Hollister Hills - February 28, 1998

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This didn't happen on March 1...but it happened in Hollister sometime in February. I was on Truck Hill, and was coming down off it in reverse... A spotter gave me a poor line to take, and you can see the result. The only reason the truck came back down to earth was, I got off the brake, and was on the gas, full throttle. Needless to say it was a WiLd ride!!

Hollister had been hit HARD by Mr. Nino! This was the first day the park had been open, for over a month. As you can see some areas were hit harder than others. The Sand Pit looked nothing like it did last time I saw it.

Here I am having fun in the Quary. It looks like I had a lot of speed, but it's an optical allusion caused by the spinning wheel in the air. I was actually moving really slowly.

This is Don's nice piece of machinery. If I remember right, it's got a 4.5" lift, and it is locked front and rear. It would climb just about everything he told it to. As you can see a SWB Jeep, with lots of wheel travel, goes through the spot I did above, a LOT differently.

Leo joined in the wheel liftin' fun! Makes for great pics.

This is Jason's rig. It's an 88 that he put a live axle on. It's really a beast on the trail. Locked front and rear, with Marlin Crawler gears. He's also taken a couple feet off the bed, and it rides on 35x14.5 Thornbirds. The tires gave him some trouble in the mud, but he's OBVIOUSLY right at home in the rocks. The following pics were taken as he went through the obstacle...each one a few seconds apart.

This was the deepest water crossing I've done yet. the water mark on the door was about 4" above the bottom. You can -just- see the tread on the back tire poking above the water. DO NOT try this with out breathers on your differentials...and if you do, change the gear oil as soon as you get home.

Jason had a noticably easier time in the water since his truck sits about 5" higher than mine.

Boy this was a blast!! I took a bad line through the Frame Twister, and the rear end slipped in the muddy water, sending the left side skyward. We're not positive, but looks like both wheels have left the ground in this 'in-motion' picture.

Left: Wayne's Sammy Right: Don's TJ

Bent tie rod....bummer. This 2WD stuck himself in the Tire Pit, and one of his friends helped him out with a tow strap. UNFORTUNATELY, they hooked the strap to the tie rod!! Even with 2 trucks pulling we couldn't budge the Cherokee. I ended up having to pull out my Hi-Lift to get his rear axle off the log he was stuck on.

Cool huh?! This was Chad's first major hill climb! He did really well on 5 Fingers...before you know it he'll be tackling Truck Hill!

Stuck frame DEEP! By the time I had to head for home this guy was still in the mud. Don was just starting to give him some help with his winch, so I'm sure he got out eventually.