Who would be up to the task? None other than Bob William's and his wife Tess. Bob, a minister from Las Vegas and avid rock crawler said he would be happy to perform the marriage. In fact he was looking forward to tackling the famous canyon leading up to the old mining city at the top. The week before the trip Bob modified his front bumper to accommodate a Warn 9500 winch.

Arriving early Friday evening at the meeting point in Ballarat, Bob thought his truck was ready. Just one more thing, respool the winch before using it. All 125' of cable was pulled off the drum and onto the ground. Bob then engaged the clutch and proceeded to run the winch back in. The motor turned but the drum did not! Double and triple checks of the clutch and controller reveal that the winch was not functioning correctly. Upon disassembly of the winch they found one of the "C" clips was missing. Fortunately it was found in the bottom of the case. Without the clip the planetary reduction unit was out of place. It was easy to reinstall the clip and put the winch back into it's mount. Then the cable was respooled and now Bob's truck would be able to make it up the canyon.

Departing at about 9 AM Saturday morning we quickly came to the first of seven waterfalls. Leading the trail, Jon Bundrant started off by winching up the first of the seven water falls. On the way up each truck took turns winching up most of the water falls. As each truck winched up they would haul up the winch cable of the next truck. This way the next truck can start winching up as soon as the truck in front is stopped.

The trail has two sets of falls. The bottom three and the top falls with a short easy drive between them. Waiting here for my turn at the number four fall I took a few minutes to respool my winch as the repeated use left the cable bunched up on one side. As I was running the winch in I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. I looked and saw the biggest fly I had ever seen. The thing bit me (through my T-shirt) and left a blood stain. Ouch that hurt! Some refer to these blood thirsty pests as "Trona Flies", named for a nearby town that processes chemicals. Watch out for these pests. Judging by their size, I think they are some sort of nuclear mutants! After seeing the truck in front of me smash his tail light out in a narrow part of the canyon I decided to remove the left rear tail light to prevent breaking it. After all those things cost over $90 each.

On the way to the sixth fall AJ rolled his truck onto it's side. His cable was being pulled up the next hill so his winch clutch was set to free spool. Behind him Marlin had just finished pulling up the number five fall. Jon saw AJ rolling over and yelled to Marlin to pull in the winch, fast! Marlin's wife was holding the winch controller and immediately started pulling it in. With the seeming grace of a bungee jumper, AJ rolled over ever so slowly and put a quarter sized dent in his truck just below the gas filler and then back onto it's wheels it went with the help of Marlin's winch.

AJ's truck was on it's side for just a few seconds. What team work! Waterfall number five is not the hardest but from below a truck climbing up looks just like it's sticking to a wall like a fly on fly paper. Here Jack Geiger climbs up it with the help of his new Warn 9500 winch.

At the top of the last fall (number seven) Marlin places a Toyota axle into a special hole drilled into the rock.  With a strap attached to the axle it made a great winch point and all of us used it to get up over the top. Once we were all up past fall number seven the hard part was over. We continued towards Panamint city and stopped at a natural spring. This is the most beautiful mountain spring I have ever seen, and it's just a few miles from Death Valley! This picture does not even do it justice. The spring was basically a large wall covered with thick green moss and surrounded with ferns and trees. Water literally poured out from the wall.

We all filled up our water jugs here. The water tasted so good some poured out the water they had and refilled their bottles from the spring. 

Once at the top preparations were made for the wedding. A location near the famous large smoke stack was chosen. Patty put on an elegant white dress and AJ dressed up like Doc Holiday. They looked like they were straight out of the 1800's. The ceremony was performed as the sun was setting in the west, lighting up there faces with a warm rose colored glow. As the sun slipped below the mountains we listened to their two favorite songs.

After the long day on the trail we were all starving so we all hurried back to our trucks to make dinner.  After dinner there was a couple of bottles of champaign to go around and a small wedding cake to share. I don't know how that cake survived the trip up the hill without getting smashed (it was in AJ's truck when he rolled onto his side). After dinner we sat on the porch of the old miners house and talked the night away. A nice fire was burning in the front yard fire pit.

The next morning we awoke and gathered our trucks together for the wild ride back down the falls. As we were waiting to go I removed my right side tail light to prevent damage to it on the way back down. On the way down the falls I managed to get wedged sideways in the trail just past fall number five. It was a stupid maneuver for sure. I now had my right front wheel up against one large rock and my left rear wheel up against another. I tried to drive out in low low first but the engine just stalled even at 200 to 1 reduction.

I got out and looked over the situation.  Yep, no moving forward or backwards.  I though about using my High-Lift, but there was no way I could have lifted it up high enough.  Looking at the situation I though with some careful driving I could drive up and the with a little luck the truck would slip back down and at the same time rotate me into a better exit position.

I got up into position and as it slid down the rock there was a loud bang/snap noise from the rear of the truck.  Onlookers assured me they thought it was the tire and wheel hitting the rock on it's way down. As it later turned out the axle snapped.  I wished I had used the winch to get myself out of that tight spot, though it seemed silly at the time to winch down hill.  I was able to complete the rest of the trail but once at the bottom we agreed the truck was unsafe to drive faster than an idle.  The axle needed to be replaced before I could drive home.  The axle broke at the point where the "C" clip holds the bearings on the shaft. With out the clip the wheel could work it's way loose if driven on the road. It was just not safe to drive.

Checking with the others the only spare axle we had was a short axle for a pre 1985 truck.  We installed the axle but there was no way to get the brakes to work as the drum was too large and there was no way to hook up the parking brake.

The hydraulic line leading to the wheel cylinder was removed and a plug was installed in it's place. This allowed the other three brakes to continue working. The axle was not long enough to engage the differential, but it was long enough to provide support for the axle.  We assembled the axle and tested it. A few minutes later we were ready to head out and back home.  Driving with only one rear axle working was a strange experience.  With only the right rear pulling the truck there was a constant pull in the steering to keep the wheel straight. I left the broken backing plate with Marlin and he took it back to his shop for repair.

Two days later Marlin shipped my backing plate  to me with a new axle and bearings installed.  My truck was easily restored using the parts Marlin sent. Over all we had a great time.  The only other mechanical damage in our group was a set of F-250 style shock mounts in need of a little welding.  Marlin's on-board Premier Power Welder made quick work of that repair.

Going up most of us had to winch up most ever fall. On the way down most people use the winch of the truck behind them to let themselves down.  Not our group.  Each and every one of us drove down every fall. Coming down the falls was the best part! Like a roller coaster without a track, I was never quite sure where I was going to land.

I would like to thank Marlin from Marlin Crawler and Jon from All Pro Off Road for their help in getting everyone up and back safely.  This trail more than any other I have driven requires an experienced guide.  At some points we drove within an inch of the canyon walls. It was so tight I removed my tail lights because I felt sure I was going to scrape the sides of the truck. There are a number of secret winch spots, such as the hole at the top of number seven.  Without their help I would not have found the correct lines down without significant body damage.