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This is the unveiling of T II re-deux.
After the Tin Benders Jamboree, Tuffy took a beating. I worked on getting the little gray truck ready for this run. It doesn't look too bad!
On the road up to Barstow, Hootmans' rig looks nice cruising down the freeway.
We arrived late due to Holiday traffic, and set up camp.
Hootman signed up for tthe Blue Moon trail. Saturday morning they lined up for the run.
During a break in the action, these Hummer wheelers practice for the upcoming seal hunt. I know, I know, they're...golfing?
Meanwhile, our group heads out to Pumpkin Eater.
There wasn't much challenging terrain at first, boredom and opportunity took the wheel.
Dennis tackles the v-notch.
Trent gets spotted up. I think he took top honors at the games for articulation.
Waiting for our run to move, I took some distant shots of hill climbs.
Still waiting. Dennis and I decided to drop out of the official run and go find some rocks to crawl. Dennis said he could find Empire Strikes Back, so we decided to do that.
After telling the Rob's of our plan, RJ hopped in RC's rig to shoot some 4x4TV footage, Greg follows along in his Runner.
A section of the trail on Empire Strikes Back, struck out at Greg's gas tank skid plate.
Sitting on the rocks.
Got him moving again.
Normally soft spoken, Rob shouts out, " I broke a Birfield!"
This innocuous looking section, the exit ramp, takes skill and nerve to properly navigate. Dennis jumped out of his rig and kissed the ground after surviving this drop, I jumped out of my rig on shaking legs, Rob drove his rig and Greg's Runner through it.
Greg's rig is tight.
Safely back at camp. The wind was ruthless. It didn't let up till Sunday.
At camp, Hootman was back from the SUV run, so Dennis and I talked him into going on a little run with us.
On the trial I noticed his axle was separated from the spindle.
After breakfast on Sunday morning, I tore into Hoot's truck to see what happened.
Carnage. Hoot snapped the splined end off the axle. The general consensus was that Hootman had been officially initiated into the off-road community. After buttoning up and putting his wheel back on, we headed over to the games while we waited for Jon to wake up.
At the articulation ramp. Check your ramp index.
Tuffy scored a 780.
The teeter totter was fun.
After the games, we headed out to Pumpkin Eater, to do the rest of Saturday's trial. On the way to the trail-head there is a fun little notch to play in. Here's Joe, an avid four wheeler, honing his skills.
Wheels up.
When the right rear climbs a rock, the Runner gets tipped to the left.
A little push away from the rock is all it takes for Joe to drive right out.
Dennis going through.
That was fun. Watch the video Shot by Dennis!
Jon airs out the grocery getter's tires.
Joe is pointing out something.
What do you see Joe?
It turns out Joe spotted gas leaking from Jon's rig so Dennis strapped him out.
A little ding. That skid plate didn't do much to stop the rocks from smashing in the gas tank.
No worries.
Further up the trail, a sweet flattie playing on the rocks.
Can you believe he sold his Toyota to build this? What was he thinking?
Maybe he was thinking, " I need some money to finish my flat fender." (glancing at Toyota), " H-m-m-m-m." Wise choice.
Mike brings his Cruiser up to the V-notch at the first canyon.
He needs lower gearing to finesse this obstacle. Heavy right pedal throws the Cruiser around.
Leave it there Mike, we'll come back for it later.
On the next canyon, a series of waterfalls proves to be quite the challenge.
At the last waterfall, the steps proved to be impossible to climb.
We headed back to camp and got cleaned up, had dinner, and attended the raffle. We had a blast. We finished off the day and the weekend with some gnarly rock crawling. I had a lot of fun wheeling with new folks and meeting good people.
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Running the turtle race backwards. Isn't reverse a lower gear?
I wanna' try!
Mike's turn.
Finally, back at Pumpkin Eater.
Dennis gets ready to strap the Cruiser down.
Joe wisely opts to be strapped. No need to prove anything, he's
already done this. Stock Birfields demand respect.
Dennis was determined, but it wasn't to be today.