SCAMPER ZJ
08-14-2005, 01:23 AM
A couple of Mallcrawlers (Stan, John) and some guys from Colorado4x4.org (Ken, Cliff, James) went wheelin' through Carnage Canyon today. Hit the trail a little after 9AM. Everything was NICE AND WET after it rained all night. Made an already difficult trail even tougher, that's for sure.
This was my first time doing Carnage. Fortunately I went with a group of guys who all had experience on this trail, which helped take a little of the uncertainty out of it. A few of the pics are below. (There will be more on my site (http://www.jeepsite.net) once I get a chance to go through all of 'em.)
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage208.jpg
We barely had started the trail before we experienced our first "carnage" when Stan decided to try and climb the Guardian Rocks with the ZJ.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage211.jpg
Next time the bumper will need to be constructed a little more solid. It's not very good armor if it just falls apart!!
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage221.jpg
Ken in his TJ makes one of the slick obstacles look EASY.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage225.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage222.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage236.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage249.jpg
Cliff and the EB tackle one of the steeper parts, making quick work of it.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0016.jpg
John crawls right over a rocky portion at the lower part of the trail in his nicely modded WJ.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0032.jpg
James, also with an EB, heads up one of the tougher portions made slick by the recent rain. Too much gas at the wrong time puts you right into the rock on the left. Too much momentum, and you run the risk of hitting the large boulder that lies on the other side of the obstacle.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0057.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0073.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0079.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0129.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0147.jpg
Ouch. This happened after a rock jumped in front of John's tie rod, making it snap.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0157.jpg
Fortunately, John just happened to have a SPARE tie rod, which with a little help from the rest of us, he had installed in no time.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0170.jpg
This was one of the more unusual obstacles. The XJ pictured on the left had two broken control arms and a drive shaft from the night before, forcing the owner to abandon it in the middle of the trail. As I tried to get around it, one of the rocks pushed me into a slide, landing me with my rear panel against his.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0172.jpg
A gentle uphill tug with the tow strap freed me up, but not completely unscathed. No damage was done to the XJ, other than rubbing off some of the spray paint and rust. The owner happened to arrive minutes later, and I told him what happened. He said "no worries", apologized for blocking part of the trail, and set about doing his trail repairs.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0178.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0180.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0191.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0210.jpg
John gets one last flex shot in on the "pose rock" near the trail head. :smt003 It was a fun day, hope we can all do it again sometime!
More pics of this trail at jeepsite.net/carnagecanyon (http://www.jeepsite.net/jeep_carnagecanyon05.html)
This was my first time doing Carnage. Fortunately I went with a group of guys who all had experience on this trail, which helped take a little of the uncertainty out of it. A few of the pics are below. (There will be more on my site (http://www.jeepsite.net) once I get a chance to go through all of 'em.)
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage208.jpg
We barely had started the trail before we experienced our first "carnage" when Stan decided to try and climb the Guardian Rocks with the ZJ.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage211.jpg
Next time the bumper will need to be constructed a little more solid. It's not very good armor if it just falls apart!!
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage221.jpg
Ken in his TJ makes one of the slick obstacles look EASY.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage225.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage222.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage236.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage249.jpg
Cliff and the EB tackle one of the steeper parts, making quick work of it.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0016.jpg
John crawls right over a rocky portion at the lower part of the trail in his nicely modded WJ.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0032.jpg
James, also with an EB, heads up one of the tougher portions made slick by the recent rain. Too much gas at the wrong time puts you right into the rock on the left. Too much momentum, and you run the risk of hitting the large boulder that lies on the other side of the obstacle.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0057.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0073.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0079.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0129.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0147.jpg
Ouch. This happened after a rock jumped in front of John's tie rod, making it snap.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0157.jpg
Fortunately, John just happened to have a SPARE tie rod, which with a little help from the rest of us, he had installed in no time.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0170.jpg
This was one of the more unusual obstacles. The XJ pictured on the left had two broken control arms and a drive shaft from the night before, forcing the owner to abandon it in the middle of the trail. As I tried to get around it, one of the rocks pushed me into a slide, landing me with my rear panel against his.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0172.jpg
A gentle uphill tug with the tow strap freed me up, but not completely unscathed. No damage was done to the XJ, other than rubbing off some of the spray paint and rust. The owner happened to arrive minutes later, and I told him what happened. He said "no worries", apologized for blocking part of the trail, and set about doing his trail repairs.
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0178.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0180.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0191.jpg
http://www.jeepsite.net/05Carnage0210.jpg
John gets one last flex shot in on the "pose rock" near the trail head. :smt003 It was a fun day, hope we can all do it again sometime!
More pics of this trail at jeepsite.net/carnagecanyon (http://www.jeepsite.net/jeep_carnagecanyon05.html)