Extreme 4 Wheelin'
Rough Canyon, March 2004
(Click on image to enlarge)

Well, we're here, bright and early, ready to play!  Did I mention EARLY!

Shane asked me on the way down if we had a gate keeper in mind.   After I figured out what he was talking about, I thought for a second and replied Yes, I've got just the thing.  So, as soon as we entered, I led us to the right into creek trail "5".  I think that's supposed to be the rating, but for lack of posted name, I'll just call it "5".

Everyone was making good progress for the first half.  Then Henry gets a little hung up on a couple big rocks and we hear the all too familiar 'POP'.   He's in a pretty bad spot, but as he's backing up a rock rolls under the diff and lifts the tire.  Well, this is as good a spot as any to tear it down....

Yep, it's broke!

Oh, did I mention is was raining....
Nice umbrella there Larry!

Well, we found an exit to get Henry out of the trail.  With the front locker, he's still moving, but now on only three legs.  The rest of us continue on, we'll meet up with Henry at the end of this trail.

Larry, you're not complaining about my parking, are you!  And, what's so funny Jackie....

Ok, back on the move..

Hamid's got a jeep full.  His son is riding in the back. 
I hope his jacket is water proof...

Shane is making good progress, despite the open diff on the rear.   And why is he locked in the front and open on rear 60?  Well, I'll let him answer that question....

There is a cool wall at the end of the trail.  Jackie just has to take a shot at it, but this is not a good day for traction...

Hamid is just about thru the trail.

Now Shane makes his way out the exit...

Henry hooks back up with us, and we take off in search of more trails.   We run up what they say is an old county road then up to the top where we tie in with what looks like an old fire road.  From there I see this interesting 'trail' running back down the south side.  Well we soon discover the trail is not much more than an old logging skidder track.  However, the climb back up the hill was quite interesting...

Everything was going pretty good, until we hit this sharp off camber turn around a tree.  This one's going to take some finesse (and a little help from the winch cable)....

Shane, finesse usually does not cause tire smoke.... :-)

Next is Henry with the longest and most body to protect (not to mention the gimp axle). 
Again, some creative winch work and he makes it thru unscathed.

Next up is Jackie.  Being the widest of the group, she's going to be a little tricky.
Here, dad gives directions...

Now this one got everyone's attention!  The front end let go and fell into a hole.  Two tires in the air on this hill will get your blood going!

So what was Norm and Jackie thinking.  Well I blew up the picture a bit.  You can get the idea.  Norm looks a bit concerned, and Jackie seems to have disappeared.  She's probably checking to see if the passenger seat was secured... ;-)

A little rattled, but not broken.  One more try and Jackie makes it by the tree. 
Way to go Jackie!

Ok, now it's time for the Rock frog.

From there we made it back to the fire road and on down the mountain.   Shane discovered that the rear axle was rubbing the fuel take skid plate, and Norm's belly skid was rubbing on the front output.  So, they decide to call it a day.

It's still early so the rest of us decide to go back out.  We run a nice trail they call 'fence line'.  Then we run into someone from the Dallas club and they suggest that '3 tree' (or something like that) might be a good one to try.  The trail was rated a 4, but the rain started again as we headed up and it quickly got SLIMY!

Hamid's son took over the driving job for this one, as we fight our way up the hill.

About this point the Rock Frog appears to run out of gas.  Oh, that's not good!

We decide that dragging the Jeep up the hill (which is steadily getting worst) is not an option, so we pull out the winch cable and lower him back down this climb in hopes that it might pick up some fuel once it levels out.

It's decided we should turn around and head out while we still have some light.  On the way down, Henry breaks his other front axle!

Dead front makes going over rocks, even down hill, tough business.

I ran a strap back to Hamid to pull him down the hill (yea, that's fun).

Finally the Jeep starts picking up fuel again and has power to drive out.  Henry slides his way to the bottom and we head back to the trailers.

Man, that makes for a long day.  But, everyone has survived.

All that's left now is a nice peaceful drive home in the rain....   Right?

Well, I stopped at Muskogee to get fuel and drop off Larry, just to discover that I have a wheel bearing GONE on the trailer.  One axle won't take the load, so I unload the Sami.  I drove it back to the house with Larry following in my truck and now single axle trailer.  Then I drive Larry back for his car.    We finally get home around 2am.  Man that makes for a LONG day!

It's been said, that any day wheelin' is  better than a day at work!  Well, it was a tough day of wheeling, but I think everyone had a good time.   I know I did, but I do have some work to do...

Thanks to all that came out! 
This place is still a truly awesome place to play.  And, I'm ready to head back (as soon as I find an axle for my trailer... )