Calico Armed Forces Day run
Posted: May 16th, 2010, 2:10 pmtheBigdogg, Desert Dog, Abendx, Rand030ex, Goatman, Christian from the Channel Island 4-Wheelers, and new member Victor headed to Calico for an Armed Forces Day run.
Richard introduced us to many side canyons and obstacles that were VERY challenging and made for a great run. He was in his buggy making it all look easy. Thank you Richard for showing us great little places to trash our Jeeps and for giving those of us looking for more of a challenge the opportunity to follow you through some obstacles
Victor was driving a stock JK X and really beat the hell out of it on this run, and had to be towed/winched through Doran Canyon. Note to newbies: Listen to your wives and other members and start with the easier trails and build your experience and Jeep gradually. Victor gave it everything he had and stuck with it till the end. I want to thank Victor and his lovely wife for joining Infectious and I hope to see them on the trail again.
Harry hit the trail and many of the side obstacles hard. He was game for the hard stuff and wheeled harder than I have ever seen him do. On one narly little side trail, Harry ended up damaging all 4 doors! Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to achieve his goal of running gatekeeper because of a fuel leak that would occur when his XJ would get off-camber. Harry also pulled off the world's first 250-point turn to get himself out of a spot he got wedged into.
Randy just cruised through both Doran and Odessa with no problems in his Hemi powered JK. He decided to take it easy on this run and avoid the bonus obstacles that Richard provided. He wants to keep everything 100% for his Rubicon run next month, so avoided the garrantee damage.
Brad was also game for many of the side-obstacles and ran the trails hard until we got to gatekeeper. Brad just got WTO hydro assist installed, but found that a hi-flo pump and cooler are going to be necessary to run trails like this. He deferred running gatekeeper this time, saying that he had never been afraid of a trail before, but this one scared the hell out of him. He'll give it a shot once he gets his steering issues squared away. His insightful tales of the "BJ Bandit" really made us ponder the meaning of life.
Desert Dog is really happy with the new suspension. My JK is now a pretty decent rock crawler. I went all-out on this run, attempting just about anything that Richard dared me to do. Not only are my sliders scraped, There is actually a significant amount of metal literally peeled off of them. I was the first to go up Gatekeeper. On the first boulder step (which was easy last time I ran it), I ended up destroying my rear corner panel on the cliff face. After that, I let some more air out of my Iroks while the guys stacked a few rocks in a hole that was dug-out at the base, and I was able to climb through the rest of gatekeeper pretty easily. Hydro assist is definately in my immediate future.
Christian joined us on this run in his heavily modified YJ. He bent his tie rod on the first side-obstacle that Richard took us through (which we were able to straighten with a bottle jack). After Desert Dog went through Gatekeeper, Christian decided to give it a try. After a very close call where he almost rolled, he ended up getting wedged in the boulders and snapped an axle on his front D44. It took 2 winches, guys pulling straps, a hi-lift and stacking of hundreds of rocks to finally get him out. We finally finished recovering Christian from gatekeeper at 9:00 pm. Man that was a tough recovery!
Thank you Harry for coordinating this run, I had a great time.
TOTAL CARNAGE COUNT = rear bumper trashed and barely attached, crushed exhaust, bent control arm, beat-up oil pan, overheating trans, broken valve stem, broken axle and u-joint, bent tie rod, sidewall puncture, 4 badly dented doors, leaking fuel tank, leaking dif, crushed corner panel, broken tail light, bent drag link, Bent hi-lift jack, wasted garlic bread, and bruised egos.
Richard introduced us to many side canyons and obstacles that were VERY challenging and made for a great run. He was in his buggy making it all look easy. Thank you Richard for showing us great little places to trash our Jeeps and for giving those of us looking for more of a challenge the opportunity to follow you through some obstacles
Victor was driving a stock JK X and really beat the hell out of it on this run, and had to be towed/winched through Doran Canyon. Note to newbies: Listen to your wives and other members and start with the easier trails and build your experience and Jeep gradually. Victor gave it everything he had and stuck with it till the end. I want to thank Victor and his lovely wife for joining Infectious and I hope to see them on the trail again.
Harry hit the trail and many of the side obstacles hard. He was game for the hard stuff and wheeled harder than I have ever seen him do. On one narly little side trail, Harry ended up damaging all 4 doors! Unfortunately, he didn't get the opportunity to achieve his goal of running gatekeeper because of a fuel leak that would occur when his XJ would get off-camber. Harry also pulled off the world's first 250-point turn to get himself out of a spot he got wedged into.
Randy just cruised through both Doran and Odessa with no problems in his Hemi powered JK. He decided to take it easy on this run and avoid the bonus obstacles that Richard provided. He wants to keep everything 100% for his Rubicon run next month, so avoided the garrantee damage.
Brad was also game for many of the side-obstacles and ran the trails hard until we got to gatekeeper. Brad just got WTO hydro assist installed, but found that a hi-flo pump and cooler are going to be necessary to run trails like this. He deferred running gatekeeper this time, saying that he had never been afraid of a trail before, but this one scared the hell out of him. He'll give it a shot once he gets his steering issues squared away. His insightful tales of the "BJ Bandit" really made us ponder the meaning of life.
Desert Dog is really happy with the new suspension. My JK is now a pretty decent rock crawler. I went all-out on this run, attempting just about anything that Richard dared me to do. Not only are my sliders scraped, There is actually a significant amount of metal literally peeled off of them. I was the first to go up Gatekeeper. On the first boulder step (which was easy last time I ran it), I ended up destroying my rear corner panel on the cliff face. After that, I let some more air out of my Iroks while the guys stacked a few rocks in a hole that was dug-out at the base, and I was able to climb through the rest of gatekeeper pretty easily. Hydro assist is definately in my immediate future.
Christian joined us on this run in his heavily modified YJ. He bent his tie rod on the first side-obstacle that Richard took us through (which we were able to straighten with a bottle jack). After Desert Dog went through Gatekeeper, Christian decided to give it a try. After a very close call where he almost rolled, he ended up getting wedged in the boulders and snapped an axle on his front D44. It took 2 winches, guys pulling straps, a hi-lift and stacking of hundreds of rocks to finally get him out. We finally finished recovering Christian from gatekeeper at 9:00 pm. Man that was a tough recovery!
Thank you Harry for coordinating this run, I had a great time.
TOTAL CARNAGE COUNT = rear bumper trashed and barely attached, crushed exhaust, bent control arm, beat-up oil pan, overheating trans, broken valve stem, broken axle and u-joint, bent tie rod, sidewall puncture, 4 badly dented doors, leaking fuel tank, leaking dif, crushed corner panel, broken tail light, bent drag link, Bent hi-lift jack, wasted garlic bread, and bruised egos.
......and only if unlocked 
by gatekeeper.
One is Chris running Gatekeeper and one is a mixed tape of Randy, Richard, and Christina.
