January 2002 - Armageddon
Trail Rating - 5.0
Trip Leader: Tracy Jordan
Photos submitted by Chris Villarreal, Shane Garrels
Aerial View
Nothing like a hard run to cap off a weekend. Shane Garrels is the guy responsible for the awesome tube work on my Samurai. He e-mailed me a couple weeks back about a run to Armageddon. I couldn't say no to that early Sunday morning I was heading towards Table Mesa Rd., it was dark and 38 degrees by the time I got to the meeting spot just behind Randy of Driven Auto Parts.
(Click for larger images)
And then the tow rigs started trickling in. 2, 3, 6 and on and on for the next half hour. Total count was 12 very well equipped vehicles including one really trick competition rig driven by Tracy Jordon. This was going to be a great day. We got a few early breakdowns out of the way in the parking lot, loose power steering and transmission fittings.
We headed for the trail shortly after sun up. I had 4 layers of clothes up top, jeans covered by sweats gloves, some goggles and no windshield. Yeah, it was brisk. Luckily the trailhead is close, the group got off to a good start with a broken belt on Tracy's rig.
We picked up a couple passengers who were along to take pictures/video and headed up the wash. About 100 feet in we saw a cloud of smoke above one of the Jeeps. Then we heard a low "woomp" followed by what looked like a mushroom cloud. Uh-oh.
Cody Jeep just spit out it's upper radiator hose along with about 5 gallons of hot water. Seems there was a pin hole leak that was spraying on the fan relays. The guys searched around for a replacement hose and then someone suggested an innovative fix. Shane, Randy and Cody used a hack saw and came up with.....
A new use for a mag flashlight. Pretty trick looking too, even matches the Jeep! Onward to the trail!