U4WDA/CCKC Fall Ride 2004

[cruiseroutfit]

The Utah 4 Wheel Drive Association & Color Country King Crawlers 4x4 Club 2004 Fall Ride

What a trip, weather held out for a great day!

I rode along with Chris Perri (EZRhino) in his built Scrabmler... we decided to do Curse Canyon after hearing what a cool trail it was. We had a great group of about 20 including many locals from Price, TTORA members, and several RME'ers (Darrin in his AMC Eagle).

The trail quickly dropped into a boulder filled wash, tight quarters for any long wheelbase rig (EZ added a couple new scratches). Several ledges and boulder runs added to the excitment, as did watching a CCKC member rally his Geo Tracker through the entire trail

The scenery was amazing, and the company was great. Thanks again!

Pics...

 

[cruiseroutfit]

From the fairground where we all met and played after the trail runs...

 

[JJJZJ]

That looks like fun, I wish I could have made it down

 

[great scott]

I had a great time showing off the pinnacle trail (by foot ) But I like the sound of carnage. Give them a day or two and see your pics on the following sties. Curse = http://caveart.com/ or Pinnacle = http://www.sunad.com/ thanks for putting up with our first major trail ride. I have some pics I will try and post up.

 

[Stephen]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I was so planning on going to that, stupid work.

 

[EZRhino]

Kudos to King Crawlers, they know how to put on a good show! We had a great time. I have an 8 minute video (12MB) of our trail ride, if anyone wants to see it/host it for me. It's in quicktime format.

EZ


EDIT: Make that a 4 1/2 minute, 5.4 meg video.

 

[DToy]

I agree with the above comments...we did the Pinnacle Trail and had a blast! Many thanks to Scott and his wife and the CCKC & U4WDA. Now for my likes and dislikes:

Likes
- Great trail, fun obstacles, beautiful scenery. The Pinnacle Trail was awesome! Exactly as-advertised.

- Great turnout to the event overall. Shows how popular our sport is and the potential good that we can accomplish if everyone does their part.

- Cool 4x4 Challenge Park (even though I didn't get to play on it)

Dislikes
- Double-standard on the trail. Those with the high-dollar buggies and jeeps seemed to be able to play on the obstacles as long as they wanted, and then those of us at the end of the line were expected to hurry through. There were a few people that needed to swallow their pride and take a strap instead of holding up the group for 45 minutes until finally breaking an axle shaft and turning the obstacle into cake batter. Do I have to have the name of a 4x4 shop on the side of my rig so that I can have a fair shot? Three tries and then step aside so that everyone else has a chance to play.

- Dragging one truck through nearly the whole trail and over almost every obstacle. Know your rig, know its limitations, and do everything you can to make sure that it is mechanically sound. Low-buck rigs are cool to a point, but when you have to add fluids every time you stop maybe it's time to stop polluting the trail and dump a few bucks into your rig. Puking fluids on the trail doesn't make any of us look good. And mufflers are nice for protecting the hearing and sanity of those around you.

- Watching several of the afore-mentioned buggies and jeeps make additional and unnecessary bypasses when they became impatient with the rigs that were in front of them. Stay on the damn trail and wait your turn like we did. This was a beautiful trail, but I could see it getting closed if more and more bypasses are created.

Sorry that my comments sound like I'm ranting. Overall this was a great outing and a spectacular trail. Let's all do our part to keep the trails open, tread lightly, and respect everyone on the trail. To the King Crawlers...thanks again for all your hard work and preparations and I hope that you do it again.

 

[EZRhino]

DToy,

Did you get a rig count on the Pinnacle Trail? Just curious.

EZ

 

[DToy]

DToy,

Did you get a rig count on the Pinnacle Trail? Just curious.

EZ

By my count there were 21 rigs on the trail.

 

[EZRhino]

DToy,
Thanks for the constructive criticism. We should be able to allieviate those kind of issues for the net run. I ran Curse Canyon; next time I go through Price I will try to see what Pinnacle is all about.

EZ

 

[Jinx]

I agree with the above comments...we did the Pinnacle Trail and had a blast! Many thanks to Scott and his wife and the CCKC & U4WDA. Now for my likes and dislikes:

Likes
- Great trail, fun obstacles, beautiful scenery. The Pinnacle Trail was awesome! Exactly as-advertised.

- Great turnout to the event overall. Shows how popular our sport is and the potential good that we can accomplish if everyone does their part.

- Cool 4x4 Challenge Park (even though I didn't get to play on it)


Overall this was a great outing and a spectacular trail. Let's all do our part to keep the trails open, tread lightly, and respect everyone on the trail. To the King Crawlers...thanks again for all your hard work and preparations and I hope that you do it again.

Amen!!!

Way to go CCKC and U4WDA, great event. It nice to have an excuse to go play and this turned out to be a great place to play...

On the dislikes list, I couldn't agree more with Dtoy on some of this stuff, for me it was the first time actually seeing the problem that the people always say happens. Just because your rig will go there doesn't mean you should... :-\ I never thought that someone who put so much $$$ into a rig for a sport would so easily do the things that are most likely to shut us down... The only good thing about it I can honestly say it was FAR FAR from the majority of the group...

I think it was well put with the "be a man, take the strap and get on with the day," theory. If it is you and a couple of buddies out on a trail, play as long as you like, but if you are part of a organized trail, be realistic. I watched the same "superman" as Dtoy and the guy had an impressive rig, but his selfishness and impressive rig wasn't anywhere around when it came time to help limp a POS rig out of a pretty difficult trail. We all waited and watched him beat his rig to crap while using it as a "Kitchen Aid" to whip up the mud and such, but he sure wasn't at the end of the trail after dark to make sure everyone got out...

As I write this I think that it is sad that it takes more room to express disgust with 5% of the trail members than to say thanks to the other 95% of the people on the trail that were great to be with and were part of a fun day of wheelin...

Cody it was great to put a face with a name, thanks again to you and your friends for the help, I really liked your off road jack system :greg:

Great Scott, thanks for all of hard work and UN-selfishness in getting everyone through the trail. I hope you got your blazer out Ok,

ALL in ALL Great day, Great Wheelin, Great rigs(minus the POS that should have turned around on the first obstacle) and Great people(minus the 5%)
I hope we can do it again soon!!!

Jinx

 

[Cody]

I agree with the above comments...we did the Pinnacle Trail and had a blast! Many thanks to Scott and his wife and the CCKC & U4WDA. Now for my likes and dislikes:

Likes
- Great trail, fun obstacles, beautiful scenery. The Pinnacle Trail was awesome! Exactly as-advertised.

- Great turnout to the event overall. Shows how popular our sport is and the potential good that we can accomplish if everyone does their part.

- Cool 4x4 Challenge Park (even though I didn't get to play on it)

Dislikes
- Double-standard on the trail. Those with the high-dollar buggies and jeeps seemed to be able to play on the obstacles as long as they wanted, and then those of us at the end of the line were expected to hurry through. There were a few people that needed to swallow their pride and take a strap instead of holding up the group for 45 minutes until finally breaking an axle shaft and turning the obstacle into cake batter. Do I have to have the name of a 4x4 shop on the side of my rig so that I can have a fair shot? Three tries and then step aside so that everyone else has a chance to play.

- Dragging one truck through nearly the whole trail and over almost every obstacle. Know your rig, know its limitations, and do everything you can to make sure that it is mechanically sound. Low-buck rigs are cool to a point, but when you have to add fluids every time you stop maybe it's time to stop polluting the trail and dump a few bucks into your rig. Puking fluids on the trail doesn't make any of us look good. And mufflers are nice for protecting the hearing and sanity of those around you.

- Watching several of the afore-mentioned buggies and jeeps make additional and unnecessary bypasses when they became impatient with the rigs that were in front of them. Stay on the damn trail and wait your turn like we did. This was a beautiful trail, but I could see it getting closed if more and more bypasses are created.

Sorry that my comments sound like I'm ranting. Overall this was a great outing and a spectacular trail. Let's all do our part to keep the trails open, tread lightly, and respect everyone on the trail. To the King Crawlers...thanks again for all your hard work and preparations and I hope that you do it again.

I don't think it's fair to single out the 'buggies' for going off trail and taking too long on obstacles. I can only speak for myself when I say the only time I deviated from the trail was on the big mud pit. I specifically asked the trail leader about the area and his thoughts on taking a different route out of the wash and over the rocks. He said it would be ok. I felt that instead of dragging/winching more and more rigs over the soft bank thus digging it up unrecognizably (like what was happening), it would be less intrusive to just bump over the more solid area of bank 20 feet away. The other rig that opted out of the mud bog went even farther down the trail and didn't even have to spin a tire to get out of the wash--I bet his tracks aren't even there. IMHO, that is where the trail should go to prevent further damage to the vegitation by rigs not equipped to make it up un-aided.

With the exception of the end of the trail when we had the 2 broken axles, I don't recall any of the 'buggies' taking more time on any obstacle. On the other hand, I do remember taking lots of time getting rigs over obstacles that were concerned about body damage or scratches. The one obstacle I took more than 1 attempt at (I did it 2 or 3 times) I still spent less time on it than all but maybe 1 or 2 vehicles.

I didn't mean to take the comments personally, but I think I'm the only person here that you include in that group so I just wanted to say something in defense. I came away from the trail with a backpack full of beer cans/bottles, wrappers etc. that I picked up along the way (after watching a dozen other rigs pass over) so I feel as though my impact on the environment was more positive than negative.

I agree it was a great trail, but with any large organized trail run, you are going to have problems and people that weren't totally satisfied. I know first hand how difficult it is to organize groups like this as I've done it every year for the past 4 years in moab for the grand cherokee crew. On every trail you will have some rigs that are bored, some rigs that shouldn't be there, some drivers who have capable rigs but no idea how to use them (or are afraid to use them for fear of scratching them), and assholes that go along with the rest of the nice and patient people that make up the vast majority of the group. I give nothing but praise to the CCKC for putting on this event and I can't wait to get back down there and see some of the other trails the area has to offer. I'm glad I got to meet some new people and wheel a new trail. It was a great day.

Now if only we hadn't lost our sandwhich

Cody

 

[DToy]

I don't think it's fair to single out the 'buggies' for going off trail and taking too long on obstacles.

I'm not trying to start a war, nor am I trying to single anyone out, I'm simply stating what I saw.

With the exception of the end of the trail when we had the 2 broken axles, I don't recall any of the 'buggies' taking more time on any obstacle.

This is exactly what I was referring to. We had to sit and watch the orange buggy try and try and try for at least 45 minutes to make it up that obstacle until he finally blew a front axle shaft and everyone got pissed enough to make him take the strap, not to mention the multiple times that he almost slid into the jeep that was up on the jack being repaired. And then after he is winched up he nearly runs over the guy that was standing in front of him. In my opinion that guy (maybe I shouldn't mention names) was a liability on the trail and came very close to getting people seriously hurt. And then what got under my skin is that then everyone was whining and yelling at those of us that were yet to go through the obstacle to hurry up and get through. Why did we have to wait 45 minutes for that buggy to get through and then be hurried to get through ourselves. That was a perfect example of someone not giving a damn about anyone else on the trail, both spectators and other rigs alike.

I didn't mean to take the comments personally, but I think I'm the only person here that you include in that group so I just wanted to say something in defense. I came away from the trail with a backpack full of beer cans/bottles, wrappers etc. that I picked up along the way (after watching a dozen other rigs pass over) so I feel as though my impact on the environment was more positive than negative.

I appreciate your comments Cody. I did not mean to come across that I think everyone driving a buggy was an a$$ on the trail, but it just so happened that most of the people that were acting that way were also driving buggies. I had no beef with you personally. It was great to meet you and I look forward to future trips with you. You're welcome in my group anytime. We also had a great time with Delbert (sp) in the big yellow buggy. That guy was a stud! I'm not trying to dis the buggies as a whole, but most of the arrogant jerks were driving buggies and high-dollar jeeps.

I agree it was a great trail, but with any large organized trail run, you are going to have problems and people that weren't totally satisfied. On every trail you will have some rigs that are bored, some rigs that shouldn't be there, some drivers who have capable rigs but no idea how to use them (or are afraid to use them for fear of scratching them), and assholes that go along with the rest of the nice and patient people that make up the vast majority of the group. I give nothing but praise to the CCKC for putting on this event and I can't wait to get back down there and see some of the other trails the area has to offer. I'm glad I got to meet some new people and wheel a new trail. It was a great day.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Now if only we hadn't lost our sandwhich
Cody

That was the best sammich I ever ate

 

[Cody]

I see your perspective and I think Joey did spend a little too much time on the trail. I was right there and from what I could tell it wasn't a pride thing, he was trying to get his tires on top so he could at teh very least take the winch.

Hey, I was no more with that group of people than I was with everyone else. I came alone with no idea who was going to be there. I had met Joey etc. before so I kinda dropped into the pack among them.

anywho, it was a good time.

Cody

 

[Darwin]

I think that this event was one of the funnest times i've had wheeling on an organized run. Thanks a bunch to the king crawlers for showing us such a good time.Especially Kevin miller for pulling me off the trail after my engine blew playing in the mud! I can't wait for the king crawlers next event!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...Especially Kevin miller for pulling me off the trail after my engine blew playing in the mud! I can't wait for the king crawlers next event!

What... when did this happen? We leave you and Russ for a couple minutes and you manage to destroy that poor station wagon... Guess it is time to build one of your other jeeps...

 

[great scott]

I agree that things were not perfect, but over all it was a blast. I have a count of 8 on the trussle trail, 21 on Pinnacle, 24 on Curse, and by the BLMs count of 39 on the Dew, thats a total of 92 4X4s( not counting a few stragglers). The Pinnacle trail was nasty fun and yes we had some problems including; 1 set of D60 shafts, 1 high steer arm, fuel injection problems, 1 D30 shaft, 1 toy berfield joint, 1 zuk berfield joint, 1 roll over, 3 or 4 tires, loads of straps in use and lots of sheet metal adjustments. Those are just what I know about. Thanks to all of you, including Cody who helped wounded 4X4s off the trail. I tried to keep the day layed back and still get off the trail in a reasonable time. For the great majority the personalities were awesome, and so was the ride. The King Crawlers learned a lot and I can't wait for the next U4WDA run.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...The King Crawlers learned a lot and I can't wait for the next U4WDA run.

The U4WDA learned alot from your run... meaning, you guys hosted an excellent event and were very organized IMHO. Look for some of your ideas at future U4WDA events such as the trail officials "colored ribbons", the very organized sign-up process that was only delayed as result of all the 4x4 talk that we all get into before a run

Thanks again Scott, we are looking forward to a long realtionship with your club. Lets get something in the works for next year

 

[Darwin]

Yep, russ and i went to play in the mud for a bit and my little engine coudn't take the 6,000 rpm blasts and gave it up.I guess it's time to finish my wagoneer, hopefully i'll be back in business in about three weeks.

 

[great scott]

Kevin said you cleaned the trail and blew the engine on the way out .