February 2002 - Chaos
Trail Rating - 5.0
Trip Leader: Chris Villarreal
Photos submitted by Chris Villarreal
Aerial View
This trail is named Chaos because at times nothing seemed to go as planned. Rocks moved, tires didn't grab and then would suddenly grab, the sides of the canyon would cave in unexpectedly, etc. The first part of this trail consists of a really narrow canton with two closely spaced waterfalls. There's only one line for most of the first section since the walls are so close. I am not sure a full sized rig will fit on the first section of this trail.
(Click for larger images)
Coming around the first big rock, there's a diff grabber right next to it so either ride high on the loose canyon wall or put a tire on the rock.
The first waterfall is steep and off camber. As you near the top the passenger side tires will be higher than the drivers side, pitching your body into the canyon wall. I started up and could tell I had no weight on the front end. The back tires grabbed and I got about six inches before they lost their grip and I slid back down to the bottom. As you can see in the third picture you are committed at this point, no backing up. After a few more attempts which all resulted in me hopping around I pulled out the winch cable. It still wasn't a walk in the park. I winched forward and got to a point where I could keep climbing under my Zuks power, but I got tipped into the side of the canyon, tearing my top and pulling my winch controller out of the winch as the cable got pinched between the rocks and cage. We eventually tied a strap to my cage and Jack and Pat pulled the body away from the wall as I pulled forward.
I was thinking the longer wheelbase of Jack's rig would make the obstacle easier.
Nope, he clawed at it for a while. The key turned out to be getting the front tires to grab by turning hard to the right, and then turning into the climb after your tires crest the top.
I think the rocks put a few new battle scars onto the bed of Jack's rig.