Elbe Adopted Trail Check Feb 2008

Hey if you have to do some work at least you can have some fun in the process. So it is that a few Tamers got together and checked up on the adopted trail at Elbe. Here is who was able to come out;

• Gary and Mark
• Mike and Claire
• Mike and Tristan
• Kyle and Isaac
• Rudi, Melissa, Alex, and Cassidy

By the time I got there everyone was ready to get on the trail (I was 30 minutes late) so we all headed out for the trail. We started out on the adopted trail and it was not 100 feet in before I found out that I needed to drop my tire pressure some more. They are new tires, at least to me, so I have an excuse. Once I dropped the tire pressure down things got a lot better and I was able to move along the trail OK.

Unfortunately for Mike and Claire they had more trouble than I did and it showed up any time they came to a hill that had more than a 5 degree incline. Mike borrowed Karl’s tires in order to see what they were like while Karl was working on his rig. Even though we let just about all of the air out of the tires, and even tried putting some back in at one point, they just would not hook up. As a result it was a long day for Mike trying to make them work. He never gave up though and the rig drove out of the trail at the end of the day under its own power. Not before maxing out on tow fees though.

There were a few other memorable moments during the day also such as when Gary found out that the snow was covering a bug mud hole and when he dropped in an tried to get out the other side the snow and slush froze underneath the rig putting it on a pedestal so that all for tires just spun. Mike and Claire got to be the winch point so that Gary could pull himself out of the hole. I had to try it then also and though I was trying real hard not to, I ended up doing the same thing anyway. Kyle was nice enough to pull me out of it and I went about it a little differently then and got through.

There was also the uphill traversal of the clear cut which everyone had problems with but we were all able to get through eventually. There was a blown bead in the process not to mention the prolific use of a winch here and there but we did get through it.

It was only about 2:30pm when we called it a day at the entrance to the Busy Wild but we needed to do it because of a little problem that Scrambler Mike had that morning. He was maneuvering his rig in the Elbe parking lot when the right front axle u-joint let go. A couple of people with winches helped him get it out of the way so that it would not be blocking anyone but we had to get it turned around and out of the parking lot so that he could head home. After we determined that the hub was not locked so that the axle would not turn and not cause any more damage I got to yank the front end of the truck around by pulling the rear wheels of my Jeep off the ground when I hit the end of the strap. That was fun but in the end we hooked up Scrambler Mikes own Jeep and with Mark driving we were able to pull it out to the road.

At that point everyone was able to get loaded up and heading in the right direction towards home. So until next time, remember to try and keep the rubber side down!

Rudi