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My local Jeep club made a run to Saguaro Lake on Saturday, but I
couldn't make time to go along. Two "buddies" and I went to the
same area on Sunday afternoon. I should have known better.......they both
drive new Chevy's. Anyway, we started the trip by taking a wrong turn and ending up on a
class 3+ (maybe a 4) hill. 1/4 mile long, steep enough that I couldn't see
anything but hood, basketball sized rocks, loose shale, and 2 to 3 foot
deep moguls near the top. My "buddies" ran up the hill as if
they were running Baja. No treading lightly for them. Both of them had
tires bouncing off the ground more than once. I made a leisurely crawl up
the hill in 4lo, reveling in the symphony of exhaust growl, transfer case
whine, and carburetor howl. I nosed a tire into the bank and had to roll
back and pick a new line about 50 feet from the top, but other than driver
error the J-10 performed beautifully.
Well, almost.
About a quarter mile after the hill climb, we stopped to have a picnic.
As soon as I shut off the engine, smoke started coming up from under the
hood. It seems that my battery got tired of it's home and wanted to
snuggle up to the exhaust manifold, complete with the tray securely
clamped to it. One corner was melted away, and acid was leaking at a
prodigious rate - pouring would be a better word. I immediately bungeed it
back in place and got the truck started again before I lost all cranking
power. At this point, we decided to head back to town.
My trail report to the local club was titled "Next time I'm going
with YOU" because of what happened next. My "buddies",
knowing that my Jeep was wounded and limping back to town, promptly jumped
out ahead of me on the trail and started the Baja thing again, even though
I had chastised them for tearing up the hill with their antics. Within 10
minutes they were far enough away that we couldn't even see their dust
anymore.
Don't worry - the Jeep gods watched over us and got even with them.
Since we were now on our own, we decided to take an "easier"
route back to the trailhead. It was easy enough for the first couple of
miles, just sand and medium size rocks. The only problem was that the
trail dead ended into a fence with no gate. It turns out that we had
wandered into a restriced area that the rangers hadn't mentioned when we
went in - my fault though for not asking more directly. We had a choice of
backtracking several miles and going down the same hill that made the
battery jump, or taking the trail that led out of the ravine we were in.
Hindsight says that we should have backtracked, but we went for the hill
climb out of the ravine instead. This one was shorter than the first, but
steeper, rockier, and more dangerous. We scouted up to the top to make
sure the trail didn't drop off of a cliff on the other side, but didn't go
far enough. After another nearly blind run up the hill ( that's a really
long hood, isn't it ) the trail dropped down, flattened out, and made a
right turn. Shortly after the turn was another drop that seemed straight
down with a left turn in the middle, more basketball size rocks, a fifty
foot drop on both sides, and was exactly 6 inches wider than the track
width on the J-10 -- we measured! Do you get extra points if the trail is
bad enough that your spotter falls down while trying to walk it? The real
fun came at the left turn in the middle, where the trail was steep enough
that the carb started to flood out and I had to goose it to keep the
engine running (remember, dying battery and auto trans = no rolling
starts).
After that adventure we were out of the restricted area ( I'm sorry!
I'm sorry! My only defense is that it wasn't posted on the trail leading
in) and got back to the trailhead with no problems. My "buddies"
were still nowhere to be found, and with the questionable battery we
didn't wait for them. We cruised home, arriving well before dark, all safe
and sound.
The Jeep god's revenge? About 30 minutes after they ran away from us,
my "buddies" started having trouble. First, the S-10 got high
centered on the transfer case. Since I was the only one with a highlift
jack, tow rope, and come-along, they had to stack rocks to get him out.
Half a mile later, he tore one side of the front valance panel off. ( The
truck is a '98. I wish I could have been there to see him cry.) After
realizing that I had the only rope, they used their belts to tie the panel
back on, and continued to 'tread heavily' until the other truck (a Z71)
shredded the left rear tire. This guy wins the rookie award because he was
out 'wheeling without a spare tire. I guess without a tire it didn't
matter that he didn't have a jack. They used the jack out of the S-10 to
remove the tire, and left the truck on the trail. Somewhere in here they
realized that I had the only water, also.
The last time I saw them they were leaving my house at 8pm for the hour
long drive back to the trailhead to retrieve the other truck.
The trip taught me a lot of good things:
I did get some pictures of my truck, the beautiful scenery, and a '70's
Wagoneer Pre-runner we found on a trailer along side the trail. This thing
was awesome! The top and doors were removed, with a full cage, bucket
seats and 5 point harnesses, dual shocks, plexiglass windshield and a fuel
cell! One of my "buddies" also shot a home movie of the first
hill climb. Perhaps we could use it as a do/don't do tool. I'll send
everything in for the 'readers rigs' section on the FSJ site as soon as I
get them scanned and converted.
BTW.....my truck finally has a name. My girlfriend dubbed it "The
White Knight" because it brought us home safely even though it was
wounded and left to fend for itself.
Happy Motoring!
Len It's a Full Size Jeep thing! |
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