Table Mesa Fri 1/2/03 9:00

[Craig]

Looking to do anything preferrably 4 and up. U/L Terminators, annhilator, twister, anaconda, Preditor, armagedon, It doesn't matter! We can decide based on who shows up. 9:00 flexible

Call me if you want to talk about it. 602-576-5656

[JamesT]

Well I just flat out screwed up on this one today. Got going too late ran into the traffic backup on I17 from the rollover, played around at lower terminator for a bit and then got stuck in the traffic coming back from another accident.

There was a group of Jeeps out there from San Diego. One needed something welded on a TJ locking front hub :confused: , I couldn't help.

Sorry I didn't post I was going out there, it was a last minute thing. Sorry we didn't find you, holared on the radio a few times.

[Craig]

Too bad James. We would have happily waited. It was a gorgeous day for wheeling though!

[Craig]

I had a great day today. I am not sure if it was the weather or just the chance to get out after a couple of hectic weeks before the holidays.

I have an aunt in town who has somewhat of a green bent and wasn't doing anything so I invited her along. I posted the trip, Josh Wooten and Burt Eastburn both responded. I also had an email from James Zimmerman, but wasn't sure if he was coming or not.

We me at the parking area alittle after 9:00, as I was a few minutes late. After some brief introductions, I asked for trail preferrences. No one had anything specific they wanted ro run so based on vehicle equipment we thought we would start on Raw Deal.

In the many times I have been to Table Mesa, I have never ran Raw Deal, so Josh was first into the wash with his XJ on 31s , a limited slip rear and open front. James followed with his open TJ. Burt ran his "Rubycon" on 33s and I brought up the rear.

We barely got started up the wash and Josh proceeded to show us how it was done. :D I didn't know you could blow a bead on a crack with a lip that small! :p


http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/1240307-DSC00001a.JPG

We let Josh pull a spare of his roof and unload his high lift just to teach him a lesson. Once he had it all down, we went ahead and reseated the tire... while it was still on the truck, with some OBA. Don't you love seeing people do work for nothing? :D He loaded everything back up we were off again.

We found out it was James first time up at Table Mesa. In fact he really hadn't done any crawling and wasn't sure what to expect. Josh's tire incident got him thinking that maybe he wasn't quite ready to risk damage on the TJ yet. He hung around to watch us screw around on the next crack and then left to go explore on his own.

The rest of Lower RD wasn't to eventful except for Burt testing the balance of the Rubicon. He had the front wheel in the air just about as high as it was going to go before his butt cheecks put a permanent crease in the seat.

http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/1240312-DSC00013a.JPG

Upper RD was fun, but no real problems. Josh accidently dropped a rock into an atf fouled puddle of water someone had kindly left. He wasn't to happy about it. Can't say as I blame him.

Everyone should take note: The exit off of Upper Raw Deal has been completely closed off by the mining operation there. They have moved large rocks on each side of the gate to prevent people from going around. I am wondering if there is anything we can do to prevent/change this?

Once we exited RD we were off to Predator for a little more of a challenge. At the trailhead we found Stu, Roger Thomas, Bob Pelatt and others clogging it up and enjoying lunch. We called them some nasty names and they finally decided to let us by. ;) Josh had never done predator before so we left his unlocked XJ and he rode with Burt. We came into the first obstacle, the waterfall section. I hit the line to the right and got up, then Burt went left. He tested the rubi's belly pan a bit and came up.


http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/1240335-DSC00035a.JPG

We went through the sqeeze.

http://tellico.off-road.com/wwwthreads_uploads/1240339-DSC00037a.JPG

The rest of the trail went without a hitch. We drove up annihilator to the first waterfall and just hung out and enjoyed the sun.

What a great day. Good weather, good company, no parts to fix when I got home and my green aunt has a whole different attitude toward OHV. I would do it again in a heart beat!

Thanks everyone.

[Desertjeep]

This is an awsome report. Hope to see more like this.

and


Closing this thread. If you want it opened let me know and I will be happy to do so.

Leaving it open for a bit more so look for some updates soon. :cool:

[Craig]

Here is a link to the rest of the photos we took.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288071451