Sierra Nevada Challenge 2018 *NOW with 20% more pictures!*
- Thread starter Toasty
- Start date
Doing_Dirt
Active member
LOL chill like a boss!
Toasty
Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
We're back! Fantastic trip, the usual suspects showed up. Carnage; Gen 3 = 1 broken axle and a dead winch, Suzi = driver torn rotator cuff, Gen 1 = battery, alternator, fan, front bumper, taillight and rear door, 99 Monty = door dent, 95 SR = locker solenoid, PS pump and brake hose.
I'll get some videos up and more #Lloyding up soon
Toasty
Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
On the way up our Gen 1 had some issues, first it's brand new electrical fan ******** the bed. It had been battling an overheating issue all day (brand new custom aluminum radiator) then the 10+ year old Optima Redtop exploded on the highway. Luckily we brought a new Optima Bluetop as a spare, we packed in to a hotel the first night and then in the morning we called the local auto parts stores to track down another Bluetop and a 16" electrical fan.
Upon leaving the hotel the 8 year old Bluetop in my truck needed a jump, apparently it couldn't keep up with running the ARB fridge all night, so we set out to the local Autozone for two new Bluetops and a new electric fan where more #Lloyding ensued. I modified the new fan to clear the fan pulley while PA_JERO and ClayTK swapped batteries out, I helped some other motorists out with their car and then whipped up a gap shroud to make a tighter seal around the radiator of the Gen 1. With everything back in working order we headed toward Barrett Lake trailhead.
PA_JERO #Lloyding
Upon leaving the hotel the 8 year old Bluetop in my truck needed a jump, apparently it couldn't keep up with running the ARB fridge all night, so we set out to the local Autozone for two new Bluetops and a new electric fan where more #Lloyding ensued. I modified the new fan to clear the fan pulley while PA_JERO and ClayTK swapped batteries out, I helped some other motorists out with their car and then whipped up a gap shroud to make a tighter seal around the radiator of the Gen 1. With everything back in working order we headed toward Barrett Lake trailhead.
PA_JERO #Lloyding
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Toasty
Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
We arrived at the Barrett Lake trailhead to see an SAS'd 4 Runner above the gatekeeper and a Hilux having a real hard time getting through. We decided to camp down the road a bit before these guys started breaking parts and needing help. We found a real nice spot for camp and had a couple of guys in seriously built Jeeps ask if they could share the space with us. Of course we let them in and shared some wheeling stories, we parted ways when they got an early start on the trail the following morning.
Once we got back to the trail head we found a Defender 90 making it's way up the gate keeper. We watched as they winched their way through and soon enough it was my turn to lead our group into the boulders. The climb was tough but we crept through just fine and just as we were rounding the next bend of the trail we saw our Jeep friends from camp towing another Jeep that had been destroyed by the trail. The driver of the Jeep in tow had been stranded on the trail for 3 days, we pulled over as they drug the machine with it's broken axles and suspension ratchet strapped to the carcass of the Jeep with the owner shamefully struggling to keep it under control as they passed.
We pressed on and found the Defender 90 taking a break at the lake, we chatted with the guys for a bit and they informed us there was more carnage ahead of us. We found the Hilux and 4 Runner from the night before with a broken steering arm, they had sent some of their group to hike out for parts and they let us know they had everything under control.
We drove down the hill which was littered in U-Joint caps from there thinking about how we would have to drive back up this hill later in the day. As we navigated the boulders and trees we started up another hill to find some Toyotas limping down, we pulled into a bypass to let them through. Deciding that this was a good place to eat a late lunch we checked on the group ahead while we ate and found out they were in pretty bad shape. Their Landcruiser had taken a beating and had a broken leaf spring amongst other things making it very hard to steer or move at all. We decided to turn around at this point to stay ahead of them as we had to meet with the rest of our group at Loon Lake. I had become dehydrated and asked PA_JERO to drive my truck back through the trail, this allowed me to drink more water and at the end i took a short video of him driving my truck out the gate keeper. We then made our way to Loon Lake and the Rubicon trailhead.
The #Lloyding continues
Once we got back to the trail head we found a Defender 90 making it's way up the gate keeper. We watched as they winched their way through and soon enough it was my turn to lead our group into the boulders. The climb was tough but we crept through just fine and just as we were rounding the next bend of the trail we saw our Jeep friends from camp towing another Jeep that had been destroyed by the trail. The driver of the Jeep in tow had been stranded on the trail for 3 days, we pulled over as they drug the machine with it's broken axles and suspension ratchet strapped to the carcass of the Jeep with the owner shamefully struggling to keep it under control as they passed.
We pressed on and found the Defender 90 taking a break at the lake, we chatted with the guys for a bit and they informed us there was more carnage ahead of us. We found the Hilux and 4 Runner from the night before with a broken steering arm, they had sent some of their group to hike out for parts and they let us know they had everything under control.
We drove down the hill which was littered in U-Joint caps from there thinking about how we would have to drive back up this hill later in the day. As we navigated the boulders and trees we started up another hill to find some Toyotas limping down, we pulled into a bypass to let them through. Deciding that this was a good place to eat a late lunch we checked on the group ahead while we ate and found out they were in pretty bad shape. Their Landcruiser had taken a beating and had a broken leaf spring amongst other things making it very hard to steer or move at all. We decided to turn around at this point to stay ahead of them as we had to meet with the rest of our group at Loon Lake. I had become dehydrated and asked PA_JERO to drive my truck back through the trail, this allowed me to drink more water and at the end i took a short video of him driving my truck out the gate keeper. We then made our way to Loon Lake and the Rubicon trailhead.
The #Lloyding continues
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jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
Dang, in comparison it sounds like you guys were the lucky ones compared to all of the broken parts the other guys had.
jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
How did he manage the injury, working on one of the rigs?
Doing_Dirt
Active member
Toasty
Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
A little background... Our friend Lloyd (manfromsnowyriver on this forum) who didn't make the trip was caught in this pose like 20 years ago. He didn't make it to our Utah trip either so we've been #Lloyding since he hasn't been out wheeling. This is the same guy we shrink wrapped his truck after the 2015 Sierra Challenge.
Rascott just slipped on a boulder and landed really hard on his shoulder in a bad way. These trails are dusty and the rocks have been polished by traffic, gotta be real careful.
Rascott just slipped on a boulder and landed really hard on his shoulder in a bad way. These trails are dusty and the rocks have been polished by traffic, gotta be real careful.
Toasty
Looking for that thing i just had in my hand...
At Loon Lake the rest of our party showed up at our camp and in the morning we started the Rubicon trail now with a 1995 SR and 2006 Limited, Cap510 in his '95 took over leading duties and we headed toward Buck Island where we planned to camp. We got off to a pretty decent start and quickly remembered that this trail was a challenge right from the beginning as we made our way from one obstacle to the next. We collectively took a bunch of videos but i think pictures are going to be scarce this round, our group opted to climb Little Sluice this year and i can't wait for videos of that to start popping up. All of us made the climb without issue but it was really fun to watch the Gen 3 drive through with a wheel teetering off the ground as he want along.
Shortly after that the 1995 SR had a front brake line tear and we had to clamp the hose off with a pair of vice grips, we bumped and scraped our way down to Buck Island and made camp just before dark. Someone left our tent open and allowed a yellow jacket to crawl into my sleeping bag so that night just as i was getting comfortable I heard a buzzing in my ear. As i swatted around trying to push the "fly" out the opening of my mummy bag the thing ended up down in the middle of the bag where it decided to sting me in the leg. After shouting something about how this creature really loves it's mother and ripping the zipper on my bag I caught that ******** and removed him from the tent. That's how i ended the first night on the Con.
Shortly after that the 1995 SR had a front brake line tear and we had to clamp the hose off with a pair of vice grips, we bumped and scraped our way down to Buck Island and made camp just before dark. Someone left our tent open and allowed a yellow jacket to crawl into my sleeping bag so that night just as i was getting comfortable I heard a buzzing in my ear. As i swatted around trying to push the "fly" out the opening of my mummy bag the thing ended up down in the middle of the bag where it decided to sting me in the leg. After shouting something about how this creature really loves it's mother and ripping the zipper on my bag I caught that ******** and removed him from the tent. That's how i ended the first night on the Con.
Doing_Dirt
Active member
Thats too funny, thanks for letting me in on the inside joke. Absolutely makes my day LOL.
offthepath
Adventurer
Looking forward to how this ends.