Just a message to all the folks planning to come to the DML BBQ
this weekend... I did some scouting around on the trails today, a little
bit of clearing, etc. We did have some trees come down in places; I've
got to take the chainsaw back and clean up a few of them, but there are
a couple which aren't that big of a deal so I'm leaving them there as
obstacles. :-)
The general condition of the trails is good. A little more dry
than it has been in past years. There are still several mud holes
in the usual places that should get nice and soupy once a few trucks
go through them.
Mud lane has a bit less mud, but makes up for it with huge ruts with
mud in the bottom. I'm definitely going to take that section slower
than I did last year. Might even try crawling through. I have a
feeling some Daks and Jeeps are going to get high centered here. :-)
The first truck that goes through had probably do so pretty slow,
until we figure out exactly how hard the ruts are and how deep it is. :-)
(Somewhere, the Adam Blaster is screaming "GIVE 'ER!!!" at his computer.)
;-)
The longest hundred yards should be a cake walk this year - very little
mud there. However, it does have some pretty deep ruts so some caution
will still be needed there.
The water level in the ravine is a bit lower than it has been in
the past, but the waterfall is still plenty slippery, for those of
you who think they may be able to climb it. :-) After being away
from it for a year, I start thinking to myself, "hey, I might be able
to get up there", but standing at the bottom of it quickly puts that
idea to rest. :-) Actually, I probably could climb it, but only by
dragging myself up with the winch. ;-)
The hill that goes down to the upper waterfall I am considering
naming "washout hill" because that's what it has done! There is
a huge rut running down the middle of it near the top. It was
fairly challenging traversing it with the ATV - could be interesting
in a truck...
The runoff that goes alongside the airstrip has dug itself a nice
riverbed. There are a few areas along there that might be worthy
of playing on. :-) Could be a good test of your articulation
and approach/departure angles. It was easy on the ATV, but again,
could prove interesting in the larger wheelbase of a truck. :-)
There is one section of it where I would be extremely impressed
if a truck managed to cross it. :-) (Ok, a truck which is
basically stock like most of ours...)
Slippery hill isn't all that slippery, which I guess could be a
good thing. :-) Speaking of which, there's a hill near there
which could potentially be developed into a very challenging
hillclimb. I will have to remember to show you guys (and girls)
to see if anyone thinks it would be worth the trouble to develop.
Its about a 45 degree angle - I'm not sure if *I* would want to
attempt it, but if there is enough interest, I could add it to
the agenda. :-) (I know some of you are willing to try just about
anything!) ;-) *cough*Adam*cough*David*cough*... ;-)
Hey, whatever happened to David anyway?
Oh, one place that definitely has no lack of mud and water is
the mud pit. :-) I'll be draining off a foot or so of water
just before the event so we don't have a repeat of Daktoberfest
of flooded engines and broken fans. :-) Its had water in it
continually since last year - so the bottom will be basically
the same as a pond's. Hopefully this will make it a bit more
challenging. :-)
Don't forget - this is a "drive at your own risk" event. There
are bypasses around pretty much all of the challenging stuff, so
there is no reason to risk damage to your vehicle if you aren't
absolutely comfortable with the terrain. There is no shame in
going around an obstacle instead of through it. You are also
welcome to park your vehicle and ride along with someone else at
any time.
I plan to have food and drinks on hand again same as always.
You don't need to bring anything in the way of food, but if you
would like to you are certainly welcome to. Right now I am
planning on doing something like pizza for lunch on friday,
(maybe we could all drive out to a local restauraunt for dinner?).
For Saturday, I was thinking of doing the BBQ (burgers and dogs)
at lunch time - maybe around 2pm or so? Then heading out for ice
cream around 6-7pm, as there will be several Jeepers who will be
driving to Syracuse that night, who can leave right from there.
Then anybody who wants to stick around for a while longer or anyone
planning to camp over on Saturday night can come back for the usual
milling about, watching the day's videos, bonfire, and relaxing in
general. If we feel like some more food, we could fire up the BBQ
again, order a pizza, or whatever. (None of this is written in
stone - I am definitely open to any suggestions or ideas anyone may
have!)
BTW, if you have FRS radios, you are encouraged to bring them along.
I will have about 4-5 spare radios for those folks that don't have
them, but that probably won't be enough, so if you've got your own
that would help out a lot - its nice to be able to communicate
while we're out on the trails.
I hope to have the webcam up and running as usual.
I guess that's about everything - wow only 6 days away now -
I've got some work to do!! :-)
---Jon-
.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com -----. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | '70 Barracuda, '92 Ram 4x4, '96 Dakota, '96 Intruder 1400, '96 FireFly | `----------------------------------------- http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'
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