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off-roading
OK Auto's
Rock Krawl 2001
page 1
Presenting the official
jeepfan.com post-Rock Krawl 2001 trail report. Of the years I have
been off-roading I have never been exposed to wheeling-in-the-rain like
this. Let me say it can be very miserable, fun, and challenging at the
same time.
Saturday - Martin's
Creek and Endless Rain.
I awoke Saturday to a
gloomy day but no rain. I left home for OK at 6 am to meet up with
group I was leading through one of the OK properties at 7 am. I
arrived at OK and people started showing up. We all lined up and had a
brief meeting and off we went. Then the rain came, it started raining
just before we left and never really stopped the rest of the day. I
had never been to this property when wet, dry it is not a big deal but wet
it was a sloppy mess. What fun was in store for us.
We arrived on the trail
head and disconnected, locked, aired down, etc...I dove down into the first
obstacle, the bathtub. This section is a deep hole with two separated
lines. Needless to say with all the rain, leaves, weeds, and mud I was
stuck immediately. I turned on both lockers and went nowhere.
The mud had a consistency of chocolate pudding, right away I knew what kind
of time we would have. I maneuvered around and tried several times on
the one line. I had no luck and became distracted by all the people
following me providing colorful comments about their trail leader stuck
already. (ha-ha) I backed up and decided to give the second line a try
and over the top I went side swiping a tree in the process, no
damage. The rest of the
group followed, some bypassing the obstacle. We ended this small loop
after some winching and pushing.
The next obstacle "Viagra"
consisted of a very steep decline where the vehicle would come very close to an
iron pipe protruding from the ground. This obstacle was more un-nerving
than difficult.
After a while of getting
everyone through this section we move onto "Kitchen Table". This
small loop consists of a deep hole filled with small round river rocks (a). On
a normal dry day a group could reach this point in about 45 minutes. I
looked at my watch and over two hours had past!
We regrouped and entered
"Garbage Trail", this section is so named because it served as a local
trash dump for who knows how long. Almost anything can be found
here. This trail led up to another deep hole "Glenn's Trail" (b
& c) with a hill known for high
centering vehicles. This section provided a good amount of entertainment
as everyone attempted it.
With time running out we did
the last obstacle, a steep hill consisting of round river rocks, near the top of
the hill is a small tree that can be clipped easily by getting off the path.
The rain seemed to make this hill easier, but fun none the less.
We grouped up and prepared
for our ride back to OK to enjoy the rest of our day watching the Rock Pile,
talking to others, and relaxing in the rain. Several make-shift tents were
constructed for some rain relief. (d)
OK's Saturday event features
all kinds of activities to enjoy. There is the Rock Ready Challenge, this
is a competition among vehicles that measures several factors (e & f).
These include front and rear departure angle, ground clearance and RTI.
There also is a huge rock
pile that has several massive boulders in the middle that provide plenty of
carnage.
Thanks to Glenn and
Brian for the great pictures.
On
to Page 2 - Sunday - Decent
weather and MUD.
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