Walker Valley Feb 2022

Had a good turnout with 7 rigs. Me, in Stomper. Bill with his Toyota , Dean Blue 4dr, Dan and Sarah Teal 4dr, Matt black 2dr, Jon and Serena upgraded white 4dr, and Jerry white Zuk. After a brief drivers meeting and getting an idea of Jerrys wheeling experience I made a decision to put Jerry closer up front and chose acceptable trails to hit, Easy Valley connector, Ridge Rams, Rons run, gravel pit, Around the sound, Humps & bumps, a glance thru the skills area, and last, Timber Tamers (depending on time).

Thru the gatekeeper we go,up thru the connector and stop at the rock pile just before Ridge ram to give it a try. Jerry chose not to air down at parking area due to Nitrogen in tires. Well, after some rough gravel road and a bit of trail he decided to air down while i tried the rock pile. Unsuccessful after a few tries. It was too mucky. Bill makes it look easy with his newer 39.5’s. Matt gives it s shot on 38’s. Again too torn up and not enough clearance in the right spots. We continue on thru Ridge ram and the lower part of Rons run to get a gander at the next obstacle,

It looks rough but i try anyway. There’s some big holes in the top! Slid too close to the edge, so i winch for safety, then try the next section with no luck. Winch the rest of the way out. Bill is up next, and again makes it look easy. No other takers.

After a quick break we move on to the upper grave pit for some hill climbing and rock play. A few of us hit some hills while Bill choses the rocks. Bill gets pinned in between 2 rocks on each side of the rock sliders, just enough to the the weight from the tires. I go to help and we decide to winch him forward. as i winch its obvious hes pinned in there pretty good., so i back and while winching and here something give. i thought maybe the line pinched in the drum more. When he got free, i unhooked winch and checked the spool it was fine, then i noticed that my front axle has tipped down/forward quite a bit. After a quick inspection i see that my lower link has buckled and caused the front axle to wrap forward. i yell out “Carnage picture time”. Take a few myself. Good thing i carry a spare link. With some winching and a bottle jack we’re able to release the pressure and get the link out. Adjusting the spare took more time than the whole exchange because rust has done its job on the threads of the heim joints. Persuation with a couple pipe wrenches and 3 people, we got er done.

As i’m writing this i realize its mostly about me, but I suppose thats because for the most part everyone else had a good day. I want to say thanks to Dean for stepping up to mentor Jerry. Jerry took quite a few pics. And he says he will upload them for us to see.

We venture on thru Around the sound and up Humps and bumps. Jerry struggled some thru the continued steep hill climb. It has been raining most of the day, a bit of snowfall, and a little chilly. But i think the 30 or 31 inch street tires probably didnt suffice. We all dropped into the skills area and exit thru the small rock climb while Dean takes Jerry down thru and they wait for us where the trail hits the gravel road.

Its 3 o’clock now, We head down the gravel road to Timber Tamers. Being close to, Bill needs to catch a ferry and Jerry won’t make the Tamers trail. We say our goodbyes to them and get onto Tamers. Considering the conditions for the day, Timber Tamers trail went fairly well. a few hang ups but nothing we can’t spot thru. Called it a day with lower Tamers trail.

Thanks for the help to those who came, see ya next time.