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This last weekend was the Last Chance Canyon trip where we ventured out with another club. There were about 12 rigs on the Saturday run and 11 on the Sunday run. They were very nice when we arrived and helped us find a good place for the tent. Once all setup we went and visited with them around the campfire. Around 9:00 pm we retired. Both of us had a great night sleep. Although, I did wake up a couple times to the coyotes yippin' and howlin' when they caught something...scary!
The Saturday run left at 9:00 am so we had plenty of time to cook breakfast and get our Jeeps ready for the run. We headed up some trail that took us up on a ridge that had an awesome view. When coming down it lead us to a nice little step they called the "Intimidation Wall". Jesse and I just walked up it, but it was a fun little "diddy" amongst the flat terrain. Then we headed up another one that was fairly steep and just kept going up and up and up. It came down around the old house, that people have truly managed to destroy, and then continued to the Burrow Schmidt mine, where we had lunch. A few brave souls ventured in the mine, Jesse (Kodiak Spirit) being one to them. After lunch we traveled down and continued thru some slightly bumpy terrain, with a few rocks off and on, to a place called the narrows. It began with an old house, guess house and usable old outhouse with toilet paper!! The house has a sign in book, furniture, appliances and fireplace. There is actually a letter on the wall for the people you can contact if you would like to stay there for a vacation or something. The narrows were pretty fun. Lots of rocks and tiny obstacles to maneuver around. At the end there was one step about 4 feet high. The first couple rigs had problems getting up until the one found the right line. It was really interesting to watch. I was going take the bypass, but after seeing some of the other rigs on the right line, I tried it out. The first try, I was off on the angle so I backed up and started over....went right up and over like it was nothing!!! Desert Jewel made me proud! Jesse was after me and, of course, he just walked up it. We got back to camp around 6:00 pm. Nine hours of trail made for a very long day. Oh! I forgot to mention, it was windy and extremely cold all day. We cooked our dinner then headed to bed.
The night was slightly longer because of the weather that rolled in. It was extremely windy and at times we felt like our tent was going to blow away with us in it! A couple times I woke and saw flashes of lightning. Was really neat. We woke up and the mountains had snow on them, with it still snowing. So incredibly beautiful. Seeing the weather heading our way, we broke up camp and loaded up the Jeeps. Of course, the weather let us do this until it was time to take down the tent and then it decided to downpour on us. Was quite fun! The Sunday run was more a moderate trail with some good obstacles. We did a trail called "Pole 19" led by a guy named John in a Toyota Tacoma 4 door with a shell on the back. He described the trail as having 4 waterfalls to go up, each getting slightly tougher. The 5th waterfall was a "winch only" climb for Jeeps because they just can't make it up...and there is no bypass. I was a little leery, so I chose to follow Jesse this time. We started out taking Last Chance Canyon backwards, then traveling on the road for about a mile to the head of Pole 19. Jesse and I were right behind John, the trail leader so once we got thru, we could walk back and watch everyone else. The first waterfall was a little "step" that everyone got thru quite easily. The second one was a little bigger, but, again, no issues. The third one, wasn't big or anything, but it did have a bit of a catch to it that caused me to have a little bit of difficulty getting up because of no front lockers. Once I got the right angle, up I went! The fourth one, was a nice size crawl, but once again, everyone made it thru without any issues. Then we came to the last one. The big "wincher". John, the leader, had a few issues getting up it, but did make it up after a few tries. (There was a big boulder at the bottom middle that you had to go around to get to the bottom of the step. This step was about 12 feet tall.) Now it's Jesse's turn. He chose to go around the boulder on the passenger side. He gave it a good couple tries from that angle, bumpin' and bouncin', but the Kodiak Spirit just couldn't get a good grip at top. His rear tire saved him from flippin' backwards more then once!!! John, has now brought out his tow strap, making sure Jess sees it....you know what that meant!! Jess, backed up and tried approaching it from the driver side of the boulder. Two attempts and he was up!!! No strap, no winch - a Jeep made it up!! (Meanwhile, while everyone was watching Jesse, I had hooked up my winch cable and had it hanging thru my window.) Next was me. Everyone was rootin' me on. I pulled up, driver side of the boulder. Slowly climbed the waterfall until Jesse could reach the winch cable. I stopped, yelled out the window: "Ok Jess, grab the winch and hook it to your Jeep." Everyone was shocked!! We hooked up the cable and I winched and drove the Desert Jewel right on up and over!! Very easy and no damage!! We watched the rest come thru, bouncin' and bumpin', almost flippin'. A couple of them were winched, but most made it thru. It was really fun to watch!
Afterwards, we followed them till we came to a road that led us back out of the canyon so we could head home. Said our goodbyes and thank yous for such a wonderful weekend and were on way!
Here are a few pic's:
The Saturday run left at 9:00 am so we had plenty of time to cook breakfast and get our Jeeps ready for the run. We headed up some trail that took us up on a ridge that had an awesome view. When coming down it lead us to a nice little step they called the "Intimidation Wall". Jesse and I just walked up it, but it was a fun little "diddy" amongst the flat terrain. Then we headed up another one that was fairly steep and just kept going up and up and up. It came down around the old house, that people have truly managed to destroy, and then continued to the Burrow Schmidt mine, where we had lunch. A few brave souls ventured in the mine, Jesse (Kodiak Spirit) being one to them. After lunch we traveled down and continued thru some slightly bumpy terrain, with a few rocks off and on, to a place called the narrows. It began with an old house, guess house and usable old outhouse with toilet paper!! The house has a sign in book, furniture, appliances and fireplace. There is actually a letter on the wall for the people you can contact if you would like to stay there for a vacation or something. The narrows were pretty fun. Lots of rocks and tiny obstacles to maneuver around. At the end there was one step about 4 feet high. The first couple rigs had problems getting up until the one found the right line. It was really interesting to watch. I was going take the bypass, but after seeing some of the other rigs on the right line, I tried it out. The first try, I was off on the angle so I backed up and started over....went right up and over like it was nothing!!! Desert Jewel made me proud! Jesse was after me and, of course, he just walked up it. We got back to camp around 6:00 pm. Nine hours of trail made for a very long day. Oh! I forgot to mention, it was windy and extremely cold all day. We cooked our dinner then headed to bed.
The night was slightly longer because of the weather that rolled in. It was extremely windy and at times we felt like our tent was going to blow away with us in it! A couple times I woke and saw flashes of lightning. Was really neat. We woke up and the mountains had snow on them, with it still snowing. So incredibly beautiful. Seeing the weather heading our way, we broke up camp and loaded up the Jeeps. Of course, the weather let us do this until it was time to take down the tent and then it decided to downpour on us. Was quite fun! The Sunday run was more a moderate trail with some good obstacles. We did a trail called "Pole 19" led by a guy named John in a Toyota Tacoma 4 door with a shell on the back. He described the trail as having 4 waterfalls to go up, each getting slightly tougher. The 5th waterfall was a "winch only" climb for Jeeps because they just can't make it up...and there is no bypass. I was a little leery, so I chose to follow Jesse this time. We started out taking Last Chance Canyon backwards, then traveling on the road for about a mile to the head of Pole 19. Jesse and I were right behind John, the trail leader so once we got thru, we could walk back and watch everyone else. The first waterfall was a little "step" that everyone got thru quite easily. The second one was a little bigger, but, again, no issues. The third one, wasn't big or anything, but it did have a bit of a catch to it that caused me to have a little bit of difficulty getting up because of no front lockers. Once I got the right angle, up I went! The fourth one, was a nice size crawl, but once again, everyone made it thru without any issues. Then we came to the last one. The big "wincher". John, the leader, had a few issues getting up it, but did make it up after a few tries. (There was a big boulder at the bottom middle that you had to go around to get to the bottom of the step. This step was about 12 feet tall.) Now it's Jesse's turn. He chose to go around the boulder on the passenger side. He gave it a good couple tries from that angle, bumpin' and bouncin', but the Kodiak Spirit just couldn't get a good grip at top. His rear tire saved him from flippin' backwards more then once!!! John, has now brought out his tow strap, making sure Jess sees it....you know what that meant!! Jess, backed up and tried approaching it from the driver side of the boulder. Two attempts and he was up!!! No strap, no winch - a Jeep made it up!! (Meanwhile, while everyone was watching Jesse, I had hooked up my winch cable and had it hanging thru my window.) Next was me. Everyone was rootin' me on. I pulled up, driver side of the boulder. Slowly climbed the waterfall until Jesse could reach the winch cable. I stopped, yelled out the window: "Ok Jess, grab the winch and hook it to your Jeep." Everyone was shocked!! We hooked up the cable and I winched and drove the Desert Jewel right on up and over!! Very easy and no damage!! We watched the rest come thru, bouncin' and bumpin', almost flippin'. A couple of them were winched, but most made it thru. It was really fun to watch!
Afterwards, we followed them till we came to a road that led us back out of the canyon so we could head home. Said our goodbyes and thank yous for such a wonderful weekend and were on way!
Here are a few pic's:
8s, 35 inch MTRs, Warn 9k rock track 4:1, Vanco Big Brake Kit![/COLOR]
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