So, people who didn't want to drive longer distance/hours got together to visit some trails off of Hwy 4 for the weekend of June 14-15.

We ended up visiting 4 different trails. 2 of them were still covered by too much snow for xterra to handle, 1 of them was blocked by a tree, and the last one...we turned around 'cause we wanted to go home. :p

Album 1 & Album 2

Enjoy...

Hey XSAL...
Nice pics of last weekends outing. We had a really good time, although Huey, Xsal, & Myself were the only ones there...

You all missed a really good trip, and thanks Huey for taking the lead on this one...

I hope everyone can make it to the 4th of July Trip...These outings are alot of fun...

Enjoy,

Very Nice report!
Seems Huey was often out there guiding! Looks like a fun trip. Let's do it some more while we can..

Sweeet!

Hey Akio, now Andy's truck matches yours! (no plastic trim)

I see you also now have some new rock rash.

That "first/last" obstacle looks like it's got a bit of a different character now. Why did you guys take that far left line coming back down? It looks like that's where you got your new door ding. :p

Well, Andy liked to keep the piece for what it was designed for. And, I was and have been too lazy to replace it with new one.

It was much easier to use far left to come down...gravity helps. All three of use pretty much just got to drive straight through...like 10 seconds each.

Going up was actually still pretty tough for xterras. Each of use spent about 15-20 minutes. Huey took the line to go over the rock/boulder(?), and sled a bit. Ended up using his winch to get out. Andy and I both took the far left (or the lower section), but had a hard time getting good traction.

I got the door ding from where Huey is in the pic (pic 40...I think it was). You can see him right in between the 2 larger rocks, but I came down a bit too close to my driver side. It did Teeter-Totter right next to it, and as I was balancing, the door touched the rock. It wasn't from the first/last obstacle...

I should have done this as I was posting my pictures, but here it is...

Slick Rock
We were sure that we could have gotten to drive more if we had started from the south entrace (sunny side). The trail from the north entrace coming by the campground was not that good. We saw, as usual, some Jeeps (wrangler type) come out of the trail crwaling/floating over the snow where we decided turn around, which was only about ...maybe 200 yards from the start of the trail. There was a sign written by someone on a piece of paper at the beginning of the trail says "This trail is very bad idea for 2wd." It was a bad idea for heavy 4wd and almost bold M/T tires as well. Elevation: 7,000 ft. to lower to the south.

Deer Valley
Shortly after where we camped...maybe 200 yds(?) the trail became really muddy (Huey and I walked). Then, there was a huge muddy pool...appeared to be more than 1 - 2 foot deep. Jeepers whom we met at the 1st obstacle told us that there still was 3-4 ft tall snow bank in the area blocking the trail. We didn't see it, but I'm sure we weren't that far from the snow bank. Elevation: 7,300 ft.

Corral Hollow
Up to the point where the trail was blocked by the tree, it was enjoyable. It was a kind of trail that can be run by stocks w/o step rails and mud flaps, of course. It looked like a very good trail to learn how to use 4-lo and to learn how/where to place your tires over rocks. (Some rocks are tall enough to touch rear pumpkin if the truck is @ stock height/clearance or if you are not careful enough. Elevation: ...I don't remember. 6,000 ft?

Sourgrass
The trail was more narrow than Corral Hollow, and it's a bit more challenging. There was a little area off from the main trail and near the river. We had our late lunch there and turned around, but there was a trial to keep going. As far as I could see, the part of the trail that we did not go was narrow (of course it's wide enough for a vehicle to go through), but large logs were placed both of sides of the trail and filled with water. It was lower than hub, and I didn't keep going to find out more. Even thought the trail runs near water, it was pretty hot. Elevation: 4,000 ft+.

Akio, nice pictures! Let me know if you want the name of the place that fixed up my ding or are you going to wear it with pride?

I can't believe I missed that trip. That looks awesome. Do you have maps of the location or GPS coordinates for the trail heads?

I'll wear it w/o pride! I'd rather not to have it at all, but I now have 2 dents... One on the passenger side rocker panel, and the other on the driver side door... I'd get it fixed right away if it were larger dent, but this one is a small one... I think I'll wait until the end of wheeling season to see if I screw up some more.

How much do you think it might cost me to get this one fixed from the shop you used?

It cost me just under 1k to get the pardoes rash repaired. They had to put in a new rocker piece, straighten the bottom edge of the pass front door and respray the rocker and bottom half of the door. The rocker comes in two pieces and only the front piece needed replacing. Depending on the depth of the rocker ding they might be able to just straighten it without replacing it.

Not exactly cheap but they did a fantastic job and you can't tell it wasn't factory fresh.

I think I'll look for a touch-up paint for now... I need to buy new set of tires ($500+) soon...

By the way, does anyone know which is better: brush applicator or paint pen in my case?

Hey XSAL,

If you remove your inner door panel, then you should be able to use a rubber mallet to tap that door dent out...I used to do that all the time with my old truck...

I would get paint matching done at the Nissan Dealership...Prep the area out with 600 grit wet sandpaper, then you can paint it on with a brush...Wait a few days for the paint to set up good, then wetsand it again with 1000 grit wet sandpaper till it's smooth...

After that's all prepped, you'll be able to apply a coat of wax with an electric buffer to smooth it all out and make it like new...

It seems like alot of work, but you'll be much happier with your results...

Good Luck,