Rausch Creek 11/11 - 11/13

[k9keeper]

For this Rausch Creek run we decided to take off Friday (what better way to burn a vacation day). We headed down Thursday night. I had me, the better half, and my son along. For this trip I built a platform in the van so we could set up an air mattress on it and have the gear stowed below. Erich would get the bench seat. The drive down was uneventful. We arrived around 10pm to an empty Rausch Creek parking lot that had the corner lit up like daylight. As we picked a space to park, we realized the daylight was being generated by a big white 5th wheel trailer with 2 halogen lights on it. The thing looks like it could hold 3 Jeeps! Turns out the trailer belongs to Erik and Cora, so we repositioned next to them and got a quick tour. It holds 2 Jeeps with space to put your gear. Its is a very nice set up, and they have heat too. Wingman showed up not too much later. Overnight temps dropped into the 30s. It makes getting out of a warm sleeping bag difficult.

Friday morning revealed that AWL4928 had arrived overnight. It was a breezy cold morning, with sunlight promising to warm up the day. The 5 of us headed out after breakfast. A lapse of judgement on my part led to washing the floor boards with a few inches of muddy water. We took a break after pulling me out, to laugh at my predicament and let the water drain. We wheeled the rest of the morning without any incident. We covered a lot of territory. About lunch time Cora noticed difficulty shifting. Some bolts on the transmission were loose and she was losing fluid. While stopped on the haul road, I think it is trail E, to tighten bolts and refill lost fluid we encountered the largest off road vehicle I have ever seen at RC. A 10 ton dump truck came rolling through with a load of stone. Now the sun had gone in and the choice to go doorless was soon being questioned. We headed down to rock creek and had lunch. We wheeled various trails around rock creek in the afternoon. About 4, i noticed extra noises from the front end. I broke the used axle shaft I had just installed 2 days ago. Fortunately I had along the spare I was supposed to return to Wingman. While I replaced the axle shaft, others cut firewood. We headed back to camp for a warm fire and food. The day never really warmed up. During the evening gslarue arrived in his TJ. We had plenty of firewood and enjoyed a nice evening with a big fire. It was another cold night.

Saturday morning, 5 others from JonFund  joined Erik and Cora. We decided to make 1 big group of it. While playing on the comp course before leaving, Cora broke off the hub on her front axle. So her Jeep was out. She caught a ride from with the white YJ that was with us. We headed down to the old office and on the first hill climb, the noticed the YJ leaking fluid. It burst a hose to the power steering. They decided the trail repair was not going to last, so the white YJ headed back to camp with the intent to find replacement hoses. Now the group was claiming Cora was a jinx, and Erik wasn\'t sure if he would let her use his jeep while he returned to camp with the YJ to lend a hand. He did relent and off we went. About 30 minutes later there was billows of smoke coming from Erik\'s Jeep. Could not have been funnier. Lucky for Cora, she had forgot to turn on the cooling fan and it had overheated.

Saturday afternoon was mechanically challenging. On a black trail, Wingman broke a front U joint. Gslarue had spare for his Dana 30. So Wingman disassembled his spare to use the outer stub shaft in his Dana 44. After he got back together AWL4928 was having steering issues. I am not sure what became of that, because as I was crawling down this black trail and I broke my rear axle. The jeep was all bound up. We could not shift it to neutral. We ended up disconnecting the driveshafts. The front driveshaft was no longer slipping along its yoke. Obviously there are some clutch issues to be resolved as well. They towed my jeep back to camp and we put it on the trailer. My weekend was done.  We had plenty of firewood. My sister and her husband decided to drive up with the kids to say hi and have dinner. They brought beer and chili, which was very much appreciated. For a dinner show the white YJ had purchased new U joints and we got to watch a U joint replacement on manual locking hubs. It had warmed up a bit so Saturday night was not so bitter.

Sunday, we packed up and left. But Wingman stayed behind to wheel with some of the JonFund guys.

Clearly if I am to continue to wheel where I do and the way I do, some upgrades are in order. But I am pretty sure I knew that before hand. It was a great trip and I am planning the upgrades for next year.

[MrMindless]

sounds like a great trip! You diagnose your bound & broken situation yet?

[Wingman]

Sunday morning, we bid Mike (and family) and Gari farewell.  Those remaining split into two groups, moderate and extreme.  Erik, and the bigger JonFund guys set out for Crawl Daddy and some other reds while I (and Alex as passenger) went with the JonFund “moderate” group.  After all, we were getting low on spare parts ;-)  Our group consisted of four rigs: ’73 CJ5, ‘80s CJ7, 4-door JK, and us.  With the CJ5 in the lead, we covered 1c, 2, Crawler Ridge, Hills, 10a, 11, 12, played some on Rock Creek, a little of 13, 14, and some of 20.  The CJ5 got hung up and while we jacked and stacked, his ignition switch failed and he pealed the rear diff cover back again.  Both were easy fixes (jumper wire/hammer) and we were under way in a short time.  It was getting close to departure time, so we took 12b back to “greener” trails and back to camp and tow rigs.

The extreme group had a couple of issues but nothing debilitating.  They conquered Crawl Daddy without winching!

No matter the breakage or down time, it is always a good weekend.  The camaraderie and teamwork is always inspiring to watch and participate in.  If someone in our diverse groups is having issues, everyone is there to lend a hand, a tool, or spare parts.  It was great to meet some new friends and spend some time with old friends.  I love this pastime!

[Wingman]

A few pics are in the gallery...

[smichaelR22]

cool guys!