Trip Report Links

Tirya's trip report and pictures, August 14-15, 1999

Batman's trip report, May 29-30, 1999

Wavetamer's trip report, May 29, 1999

    May 2000 Manistee, Michigan Trip Report

    The Manistee trip was a blast. It started with the trail pre-run on Friday, with just two Jeeps. It was hot, so we had the top down, doors off, and windshield down all day - summer's here!

    We ran my favorite trail, the one that runs along the north shore of the south branch of the Pere Marquette River. There are steep bluffs overlooking the river, which winds and twists around through sandy soil in the Manistee National Forest just south of Walhalla, MI.

    When we found a particularly good spot, we'd stop for drinks and snacks. As I said, it was really hot, so it wasn't long before we ran out of fluids and had to resort to ice-cold beer. Yes, we don't normally endorse this behavior, but when the times get tough...

    There are lots of small hill climbs along the river. All can be made with a stock vehicle and a little momentum. Since it was Larry and Laurie's first trip off road in their stock XJ, we avoided anything too steep.

    The mud pits were more challenging... We stopped the vehicles in front of a flooded area where the whole trail was under water. There was swamp land on each side of the trail, so our only options were to proceed or turn back.

    We men all jumped out and started to assess the situation. We poked sticks to find the bottom, walked different lines, and pretty much stood around scratching our chins wondering what to do until we heard Larry's Jeep fire itself up and charge right past us, down into the mud, and up the other side. Laurie had gotten sick of the "testosterone glut" and took matters into her own hands. She'd never driven off road before, either. I was ashamed to be male...

    Saturday we met at the restaurant. I had called ahead with reservations for 14, but 22 people showed! We had 11 Jeeps lined up after breakfast, then soon after we hit the trails Dave Dekema met up with us raising the number to 12.

    With the lack of rain, dust was a big problem. Marko Streeter, who brought up the rear in his massively built up Scrambler, wore a dust mask while driving. The inside of my Jeep and everything in it was covered with dust - my white shirt was brown, and all I did was drive!

    Nonetheless, the trails were great - especially Crystal lookout. There used to be a fire tower at the top of the hill, now all that remains are the concrete footings and a killer soft sand trail that was steep enough to challenge even the most modified rigs.

    I was the first one up, and made it on my first try, so I walked halfway down with my radio to direct traffic and heckle everyone who couldn't make it. Hey, I was king of the hill, and that right just goes with the territory. Even DORA needed at least 4 tries to get to the top!

    The disappointment of the trip, (other than watching Dora struggle on Crystal lookout), was that one of our favorite off-road play areas had new signs, "No Motorized Vehicles". It was really sad, and the first time I'd seen a trail closure up front in person.

    Back on the trail we stopped at the "mounds", another great play area and a good place for lunch. Dora was the chef with her new barbecue, and those who weren't eating provided entertainment by breaking (& fixing) their Jeeps on the hills.

    In the late afternoon we went to Dan W.'s favorite restaurant - that little gas station with the beef jerky and microwave burritos. I thought we were going to drop off the Ford pickup we'd been towing since the mud run, but Marko's transmission was slipping badly, and like dominos people started dropping out. It had been a long, hot day, but Dora, Larry, and I were still ready for more, so we did our favorite run up the river on the way back to the cottage. We didn't get there 'till after 10 PM.

    The next morning we had breakfast and headed down to Silver Lake. It was a beautiful, hot, sunny day and the park was practically empty. Test hill had blown up to a peak over the winter, and was much harder to climb than I remember. It took each of us at least four tries to get to the top. I had to drive by the tachometer, running as close to the redline as I dare to stay in a gear that would still offer enough power to get over the top.

    But there was no level parking lot on top this outing... As soon as we crested the hill, the Jeep nosed down hard and took off down the other side. You could easily get high-centered if you let off the gas too early. This was serious fun, especially watching my friend in the passenger seat frantically grab the "ohmygod" bar...

    The trip home was less interesting. We had so much fun at Silver Lake that we had no time to stop for a nice dinner, so we ate fast food on the road. Oh well, next time...

Glenn

See the photos from this outing HERE.

    Let's Go Jeepin Beginner Course

Saturday, 9/11/99

    Everyone met at the Badlands office at around 9 am as planned for the Beginner Course. After brief introductions for everyone, we jumped right into the classroom part of the course. Dora handed out everyone's instruction binder which included the curriculum for the classroom section of the course. We started with vehicle and 4x4 basics. We learned exactly what 4 wheel drive means, what type of 4 wheel drive each person's vehicle was equipped with, and the differences between part time 4 wheel drive, full time 4 wheel drive, permanent 4 wheel drive, and all wheel drive. 4 high and low were discussed in great detail, along with how to properly shift in and out of 4 low, and when to use 4 low and 4 high. Differentials and the internal components of differentials were discussed along with gear ratio's and there effect on vehicles regarding off highway and on highway performance. Lastly, common modifications were discussed from the basics of adding skid plates and tow hooks to more advanced lift kits, locking differentials, and new driveshafts.

    The next topic was trail safety and etiquette. This is a great part of the class because it gives you the very basic "rules of the off road" which an inexperienced driver may not know. It was much easier to learn in class than by making a mistake on the trail. The Tread Lightly! principles were included in this portion of the class. This is really important for those new to off highway driving so trails are not closed to 4x4's due to lack of care and attention by those who use the trails.

    The last portion of the classroom training was driver technique, strategy, and recovery. We learned to air down the tires, disconnect the factory anti-sway bars, and understand how these actions effect the handling of the vehicles. The importance of knowing your vehicle was stressed. Many helpful topics were included in this discussion that stress using your head to get through tough trails instead of your right foot on the throttle. Tips for climbing and descending steep hills, crossing logs and rocks, crossing water and sand, and scouting unknown trail sections were all included in this section of classroom time. A very helpful list of references including books, magazines, internet, and national 4x4 organizations was also included at the back of the binder.

    After the classroom training, we took a break for lunch. Once back from lunch, we hit the 23¡ RTI ramp with tires at on highway air pressures and swaybars connected. We drove up the ramp and recorded RTI for each vehicle. We then aired down the tires and disconnected the swaybars. Another trip up the ramp and wee could see the difference in RTI and how the airing down and disconnecting improved the off highway suspension articulation. My stock 97 XJ measured 460 with full air pressure and connected swaybar. Once I was disconnected and aired down, I was able to make 680. This really was a good lesson to learn because every time I go off road the first thing to do is air down and disconnect.

    Once off the RTI ramp, we hit the Let's Go Jeepin test course where we familiarized ourselves with the vehicle handling. Each student learned to drive a specific line over rocks and stones, drive up and down inclines, drive through very narrow spaces in pea gravel , and was introduced to off camber driving where the drivers side of the vehicle is higher than the passenger's side. Off camber driving takes a lot of getting used to!

    Finally, we hit Let's Go Jeepin's Silver trail. We started out with some basic trails with bumps. There is an off camber training loop which we drove around a couple of times at my request. Off camber driving is really neat once you get used to it. Then we tackled our first real hills. It was really interesting getting a feel for the proper power / speed combination necessary to make it up a hill. We then all learned to use the engine to control speed going down the hill instead of using the brakes. Using brakes really makes the vehicle unsteerable, but using the engine to control the speed allows a great deal of control. After a couple of times down up and down the hills we headed for the woods. In the woods we put our turning skills to the test by traveling up and down through tight turns in the rutted, bumpy trails. The last stop of the day was the rock quarry where we learned about suspension articulation by driving over uneven rocky terrain. We also had our first opportunity to put or recovery skills to use to pull out a stuck vehicle.

    After the trail run, we ate dinner in town. We then returned to our lodgings. Most of us camped and stayed up late discussing all of the new skills we had learned during the day.

Sunday, 12 SEP 99

    We all met at around 9 am at the Badlands office. We hit some of the portions of Silver trail which we had run the day before. The highlights were off camber driving as well as hill climbing and descending. I then decided to tackle a mud bog, which ended up swallowing my XJ up to the tops of the wheels. Dora waded into mud up to her waist to hook up a tow strap. Once I was out of the mud, we then went to the sand dunes and descended and ascended a really big sand hill. We continued onto a portion of the Green trail (intermediate level trail) where we tackled some very steep ascents and descents. The terrain was a little harder than what we had experienced the day before. We then took another trip into the woods and to the rock quarry. We went up and down some of the easier hills in the quarry. I was really amazed that stock Jeep XJ's and TJ's could tackle such rough terrain with ease!

    At about 1 PM, we headed back to the office and prepared to return home. Once swaybars were connected, tires aired up, and mud washed off, we all headed home after a wonderful weekend of off highway driving instruction.