[Jeffro06]

I friend and fellow Jeeper, Jason, (jmx663) was home from his first 6-months in the Air Force and needed to take his Jeep to the Badlands before leaving for Georgia, next week. He also had some mods done to his Jeep while he was away...like new D44's front and rear, ECTED up front / Detroit out back, 4.88 gearing, new bumpers, winch, and some other stuff, including Air Force logo's on the hood and elsewhere.

I took a day off work so we could go on a Friday, while the crowds were low, or so we hoped.

The weather forecast called for a 30% chance of rain. As I walked out to the Jeep, it started to sprinkle. Taking the top off wasn't going to be an option this time.

We met up at a local gas station at 5:30am. A Ford Ranger was going to join us as well. A few guys with quads came along too.

It pretty much rained all the way to the Badlands. When we parked to go inside to pay it started lightening. There was no turning back now!

We met up with Josh (jodum23) who had pm'd me and asked if he could tag along with us, since he was going to be at the park alone. Of course I said yes...always glad to have another Jeep along for a ride.

The rain seemed to pick up as we headed for the quarry. We spent some time in the quarry testing out Jason's new mods, and letting Josh see some of the things his Jeep could do, as this was his first time there.

We decided to head out to the trails. We took the trail we (Jeeps Gone Wild) call Kevin's trail, first. When we were done with it we back tracked it, and headed to the creek. Things were a bit muddier than the last time I was there. It must have had something to do with the non-stop rain...

We made it through the creek without a problem, so we turned around and went up stream. We figured why not? We changed it up on the way back, by taking a few overland sections, and turning right instead of left at a few other places. We finished up by driving straight back to Kevin's Trail, ending in the quarry. It was a nice long trail ride.

We did a little more playing in the quarry. We all climbed a few walls. Jason and I beat the infamous step-up. I was a bit nervous with the D35, but I did it twice...since the first time wasn't on video. I actually think the rain made the rocks easier to climb, as it washed off all that loose sand that builds up on the rocks surface. Go figure.

The Ranger went a bit too low on the tire pressure, and lost a bead. Time to put on the spare.

We headed back to the lower lot for lunch. During lunch it rained harder than it had all day. The guys who were on the quads met up with us at lunch. After seeing them I have to say I prefer the warm dry interior of my Jeep.

While everyone was trying to get re-grouped for the next trail ride I became a little antsie. Since Josh was ready to go we hit a trail. I'm not sure what it's called, if anything, but I did it on the last run with Jeeps Gone Wild. It was made up of sand hills and boulder strewn trails. Kind of fun. Josh really liked it.

Josh and I finished and headed back to the quarry to wait for everyone else. We did a little exploring down by the quarry pond. We took a trail I had never been on, it had it's ups and downs..literally. I liked it alot. We followed it along the quarry rim, and dropped into the Red Trail, for the first time. We crawled over one big rock...or so we thought it was big, until we got over it and saw the next bigger rock. I think the second rock is called pink rock. We didn't try going over it...I'll save that for another day, after all I have to have a reason to go back.

We thought it would be fun to go down the creek again, but this time do a bit more exploring of the trails that split off from the creek. We were just about ready to head out, when one of the guys on the quads gave us a call.

It turns out one of the guys, who drove his Chevy truck down, but ended up riding with someone else on the trails, decided he needed to get the Chevy dirty before returning home. After a few romps through the mud in the quarry he was heading back to the parking lot, but got tempted by a "puddle" on the way back. He now knows to check the depth of the water before driving through water. Check out the bonus feature video to see what I mean.

After the rescue of the Chevy, thanks to Jason's new Warn winch, we decided it was time to air up and head for home. There was still and hour until closing, but we had done quite a bit, so we felt we were good to go.

We didn't see many Jeeps or trucks all day. We saw a group 3-Jeeps several times through out the day, but no other groups. A stray Jeep or truck here of there was all, maybe 10 besides us. It didn't seem like there were many quads either. The rain seemed to keep some at home, but that was okay, because it gave us the park "to our selves".

One of the TJ's, in that group of 3 Jeeps, broke his driveshaft on the infamous step-up. We didn't see it happen, but I was able to help out by lending them a 12mm socket and a ratchet. They got the driveshaft off and headed back to the shop for some welding.

Believe it or not I never took my Canon (camera) out of it's case. Too much rain and mud this time. I figured the video was good enough. I know some of you were looking for pictures...sorry.

Well here are some vids. They are a bit shakey at times, but what you going to do?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhAmPYPvhIE
Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meXOYVuuN5U
Part Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuOdyXAATd8
Part Three

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w1Y8L9an2g
Part Four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXHQJUjz7cg
BONUS FEATURE

Don't blame me for the youtube music.

[aaronc88]

nice write ups jeffro sweet job! make me wish is was tere with u guys

[SirGCal]

Nice trail report.

[Acidcold]

Yet again Jeep shows who's dominant! nice job jeff.

[MoparBoy01]

anybody in illinois up for a trip to Cliff's Insane Terrain soon?

[Bennettj13]

Glad you had fun Jeff. I love the creek run. I've seen a few over-land parts there, but never noticed any deviations from the regular trail that we run forwards or backwards. I guess I'm never paying enough attention for that. I'm always waiting to see some big *** rock jump out of the water and bite my Jeep.

[CBlakeNS]

Cool videos and nice write up!

[Capricorn]

Very cool videos. I cant wait to hit that park.

[Jeffro06]

Originally Posted by aaronc88

nice write ups jeffro sweet job! make me wish is was tere with u guys

Originally Posted by SirGCal

Nice trail report.

Originally Posted by CBlakeNS

Cool videos and nice write up!

Originally Posted by tjtank99

Very cool videos. I cant wait to hit that park.

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm not sure I can stand waiting a month before I hit the trails again.

[Jeffro06]

Originally Posted by MoparBoy01

anybody in illinois up for a trip to Cliff's Insane Terrain soon?

I think all of the "you're going to damage something" stories have kept me from checking it out. I'm going to have to go give it a look-see sooner or later, especially since it's much closer than the Badlands....like half the distance.

[BomberJeep]

awesome vids

Nice pic by the jeep