Day 3 - DSS

I was hoping to be assigned to RIP or Bitch for the last day but I ended up in a huge group headed for Doomicon. Jay was surprised to see me with them since, he said, his group was already quite large and they already had enough club members on board. The group next to them in the staging area was headed for DSS so I decided to hop on with them since they only had 12 trucks plus the club members'. About half of the group were the same guys and gals I 'wheeled with the previous day, including Jon and Lynn in a CJ7, Dale and JP in an Explorer, Dan and Pat in an XJ, Chris and his passenger in a YJ, Greg and Mac in a YJ, and about a half dozen Land Cruiser FJ40s from Washington. After another morning of commuting on the logging roads, we were at the trailhead for DSS. The first part was mostly driving through dense brush and continuous head ducking to avoid getting whipped in the face by branches. Once we began climbing the mountainside, we had our first breakdown. Greg's YJ's transfer case was acting up again and he could only use high-range 4x4. For DSS, that wasn't going to be enough. I'm sure it was a difficult decision for him but he chose to turn around rather than slow down the group. Hopefully he'll have the bugs worked out of his transmission soon.

Wyatt and Joan in their flatfender and my brother, Bill, and I continued on and quickly caught up with the group. They were bunched up just below the first obstacle where one of the 'Cruisers was winching. The obstacle was an uphill, muddy, diagonal step littered with large rocks at its base. The group quickly split into two groups: once the Land Cruisers got through, they immediately headed off for the next section while we worked our way through the current section. This was a good thing since some of them lost their beads while others required winching. By splitting into two groups, we were able to get through the trail quicker. As expected, the vehicles in our group without front/rear lockers had the most problems with this obstacle but they still cleared it under their own power. Then we waited while the Land Cruisers worked their way through the next obstacle which was just past the next switchback. Some of them needed winching and then they were on their way again. Then it was our turn and it was a repeat of the first obstacle: the fully locked vehicles had an easier time of it but we all made it under our own power. Dale's Explorer fully utilized its rocker and bumper armour on some parts of this trail and I'm sure he was very glad to have them.

Scott Shannon from Washington pilots his 'Cruiser through the first obstacle.

With no front locker, Dan had a tougher time on DSS but he did very well.

Dual lockers and 35" or taller mud tires made DSS noticeably easier but it still required careful line choice.

Next up was a climb up a small hill that ended up a hard right and a climb up a wet rock face. That provided some entertainment to see who could pick the best line to make it in one go. Wyatt came up last and couldn't quite make it. He threw us a rope to attach to my Jeep but someone suggested pulling it by hand so about a half dozen of us managed to pull the little flatfender up the rock (with all its tires spinning, of course). Once past that rock, we found ourselves with a beautiful view of the surrounding forests and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. At the bottom of the hill the 'Cruisers were stopped because one of them had lose a bead on the tire. While they worked on the 'Cruiser, we took a break and ate some snacks.

About a half hour later, we were on our way again. The downhill section ended with an off-camber left-hand turn which was a bit uncomfortable but not very dangerous. Then we began descending the mountain. Lots more branching whippings and scratches ensued. We hooked onto another trail and headed up the side of another mountain which would take us to Neil's Knoll and the infamous mud pit of DSS. We had to stop short of the mudpit because one of Jon's ARB air lines had a hole in it. After it was repaired, we caught up to the Land Cruisers, one of which had lost the bead on its tire (not sure if it was the same one again). While that one was being repaired, the few that were ahead of it worked their way through the mudholes and between the trees that lead to Neil's Knoll. The Knoll is a large rock which forms a step situated in front of two trees. It requires a very careful line choice and healthy amounts of throttle to climb it, and even then it's unlikely that you will make it. Each driver made a determined effort but each had to finally resort to winching. I had seen how difficult it was two years ago so I had already made up my mind that I would be winching. Back then, I think our entire group had to winch over the rock except for Vern in his CJ5 (he made it up but ended up running into a stump and bending his tie rod), all of the Samurai drivers, and me (I almost made it and ended up getting pushed). The rock favoured the short, narrow Zuks which were able to fly up the right side without worrying about sliding sideways and high-centering.

Once the 'Cruiser's tire was repaired and they proceeded to the Knoll, our group began working the mud holes and trees. The mud, sidehills and trees made for a very sheet metal-unfriendly environment for the Cherokee and Explorer. Dan ended up kicking sideways and breaking his passenger side mirror on a tree. When I saw that, I walked back to Dale's Explorer and folded in his mirror. I think that saved his mirror but it didn't help at the first bit where he slid sideways and drove his rear passenger door into a tree. We hooked up my winch to a pulley and pulled his truck away from the tree and he was able to reposition himself for a safer line. Amazingly, the dent popped out once he was clear of the tree. By the way, I have to say that both Dan and Dale did very well keeping up with more built-up vehicles in our half of the group. We ran 35" or larger tires, front/rear lockers, and lots more lift, plus we had shorter wheelbases so it was easier for us to maneuver on these tight trails. They had to fight hard in some sections but they drove well and made it through.

At the final mudhole before the Knoll, Jon's V8-powed CJ7 ended up high centered on a big rock so he had to winch himself out. The rest of us, having seen his mistake, avoided that rock like the plague and hit the gas as soon as it felt like we were bogging down in the mud. Chris Siebert and Dana Brama made particularly photogenic runs through the mud.

With the final 'Cruiser winched over the Knoll, it was now our turn and Jon Bruce was our best hope. He had the largest tires and ground clearance, as well as excellent articulation. And he very nearly made it but just couldn't quite get his Jeep on top of the rock. It looked like we would also be winching. Dan's attempt was the most amusing. He made several careful attempts without success, so just before winching, he decided to try using the traditional "Dan style," also known as "Duke's of Hazzard style." Well, he didn't get any further up the rock but he did succeed in twisting his front wheels so they almost pointed at each other. Yup, one pretzeled tie-rod. He tried to straighten it out with his winch but it didn't work. I knew Dan had a spare tie rod (along with a ton of other stuff) so I wasn't too concerned and he even apologized to everyone saying that he didn't mean to slow us down with the upcoming trailside repair. As it turned out, it didn't cost us much time at all because he and Jon had it changed very quickly. In the meantime, the rest of the trucks in our group winched over the Knoll. After watching all the drivers make their attempts, I thought I saw a good line to the hard right. I spent a lot of time positioning my Jeep but in the end, I got no further than Jon did. However, Pat Patterson suggested a slight modification and to my surprise, I almost made it up. I managed to get my back tires up the rock but wouldn't continue through the trees. We tried pushing it several times to no avail. Finally, I backed off a little bit and gave it one more try before winching. I was ecstatic when the Jeep surged forward and scrambled between the two trees. I did it! It took a lot of work and help but we managed to get a vehicle over the Knoll without winching. Dan's Cherokee was now repaired and he tried the same line but his open front diff and longer wheelbase fought against him. He had to winch.

The Land Cruisers went through the mudholes near Neil's Knoll first.	Dale was sporting enough to pose for this shot with his freshly dented door.	DSS required extraordinary concentration from long wheelbase 4x4 drivers.
Chris Siebert climbing out of the last mud hole before Neil's Knoll. Check out his cool home-made flat fenders.	Jon very nearly made it up Neil's Knoll but it was just too steep, wet and muddy.	Dan gave it a great try but it just wasn't enough.
He ended up bending his tie rod.	Fortunately he had a spare steering linkage AND a tarp to lie on.	With lots of help from my spotters we got my YJ through under its own power. Wyatt did the same in his Willys.

Last up was Wyatt who decided to try a very unconventional line, hoping that his Willys' narrower width would help him. It didn't...so then he tried the line I took and after a few tries, he made it up even easier than I did!

Jay's end-over-end rollover proved that the Rock Crawl trails could be very dangerous. Amazingly, he was able to drive "Brutus" back to camp (over 45 min. of logging roads).

There were a few mudholes and minor obstacles after that and then back to more brush scratches and bouncing around back down to the main road. I was extremely pleased with Project YJ's performance on DSS. I thought its Pro Comp mud tires would be at a disadvantage in the mudd terrain, compared to the much more aggressive bias ply tires...but I was wrong. At 9 psi they provided plenty of flex, they stayed on the rims, and they gave me great traction. While we re-organized on the main road, half of the Doomicon group pulled up beside us. The leader, Jay Krieger, told me he had an interesting day...his Land Cruiser had rolled end over end while going down one of the steep obstacles. Looking at his girlfriend, I could see it was a serious roll because she still looked very upset from the experience. I was amazed that the Land Cruiser survived well enough to be driven back to camp. They were both very lucky that the 'Cruiser had a full roll cage installed Ben and Chris Olson also drove past, with Ben wearing a bandana that held some cotton gauze to his ear. He didn't look very happy. I thought he must've gotten whipped by a branch but I later heard that he had jumped sideways off the trail to avoid a vehicle and a branch was driven into his ear, piercing the ear drum. Ouch.

It would have been a rather interesting day if I stayed with the Doomicon group as originally planned. But it would have been a long one, too. The other half continued on the trail and reached camp by 11pm that night. We planned to catch the 9pm ferry so choosing DSS was very lucky for me.

That ended another great Rock Crawl event. The IRC did yet another fantastic job, even though one of their main trail venues was closed to motorized recreation.

...lars

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