That picture is after quite a bit of the recovery had already been done. When we started, his front end was further down the slope than his rear. It was truly a tense situation handled extremely well by all involved. I'm pretty sure everyone involved learned something that day - I sure did.
5th Annual Ghost Town Run
- Thread starter ttubb
- Start date
That picture is after quite a bit of the recovery had already been done. When we started, his front end was further down the slope than his rear. It was truly a tense situation handled extremely well by all involved. I'm pretty sure everyone involved learned something that day - I sure did.
wesintl
Moderator
huh? do tell...
Details?
That small bump, was a good sized (probably 2' long x 1' wide) flat topped, but NOT flat bottomed rock that looked benign but definitely wasn't...From what I could tell you hit that full on with one or both DS tires and it booted you to the right
I tossed that sucker down the hill for you though
, which on later consideration wasn't smart because I think I nearly took out Perry hiking below us - He mentioned not knowing anything was wrong until rocks started rolling down the hill toward him 
A huge thanks to everyone for the fun but especially to the Millers for putting together and coordinating such an awesome event. Everyone had a great time that even the leaky tent the last night couldn't put a damper on 
From the drive out on Friday and talking to Marco on the HT, to the fun wheeling on Saturday (I've mentally blocked out the recovery details
), to the potluck, to watching the kids have a blast, to fun on Sunday, and the drive home and dinner Sunday night, it was a great time with great friends 
I'll post up some pics tonight...
Edit: And Nathaniel, we all really enjoyed the information about the area and the history...Tell Andrea that we don't all think you are a total geek...
From the drive out on Friday and talking to Marco on the HT, to the fun wheeling on Saturday (I've mentally blocked out the recovery details
), to the potluck, to watching the kids have a blast, to fun on Sunday, and the drive home and dinner Sunday night, it was a great time with great friends I'll post up some pics tonight...
Edit: And Nathaniel, we all really enjoyed the information about the area and the history...Tell Andrea that we don't all think you are a total geek...
That small bump, was a good sized (probably 2' long x 1' wide) flat topped, but NOT flat bottomed rock that looked benign but definitely wasn't...From what I could tell you hit that full on with one or both DS tires and it booted you to the right
I tossed that sucker down the hill for you though
Ah ha! So I wasn't dreaming then, I knew I felt somthing. Thanks, Jeff, and thanks for making the trail a little better for the next guy.
treerootCO
Rising Sun Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 5,424
I'll post pictures when I get home...
80 decided to shear off all the knuckle studs and allow the steering to part ways with the wheel bits. It was impressive but not as awesome as stealing studs from the other side and driving on the trail fix. I am hoping that when the wheel tried to leave the truck it destroyed the axle seal but I cannot figure out why there was so much 90 weight pouring out of the axle housing. I drained about a gallon out the knuckle wile trying to bolt the wheel back on.
80 decided to shear off all the knuckle studs and allow the steering to part ways with the wheel bits. It was impressive but not as awesome as stealing studs from the other side and driving on the trail fix. I am hoping that when the wheel tried to leave the truck it destroyed the axle seal but I cannot figure out why there was so much 90 weight pouring out of the axle housing. I drained about a gallon out the knuckle wile trying to bolt the wheel back on.
As always had a great time with the club. Was even better than last year. The feast was AWSOME. Thanks Nathaniel. Awsome job as usual. Hope your lunch was good on sunday. hehe. Now i need to beat the plastic gas tank skid back to shape in time for the next run. Different with a few pounds on the roof and aired down tires. Skipped off a few more rocks than i wanted to. Oh yeah, thanks for removing the boulder that did the damage AFTER i got stuck on it.... haha. See everybody next time.
Kenny and Family
Kenny and Family
treerootCO
Rising Sun Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2005
- Messages
- 5,424
That's just scary, Mike, where did this happen? All 4 studs broke?
I didn't get any pics of before...this is after stealing studs from the other side for the trail fix. We made it off Tincup and into St. Elmo. Not sure when it failed but going into the first high speed turn, she handled like an old 40. The wheel turned and the steering didn't respond. I guess all those years driving a 40 paid off because we figured a combination of greasy road and aired down tires were to blame. When we pulled off to air up, there was a river of 90 weight flowing and parts were no longer attached. Cheeseman and Jill stuck with me until we had her on the trailer and dad came through with the GMC and trailer all the way from Denver. Big thanks to all! Could have been a very, very, bad ending if the failure occured anywhere other than where she decided to die.
added action pic of the repair...
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As said, it was a GREAT event - On with the pictures
Looking back toward Middle Quartz - you can see FR 839 cutting across the side of the mountain (center of pic)
Some of the sites to see
West Side of Hancock Pass
Marco coming up the west side of Hancock Pass....We'll come back to this picture later...
Chris and Art coming up...
Burrito anyone?
At the top...
Kids doing what they do best...Playing
Nakman took some of the kids on a lion hunt
Panorama looking north from Hancock pass
Heading back down the west side of Hancock pass
Smile!!
Looking at the west side of Tomichi Pass from Hancock Pass
If you don't know what this is then you weren't listening to Nathaniel's history lesson
Where's Perry? We'll come back to this pic too...
Tomichi 'bridge'
Little waterfall/spring on the east side of Tomichi Pass
Tomichi Cementary
Heading toward Black Sage Pass
Beginning of the back way route into Middle Quartz...Or so we believe
Another shot of the 'back way' - beautiful drive
Nathaniel explains the Alpine Tunnel turntable
Looking down the east side of Hancock Pass
Group heading down the east side of Hancock Pass, headed for home...
Click here for a slideshow of these pics
Click here for a slideshow of all my GTR '09 pics
- On with the pictures Looking back toward Middle Quartz - you can see FR 839 cutting across the side of the mountain (center of pic)
Some of the sites to see
West Side of Hancock Pass
Marco coming up the west side of Hancock Pass....We'll come back to this picture later...
Chris and Art coming up...
Burrito anyone?
At the top...
Kids doing what they do best...Playing
Nakman took some of the kids on a lion hunt
Panorama looking north from Hancock pass
Heading back down the west side of Hancock pass
Smile!!
Looking at the west side of Tomichi Pass from Hancock Pass
If you don't know what this is then you weren't listening to Nathaniel's history lesson
Where's Perry? We'll come back to this pic too...
Tomichi 'bridge'
Little waterfall/spring on the east side of Tomichi Pass
Tomichi Cementary
Heading toward Black Sage Pass
Beginning of the back way route into Middle Quartz...Or so we believe
Another shot of the 'back way' - beautiful drive
Nathaniel explains the Alpine Tunnel turntable
Looking down the east side of Hancock Pass
Group heading down the east side of Hancock Pass, headed for home...
Click here for a slideshow of these pics
Click here for a slideshow of all my GTR '09 pics
Recovery effort...
This was a much discussed "event"...We are all VERY grateful that everything turned out as well as it did...I was extremely impressed with both Tim and Michele's 'calmness' during this, especially Michele while she climbed into the back seats to get the little ones out
I mentioned coming back to this picture in my earlier post...The area with the red circle is where the event took place...
In this pic, Perry is just below the area...
What we saw coming up from behind Tim
As you can see, there is pretty much nothing to strap to or winch to etc. in the area other than the one tree on the wrong side of the trail. There was a tree maybe 50 yards up the trail on the uphill side but given how loose the ground is in the area, who knows if it would have held...
A better view of just how precarious it was...by this time Marco and Tim had devised a plan which included getting everyone out of Tim's truck and my truck for obvious reasons...
This is last shot I took before concentrating on being a good "anchor"...In the end we moved my truck as high toward the uphill side as we could and I tried to keep Tim's rear end from sliding further down the hill while he winched his front end up to the blue FJC...As heavy as the LX is, through this Tim's truck still managed to pull my front end over to the edge...
Kudos to all involved, especially Marco and Tim for coming up with the plan...I'm sure we all learned from this. It was a stressful trip the rest of the way to the top and I for one hugged the uphill side of the trail for sure...Also, no matter how easy you think the trail runs are going to be on any given day, DON'T leave your recovery gear (straps, shackles, etc.) at home. I did and I felt helpless when Tim was calling out for a strap
This was a much discussed "event"...We are all VERY grateful that everything turned out as well as it did...I was extremely impressed with both Tim and Michele's 'calmness' during this, especially Michele while she climbed into the back seats to get the little ones out
I mentioned coming back to this picture in my earlier post...The area with the red circle is where the event took place...
In this pic, Perry is just below the area...
What we saw coming up from behind Tim
As you can see, there is pretty much nothing to strap to or winch to etc. in the area other than the one tree on the wrong side of the trail. There was a tree maybe 50 yards up the trail on the uphill side but given how loose the ground is in the area, who knows if it would have held...
A better view of just how precarious it was...by this time Marco and Tim had devised a plan which included getting everyone out of Tim's truck and my truck for obvious reasons...
This is last shot I took before concentrating on being a good "anchor"...In the end we moved my truck as high toward the uphill side as we could and I tried to keep Tim's rear end from sliding further down the hill while he winched his front end up to the blue FJC...As heavy as the LX is, through this Tim's truck still managed to pull my front end over to the edge...
Kudos to all involved, especially Marco and Tim for coming up with the plan...I'm sure we all learned from this. It was a stressful trip the rest of the way to the top and I for one hugged the uphill side of the trail for sure...Also, no matter how easy you think the trail runs are going to be on any given day, DON'T leave your recovery gear (straps, shackles, etc.) at home. I did and I felt helpless when Tim was calling out for a strap
Many Thanks!
Stacy and I just wanted to thank everyone on the Ghost Town Run for being so welcoming to first-timers and for making this an awesome trip! You all are the best group of people we have met in a long time - and we hope to see you all again at an event in the near future. The professionalism with which this run was conducted truly impressed us.
A special thanks to Nathaniel - your leadership and history lessons made us feel that we were on a guided tour. Cheeseman and Jill - thanks for leading us safely up the trails. Thanks to Subzali - if it wasn't for your Ham communications prior to St. Elmo - we wouldn't have made it to Saturdays trail runs. And Terry - Stacy says "thanks for sharing your wine!" Again - thanks to everyone involved - see you soon.
Will post some pics soon.
-- Sean
Stacy and I just wanted to thank everyone on the Ghost Town Run for being so welcoming to first-timers and for making this an awesome trip! You all are the best group of people we have met in a long time - and we hope to see you all again at an event in the near future. The professionalism with which this run was conducted truly impressed us.
A special thanks to Nathaniel - your leadership and history lessons made us feel that we were on a guided tour. Cheeseman and Jill - thanks for leading us safely up the trails. Thanks to Subzali - if it wasn't for your Ham communications prior to St. Elmo - we wouldn't have made it to Saturdays trail runs. And Terry - Stacy says "thanks for sharing your wine!" Again - thanks to everyone involved - see you soon.
Will post some pics soon.
-- Sean
Thanks for the pics Jeff, you know like the say it never looks that bad in the picture, always feels worse in real life. Anyway that last one was the first setup.. where we got it secured enough to think about our next move. The second revision involved swapping your strap with a short treesaver, and swapping the strap on the FJ out with my winch cable. With you keeping the back end in check, several guys on a strap on the B pillar, I had the security I needed to drive/winch the front end back up off of the FJ-
One of the best things I took from my Robbie/Chris Nelson Trail Team training a few years back is the quote "don't just do something, stand there!" implying that you shouldn't rush into every recovery situation- secure the truck, get everyone safe, but unless the world is about to end think for a minute and come up with a good plan. We really did a good job at this and I'm glad it happened in a manner that everyone involved could learn something, I know I did and always do.
One of the best things I took from my Robbie/Chris Nelson Trail Team training a few years back is the quote "don't just do something, stand there!" implying that you shouldn't rush into every recovery situation- secure the truck, get everyone safe, but unless the world is about to end think for a minute and come up with a good plan. We really did a good job at this and I'm glad it happened in a manner that everyone involved could learn something, I know I did and always do.
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When Jacki and I walked back down to where you guys were, I was thinking through my head how I would try and rig up your truck if it were me in charge. I thought if we could get a truck in front to be as close as possible to you so that the pull on your winch would be sideways that would probably be best. When I arrived I saw that you had done just that, plus you had secured the back end, and I knew it had taken some good, careful thinking and no over-reacting to come to that conclusion. I was very impressed with the way the recovery went.
MDH33
Hard Core 4+
Looks like a great run. Sorry to have missed it.
I remember that stretch on Tomichi from last year when Matt, Wes, Ige and myself ran it. We spent a few minutes with shovels leveling that section of trail before driving by. It was really loose and off camber. Here's a pic of Wes' 70 going over that stretch but in the opposite direction.
I remember that stretch on Tomichi from last year when Matt, Wes, Ige and myself ran it. We spent a few minutes with shovels leveling that section of trail before driving by. It was really loose and off camber. Here's a pic of Wes' 70 going over that stretch but in the opposite direction.
My wife Christie and I rode up with Treeroot in the white FJ80 and we both had a GREAT time! Christie fell and sprained her ankle pretty bad at the top of Hancock pass but she was a trooper and made it through the rest of the trip. I have never been on this run and have always wanted to go so a big thank you to Nathaniel and the rest of the Rising Sun crew for allowing me to tag along for this one.
It was really great to meet some new faces and see see those I have met before on other runs. The pot luck was amazing as it usually is with this group and there was so much food I didn't know where to begin. Another big thanks to Cheeseman and Jill for sticking with us all the way to Denver when we were having trouble with the FJ80.
Here are some of our photos. you can click the link for the rest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cougar337/sets/72157621750753327/
My wife Christie, Mike (Treeroot) and myself Ian
Lined up for the beginning of our run near St. Elmo
Perry getting the shots that few others get
Subzali helping out a mountain biker with a flat tire. This is why I love this group. they are willing to help out ANYONE in need!!
Dry Stack rock Palisades
Williams Pass sign showing the dates it's open
At the gate near Alpine Tunnel
It was really great to meet some new faces and see see those I have met before on other runs. The pot luck was amazing as it usually is with this group and there was so much food I didn't know where to begin. Another big thanks to Cheeseman and Jill for sticking with us all the way to Denver when we were having trouble with the FJ80.
Here are some of our photos. you can click the link for the rest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cougar337/sets/72157621750753327/
My wife Christie, Mike (Treeroot) and myself Ian
Lined up for the beginning of our run near St. Elmo
Perry getting the shots that few others get
Subzali helping out a mountain biker with a flat tire. This is why I love this group. they are willing to help out ANYONE in need!!
Dry Stack rock Palisades
Williams Pass sign showing the dates it's open
At the gate near Alpine Tunnel