AntDragon
03-29-2011, 12:12 AM
Hello fellow baby Jeepers! And I say that with heart because our Patriots are what they are, but they still have advantages over the average small SUV. I went on day trip to PA to join NoVA Jeepers at the Rausch Creek Off Road Park in Tremont, PA. The black knight rode with the green and "light" blue trail group (some parts were not light blue), and he made it out without losing any limbs. I was going to camp the night before but canceled that plan earlier in the week when weather forecasted rain and snow up until Friday and temps from teens-20's. It was about 22F in the sun the whole day. When the wind blew or someone tapped a tree, hundreds of frozen arrows rained down form the trees :wow:
We were trying to explore as much of their new property as possible, so none of us really got any pics of two very steep uphill sections, when one was muddy. Nor did we image anyone going over a weird, rutted on one-side, somewhat off-camber steep rise that involved a sharp turn [or roll down the other side of the hill] and got some of us on 3 wheels. Those obstacles did push the limits of a Patriot without a running start (had a I gained more speed before hitting them I would have had no doubt- but might afterward lose control or land hard and break something).
The group was mostly welcoming to the MK and have excellent trail leaders. The driver of the Blue Wrangler, whom was our guide, met the challenge of spotting me over some obstacles and I ended up gaining enough confidence to self-spot and learned to choose better lines in rough areas. We wheeled from 10:15AM-5PM, only pausing for a brief lunch. I had to avoid a solid blue portion of a trail which proved challenging for most of the stockish Wranglers there. I turned around mid-blue trail and went around a several hundred feet on a green trail- which brought me to a fun muddy/rocky run, which for the first time I encountered the limited engine power, no wheels spinning hiccup- a little momentum overcame that (must be from heavier tires on there since I had no such problem at Green Ridge with the little stock SR-As) to meet them at the intersection where we ate our lunch, At a second blue line, I choose an alternate uphill line alongside it that did not have +2ft boulders and high vertical steps, but it still had threatening big rocks and an enticing straight steep rise at the top (again, all drivers' focus were on driving). The RRO Supersliders paid for themselves (they still need to ship longer bolts and measure twice before welding the brace arms), and it was a lot of fun.
Okay enough :blah: -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54156194@N08/sets/
I will post other video clips soon (darn 2-vid limit in flickr).
We were trying to explore as much of their new property as possible, so none of us really got any pics of two very steep uphill sections, when one was muddy. Nor did we image anyone going over a weird, rutted on one-side, somewhat off-camber steep rise that involved a sharp turn [or roll down the other side of the hill] and got some of us on 3 wheels. Those obstacles did push the limits of a Patriot without a running start (had a I gained more speed before hitting them I would have had no doubt- but might afterward lose control or land hard and break something).
The group was mostly welcoming to the MK and have excellent trail leaders. The driver of the Blue Wrangler, whom was our guide, met the challenge of spotting me over some obstacles and I ended up gaining enough confidence to self-spot and learned to choose better lines in rough areas. We wheeled from 10:15AM-5PM, only pausing for a brief lunch. I had to avoid a solid blue portion of a trail which proved challenging for most of the stockish Wranglers there. I turned around mid-blue trail and went around a several hundred feet on a green trail- which brought me to a fun muddy/rocky run, which for the first time I encountered the limited engine power, no wheels spinning hiccup- a little momentum overcame that (must be from heavier tires on there since I had no such problem at Green Ridge with the little stock SR-As) to meet them at the intersection where we ate our lunch, At a second blue line, I choose an alternate uphill line alongside it that did not have +2ft boulders and high vertical steps, but it still had threatening big rocks and an enticing straight steep rise at the top (again, all drivers' focus were on driving). The RRO Supersliders paid for themselves (they still need to ship longer bolts and measure twice before welding the brace arms), and it was a lot of fun.
Okay enough :blah: -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54156194@N08/sets/
I will post other video clips soon (darn 2-vid limit in flickr).