We took some time this last weekend to load the kiddos up, meet up with one of our founding community members, and hit some trail.
There is some circumstance behind this trip, I will add in some back story.
Back up to November 2019 and we started our journey into getting the new shop, our current facility. The month we acquired the keys to the new shop, all of our personal vehicles started to break. Back to back to back. As "Outdoor Adventures" are not only part of our family and day to day life, but a part of our business too. We needed to get something figured out asap.
My jeep XJ (our family wheeler) has been down, the daily Honda, our wheeler/gambler project Comanche, the wife's daily WK grand Cherokee, and the red Street jeep all have been fixed, then broke, then fixed and broke again. I got my xj up for one snow wheeling trip back in February and blew out the transfer case.
Because of all this, Tessa and I decided to build up our 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK a bit. It was already in need of an oil pump, lifters, timing chains, plugs, a bad coil, and gaskets all over. Why not add a lift and tires to the mix too right?
Here is how she turned out.
Now right as we got this all figured out and fixed up, boom. The Covid shutdowns hit. To say the least, we have been cooped up for a while now. One of our founding members hit me up about doing a privet small group run to TSF. We wanted to check trail conditions, get the kiddos out, and shake the new Grand Cherokee Builds down.
We met at the Gales Creek gas station around 10am Sunday. Once we were together we headed to Lyda camp, we wanted to be more central, and if the busyness of the gas station was to be an indicator, Rodgers staging area would be busy.
Unload and air down went well.
Time to head for Hoodraiser.
Had to stop on the way up for the bridge shot!
Hoodraiser went well, we quickly found out we had a slight clearance issue out back on the WK. the 285's we rubbing the pinch seam. no worries, it self clearanced after a bit.
Hogs back was fun in the WK. wheeling open open again makes you think. Jed followed us, of course he took the hard line.
We were in no hurry this day. Just glad to be out. Our kids have been home from school, and it has been a LONG time since i got to see/talk to jed. We were just enjoying our face/radio time.
We stopped at the "Cell Phone Spot" let the kids jump out. took some pics. Gwendolyn took a good biff. knees, hands, face. Its ok, i was there with the camera to help.
After wounds healed, we set off down the rocky uphill bypass. we skipped the tree section of hogsback. i was not ready to squeeze it through the trees. On to archers! Very quickly we were at Waterfall.
It was really weird to be wheeling in High, AWD, and traction control. only twice did i need Low Range. Archers hill climb, and hogsback climb. Let it slip a tire, watch for traction control to kick on, and wait for it to move forward. really weird, but worked well. The ride was amazing in the WK for what we had all been use to for a trail rig. so quiet, so comfy.
Jed had been itching all day to get a tire on waterfall. after a quick look at the filter. and agreeing that the trailer would make it to the top of the hill. he jumped it to give it a go.
Hugged the left line, walked the filter.
On to the face.
Jed's setup is a simple one. Long arms front and rear, 33" duratracs, open Diffs, stock track bars, and 10.5" travel shocks, stock gears.
it took some work, and commitment. But in the end, he made it look easy for an open open stocker of a zj. Cray what a close to stock jeep can do with a good driver and an extra set of eyes. Well done brother!
By this time it was about 3pm. We wanted to find a spot to chill, have a fire, let the kiddos out, and enjoy some sun. We did just that. It was good to catch up with jed and alexis. I appreciate the invite so much.
Aired up, loaded up, and on our way out in search of food. Non trail type. All by 5pm.
Such a good day.
I know we are all ready to get back out there. trails look good, people are still out there. As soon as the lift gathering and event restrictions, we will be scheduling something for all.
Thank you for being here.
Take care.
John.
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