[Jeffro06]

On Saturday 022710 I finally made it out on my first wheeling trip of 2010. I had planned on making it out earlier, but the jeep let me down.

After fixing the jeep, and getting of call at work, I posted a thread asking if any of my club, Jeeps Gone Wild, members wanted to go wheeling. As luck would have it, some did! Since this wasn't an official JGW run I decided to call it the Jeff's Gone Wheeling run...lol. We decided to hit the The Badlands in Attica Indiana. I was hoping for a bit of snow.

I started my day at 4am. I hit the road at 5am.


This is how the start of my morning looked.

It started snowing (yippie) as soon as I left the house, nothing bad, but it gave me hope. The snow stopped as I crossed I-80...I was sad.

I got of I-88 at El Paso and headed east on Hwy 24.


This is what it looked like, just east of El Paso.

Soon after crossing into Indiana I stopped in Kentland to fuel up. After fueling up I turned south on Hwy 41 towards Attica....only 39 miles away. I takes me 3 1/2 hours to get there.

After a few minutes of southbound travel...


I saw company in my rearview.

I heard awillard69 (Anthony-Green TJ) on the CB. He had myblackyj (chris-myblackyj) with him. We made our way to the Badlands.


We arrived!


As we entered the park it looked a bit empty....which we liked.

After checking in we made our way down to the lower lot and met up with
sobster88 (Justin-black TJ) and 5¢ (Kris -green JK).


Here are our jeeps.


Chris' YJ


My YJ


Kris' JK


Anthony's TJ


Justin's TJ


All flagged up and ready to go!

We headed for the trails around the quarry. Kris decided to ride with Justin and run the video camera.


SNOW!!!

We decided to take "Kevin's Trail" backwards and see what happened.


Stuck happened.

There ened up being a pretty good hole hidden under the snow. It was weird driving long and hearing the ice crack, and then, every once in awhile, you fall through. Being the trail leader, I got to experience the surprises first.


Justin giving a friendly tug.


The hole.


My jeep....I walked back to take some pictures.


Justin backing through the hole, to go get Chris.


Approaching some "whoops".


Justin making his way through.

[Jeffro06]

Chris makes his way through.

I was the first one through that section and the ice gave way beneath me, which was my first real "break through" of the day....it was kind of freaky.


This was my second break through.

All four wheels were spinning...nothing. A friendly tug was all it took to get me back under way.


You can see where my passenger side leaf spring was resting on the ice.

One try was enough, we went around and continued on.


Chris.


Chris, again.


A poser shot of Justin, sportin' his 35's!


My jeep....just because.

In the above photo you can see a trail leading up the hill, which is where we went next. I was first.


Justin was second.


Anthony was third...and it took a couple of attempts.


Chris was last...and it took at least three attempts.

The thing with snow and hills, sometimes being first is a good thing.

We made our way down into the quarry and decided to give the step-up and the wall a try...of course.

The step-up:


Anthony


Chris


Justin


Getting ready for the wall.....I was already up there.

The Wall:


Chris


Anthony


Justin


My jeep again...yes, just because.

After a little time in the quarry we headed towards the creek. We took the trail along the quarry rim.

We made it to the creek and decided to cross over and try the big hill climb on the other side, it looked slippery. I went first.


Anthony was second....no problem.


Chris was second....no problem.

[Jeffro06]

Justin was last.


All of us, at the top.

That hill looked worse than it was. There was actually quite a bit more traction on that hill than on the little hill we tried earlier. After that it was back to the creek.


Anthony dropping into the creek.


Chris


Justin

If you've been to the Badlands you probably know about the rock formation about halfway down the creek. We exited the creek there, went along the bottom of the rocks and up along side.


Anthony


Chris


Justin tried a different route....


...tried.

We exited the creek, to the right, just prior to the tubes, and took a short break along side the quarry pond. Where we took a group photo.


L-R: Chris, Anthony, Me and Justin.

I'd like to take a moment and thank Kris for taking the above shot, and for not dropping my camera...thanks Kris.


Discussing our options.

We decided to make our way back to the lower lot, grab some lunch and see if we could find Acidcold (Carlos-Light Khaki WK) and his buddy.

As we cut through the quarry we got a bit side tracked. Everyone was trying a little rock climb, which happened to be pretty slippery. Anthony tried first, but I wasn't in position to take a photo. He didn't make it and went just to the left.


Justin trying...nope, go to the left.


Chris giving it a shot....on three wheels..too bad he has a rear locker instead of a front locker.

Chris actually gave us a bit of a scare and made us all yell "STOP!!!!" as he slid to the driver side. It sure looked like he was about to flop.

After none of them making it, I had to go down and try....I had made my way up on a different rock section.


Me three wheeling....locked in the front, trac-lock in the rear.


Made it....more fuel for the front or rear locker first debate.

I would now like to thank Anthony for taking the photos of me, and not dropping my camera...thanks Anthony.

We finally headed back to the lower lot and ate some lunch. Good thing we packed lunch, because the snack shop was closed.

Once back at the lower lot we noticed something you don't see too often at the Badlands...well we don't anyway....emptiness. There were hardly any vehciles in the lot. We were the only Jeeps (no trucks or buggies either). There couldn't have been more than 10-20 quads and bikes either...which made it much quieter than usual.

Just as we were finishing up lunch we saw Carlos and his friend (Bob-Black WK) arriving. We also saw a newer 4-dr Ruby ahead of them, but it turned out he was flying solo. Bob had a passenger, who Anthony remined me was Derick....I wanted to say Doug.

Carols was toughing it out with a head cold...that a boy! Steve (Strizzy) wasn't able to make it due to his parts not arriving. That sucked.

Carlos was ready to test out his new lift, so we decided to take them back to the trails we had already done so he could get a feel for things, and we'd know what we were getting him into.


Carlos hitting the trail.


Bob was right behind Carlos.


Just because we knew what we were getting them into didn't mean we weren't going to get him stuck.

We hit most of the same trails, but did them in the opposite direction when we could. As we headed along the quarry rim I saw the JK Ruby down in the quarry and gave them a yell. Justin went down and invited them along. It's never a good idea to wheel alone, but sometimes you can get away with it at the Badlands. This wasn't one of those days, with nobody but us being there and the hidden holes having a buddy was a must. I don't remember the Ruby owner's name, so I'll just refer to him as Ruby for now...lol. He did have his wife or girlfriend with him, but I don't think she could have pulled him out if he got stuck.


Anthony on the quarry rim.


Bob

[Jeffro06]

Ruby on the quarry rim.

We made our way up and over a little hill, which had a surprise waiting for us. Last time we were there we came over this in the opposite direction, and a couple of guys got stuck in the mudhole before the hill....this time a few got stuck after the hill. I was first....and went right through...but the ice made it interesting.


Anthony trying to pick a different line.


He got sucked into one of my ruts. I gave him a tug, and another...ok a few tugs.


Bob searching for a line.


Almost, but not quite....I tugged.


Chris went for it......I tugged.

Carlos tried it too.....I tugged. Ruby went around....I heckled....just kidding.

We made our way up and around where we took the group photo earlier, then dropped back down into the creek. Getting into the creek required you to go through a little "moggle" section...which made for some good photo ops.


Carlos flexing his way to the creek.


Photo op.


Anthony


Bob.


Still Bob.


Justin


Justin


Ruby


Ruby


Then it was back up the creek.

This time when we got to "the rock" I went up the rock, then down and around the way we had gone up before, back into the creek.


Anthony heading back into the creek, with Justin just behind.

Remember the big up hill that looked slick earlier? We went down it this time.


Anthony.

Having a manual seemed to make the "ride" down the hill a bit more controlled.

Once at the bottom of the hill we all crossed the creek and made our way up to a pit stop.


Carlos climbing out.


Ruby

[Jeffro06]

Bob


Chris

Once we all made it to the pit stop Carlos and Bob decided they wanted to climb the hill we just came down, since they weren't with us when we did it earlier.


There goes Bob.


Bob's passenger, Derick, picked a strange place to get out.

I was ready to get the splash shot, but he made it out dry. Shortly there after I fell on my butt.....you should never wish bad things on people...lol.


Up goes Bob.


Up goes Carlos.


Did I mention I was wishing for snow? SNOW!

After the creek Ruby called it a day. We went back down "Kevin's Trail" in the opposite direction, like we had done before Carlos and Bob got there. There were a few "moments" but all in all we made it out safe and sound.

We decided to head over to the Orange Trail. I didn't take any photos on Orange. There aren't a whole lot of places to park whiel others drive by. We made it through Orange without any problems. We usually only run the first half of Orange, as the second has some rock gardens, where skids help. I don't have an engine / oil pan skid yet so I don't mind not doing the second half, and besides I've only done it once and don't remember it all that well.

Once out of Orange Justin wanted to try climbing a hill he couldn't climb, pre-35's.


Justin giving it more skinny, to make it up and over......second try.


Bob gave it one shot...and said the heck with it.

Anthony made it....with a heck of a running start.

On they way back to the air up we saw this sad, lonely jeep.....


Kris' JK

We all aired up, took off our flags, connected swaybars (those that have them anyway) and got our stuff in order for the long haul home.


Anthony


The neglected JK.....I know it wanted to wheel.


My jeep.


Carlos.


Chris'


Derick checking Bob's front tire....it was leaking at the bead.

Justin and Kris went a seperate direction than the rest of us, who went to the local car wash so Bob could pressure wash around the bead of his tire, in hopes of getting what he thought was some sand out of there. That didn't work.

After that we headed up to Kentland to eat at McDonalds...it's all there was. The guys were contemplating Bob's tire issue, but since I was going a different direction, west not north as they were, I headed out onto the lonely road.

Nothing like driving into the sun for an hour or so....


It could have stayed behind the clouds until it went down for all I cared.

The only trail damage I sustained was a broken front passenger side bump stop that decided to get off while on Kevin's Trail.

Chris had something interesting happen on the way down, but he can tell that story.

Before the trip down I knew I had a slight vibration in the rear. I figured it was a u-joint, and I had a spare. The vibration never got worse...I drove through small towns at 20-30 mph...all was fine....I drove on the interstate at 70 mph...all was fine. But as soon as I pulled into my town I couldn't go 20 mph without rattling my teeth out. The vibe was now a killer knock....man was it bad.

This morning I took the rear drive shaft off and found the centering ball in the CV joint was toast. Sloppy as can be. I put on my spare drive shaft (which I really should start carrying with me on 400 mile journey's) and all is fine. I'll have to see what it takes to repair the centering ball....may have to send it out.

After fixing the driveshaft I washed the jeep and took it for a hwy cruise...no problems. I didn't even find any new trail stripes.

I'd like to thank everyone for coming out, I had a great time.

If you want to see all the pictures (490) that I took click HERE. I left them right clickable too.

Until next time......

[Xjay98]

Great report!

[connor0770]

WOW!!! that looks like an amazing trip. looks like everybody had a blast! I hope you told RUBY about jeepforum... How much of the park did you guys cover?

[awillard69]

Thanks for the pictures, Jeff. Some of those are really nice, I'd like to have a couple for prints.

It was a good time, with some good friends. Thanks for documenting the trip for us.

Bob's passenger was Derek, and Mr. Ruby called himself Max. Sorry, I don't recall any name for Mr. Ruby's lady friend.

As for Bob's tire issue, it took us about an hour of deflating cleaning out the bead (without breaking it!), reinflating, repeat... about a half a dozen times. But we got it workable, it still leaked a bit, but it would hold decent pressure for the trip home.

When Bob broke from the convoy about an hour north he still had good pressure, so I'm hoping he made it home fine.

I had a good day, with no damage that I found and no new beauty marks.

If your ball centering joint is bad, it's not too bad a job to repair it. I did mine last summer and it was only about an hour and a half of hard work - frozen caps! Let me know if you want any help.

Thanks all for attending, I had a great time and some fun memories. My pictures were not quite as numerous, and were pretty much the same as already posted. I am waiting for 5cents' video clips, those should be interesting.

[awillard69]

Originally Posted by connor0770

WOW!!! that looks like an amazing trip. looks like everybody had a blast! I hope you told RUBY about jeepforum... How much of the park did you guys cover?

I believe he mentioned that he was on JF somewhere...

We covered the back trail in the quarry and the creek, forwards and backwards with some variations. We also did the first half of Orange. That was about it. The park was almost entirely empty.

[Jeffro06]

Originally Posted by connor0770

WOW!!! that looks like an amazing trip. looks like everybody had a blast! I hope you told RUBY about jeepforum... How much of the park did you guys cover?

It was a blast, and we figure we covered about 20 miles.

[Unlimitedlou]

Sounds like a good time.

[Bennettj13]

Looks like you guys had a good time. March 14th! I'll be there dammit! First time in almost 2 years. lol Is Chris with the black YJ, the same kid who used to come out with his dad all the time? I liked them. I'm glad he got a better rear bumper (I smashed his tube bumper pulling him out of a mud pit on my last JGW run).

All that said, if anyone from JGW remembers me and wants to wheel with the new and improved Pumpkinator, IndyORV is holding an open run on March 14th at Attica. I'll be there. You should too.

[Jeffro06]

Originally Posted by Bennettj13

Looks like you guys had a good time.

We did.

Originally Posted by Bennettj13

March 14th! I'll be there dammit!

Hopefully I will be there too.

Originally Posted by Bennettj13

Is Chris with the black YJ, the same kid who used to come out with his dad all the time? I liked them.

Yes it is.

[coffaqcof]

Bob from the black WK here, Anthony has a hell of a memory, my buddy's name is Derick. Great shots Jeff, thanks for the excellent camera work, and sharing the pics with the forum.

I wanted to thank all you guys for a great day wheelin, and ALL the help with the tire. I've gone on my fair share of wheelin trips all over the country, and while everyone always says they "leave no jeeper behind", more often than not it seems that prior commitments and reasons to get home come up. You guys stayed behind for duration of the fix, never gave up, and made sure everyone got back on the road. And on top of that, the humor never faded as we deflated, cleaned, re-inflated, and repeated as Anthony stated above. Not the best way to spend time, but the fact that you did is truly appreciated.

I made it home without any further loss of air, and this morning the pressure was still right where I set it after the fix last night. I'll run it in to get re-mounted and balanced tomorrow.

I look forward to meeting again on the trail, see everyone then!

[Imped]

March 14 baby!