November 2003 - True Grit

Parker, Az

Trail Rating - 4.5

Photos submitted by Chris Villarreal

On starting up this trail we came upon a group of Jeeps heading the other way.  The guys told us there were two rigs broken and blocking the trail.  We decided to drive up and check it out. 

(Click for larger images)

True Grit is pretty short but it is one of the more technical trails with several spots to really twist up your suspension.  These pictures were all taken near the middle and end of the trail.  As luck would have it the disabled rigs were moved off to the side by the time we got up there.  

I'd guess it took a grand total of 5 minutes to run up the trail from start to finish, but again, our rigs were really designed for this kind of stuff.  We headed back to camp and had dinner with the rest of the group.  Everyone brought some food for a potluck dinner and like last year everything was excellent.  That evening things got a little wild as people gathered around a pair of junked out cars that were being used as a 4x4 playground.  Several rigs attempted to climb over what once was a small compact car and an old van. No one was successful until Steve launched his well built S-10 to the top of the pile.  Pat gave it a go and nearly made it over in his Toyota but got hung up coming off the other side of the van.  

Most of the crowd dispersed to dinner so we made our way over to the ramp.  I wasn't really concerned with keeping my tires on the ground, I just wanted to see what the max angle I could take my rig to.  I made my way to the top of the ramp and  with the drivers side rear tire about 3-4 feet off the ground I drove off and onto two wheels a ways before coming back down on all 4 tires.  I backed up and hit the ramp again, this time creeping all the way to the top and then off.  Didn't think to get a picture, but it was pretty exciting driving on two wheels.  After this we headed off to the raffle.  I think the only one to win something in our group was Bob (aka Brown-Jeep-Bob).  I think we were all pretty beat and most of us hit the sack shortly after the raffle ended.   Sunday's trail was President's Choice.