Slaughterhouse Gulch
Since this was the first trip of the 2006 season, some of us had a few new things to show off. We hung out at the meeting place and checked out the new toys, then we headed off to the trail. Everybody aired down and disconnected before shifting into 4-wheel drive and heading out on the trail.
We got to "poser rock" and let some other people go by, then Jed got on the rock to pose. He now is on 33" tires, and he climbed right up the rock. Next up was Don, and only climbed up a little way until his rear tire got really light. Down he came, and then Bud gave it a try. After walking right up the rock, the rest of us discovered that Bud had a very capable rig.
Michael's stock Rubicon did a reasonable job of posing on the rock. Dave was the last one on the rock and he did it as easily as he always does. Then we headed off to do the trail.
Stump Hill is still closed. However, we could see fresh tracks going around the sign, and there were logs that have been dragged in place to help remind people of the closure. We really hate to see people abusing the trail like this.
Most of the trail was free of snow and ice except for one nasty spot. Of course, that spot just happened to be the downside of the very steep hill. We stared at it for a bit, then headed down with Dave in the lead. It was really slick! Dave slid sideways down most of the hill, and so did everyone else. The really good news was that no one hit anything on the way down.
Next up was the mud hole at the bottom that seems to be there every spring, now. Everybody got out surveying the mud. Dave found his line, dropped in, and drove right through it.
Jed decided to ride a tire up along the ledge on the way in, testing his new tires. Half way through it, he stopped for awhile. Finally he drove off the ledge feeling nervous about his angle. Don tried his luck next. He drove through with his tires up on the ledge. Although he felt uneasy about it, he did finish the path.
Michael came after Don. He was also a little nervous at first but finished the hole with some fine spotting by Don. Bud just dropped straight in like Dave did and drove on through making picture taking difficult. Gary watched everyone go on the right side and went left instead, thinking that would be the harder line.
Once everyone was through the hole, we headed to the clearing at the base of the hill of whoopdeedoos. We grouped into a circle to get a good picture or two of all of the vehicles. It also helped to block some of the wind, hail, snow, rain and everything else mother nature had to give us. As usual, early spring wheeling gave us all four seasons.
After a nice lunch, Dave headed up the hill to take a couple of pictures of the "wagon circle" of vehicles. He stopped part of the way up the hill so he could video tape the rest of the group. While waiting for everyone to drive up, Dave's dog (Buddy) decided he wanted to run around with a stick that was about seven or eight feet long. Jed and Dave couldn't get out of the way fast enough -- Jed got knocked out of the way and Dave went down.
Everyone came up the whoopdeedoos and made it look easy except for Gary, who moments earlier asked if anybody used their lockers. No one used their lockers, but Gary seemed to have more trouble with it in his light Jeep.
We got to the hole that is good for wheel stands, and it seemed like it was even more dug out than usual. Dave got a really good wheel stand there. Everyone after Dave tried to get the same wheel stand but it didn't happen for anyone else.
Then we headed off to the mud pits. On the way there, we passed a couple of other rigs completely covered in mud. This gave us all cause for excitement, but once we arrived we were slightly disappointed. There was not as much mud as we expected, but we still had fun playing.
Michael ran through one side of the deep pit, and on the way back around he decided to gas it. He launched his Jeep two or three feet into the air! After some very minor coaxing from Don and Dave, he flew through again with even more gusto than before. He caught some air again, and hit his rear Tuffy box draw to deform it a little. It's about time for his first trail damage, anyway.
Gary worked on a particularly slick section and just couldn't make it. Everyone else tried the same section and no one could make it. A Toyota truck showed up and we talked them into trying it -- and then they made it. Gary tried some more but it wasn't going to happen for us.
We finished the trail and it was a little early for dinner, so we headed into town instead. Then we stopped at a place in town and had a great time catching up after the winter. It was a great start to the 2006 season!
Reports from Other Days: 14
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Slaughterhouse Gulch. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
