Chris In Milwaukee
Ain’t no mo’
Took a day trip up north yesterday to meet some guys for a trail ride somewhere in the forest. These guys were a small collection from the Wisco collective in TW (don’t hate). Seven of us altogether, two 5G 4Runners and the rest Tacomas. It was a good trip because the guy who was leading us spends a ton of time up there and knows this and many other trails really well. He and another guy have good experience on the trails and the rest of us were n00bs. Kind of an intro trip.
Most of the vehicles were stock, so the trails were chosen for that. The two 4Runners had 2” lifts, mine with 265s, his with 285s. We ran into a guy on the trail with a 2008 Tacoma with a 6” lift and 35s. He had no issues with anything, as you can imagine. All of these Toyotas can do more than I gave them credit for. Pretty great stuff, but this trip was small potatoes in the grand scheme. I don’t have the armor to do anything much beyond what we did. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve got no idea what I’m doing, so it was nice to have experienced folks leading us through the junior birdman trails.
The first part was sand, so figured out how airing down was of benefit. Would have been embarrassing to get stuck coming off the pavement before even getting started. Got situated and deflated.
Our fearless leader got stuck in the best smelling mud in the forest. Doesn't look deep, but it’s slimy AF.
Traction boards weren’t cutting it, so Bubba Rope to the rescue.
Dude has this crazy razor-sharp Japanese pull saw that was used to clear trees and such from the side and we went around this mess.
Found some to climb ”Bro Rock” (there’s a story behind the name), so son and I flipped our ball caps around into bro’ mode to accommodate. Then posed for nerdy truck pics.
Lots of trails were closed due to flooding and erosion, but we found our way around. End of the day we ended up on a technical track good for n00bs, challenging but good for stock vehicles. The boulder trail beside this one would have been good for you guys, but not for us. . The photos never reveal how steep hills are. Son took some POV video of the trip down.
End-of-day obstacle: baby shit mud hole. James is investigating the mess to see what it’s like in there. It’s the boulders in the bottom of the hole that you can’t see that can be problematic. Slow and steady and came out the other side, no problem (although it was bumpy).
And what did I learn about this kind of mud? What doesn’t fling off becomes a balancing problem. The interstate trip home was an adventure. Truck was shaking like mad. Took me until Green Bay to find a car wash to get the mud out of the wheels. The rest of the trip home was uneventful after that.
Enjoyable first trip offroad. Cherry popped. Now time to armor up and try something a little more difficult. It’s only money, right?
Most of the vehicles were stock, so the trails were chosen for that. The two 4Runners had 2” lifts, mine with 265s, his with 285s. We ran into a guy on the trail with a 2008 Tacoma with a 6” lift and 35s. He had no issues with anything, as you can imagine. All of these Toyotas can do more than I gave them credit for. Pretty great stuff, but this trip was small potatoes in the grand scheme. I don’t have the armor to do anything much beyond what we did. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve got no idea what I’m doing, so it was nice to have experienced folks leading us through the junior birdman trails.
The first part was sand, so figured out how airing down was of benefit. Would have been embarrassing to get stuck coming off the pavement before even getting started. Got situated and deflated.
Our fearless leader got stuck in the best smelling mud in the forest. Doesn't look deep, but it’s slimy AF.
Traction boards weren’t cutting it, so Bubba Rope to the rescue.
Dude has this crazy razor-sharp Japanese pull saw that was used to clear trees and such from the side and we went around this mess.
Found some to climb ”Bro Rock” (there’s a story behind the name), so son and I flipped our ball caps around into bro’ mode to accommodate. Then posed for nerdy truck pics.
Lots of trails were closed due to flooding and erosion, but we found our way around. End of the day we ended up on a technical track good for n00bs, challenging but good for stock vehicles. The boulder trail beside this one would have been good for you guys, but not for us. . The photos never reveal how steep hills are. Son took some POV video of the trip down.
End-of-day obstacle: baby shit mud hole. James is investigating the mess to see what it’s like in there. It’s the boulders in the bottom of the hole that you can’t see that can be problematic. Slow and steady and came out the other side, no problem (although it was bumpy).
And what did I learn about this kind of mud? What doesn’t fling off becomes a balancing problem. The interstate trip home was an adventure. Truck was shaking like mad. Took me until Green Bay to find a car wash to get the mud out of the wheels. The rest of the trip home was uneventful after that.
Enjoyable first trip offroad. Cherry popped. Now time to armor up and try something a little more difficult. It’s only money, right?
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