Hanging Tree Trail run July 4th, 2014

[TurboMinivan]

Big thanks to Ryan for organizing this run.

We were a small group of only six rigs, and my humble little TJ was the runt of the litter--everyone else had 40" tires or larger, for example, which made my 35s look like training wheels. I was happy to be the tail gunner so as to not impede anyone else, though I ended up keeping pace with the group just fine.

I didn't get many photos, though I did have my dash cam recording all the while so I should have tons of footage of Ryan driving the entire trail.

This was my fourth or fifth time on HTT, and it finally took a bite out of my Jeep--three corners of it, in fact. I bent up (and split) the right end of my front bumper; I crushed the right taillight and caved in the tub behind it; I caved in the left rear corner of the tub and wrinkled my license plate (which had been bent flush to match the curvature of the tub). Sadly, all this damage happened on one obstacle.



I still had a great time. How can you not on this trail???

 

[Omgbecki]

Hey Man. Great Report. That Sucks About Your Damage But From Wheeling With You In The Past, I Know You Are A Chill Guy. (Even Though That Was Before Your Lift And Everything) We Need To Get Together Again. Glad You Had Fun. I Know How You Feel About Your Tires. I Only Had 33. Granted We Had Another Guy Running Those But Knew What He Was Doing.

 

[kmboren]

Sorry to hear about the damage but glad you had a fun time. What obstacle was it?

 

[Bart]

Bummer about the damage. Which obstacle???? Up or down?

 

[jinxspot]

Good times, thanks to everyone that came out to run the trail.

Everyone made it thru without any major malfunction.... now that's a good day on HTT. Lots of buggy action on all the typical spots, Dempsy and me made it thru all the obstacles quite easy too from the back of the group.

The water was pretty much non-existent though which in my perspective made it quite easy, awesome trail non the less!

The temps were in the mid to hi 90's and our group decided to split up at the top (two of us took the fire road out and the rest went back down the trail)







front half of the group getting started:
[video=youtube_share;l-EVgpOFcE8]http://youtu.be/l-EVgpOFcE8[/video]

[video=youtube_share;YEx-FfyovCA]http://youtu.be/YEx-FfyovCA[/video]

[video=youtube_share;DbAAOaDtNBw]http://youtu.be/DbAAOaDtNBw[/video]

 

[jinxspot]

some vids of 1st optional line on HTT

[video=youtube_share;FTXdov9klYM]http://youtu.be/FTXdov9klYM[/video]

[video=youtube_share;AdJ5o4-liy4]http://youtu.be/AdJ5o4-liy4[/video]

[video=youtube_share;6XDs8ACIQG4]http://youtu.be/6XDs8ACIQG4[/video]

 

[jinxspot]

more vids of HTT...

[video=youtube_share;63bwo36P-HE]http://youtu.be/63bwo36P-HE[/video]

[video=youtube_share;9mRC9e8bqKg]http://youtu.be/9mRC9e8bqKg[/video]

[video=youtube_share;q_h-NcJHXNk]http://youtu.be/q_h-NcJHXNk[/video]

 

[jinxspot]

[video=youtube_share;eBnVpkCgXyI]http://youtu.be/eBnVpkCgXyI[/video]


[video=youtube_share;4Oeejgjc8sU]http://youtu.be/4Oeejgjc8sU[/video]

[video=youtube_share;nfqHU0KdQwc]http://youtu.be/nfqHU0KdQwc[/video]

 

[Bart]

Nice, thanks for all the pics and vids.

 

[TurboMinivan]

What obstacle was it?

Which obstacle???? Up or down?

On the way up. Shortly before the final (big) waterfall, there is an off camber one-step climb that crosses your path right before a tight left turn. It's the climb that is deceptively difficult; you often make it halfway up, start spinning your tires, then you slide back down (and to the left due to the curvature of the step's surface). At the far left of this climb is a tree hanging over the trail, so you have to watch your windshield if you slide over too far.

Do you recall this obstacle? I have video footage of it I will share after I upload it to YouTube.

 

[leemastergt]

I'm considering trying this trail this summer with one or two buddies on 35s. None of us have winches to make the final obstacle though. Is there a bypass of that or are we trying that until we make it that day? If there is no bypass, how realistic is it that a locked rig on 35s would make it up that, if they've got the balls to really go for it?

 

[jinxspot]

and of course Gordy's Launch!!!

[video=youtube_share;r_DHWWTlBOw]http://youtu.be/r_DHWWTlBOw[/video]

[video=youtube_share;jXgubz1STz4]http://youtu.be/jXgubz1STz4[/video]

[video=youtube_share;5JJJkWeabfI]http://youtu.be/5JJJkWeabfI[/video]

 

[jinxspot]

I'm considering trying this trail this summer with one or two buddies on 35s. None of us have winches to make the final obstacle though. Is there a bypass of that or are we trying that until we make it that day? If there is no bypass, how realistic is it that a locked rig on 35s would make it up that, if they've got the balls to really go for it?

There's no bypass to the big waterfall called "Gordy's Launch Pad", its def doable with a double locked rig on 35's with LOTS of momentum (to the point that you may break your shit if its not built right or you catch a weird edge...) I would say a 6000 lbs winch or better is pretty much required for at least one rig on while out adventuring on this trail though. Think about it: if something goes horribly wrong you might be in for a long night ahead of you or even an emergency rescue... no one wants that! The sign by the locals even mentions the loose rules to live by for their trail, which is rated a 5 (max for 0-5 scale). Hey, HF winches or a used one on KSL are only $200 to $300 a piece.

Trail Rating:
http://www.expeditionswest.com/resources/expedition_handbook/trail_rating.htm

 

[jinxspot]

Shit can happen...

[video=youtube_share;Nd3tZahwMUE]http://youtu.be/Nd3tZahwMUE[/video]

 

[jinxspot]

Jared giving her hell:
[video=youtube_share;zyZWHlmtzUE]http://youtu.be/zyZWHlmtzUE[/video]

Dempsey in a tough spot...
[video=youtube_share;ZK0cJPE-t20]http://youtu.be/ZK0cJPE-t20[/video]

Dempsey rock crawling on HTT:
[video=youtube_share;34y2MyQj1jo]http://youtu.be/34y2MyQj1jo[/video]

 

[kmboren]

On the way up. Shortly before the final (big) waterfall, there is an off camber one-step climb that crosses your path right before a tight left turn. It's the climb that is deceptively difficult; you often make it halfway up, start spinning your tires, then you slide back down (and to the left due to the curvature of the step's surface). At the far left of this climb is a tree hanging over the trail, so you have to watch your windshield if you slide over too far.

Do you recall this obstacle? I have video footage of it I will share after I upload it to YouTube.

Yep I know the spot. I had to stack some rocks to get up it. The TJ on 33s in our group had 4 guys on a strap pulling him to get up. It is a hard obstacle for shorter wheel base rigs.

 

[Omgbecki]

Just Had To Put Me On Blast Huh Kevin

 

[Omgbecki]

I'm considering trying this trail this summer with one or two buddies on 35s. None of us have winches to make the final obstacle though. Is there a bypass of that or are we trying that until we make it that day? If there is no bypass, how realistic is it that a locked rig on 35s would make it up that, if they've got the balls to really go for it?

I'm Not Sure If It Would Be Considered Having "Balls" Or Just CrazyLol To Do The Launch PaD. And Tires Size I'd Say, Has Little To Do With Making It Up It. The Guy Who Made It In Our Group Was Running 33. This Trail Is Rough For Anything Out Side Of A Buggy.To A Point I Don't Think Tire Size Gives You Much OfAn advantage. And Considering I'm Not Sure If You Have Someone To Open The Gate At The Top, You'd Have To Think About Coming Back Down. It's A Gnarly Trail And Awesome But IThinkOne Of You Guys Should Get a Winch.

 

[N-Smooth]

I'm Not Sure If It Would Be Considered Having "Balls" Or Just CrazyLol To Do The Launch PaD. And Tires Size I'd Say, Has Little To Do With Making It Up It. The Guy Who Made It In Our Group Was Running 33. This Trail Is Rough For Anything Out Side Of A Buggy.To A Point I Don't Think Tire Size Gives You Much OfAn advantage. And Considering I'm Not Sure If You Have Someone To Open The Gate At The Top, You'd Have To Think About Coming Back Down. It's A Gnarly Trail And Awesome But IThinkOne Of You Guys Should Get a Winch.

^This
I made it up in my lil' XJ but other really built rigs (like in these videos) don't make it every time. HTT is an interesting trail in that way.

 

[sswens1]

Looks like a great time was had by all thanks for sharing!