Trail Run: Gold Mtn - John Bull

[Russ Chung]

At first, when Kevin (XJKevin) posted this run, almost no one responded, but we had 10 rigs show up for the run, plus we ran into MJR member Rick (Rickashay) who was with a group that followed us. THANKS RICK for strapping me off the rocks at the John Bull Gatekeeper!!!
Kevin didn't bring his rig; instead he came with three friends, Tom who drove a red XJ, Kenny who drove a white TJ and Jim who drove a red YJ. We also had Scott (Soreye) who drove his blue TJ. Scott brought a friend, Jeremy, who drove a silver Tacoma. The Taco has street tires and we wondered at first if it would make it through the trails, but Jeremy had no problem keeping up with the Jeeps. Freddy (jpn4fun) drove a red TJ and he also brought a friend, Rick who drove a black TJ. Rounding out our group were Joel (DriverJC) in a green TJ, Al (The_Al_Mighty) in silver LJ and myself (Russ Chung) in my khaki TJ.

Tom on the Gatekeeper @ John Bull:



Kenny on John Bull:



Kevin is spotting Jim on Gold Mountain:



Al (The_Al_Mighty) on Gold Mountain:



Scott (Soreye) on Gold Mountain:



Jeremy on Gold Mountain:



Joel (DriverJC) on Gold Mountain:




(continued)

[Russ Chung]

Freddy (jpn4fun) and Rick on Gold Mountain:



Freddy (jpn4fun) spotting Rick on the Gatekeeper @ John Bull:



We finished Gold Mountain without incident, and headed over to John Bull, where we ran into a traffic jam at the Gatekeeper. After watching a group ahead of us work their way through the Gatekeeper, it was getting late (about 4 pm), so Al (The_Al_Mighty) decided to head home. We decided it would be best to split into two groups, so Freddy (jpn4fun) led the first group which consisted of himself, Rick and Joel (Soreye). Then there was an intermission while a group came down the Gatekeeper (while imbibing a variety of -uh- beverages). The rest of our group headed up the Gatekeeper and again there were delays because of traffic coming down the Gatekeeper. I was the last one of our group to try the Gatekeeper. I quickly discovered that the rocks were coated with a layer of fine dust and provided very little traction (that's my excuse, and I'm sticking by it!) so I managed to get stuck--three times. Fortunately, Rick (Rickashay) was in the group behind me, and he strapped me off the rocks each time. The rest of the second part of our group decided that it was getting late (it was about 6 pm) so they turned around, came back down the Gatekeeper, and we headed back to the landfill to air up. The first part of our group, consisting of Freddy (jpn4fun), Rick and Scott (Soreye) continued on the trail. The weather was unseasonably COLD, and I'm disappointed that I didn't get through John Bull, but I had a great time and thanks to Kevin for organizing the run.

Joel (DriverJC) on John Bull:



Scott (Soreye) on John Bull:



Jim on John Bull:



Kenny on John Bull:



Tom on John Bull:

[rickashay]

Good group of MJR people. Nice meeting all of you. Would really like to do this again, from start to finish.
Heck Russ, as far as the strapping, I thought we were just product testing your new tank skid.

[jpn4fun]

hey guys i just wanna say thanks for letting me and rick wheel with you guys we had a great time. cant wait to do it again soon.

[Soreye]

I had a great trip. We need to definately do that run again together. That was my first time on Gold Mountain. Jeremy's Taco is a sleeper the way he drives it. He finesses his way through and surprises me all the time. I took my dana 30 apart today and found the grinding noise on the gatekeeper to JB was only some tired springs in the locker. I got lucky it's such an easy, cheap fix! P.S. That's me in the blue TJ with the hardtop-unless Rick put my mask on.

[Russ Chung]

....P.S. That's me in the blue TJ with the hardtop-unless Rick put my mask on.

My bad. I didn't look closely enough and I got Rick's black TJ mixed up with your blue TJ. I corrected the caption on the post.

[xjkevin]

good time guys, kinda felt funny with no rig, i really didnt know what to do with my self, i think russ would have made it up johnbull if he had a better spotter, i can pick a line like a mofo in my ride, but my spotting sucks.... thanks for everything Russ.. and everyone who came//..Kevin

[dirtman13]

Nice report Russ. GM to JB is one of my favorite runs. Must have killed Kevin to be side lined. I wanted to go on this run but the Jeep wasn't ready.

[tony m]

Sure looks like alotta fun you guys had, great report and pics, thanks for sharing like always russ!

[the_al_mighty]

Wonderful report Russ. I wanted to thank everyone who went. My son and I had a great time. I was a little bummed to have to cut the trip short but it became a long day for the kid (kids first). He will probably skip the next trip.....

[DriverJC]

Tim and I had a great time on this run. we finished John Bull along with Freddy and Rick. We finished the trail at around 8pm.

I will post the pictures on my site once I get back to my computer at home.

Was able to hack into my home computer. so here is the link

http://gallery.me.com/gijoel/100284

Thanks for planning the great run.

joel

[sarah]

Awesome pics, Russ and Joel. I am really feeling the Mac love in this thread!