Everyone was prepared to meet Thursday at 5 at the Wing house. But due to work I had to bail on the meeting so Mark and Dean and Tom left to meet Dennis then Head to Rausch, I felt much better about my misfortune when Mark informed me I missed nothing but the rain. Those good feelings evaporated when I left the house at 3am Friday morning so I could meet everyone later that morning, After arriving and quickly setting up camp then airing down we were ready to hit the trails but the trails had other ideas, we chased an electrical gremlin on Dennis's buggy then shortly after getting back running Dennis broke a weld on the rear driveshaft. Dennis and Tom removed the shaft while Dean, Mark and I provided tools and moral support. Drive shaft removed we got Dennis back to the office where the shaft was re-welded and installed. And we grabbed a quick lunch from the food truck.
Back on the trail I came completely out of my little comfort zone taking on the Gauntlet at the entrance to K with Mark spotting I was able to get through a good bit of it before taking the bail out before a large drop off. We hit many more trails that afternoon with Dean showing off the capabilities of the Jeep along with some awesome driving skills. the 2 trails I remember were Crawler Ridge (Trail 4 I think) and Yellow Jacket) Mark of course made everything look easy with Dennis not to far behind leaving Dean and I to follow and expand our own skill sets. Friday evening saw Dennis cooking some killer burgers while firebug Mark got the campfire started. Friday night ended early for me since my early morning departure left me exhausted.
Saturday morning came way to early and camp was packed up due to the rain and storms predicted for that evening, a quick breakfast was had and we lined up in our designated groups for the Krawlin for Cops ride. Dean, Tom and myself elected to go with group 12 a green/blue group while Dennis and Mark ran with a blue/black group.
Dean, Tom and I met out trail guides and found out we had several novice drivers and 1 new completely stock 4dr JL. Everyone (well almost) aired down dropped into 4wd and we actually started out to the trail on time. We didnt get very far on the first green trail when it became apparent it was going to be a very long day and some of our group were in over their heads. The trail guide changed the line up of the group moving Dean and I to the front of the group in the hopes of speeding the group which didn't work but everyone got through the day with the help of the guides who really had to work spotting and stacking rocks. On one trail I had a particularly and uncharacteristically hard time getting up a relatively easy hill only to find out at the top I had been running in 2wd all morning (And here I was calling outers in the group NOVICE) After putting the Jeep in 4wd the rest of the day was uneventful since we stuck to the easier trails due to the group makeup. Overall it was quite a fun relaxing day and the event was a success.
What I know from Dennis and Mark was they were still in the parking lot long after we left due to a breakdown of one of their group followed by another breakdown on the trail, at some point Dennis and mark split from their group and hit a few trails on their own.
At the end of the day all vehicles were loaded and the caravan left for home, You couldn't as for a better weekend, good friends and wheeling, what a great combo.
