OK folks. . .here is my full report with pictures (thanks Dad).
Most of the group arrived in camp on Friday night. My parents and kids came up on Thursday and staked out a really sweet camp site for us all.
Saturday morning we got a leisurely start out of camp at about 10AM. About a mile down the road, Jose got a really bad, violent Death Wobble. We took off a wheel, reinstalled it, and gave the Jeep quick once over and didn't seen anything too abnormal.
Soon, we were off to Trail 676 Kaner Flats Via the Quartz Meadow Road with the death wobble under control.
The first section is just good to get your sea legs under you and remind you to put the hubs in.
Scotty:
Next up, the rest of the group aired down some. Since I had started out at 4psi, I went up ahead to look at the condition of Elephant Dung hill. NO problem at all so we cleared the top and waited for the rest of the group. Some quads came along and caused a little delay, but no biggy. Here is the Peak Putter Pause on top:
Next we soldiered on to the road crossing and took the optional short black diamond loop to the sidehill, over the bridge and to the meadow before the really nasty muddy, rooted up tree spot. A couple in the group needed a little coaxing through the twisties after the first bridge, but, again, nothing major. When we got to the meadow, we encountered a traffic jam of about 6-8 rigs waiting and winching on the nasty spot.
While waiting and watching the show, we noticed that the legal line has been re-routed to the left side. No one was making it. Finally, a really nicely built Comanche managed to scrape it's way over the slimey roots between the trees without a winch cable. This gave us a little hope.
After the last of the other group was up, we decided that someone with a winch should go first because it was pretty obvious that not everyone was going to make it unassisted. I volunteered and lined up right behind the still-winching YJ on 36" swampers that was the tail-gunner for the other group. In my mind, I had a pretty big dilema. On one hand, this little climb was too tall for my wheelbase, the mud was too slick, the roots were too big and the trees were too close together. On the other hand, my DAD is SITTING IN THE PASSENGER SEAT!!! The very man that patiently taught me how to drive this very Jeep is sitting there, mentally picking out the right line up this climb. No pressure OG> > >no pressure. Not only that, he has on new shoes and so do I. . .OK, I know only 1 out of 10 rigs made it and they had a 20" longer wheelbase. . .but. . .whew. . .so here's how it went.
1st gear, low range, front ARB engage. Idle up my intended line with my aired down PitBull Rockers clawing for another inch. Clutch. Roll back 2 feet. Brake. 2nd gear. WOT. . .bwaaaaaaaaa. . ..release throtle.. .bounce. . ..bwaaaaaaaaa. . ..over.
The other group hadn't even gotten in their rigs yet. At the time, I played it off like it was no big deal. . .but I had to change my shorts when we got back to camp. Poppy (fotog) was riding shotgun, so no pictures of this, but here is the same spot for the rest of the group.
Jose gave it a very valiant effort and damn near made it.
Cody
Jose giving it another shot. . .a little less air pressure, but the same result.
Scotty
Graham blew a bead when he got wedged and we had to winch him sideways.
The Reverend
Now we soldiered on to the bottom of Heart Attack Hill.
View up the steep section.
Scotty got a little wedged and smacked his rear quarter on a tree. We spotted him out.
Cody got REALLY sidewards AND wedged. Jose provided anchorage to winch him back onto the correct line. Nobody had big problems with the steep part of the hill. I took the far left line and the rest of the group took the far right.
On to Lily Pond with no major action other than a little trouble for some of the guys getting up on the slimy bridges. Once at Lily pond, I had to swap out a couple of u-joint caps on my front driveline. Graham jumped in and braved the hot oil bath to do the work.
This was lunch time. . .the group:
Then on down Lily Pond trail. There was one drop off that the Reverend carried a tire over. . .but he and I were the only ones that went down that way. No real drama except for the slimy bridges. The big mud hole was deep, but we all crawled it.
Jessy having fun in the back seat:
Graham and Cody loaded some fire wood in the back of Graham's truck and we headed back to camp via Milk Creek to 410 to Little Naches Road.
Once we got back, the fellas showed a little 4wheeler brain power to transport the fire wood.
Nothing like a good camp fire after a long day on the trail.
Tired Wheelers
After a night around the fire and a good sleep next to the river, the group rolled out of bed at about 9:00AM on Father's Day. First order of business was father's day present opening for Poppy and me!!! Among some really cool gifts, I got a 12" dutch oven. Needless to say:
Man-Quiche is SERVED. Not an ounce remained. It was delicious.
Then we packed up the Jeeps and headed up for the trails. Milk Creek Road to Milk Lake:
to Lower Woodpecker. This is a really neat little trail that is GREAT for practicing for the tough stuff. It is pretty tight in some places. We even found a little snow:
The tightest spot:
But the XJ under Scott's control made it through with 1mm to spare:
Graham was not so lucky and had to run back to the main road to bypass the rest of the trail (he's looking for a Jeep/smaller rig as we speak).
Now, here is an interesting story. . .around about 1983, my dad and I helped the forest service lay out Upper Woodpecker. Along the way, we routed the trail between these two trees. The ranger bet my dad a sixer that he could drive through them with the Jeep. Needless to say, Dad enjoyed a few cold Olies that night on the NSF's finest.
Another fact that I remembered about this spot is that this is one of the few places where a bypass was built into a trail from the beginning. The trees are barely 60" apart and we knew that, say, a Bronco, would not fit, so there is an alternate route to the left.
Anyway. . .on accross the Ridge to Funny Rocks.
Scott's new desktop wallpaper (he got owned, but don't tell anybody):
Cody, making it up the same spot. . .but. . well. . .it wasn't pretty. You don't get points for style anyway.
Hey, KIDS> > >get in the Jeeps, let's go to moon rocks!!!!
Ever wonder why they call it Moon Rocks?
It was getting a little late for a Sunday, so we headed back to camp via the 5 finger's climb and Milk Creek Road. I took my hubs out right next to Toby's trailer. . didn't even know it. . .
Back at camp, this is the view from our tent.
and a sign of a good weekend!!!!
Overall, it was the best Father's day ever. . .bar none for me anyway. I got to spend it with my dad, my kids, my family and my friends doing what I love. . .perfect in every way. Thanks to everyone that came along and made this a start to a great tradition!!!!!
and got a bead blown off by being winched sideways
I believe we saw two more of you guys on NF19 as we were headed back. We were in the wife's half yellow XJ and we had Tiny with us in his yellow CJ5. We had a Sami with us but he went on ahead of us after Ravens Roost.
Good pix, Spanky 
