This is the deep water hole I speak of below on the left is Ben's Bronco with 35's and ARB lockers front and rear. in the picture I am already in the shallow area.
Tamaqua Pennsylvania
This is the deep water
hole I speak of below on the left is Ben's Bronco with 35's and
ARB lockers front and rear. in the picture I am already in the
shallow area.
Here is a Sazuki Samarai leaving the rock garden.
Here is a picture showing how well Sammies and Defender's get
along. I think they are in love.
Well, I have been here in West Virginia for a month now, and four wheeling opportunities, are extremely limited. Unless, you like gravel forrest roads! There isn't much to do in these parts, which I hope Chris Velardi will change when I get up to VT.
But I recently did a trip to Tamaqua PA, a 5 hour drive for me, with a nice group of Wheelers. I was the only D90 in the group, and recieved allot of attention, which I was not looking to attract. The group comprised mostly of Suzuki Samurai's, one Really setup Bronco,( with 35's and ARB's front and rear), and 2 stock pickup 4x4's. After riding with the Suzuki's, my rig seemd so BIG!
It was a nice day for playing in the woods. The plan was to play around, then BBQ in the large field with a rock garden, and then off for more playing. At the end of the trip Shawn, Joe and where camping over night on top of the mountain.
It was a fun trip, with a
few interesting spots to play in, one, a big 4 foot deep, about
30 foot wide mud hole. The Bronco played in the water hole first,
going into every conceivable area of the large tank trap. Up the
sides, backing down, and thoroughly enjoying himself! I then
entered in my D90 and of course took the deepest section, with an
exit,. the Bronco was blocking the fun exit, drying out its
electrics! Of course, I only entered after
Sorsha-The-four-paw-powered-Doggie showed me how deep the water
was going to be! The Sammies stayed to the edges, as they were
not lifted much from stock. It was a steep enterance, which
reminded me of the Top Truck Challenge video, the whole hood went
under water before popping back up. The bottom was a bit loose
and muddy, it was alot of fun and I made it look easy. But not as
easy as Sorsha. ;^)
Next, a direct route up, with a big break over angle and a series of rock steps. I was drooling, finally a place to twist up! Well, I was very disappointed because I could not get up the hardest side. No traction! That teaches me for not having lockers. The obstacle was all loose shale and decomposing rock. Deep and loose. I would get half way up and start to spin, I tried 3 times, and had to be careful not to get too aggressive with it, unless I end up side ways and roll. You young hot shots may think other wise, but if you stick with it long enough you will learn the hard way about too much momentum or throttle. I did get slightly side ways once, and while slipping more side ways, quickly turned the tires into the slide, came off the clutch and straightend myself out. Well, that was enough of that. I took the easier right side. Don't feel too bad, only the bronco made it up the hard side, and only the locked sammies up the right. I did have to hear from Ben, the Bronco guy, that I made him feel much better about all the money he spent on his truck. Well, I am glad I could make someone happy.! Some times I hate owning a Land Rover.
Next, was a steep grade with large rocks. You had to try and find the hardest lines for the fun, thats how I moved my rock slider. I was going back to winch someone at the bottom and just didn't bother to go slow. Everyone had a good time on this section, with myself the Bronco, and the lead Samurai seeming least affected by the route. It was fun watching the others trying to find the best lines and looking nervous. I even ground guided, which I normally refrain from doing. Don't read that wrong, I mean I miss that feeling, the one I used to feel on a trail of this sort, when I first started to Wheel. Now I got to watch the excitemnt on their faces. It made the trip more enjoyable for me. When we got to the bottom of the trail, we saw the field were we would have our BBQ lunch. This required us descending a long steep down hill section. The only concerns were a few mine shafts that could swallow a sammy whole hidden by vegetation. Now your asking; why the concern if there is a trail. The answer: there was no trail! Just open field. Now find your way! This area was an old mining land, and was open for play. At the bottom of this hill in the field was a long rock garden. It went on for probably the length of the mountain, and was about the width of Two D90's and shapped like a U. Nothing difficult, really, you could just walk the rig thru it, but getting out was a bit of a challenge. The only way out was to turn hard left and make the climb. The sammies had it easy here, but the D90 was alittle harder to maneuver into a position that would not make it get too uncomfortably off camber. I decided on a spot past a sappling that was growing in the middle of all this rock, which let me play at about 25 degrees off camber unitil getting past the tree and climbing out on to the field. I jogged the rig twice and out I came. Then we BBQ'd!
After eating we headed back up the hill, then on to the rocky trail again to head out for more exploring. At the top of the trail, I found out that the person behind me was stuck. Yes! I get to do it again! I turned around and went back down to winch him out. I didn't use the brakes, this time, to slow myself down, I still have stock gears, and I banged my rock slider which actually moved it as stated above. When I got down to the bottom, it was Joe my camping buddy in the pickup. Well, he decided he didn't want to try it , since for some reason his push button 4WD wasn't working. Well, he was one of my camping buddies so I stayed with him and led him the long way out and back up to the campsite, limping on one wheel.
What can I say about camping? I always love it! Joe and shawn brought ALLOT of wood, and we had a big old fire, drank lots of beer, and ate steaks! But not before Joe and shawn realised they forgot to buy Beer! Rookie mistake. Well, after some discussion it was decided that Shawn would go get beer as my rig was now blocked with my tent, and Joe's truck was still limping. Joe jumped in with Shawn, I was not going to fit in Shawn's Suzuki Sammarai, so off they went down the mountain to town. When they left it was before 7pm and still light out. I didn't think they would have too much trouble after all its just down, even though none of us had been here before. Time went by, and it was now dark and no Shawn. I had a nice big fire going to help them find their way home, and Shawn of course had no CB. about 2 hours later I here the Sammy banging down the trail. Well, I thought, they must have met some girls. Up the hill to the west they came pretty fast, a bit too fast actually, I could here the Sammy banging and clanging. Theen down into camp they roared wide eyed and wired for sound! Brian, you wouldn't believe what happened! They said in a very excited voice, we got lost! We drove all over this mountain and even came off on the other side! We almost sunk the Sammy in a big water hole! It looked like the trail, because of all the leaves floating on the water, and suddenly the front of the Sammy disappeared!! I(Shawn) slammed on the brakes just in time and was able to back out! Wow! What a night. While they were telling me abut their adventures I of course handed them a beer. Well, at least we had allot to talk about!
In the morning I broke camp while my co-horts slept, and then we all went to play on the steps some more, but it was like being on ice. Joe and Shawn stayed a while and I headed back off the mountain alone, being I had that 5 hour drive. On the way down I decided to take the express route and took every down hill trail I could find. Including a REAL steep trail with large and loose rocks that went straight down to the street! It reminded me of Red Cone only it was more like a big rut in the mountain so I was surrounded on both sides by rock, and there were turns involved of course. Well, not quite as steep as Red Cone, but there was no turning around, or stopping. I know I shouldn't have but I couldn't resist, and it was of course fun!
They video taped the trip including me and I have been promissed a video. No extreme wheeling, but allot of fun anyway. I am heading back with the same group the 14th to do it with my new Swamper radials, I want to see if they make any difference on those steps. ;^) I am also heading out to Latrobe PA for a camping trip on 750 acres of private club land, with someone I recently met. I have got to get those winch selenoids in the darn rig!
Brian
The Irish Rover