Jenkins Memories: April 2009

We're not dead, I promise. Just been really busy. We just celebrated our 2nd year of being married. Let me tell you it's been wonderful! I wouldn't trade being married to Ross for anything in the whole wide world!! We didn't get to celebrate the actual day (April 1st). Come to think of it I only saw Ross for 3-4 hours on our actual anniversary since it was a Wednesday. But, we went camping that weekend. We left for Uwharrie National Park at 9pm on Friday night. The Jeep was packed! I mean nothing else was going to fit. But, we had everything we needed, plus some!! Like last year we celebrated by going to Uwharrie and taking our Jeep around on all the 4WD trails out there. Last year we pure red clay mud. It was not fun!! Plus, we did have anyone to ride with. Well this year was totally different!!

After setting the tent up by headlight we got some sleep (This year we were warm!!). Saturday we got up cooking bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast and then hit the trials. We met a guy and his fiance out there and they came with up. We did the easier trails (Wolf Den and Falls Dam) because his Jeep was stock, but it was fun. His fiance didn't like the drops that came with some of the trails and had to get out. But, I had a blast and so did Ross. Nothing got borken, bent, or hurt on Satuday. We didn't wheel all day so we didn't wear ourselves out. But, we did a food 3-4 hours of it. Then we got to hang out at the camp site and have hamburgers for dinner. Ross managed to get some fire wood together and we built a nice camp fire!

Camp

Our Jeep on 3 wheels.

Les and his fiance's Jeep on 2 wheels.

Camp at Night.

Sunday came and we meet up with some of the members of CORE (an offroad Jeep club). Ross is part of an Offroad Jeep Club called Durtyrok. One of the members of CORE happened to invite the durtyrok members. So off we went that day. We started on a intermediate trail (Rocky Mt Loop). There was a Rubicon (Bob's Jeep) in front of us that was lower then ours, and if he did something on the trial and made it so did we. It was a blast!! Halfway through we parked for lunch and watched some of the other guys play on Kodak Rock. While there we tried to fix one guys heat soak problem (gas kept gettin too hot and boiling) and another guys break problem. This was their first run of the year, and they were trying to get everything worked out. After that we headed off again. The guy with the heat soak ended up gettin pulled out and having to go home because the Jeep wouldn't stay on. But, the rest of of headed out the hardest trail in the park, Daniel. Last year, we got on this trail somehow and never made it up the first hill. We've done NOTHING to the Jeep since then and I never thought we would do it. We weren't going to but Bob (the Rubicon) was going to. So off we headed in our Jeep. Mind you we were running the trail backwards but it's still the hardest one. It started with a huge hill climb on solid rock and we made it fine. The view from the top was amazing!!! From there we had to go down. There was 3 ways we could go, and all included lots of big rocks and walls of dirt almost touching each side about as high as the Jeep. I wish I had a picture to do it justice. It was a blast going down!! More fun the coming up, when all was doen I swore we broke something, Ross told me we haded then a tire promptly slid off a rock and the front passanger side fender when into a pine tree. It was dented real good. But, our first damage and it was nothing. Ross looked at me and told me now he had an excuse to get the highline kit and flat fenders. We continued down the trail through more gullies, over a ton more rocks, until we get to this switch back. That's where we dented the gas tank skid. But, that's what a skid is for right? The first drop we came down with a hard BANG...and hit the skid and the hitch. There was one more obstle we went through fine and we were done. We had survived and finished Daniel!!!! I was in disbelief and wanted to do it again. But that was the end of wheeling on Sunday, we headed back for some ice cream and snacks, which I'm pretty sure ended up being dinner. That night we meet a husband and wife couple at the campground and ended up chatting with them, and the camp host for a number of hours! The couple was there to wheel too, so Monday morning we went out with them.

Airing Down

The Whole CORE/Durtyrok Crew

Fording a Stream (Beginning of Rocky Mtn Loop)

Rocks we went over

Us going over above rocks.

Kodak rock

Before Brian's Jeep broke down

Brian's jeep gettin hooked up to be pulled down the trail, his daughter came to wheel with him.

The first hill climb in Daniel (The hardest trail)

Stuck in a mud hole on Daniel

So we helped pull him out by being an anchor.

We weren't enough, so we hooked up Bob's Jeep

The top of Daniel

Going down, this doesn't do it justice!

Our damage

Sunday night it rained a little so we weren't too sure about how much mud was on the trails but we went out anyways. It wasn't too bad, we did the whole Rocky Mountain Loop and then Falls Dam backwards. Rocky Mountian we had no trouble with, the rocks were slick so there was no way they were going to make it up Kodak Rock, and we aren't tall enough yet. Once we got onto Falls Dam it go muddier and there was one spot we had to be helped up a rock ledge because the rocks were so slick. Funny thing is it was the same spot we had trouble with last year when it was wet and muddy!! We didn't stay out long it was gettin muddier and neither them, nor us are fans of mud. So we headed back and packed up and headed home. After showers and new clothes we ended our weekend with our Anniversary dinner at Outback Steakhouse. I loved our weekend and wouldn't have spent it any other way. I can't wait until June to go back out to Uwharrie!!!