Post by jeepchipjones on Nov 15, 2004 14:23:26 GMT -5
Craig, Garrett, Steven and Donald left on Friday and Rob, Brad, Jason, Jason and his wife, and I came on Sat. morning. Im driving down Mt. Olive Rd., about 5 miles from the park, when I see a blue Bronco in a ditch, and I immediately recognize its Craig. I pulled up to see Craig, Garrett and Donald standing around the Bronco. I soon found out that Craig had slammed on his brakes and swerved to miss a car that stopped abruptly, and he ended up hitting the ditch and flipping on his driver side. The back quarter panel was crushed in pretty bad, and even worse, Craig's foot got pinched b/w the roll cage and the ground (the doors were off), but he did have his seatbelt on. Garret was riding with him at the time, and he, Donald, and a couple of other guys picked the Bronco up enough to get Craigs foot out. We are pretty sure he broke it, but he toughed it out the whole weekend and even wheeled his Bronco too. Tough guy! WE MET UP WITH BRYAN AND CHIP, AND THEY WERE AWESOME. Bryan took a lot of pics the entire day and I cant wait to see them. We hit the trails and rode the Canyons, a great trail. Jasons brake caliper bracket broke off his rear axle, but nothing was hurt too bad, just a brake line. We then headed to the next trail, forgot the name, but it was wet and had a nice sized ledge to conquer. None of our group, except for Rob of course, beat the ledge, but even it took its toll on Rob by slashing his front right tire, resulting in a bent rim. IM SURE BRYAN GOT SOME GOOD SHOTS OF THIS. He borrowed a spare off a 2.5 ton rig that was there to get him out of the woods. After that, me, Steven, and Craig headed for Whiskey Springs to check it out. BRYAN FOLLOWED US HERE AND TOOK A LOT MORE PICS IN HIS WHITE TJ W/ A 4" LIFT AND 33s. It looked rough, but we thought, why not? I headed up first, with Garrett spotting for me, and I was very surprised, as well as everyone watching, to make it the entire way up with little trouble and no winching. They were really impressed when I told them I only had a front locker. BRYAN COULDNT BELIEVE I DID IT SO EASILY. IM SURE HIS EXPERTISE PHOTOGRAPHY SKILLS WILL SHOW IN HIS PICS FROM THIS TRAIL. Steven came next, and realized his steering wasnt working too well. We found a broken bolt from his front track bar, so he limped off the trail and headed for his trailer. Craig came next, and got a little body damage from a tree and it was getting dark, so he backed down and we headed towards the pavillion. We found Steven and his jeep, bleeding oil everywhere. His driveshaft had pushed into the oil pan on the drive back, cracking it and destroying his driveshaft, and to top that, his track bar had broken off completely, and he lost a u-joint. We got a hotel room, and met up with Jerry and the "gang" at Jerrys on Sunday morning, and headed for Gardendale, just my jeep and Craigs bronco from our group, but we had about 12 vehicles total. Gardendale was awesome, Im definitely going back. They have some awesome trails, all with bypasses, and easy riding trails in the woods. A couple of guys had full width axles and they could make it fine, so Rob, I think you may be able to fit on the trails 
. It was just as good as Gray Rock, and FREE. Theres even a cool HUGE wooden train trussel bridge that you get to drive under as well. There was a lot of muddy water, but it all had hard bottoms, which was good since I broke my front right u-joint and outer shaft. I made it out fine with just 2 tires pulling. I WISH BRYAN WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE ON SUNDAY TO TAKE HIS WONDERFUL PICTURES.
What I learned from this trip:
1. Dont follow too closely
2. I need a rear locker and winch
3. Always bring a spare tire or know where you can get one
4. Do not drive a jeep without a front track bar
5. For all you TJ guys, either upgrade your outers or get the Warn hub conversion
6. Make your welds strong
7. Every TJ should come with a 350 stock
8. Roll cages really can save lives
9. We found a new place to ride: Gardendale
10. Rocks, dirt, and water dont mix well
11. Jeeps should also come with a tow rig and trailer
12. ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU BRING A SKILLED PHOTOGRAPHER ALONG FOR THE RIDE
. It was just as good as Gray Rock, and FREE. Theres even a cool HUGE wooden train trussel bridge that you get to drive under as well. There was a lot of muddy water, but it all had hard bottoms, which was good since I broke my front right u-joint and outer shaft. I made it out fine with just 2 tires pulling. I WISH BRYAN WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE ON SUNDAY TO TAKE HIS WONDERFUL PICTURES.What I learned from this trip:
1. Dont follow too closely
2. I need a rear locker and winch
3. Always bring a spare tire or know where you can get one
4. Do not drive a jeep without a front track bar
5. For all you TJ guys, either upgrade your outers or get the Warn hub conversion
6. Make your welds strong
7. Every TJ should come with a 350 stock
8. Roll cages really can save lives
9. We found a new place to ride: Gardendale
10. Rocks, dirt, and water dont mix well
11. Jeeps should also come with a tow rig and trailer
12. ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU BRING A SKILLED PHOTOGRAPHER ALONG FOR THE RIDE
