Well this turned out to be another great Tellico trip. First off, I would like to express how different the trails were this time compared to last time I was there which was mid April. Some parts were much harder, some parts were much easier. A lot of the trails have been "worked on" with heavy machinery and Fain's Ford was stacked so much that it was basically a wheelchair ramp! There were very few people out this weekend so there wasn't much traffic jams or anything.
Anyway, the group consisted of 2 Monteros (one basically stock on 31s and one on 33s), 2 4runners (both on 33s, one locked front and rear), 1 Rodeo (SAS, locked front and rear on 36s), 1 Trooper (locked rear on 33s), and of course 2 Explorers and a Ranger.
Me in my sport with locked rear and 33s and Caleb (Limited Ex) in is 1st gen with 33s and lots of lift were the Explorers and Josh Adams was in his Ranger on 34s.
We started the trip were we ended out last one at the river crossing. The trail was slightly wet all day, just enough to be slick but not enough to make everything impossible. Everyone did great, especially the basically stock Montero! It was his first time out and he definately used his skid plates and sliders to their fullest. He got stuck twice I believe and had to be pulled just a little, but I can honestly say I was impressed with him and his truck. It was Caleb's first time on this kind of trail and from what I could tell, he had a blast! He commented first thing that he wanted to get rid of his factory pretty running boards so he could do some sliders like everyone else. Well, it didn't take that long before mother nature granted his wish. The infamous culvert grabbed Josh once again and wouldn't let him loose without a nice tug from one of the 4Runner in front of him. His wheelbase just gets him on that obstacle and had him completely high centered. Caleb followed suit and hit the hole before the culvert with his rear tires. The culvert decided to reshape his running boards pretty good. One of the 4Runners blew one of his MT/Rs on a rock so we had to change that out. Unfortunately he didn't have a full size spare so he got the "funny looking" award for the rest of the trip.
We had lunch above slickrock where we watched the folks winch their way up. One blew something in the front end and lost it and had to turn around and go back out.
At the base of 8 we split up and most of us went down 6. The two 4Runners and Josh Adams went back out via 5 across the creek and went and staked out Upper 2 for some action. The rest of us got there just after the action which included one roll over. Darn it, we missed it all. All in all, it was a GREAT trip once again and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it from what I could tell. Trail 6 is very different and not nearly as fun, but still a good trail. There was no real damage to anyone's rig (I'm not counting Caleb's running boards since he wanted them gone anyway) so I would say it was a really good trip. Everyone was really cool which is always a plus and I hope to wheel with them again soon! I accidentally left my camera in Patrick's truck at the pay station so I got no pictures. That really sucks but I saw cameras all day so I'll let the others add their pics. Josh is on vacation for a week so he will probably add to this when he returns. The rest of you feel free to give your comments and post pictures!
