The meeting time for the event was 7:00am on Saturday the 13th. There were about 124 vehicles in attendance this year, with 5 different trails (limited to 25 trucks per trail) to choose from each day, ranging from mild to wild.

My brother in his Samurai and I chose to run the the Snake Bite Trail (semi-wild). After breakfast the group of 25 or so vehicles left base camp and drove ~10 miles over to the California side of the river to the trail head of the Snake Bite trail. After airing down it was time to get started. The first obstacle was a fairly large uphill climb that was conquered by all without problems. After this hill there was a pretty steep and loose descent into a wash bottom. We then drove about fifty yards down the wash where the first problem arose for many drivers, myself included: a low hanging tree on the left, a large diff grabbing rock in the middle and a rock wall on the right. Many were caught by the rock but all eventually made their way through. Twenty yards after the previous obstacle there was a tight pinch section with a rock wall on the right (where I left a bit of paint), a large boulder on the left and a blind downhill right turn in front. Just after the pinch was a rocky climb where the trouble started for a Jeep in our group. While going up the rocky climb two things happened to him. His tie rod got severely bent which then caused or was caused by a broken left axle u-joint. They straightened the tie rod and he limped out the bypass and headed back to main camp.

After the Jeep got fixed, two vehicles in the line behind me had problems. One popped a bead off and another tore a side wall. After these were fixed, the rest of us headed on down the trail for more fun. After the hill climb we dropped down the other side, then down off of a rock shelf into another wash (I hit my bumper here). We then cruised down the rocky wash bottom for a few yards then climbed out on the right, went over some hills through a couple of washes and ended up back where I hit my bumper. We then went down the rock shelf again (hit my bumper again), but this time instead of climbing out to the right we just followed the wash. Unless you happen to be the guy driving a Jeep Scrambler then what you do is try to see how far up the wall of the wash you can get before you roll over onto your side just like he did the previous night! I know, I know "It's a Jeep thing I wouldn't understand".

That section of the trail we just ran was just a appetizer for what was next. The final leg of the trail was a very damaging section for quite a few people: munched front fenders, caved in rear quarters, smoking clutches, bent clutch linkages, winch cables being drawn out for lesser vehicles, you get the idea. On this trip two of us had 4Runners, Brian's and mine. I made Brian go first cause I thought for sure that our wheelbase was just too long for this section, but he proved me wrong. We went through flawlessly and so did my brother's Samurai. This 30' long section of carnage took forever (3 hours) to get through, but it was fun to watch. After we got everyone through Crunch Canyon the trail pretty much mellowed out again, except for one spot where you had to straddle a dirt V. I saw two people try to just side hill it but they smarted up and backed out, and did it the proper way. One last loose and silty hill climb and the trail was over. Everyone got grouped together again and we headed for the highway and then back to base camp for the steak dinner and raffle with the One Man Band playin' tunes while you ate. There were some pretty decent prizes in the raffle but I didn't get a darn thing as usual.

Day 2 - Dynamite Canyon

7:00AM meeting time again. My brother and I decided to do an easy run today, because I had to drive home (7hrs) and I didn't want to take a chance on breaking anything. There were approximately 25 vehicles on this run.

After everyone got assembled we headed up the river and crossed the dam. We drove about 15 miles on pavement before we got to the trail head. When everyone was finished airing down, we started down the trail. Like I said this was an easy run today so there was not much action, more exploration of the canyons and the desert.

There were two optional obstacles on this run that people could do if they wanted. The first obstacle was a simple climb over a rock out cropping. One person had a driveshaft separate while trying to climb it, but everyone else that took the optional climb made it without trouble. When everyone was done playing on that obstacle we headed up the wash for a little more sightseeing. At the end of the trail everyone said their good-byes and headed to camp or home.

I had a good time at this event and plan to attend next year for the third time. If you see me, say hello.

Related Links:

Toyota Section
John Skaggs Web Site