Trail Report: #2 Rattlesnake after the storm

[Mitch]

#2 After the morning mine explore Tammy and I, Scott and Lesa, and Roger headed out Hwy 247 to Rattlesnake Canyon to see what damage the rain and storms had on the trail. Billy Mitchell had already cleaned up and bladed his road going to his ranch so it was smooth cruising to the main wash.

Just as we dropped into the main wash we bumped into the guys from HYE Crawlers. Shant and his crew were off to Mottino for a rock bash. All of the previous trails through Rattlesnake Canyon were gone. There was only a few sections that were smooth, the rest was a hunt and find path through the rocks. The amount of water that had flooded through the canyon in the last week must have been amazing. A must see right now for those who remember the old smooth sandy trail.









Still a few fun spots!











Tammy driving great88!



Hmmmmm.....Tammy?



Tammy video


We took 2N01 west across to 3N03 and down to Cactus Flats and back to Hwy 18 to air up. There were only a few spots of snow so it must have been above 6500' this last storm.





Another perfect day Jeeping. Great friends and great company. Thank you guys, Tammy and I had a ball. Tammy will be getting some practice driving on the rocks in the next few weeks so I will have a backup driver!

Mitch

[dirtman13]

That would have been some sight seeing the water coming down the canyon. Thanks Mitch.

[RAT]

Wow! So where did all the sand get deposited? That was a West Texas Frog Choker that did that fer sher! So is Rattlesnake a double black diamond now?

Thanks for the report Mitch.

[Mitch]

Kurt,

There is only 1 or 2 sections of that whole canyon that look the same. At Hwy 247 the wash overflowed across the road for almost a quarter mile in width. Truly awesome.

West Texas Frog Choker? Too funny!

[Roger]

Thanks Mitch, Tammy, Scott, & Lesa! Always a great day getting to hang out with you all. Photos and videos didn't turn out good enough to post. Sorry, I'll try to do better next time.

[Mike]

Looks like a great trip. The weather really has made some serious changes in the mountains. I gotta find some time to go explore. Thanks for posting this up. I hope to see you soon.

[avjeepfreek]

Awesome trip guys! Lesa and I had a blast. It was good to see Shant and the crew again as we entered Rattlesnake Canyon, hope they had a great time on Mottino! The weather was perfect and we had a full day of Jeeping.

As the story continued...... We aired up at Hwy 18 and 3N03 (Cactus Flats) and as darkness fell we headed down the 18 towards Lucerne. We got about 1/4 mile north of Camp Rock Rd and I heard a loud "Bang, Bang, Bang from under my Jeep,....Stepped on the clutch and eased off the to the right shoulder. Mitch and Roger pulled in behind me and as I stepped out and looked under the Jeep I could clearly see the rear drive shaft hanging from the front yoke. I had lost the universal joint in the rear. I didn't have a spare so I knew that a call to AAA was next. After I got under the Jeep I noticed that the three bangs I heard under the jeep were.... 1. The universal letting go.... 2. The drive shaft hitting the underside of the Jeep and 3. The Slip Yoke housing snapping in two and coming off the back of the transfer case!

"I'm just glad it waited until I was off the trail to come apart!"

Needless to say, I'll be rounding up the needed parts to fix'er back up in the next few weeks.

Thanks to Roger for hanging with us until the tow truck arrived and having to eating a cold dinner afterwords. And... Mitch, I now you would have stayed there with us too! if it weren't for us pushing you into your Jeep to get out of there because you had dinner plans with you beautiful girlfriend down the hill! You all are true friends and we love ya!

We did get the Jeep back home and the neighbor next door came over and helped me get it pushed back into the garage. Even with our little mishap, I'd say it was still an awesome day!

Scott

I'll get a few pic's posted as soon as I can.

[avjeepfreek]

Here are a few more Pic's



Mitch in the extra credit stuff


















GOLD FEVER!!


Great day of Jeepin!

Scott

[TipsE-Z]

Looks like a great trip indeed. Sorry to hear about your explosion there Scott but as you stated, at least the Jeep demons waited until after the trail to have a fit.