Post by DVSyota on Nov 30, 2003 19:58:30 GMT -5
Ok, this may be a little late, as this trip was a month ago, but for those who read over this board frequently, you should know that i went on a big 4x4 trip last month in Pike national forest, and more specifically trail number 279 off gold camp road. it started off pretty mild, a few big rocks and loose road, but as we continued, it went from a relatively easy trail run to full-out rock crawling. as soon as you climbed one face, there would be another coming up on the road. pretty soon, after an altitude gain of about 2000 ft in about a mile (holy shit thats steep), the trail began ascending just as fast. it was rocky, but smooth compared to what i had already encountered, so i gained a little speed. about 15 minutes later, it leveled out, and it was getting dark, so we decided to find a place to camp. then a fork in the road came up, and we did what every true 4-wheeler would do, we went straight. we went straight through the woods (there was a little path, but no definite trail) for about 10 minutes, and came to a soggy disgrace for a pond. muddy and mucky and deep as your waist. in the middle there was a sandshelf with tire tracks, so we had the briliant idea of trying to cross the mudhole and camp on the other side. bad idea. i went in at speed, but about 7-8 feet in, we dead-out stopped. flinging mud and water, the tires spinning and digging in. i recalled what to do in the situation: put rocks under the tires, so i did . big, heavy rocks gave the tires just enough traction to gain a little speed, then sink in further. by this time, the water was in the cab, the exaust was fully under water (it made a cool sound as it bubbled in the water), but thankfully the engine/transmission were not submerged (the rear wheels were below the front). about 15 attempts to dig in the muck and put in rocks later, we gave up. no cell phone reception, no winch, nothing. we set up camp on the close side of the swamp, and i walked back to the main trail. 2 hours later, as the sun was fixing to set, a beastly dodge ram with bogger tires and a massive lift came to the rescue. he towed us out, no problem, but gave us plenty of grief. however, he tied the strap around my rear bumper, and bent it to hell, ill be sure to get a pic of it for you. i had my digital camera with me and took pics of the whole ordeal, but in the confusion, dropped the camera. all is lost. oh well, it was all fun. ill get some pics of the damn mudhole next summer when i return in "TOYOTA VS. MUCKHOLE-ROUND 2!" later,
-andrew
-andrew