, VERTICLE, ROCKY, ROOTY hill climb. I was leading and heard on the radio that the rest of the group was occupied heckling. . .uh. . .spotting Scotty over a downed tree so I knew I had a few minutes. I tried crawling up the middle, to the left, to the right over the bank and repeat. . .no good. The dirt on this hill was like dry silicone lube on slick rocks and slicker roots. . .Jessy had to take a 10-100 break so I backed on down. Once she was a safe distance away, I launched the old Jeep up the hill and held on tight. . .made it. Mostly airborn, but made it. Jose took the same tactic that I did with the same results and MAN WAS HE EXCITED!!! Heck, I was excited for him. Until, of course, buzzkill David cleared the top with zero drama at little more than a crawl. His longer wheelbase kept him out of trouble on the stairsteps. Everyone else went around.
Up, up, up and away on yet another trail. Bunny slope was still doin' great and everyone generally hung in there save for some mildly entertaining moments best not shared on a public board. towards the top Scott's radiator hose gave up and Roy rescued it with a field repair. Jessy and I loved the view from the top and spent some time just taking in the scenery. After we all had a photo op, we turned tail and headed back to camp. . it was about 5 PM. On the way back down, Jafo had to change a tire, Larry flopped HARD into a tree (check that cage Larry), Jafo had to be winched off of a root ball and my steering shaft let go on that same root ball. After a couple of half a$$ trail fixes, I finally took the whole thing apart and put it back together correctly while the forward party headed down to camp and started dinner.
Jambalaya. 'nuff said. It was GREAT. Camp Chef Don outdid himself.
Today, we were all a little tired so we ate a breakfast of man-hash (no room for the eggs so I cooked them to order while Don master the big Dutch Oven). Later, some folks headed back (Jafo and Larry headed out Saturday evening) and the rest of us went down to Rimrock lake for a nice swim.
If people knew how much fun this was, they'd all do it. Let's keep it to ourselves.. .
Friday afternoon, those of us that were already in camp headed up the hill for a shakedown run. It was Don in the Bunny Slope Bronco II's debut, The Wilcox's white YJ w/full compliment of Wilcoxes, Scott and his shotgun (man that is one ugly chick), and the Mad Kauers' Comancheishlike thingy and OG/Jessy in the 7. We headed up to Cryin' Frank's hill, FW651A cutoff. It looked as though we were the first on this trail this year. There were numerous fallen trees that had to be driven over to stay on the first downhill. ALMOST everyone made the hill climb out of the creek bottom unscathed. Bunny Slope made a valient effort and, after about 29 tries, I strapped him over the final root. Scotty was trying to save his bodywork and, therefore, destroyed a tail light and maybe even bruised his ego a little, but he did make it. Everyone else climbed without incident leaving a few people with "V8 Envy". On up the trail, Bunny Slope required that we winch a tree out of the trail after I drove over it. It took a 4K RPM 2nd gear launch to clear it, so I don't blame him at all. Toby's winch proved much easier on equipment. Once this was out of the way, it was smooth sailing to the end of the trail. Since it was getting late, I made the call NOT to run Cryin' Frank's backwards and to just head up to the gatekeeper obstacle on 641, Leaning Tree. Everyone made it over some with very little drama (Toby, David, OG), some with no drama (Bunny Slope OWNED this one) and.. .weeeeellll. ..Scott made it.
Back on to camp we drifted under the lights.
In our absence, RoyBoy and his miracle machine had made campfall. There was also a lone 4 door Taco complete w/camping gear that turned out to be Scumby looking for a shotty seat. Jose and Sveta con perros showed up a couple of hours later. Jafo with his girls and Larry with his girlfriend (name escapes me. . sorry) showed up first thing Saturday morning to round out our field of 8 Jeeps and 1 Bunny Slope for the run.
After a FABULOUS Breakfast of Burrittos con huevos that Don whipped up, we check our gear and headed for the hills. The trail numbers that we ascended and decended won't be posted here, but they all started with a 6 and were three digits long, on the map, and completely legal. The trails were tight, twisty, off-camber, dusty, muddy and completely perfect. The hill climbs proved to be very challenging for some. I even had to pull cable on an optional verticle when the talcum powdered bowling balls of Rimrock got the better of me. Everyone else had the sense to go around . On up the trail we found a perfect place in a rocky ravine for a lunchtime BBQ. Burgers were present, but Carne Asada RULLED lunch. After lunch we found some more LOOSE climbs, some 3 wheeled action and a bunch more fun. Spare tires were applied where needed. Near the end of the first trail that starts with a 6 after lunch, we came to a big STEEP, VERTICLE, ROCKY, ROOTY hill climb. I was leading and heard on the radio that the rest of the group was occupied heckling. . .uh. . .spotting Scotty over a downed tree so I knew I had a few minutes. I tried crawling up the middle, to the left, to the right over the bank and repeat. . .no good. The dirt on this hill was like dry silicone lube on slick rocks and slicker roots. . .Jessy had to take a 10-100 break so I backed on down. Once she was a safe distance away, I launched the old Jeep up the hill and held on tight. . .made it. Mostly airborn, but made it. Jose took the same tactic that I did with the same results and MAN WAS HE EXCITED!!! Heck, I was excited for him. Until, of course, buzzkill David cleared the top with zero drama at little more than a crawl. His longer wheelbase kept him out of trouble on the stairsteps. Everyone else went around.
Up, up, up and away on yet another trail. Bunny slope was still doin' great and everyone generally hung in there save for some mildly entertaining moments best not shared on a public board. towards the top Scott's radiator hose gave up and Roy rescued it with a field repair. Jessy and I loved the view from the top and spent some time just taking in the scenery. After we all had a photo op, we turned tail and headed back to camp. . it was about 5 PM. On the way back down, Jafo had to change a tire, Larry flopped HARD into a tree (check that cage Larry), Jafo had to be winched off of a root ball and my steering shaft let go on that same root ball. After a couple of half a$$ trail fixes, I finally took the whole thing apart and put it back together correctly while the forward party headed down to camp and started dinner.
Jambalaya. 'nuff said. It was GREAT. Camp Chef Don outdid himself.
Today, we were all a little tired so we ate a breakfast of man-hash (no room for the eggs so I cooked them to order while Don master the big Dutch Oven). Later, some folks headed back (Jafo and Larry headed out Saturday evening) and the rest of us went down to Rimrock lake for a nice swim.
If people knew how much fun this was, they'd all do it. Let's keep it to ourselves.. .