OK the report is finally up...
Today was the day we undertook the daunting task of climbing Poughkeepsie Gulch. This is the toughest trail in the are with one mandatory set of tough obstacles and lots of optional ones... I was very impressed with our little group of KJ's...
Yazhi jumps on a big obstacle right off the bat.... sorry but no IFS KJ has the breakover to clear this one
The entrance to Poughkeepsie Gulch from Mineral Creek had a fun little mud hole... everyone had to have their dose... and then my fender flare came off.. (the first casualty of the day)
0311 Doc... in the mud (again)
MP Jeeper
Even kskj gets muddy once in a while... (I think he's still spooked from the experience surrounding his avatar pic)
Troysterr
One downside of mud is that it gets in things... as MP Jeeper found out when his electric fan stopped working. For some reason, kskj had a spare electric fan motor and the trail repair was underway... (who carries a spare fan motor???)
Second casualty of the day...
The biggest obstacle on the trail is an optional line up into some trees... it is a 6 foot wall that leans right into a big tree with LOTS of dents in it
Yazhi had a go....
Then she gave it one last shot.... slid into the tree... and ripped her mirror off. Not sure I've ever seen Annette so happy
Casualty #3
Once Phoebe the bush dog had her fill of that obstacle the group headed upward and the trail started getting rougher... and wetter... actually it was a stream for quite a ways.
This would be an easy line in any other conditions... but you try going through this rock garden when water is flowing over the top of it... some quality driving was required to not break things...
Yellocoyote pushed it a little too hard and had a booboo....
Casualty #4
0311 Doc touched the ground a couple of times in his attempt...
Then he showed why we run steel wheels...
Casualty #5
KSKJ
Yazhi (making it look easy...again)
Driving a locked TJ seems so boring compared to an open KJ
)
Once we all cruised upstream like rockstars we climbed a very steep hill up to the base of "the wall"
But not before Mike found more mud to play in...
Red and Yazhi cruise up while napping...
Then the KJ's gave it a go... 0311 Doc and MP Jeeper were the only 2 to make it up the obstacle... both open and MP Jeeper was driving a manual!!!
0311 Doc
MP Jeeper
The rest of us had to take a winch line and I wound up way over in the bushes for some reason...
Annette and Marty were firmly planted... so we used them as winch points
Then Yazhi had to try the hard line... trick is to not lean into that rock
Or this will happen....
Casualty #6:
Rule #1 of spotting... to not position yourself between the Jeep and the wall... and no... your arm won't hold it back
Once we escaped the growing crowd of hillbillies we headed further up the gulch... fairly easy cruising from there... but we still had to take all the optional lines...
Annette digging Lake Como...
The group heading back to Silverton...
Awesome Day Guys!!! One for the books!