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By: John Nutter - 9/1/2003, Photos by Janet and John Nutter
4 Wheeling in Minnesota - Without Mud!
The goal was to 4 wheel in 8 different places in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin in 8 days. There was no need for silly rules like 'no trailers'. The invite list was far from exclusive, any member of the Minnesota 4 Wheel Drive association was welcome. This was meant to be a real world 4 wheeling adventure with real people and real trucks.
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| Dave's big dent, Mankato Mn. |
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| "Mes" rolls at the top of one of his hills near Little Falls MN. |
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| Steve plays on the rocks near Little Falls. |
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| Tim rolls in the Rock Garden in Grand Rapids Mn. |
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| Don sets a new high mark on $100 Hill in Grand Rapids Mn. |
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| Jeff in The Gorge Rock Crawl, Gilbert OHV Park. |
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| Zeb in The Gorge Rock Crawl, Gilbert OHV park. |
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| Nutter on Super Sand at Pa Rocker's. |
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| Rick on Baldy at Pa Rocker's. |
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| Chuck on the Rock Pile at Apple Valley Farms. |
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| Keith hands the winch cable to Ryan at Apple Valley Farms. |
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| Rick in one of the ravines at Melvin's Farm. |
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| Tim on Rocky Mt at Desser Wi. |
Chuck Howard gets the credit for putting the Mn Challenge together. Chuck has been 4 wheeling for a long time and he has many contacts in the area. Chuck is also a great organizer and has hosted 4 wheeling events throughout the years. Without Chuck, it would not have happened.
Day 1: Near Mankato Minnesota
The River Valley Offroaders hosted the first day of the event. The trails were in the back yard of Adam's house and most of the host club turned out for the event. Adam has 20 acres and nearly all of it is vetical. The only flat land is in the narrow valleys between the hills. All the hills are dirt and some are so steep I felt like I might go over backwards.
The carnage in Adam's yard had started even before I arrived. I noticed Dave Stauffer working on his TJ as we pulled in. Dave had just finished installing a Dana 60 rear, high pinion Dana 44 front and long arms all around. This was his first run on the new suspension and axles. Dave had a major problem. His brakes gave out while he was backing down a hill and he hit a tree hard. Dave and Keith Thomas were busy trying to fix the brakes and pry the tub away from the tires. Don had broken a front axle shaft early in the day as well.
We went out on the trails while Dave and Don wrenches on their Jeeps. Dave was able solve his brake problem, but it was lunch time by then. The River Valley Offroaders provided us with very large lunch. After lunch, Adam used his portable hydraulics kit and re-arranged the tub on Dave's TJ so he could continue with the Mn Challenge. The rest of us ran the trails until the appointed leaving time of 3:00 pm. At 3:00 we loaded up and headed to the next stop.
Day 2: Near Little Falls Minnesota
Day two found us on private property again, this time hosted by a new club forming in St Cloud Mn. We saw more hill climbs. This was the day where we would see the first roll over of the trip. The host, 'Mes', throttled his CJ5 up a hill and got off his line at the top. He managed to keep it from tipping all the way onto the side, but another vehicle with a winch was needed to help him drive off the hill. Soon someone from the host club mentioned a rock pile and everyone headed there. It turned out to be a spectator friendly rock area, so we stayed there for a while and watched while better than half of the vehicles in attendance tried the hill. Soon it was time to load up and head to the location for Day 3.
Day 3: Grand Rapids Minnesota
The area we use for 4 wheeling near Grand Rapids is government owned land that 4 wheelers, ATVers and off road motor cyclist are allowed to use for recreational purposes. It's mine land with lots of rocks and hill climbs. It was Monday and no one from the Grizzlys could be there to guide us, but Chuck and I knew the area. We gave the group a tour starting with a drop into a ravine, a steep climb out, then we headed to the Moguls. After the Moguls we went over to a hidden hill climb that few know about, then it was back down into the ravine except this time we stayed in and the bottom and drove to Dewey's Gate Keeper. Dewey's Gate Keeper gives you the choice of staying low and driving over boulders or staying high and doing some serious side-hilling. Most drove through the rocks. After this we climbed Rock Chucker Ravine and toured the Rock Garden. The group had three cut tires and Tim rolled his buggy in the Rock Garden. We didn't get a chance to make an excursion into the bigger rocks. Time was working against today, but an invite was extended for anyone in the group that wanted to come back later that fall to try the more difficult terrain in the area.
Day 4: OHV park in Gilbert Minnesota
Day four found us at Minnesota's first state run OHV park. Everyone checked in at the office and passed the sound test. Soon we were off exploring the trails. Chuck lead us on some easy forest roads first, then we went for Lower and Upper Money Talks. After Money talks we went looking for the more serious trails. We headed to the Gorge Rock Crawl and had a blast. It was a very fun rock crawl, but I wish it could have been longer. We tried Ted's Revenge after that and while it was fun, it wasn't of the same level as the Gorge. We went to Ski Jump Hill after Ted's. Ski Jump was an easy climb right up to the top, where a boulder stopped everyone except Jeff in the blue tube buggy. I don't think there was any breakage at the Gilbert OHV park. We really wanted to try Attitude Alley becuase the people in the office said it was another good rock crawl, but once again we were out of time for the day and had to move on to the next stop.
Day 5: Pa Rocker's, Lake Nebagamon Wisconsin
Pa is a retired 4 Wheeler who runs a private OHV park on his land about 20 miles south of Superior Wisconsin. Pa's is one of my favorite places to go. Pa has a nice clean camp ground and his trails are full of steep sand climbs that he rebuilds on a weekly basis with his 2 bull dozers. Sometimes there is mud at the bottom of some of the hills at Pa's, but it was dry this time. This was perfect for me becuase I love Pa's hill climbs, but I hate the mud. I think almost everyone in the group agreed. With 4 days of 4 wheeling behind us, the entire group was driving well. Breakage was minimal at Pa's, with Jerry spitting a U-joint out of his rear drive shaft and ruining the pinion yoke and Jeff over-extending his drive shaft again. It's very rare for a group of trucks to get through Pa's trails with that little breakage. We ran Pa's trails in record time and almost everyone was able to make it over Pa's biggest hill, Baldy.
Day 6: Apple Valley Farms, New Auburn Wisconsin
Apple Valley Farms is home to the RPM 4x4 Club. The trails at Apple Valley Farms are famous for steep hill climbs with boulders jutting out of the sand. Zeb Holder of RPM had been with us for Most of the Mn Challenge and this was his play ground. Zeb took us on a tour of several of their more extreme challenges. Hills with names like " No Way", "Insane Hill", "Mickey Mouse", "Cheese Ball", "Pitchfork" and of course " No Name". We spent a full day there and didn't see half of what Apple Valley Farms had to offer. This is a big place with great trails. Tim managed to break the wishbone on his rear suspenion at Apple Valley Farms, but that was the only carnage for the day.
Day 7: Melvin's Farm, River Falls Wisconsin
Melvin is a distant relative of Chuck's and he's been kind enough to allow us to use his land for several years now. It's farm country in Melvin's neighborhood, with fields on top of the bluffs and pasture land in the ravines between them. We run in the ravines at Melvin's, and they are all tight. Many of the ravines have steep climbs and boulders in the bottom. Body damage is nearly inevitable on the more difficult trails at Melvins. Trucks tip over often at Melvin's, but the trails are so tight that trucks generally land with 2 tires on the ground and the roof or roll cage on a tree. Normally they can drive out of this situation unassisted. We were joined by several members of Chuck's club, the Mn Trailriders, while we were at Melvins. One of them managed to break a front axle shaft, but I don't recall any other breakage.
Day 8: Midwest Weekend, Dresser Wisconsin
The Mn Go4ers host this event every year. It is open to all members of the Minnesota 4 Wheel Drive Association and also to members of the Midwest 4Wheel Drive Association. We had the trails to ourselves at every stop prior to this. Dresser was a 180 degree turn around from that with crowded camping conditions and several hundred trucks on roughly 8 miles worth of trails. We made the best of the situation and ran one of the three trails at Dresser, the Blue trail, in the morning. There were long lines at the better rock hills on the trail, so we bypassed and came back later. We were pleased to find that Rocky Mountain High was empty when we returned. I was first up on Rocky Mt and I made it to the top unassisted with Tim spotting. Tim was next and I returned the favor. Soon Chuck and Dave appeared, they also made it to the top. Finally Jeff in the blue tube buggy showed up. Jeff went for the line with the biggest boulders and for the first time all week, we saw him pull out his winch cable for himself. Don managed to shear the studs off of his external style lock outs in the morning, that was the only carnage for the day on the trucks that had been with us all week - although there was plenty of work going on in the campgrounds at lunch time. We ran the white trail after lunch. It wasn't much different than the Blue.
Off.Road.Only sponsored a steak dinner for the participants in the Minnesota Challenge at the end of day 8. Chuck gave out some humorous awards at the dinner. Rick got the award for most body damage, with the cumulative total on his CJ5 beating Dave's destroyed right side on his TJ. I don't think Chuck gave out a hard luck award for the week, but I would have given it to Jerry becuase he missed 4 wheeling at Apple Valley farms due to his broke pinion yoke. Finally Chuck handed out awards to everyone who drove Rocky Mt with no winch. Some of the group went on a night run after this, and some of us headed home for a shower and a good nights rest in our own beds.Next Year
Chuck and the Minnesota Trailriders are planning on hosting the Mn Challenge again next year. Chuck plans to have the dates published earlier for people who need to give a large notice for vactions. The event will only be open to members of the Minnesota 4 Wheel Drive Association. If you are interested in attending, please join a member club of the Mn4WDA or join as an individual and watch for announcements about the Minnesota Challenge on the Mn4WDA e-mail mailing list.
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