The day started like any other day, cool, but clear, with the promise of another beautiful San Diego day. I loaded up the kids and headed out to meet the club (I'm trying to join this club, and this run counted toward membership). We got there at around 9 A.M., and met up with the other members that showed up, plus another guest in a Toyota Tacoma xtra-cab. Boy, was he a baby about his truck. But I digress. We had a drivers meeting, and then hit the trail. Almost immediately, we hit the first obstacle. Right after entering the trail, it drops down a narrow rutted notch. The CJ in front of me just kinda disappeared, and my heart jumped into my throat. I nosed over the edge, and then dropped. The only way down for me was to drop the front-right into the rut, and let gravity do its thing. As I slid into the rut, the right front started up the side of the embankment, and off the ground came first the left rear, then the right front. ACK! Knowing that gravity sucks, I muttered a prayer, and let off the brakes and dropped right to the bottom. THAT woke me up

The next obstacle was a walk up a granite slab. There was this HUGE step right in the middle of it, but I found a bypass and went around. The CJ in front of me hopped right over it, though. The next three Jeeps tried, but only one made it. Then there was this nicely built CJ-7 running the tail end. He had gobs of lift, locked front and rear, and 36" Super Swampers (and, I found out later, a 360 from a wagoneer!). Of course he took a stab at the step. The result: One broken rear driveshaft CV Joint (that's what he called it). The beefiest Jeep on the run, and his was the only mechnical casualty of the run. We all heard the "POP" as the shaft let go. Luckily, he had a spare U-Joint, and was able to get it mounted to the driveshaft. The trail repair took about 30 minutes.

Next was another rock slab then a hill climb with lots of neat boulders along the way. No sweat. I wasn't anywhere near ready for what came next, though. There was another drop-off. And I mean DROP. About 10 feet, straight down. I was crawling, but as soon as I nosed over the drop (with a spotter), the weight of Gumby just pulled it right down. My front bumper hit a rock, and there I was, pointed almost straight down, with the back end in the air, swaying to and fro. I knew I was in trouble. I could feel Gumby just on the verge of flipping over, and it was not a fun feeling. The Jeep behind me hooked a tow-strap to the tow hook I installed on the rear hitch mount, and kept me from going over. Amazingly, I was able to back up (using front drive) and got the rear wheels back on the ground. I got far enough back to get the wheels turned the right way, and then I was through. Whew! I had to stop for a breather after that one (and to check my shorts for new stains ). Then there was this little rock step, with a bypass. Knowing that I didn't have the right gear to make the step, I chose the bypass (as did most of the others). I think I should have tried the step. I took one run at it. Stuck. Backed up, and tried a different line. Stuck. Finally, I tried a third line. I bounced up on top of the rock and...high centered myself on the rear diff. BOTH rear wheels were in the air I had to be strapped off the rock, and then we spent about 20 minutes stacking rocks for me to try again. I finally made it (ignoring all of the scraping and crunching I was hearing). Every rig got high centered in exactly the same spot I did. We had lots of fun getting the rest of the Jeeps up the "bypass". There was one other seriously off-camber spot through some tight rocks, where I got my new bashed in rear quarter panel, and then we were done. The guy in the Toyota was the hardest to get through this one (121" wheelbase), 'cause he kept fretting about body damage. Like there was any other way out. Expert spotting got him through with only one minor ding to the rear 1/4 panel. You shoulda seen his face! It was like his favorite pet had just gotten shot. All in all, though, it was a great day. The trail took a little over 3 hours to complete, and it was only 1 mile long! I have some new dents (trophies!), and I had to re-mount my rear bumper after it was all done (it was hanging by two loose bolts), but I wouldn't have missed it for anything!

Pete Griffith
'82 Cherokee 4-Door - Gumby
360 V8/TF727/NP208/D44 Front/AMC 20 (one-piece axles) Rear/3" Lift/31x10.50x15 Pirelli Scorpion A/T's (soon to have Lock Right front and Detroit Gearless Locker rear)
http://gumby.worldxchange.com