Hey guys! We had the best time in the Pines this past weekend! I got to meet Keith (Stonecoldchavez)..who is WICKED COOL. (we loved that you came out with us!) And I got to do my first rescue...a Durango that got stuck in a deep muddy puddle.

But that was the first day....the second day, yesterday, was MY turn to be rescued!!! Not only by ONE Jeep, but by TWO. And two winches to boot! At one point, the front winch was the only one hooked up and my X started to roll a little and they decided to hook up the second one. At that point I got panicky and climbed out while Chris took over at the wheel. I filmed the recovery frrom the safety of the sidelines!

So anyway...here's what happened.....

I had gone thru the mud/clay/water pit twice and thought, "oh, what the heck, I go back thru it the way I came". Well, I forgot the part where BOTH times rolling thru it the one way, I went in and at one point dropped down an underwater ledge of clay/mud and had to roostertail out of it. So, naturally, what I came down off of, was something I had to bump up over if I were to go thru backwards (yeah, backwards, not in reverse, though that'll be my next stunt)

The pictures do not do it justice, but I never did quite bump up the ledge and as my tires spun on it, it turned my X 90 degrees and tilted me sideways. I had some mud inside, but just a smidge...but the water level live was high...our doors are sealed greatly on this thing!!!

Pulling me from the front was one Jeep and winch (my friend Jeremiah waded knee deep and up to his elbows to hook me up) and then everyone knew if they pulled me where they needed to, my X was going to roll slowly onto its side. So the other Jeep with the second winch hooked up to the side of me at the rack to pull me straight as they pulled me forward.

At the point that they first used only the front winch and I started rolling sideways, I wigged alittle and they had me climb out and Chris climbed up into my seat and took over. I was fine until I saw where the water was and where it was heading. I knew I needed a clear head to finish and my head was far from clear....fear of rolling over finally set in!!!

Here's a couple pics that barely show how crazy it was....but we'll have video soon. IT WAS FUN! But I think next time, I'll definitely rethink the "back from where I came" scenario!!!

While the stink factor of the Pines is lack of rocks to crawl on...this is a wicked run. I LOVED it there!!! We can't WAIT to go back!

And, Keith, you're coming with us!!!











Before it was dirty.....Keith's X next to it

More pics:







Me and my chihuahua in the tent

Thanks you for kind words. I had fun. It was nice to meet you and your friends.

Good pictures. I missed all the fun on Sunday, eh?!

Did someone come get that Durango?

My "damage" was dirty/muddy air filter (doh!), mud in my wheels/brakes, and I somehow wripped/pulled off the rubber guard that goes underneath the radiator. I put it back on today though and cleaned my air filter also.

I am down for the Pine Barrens again!

S.

PS: you should put your pictures up in the Photos Forum.

Yeah, his buddy with a flat bed came up from Ephrata, PA and got there about 10 o'clock.

Jeff and his wife left just after that to go to WalMart for something and we all split up and went to our own sites to go to sleep. While they were gone, someone (some kids from the other side of the campground) broke into their tent and stole Jeff's iPod and her wallet. How ballsy do you have to be? Their tent was not far from the rest of us. It sucked.

I'll post pics up there tomorrow. Chris is feeling like shit, so he hasn't gotten to uploading the videos yet. I guess you missed some fun. The trails were pretty good on sunday. I liked being out there. It wasn't hardcore wheeling like on rocks...but it was awesome. And as you witnessed, and I found out first hand...shit can still happen!!!

Thanks for that email. :p

Here are the vids.

http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i197/chrstylr/Pine%20Barrens%2008/?action=view¤t=mov022.flv

http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i197/chrstylr/Pine%20Barrens%2008/?action=view¤t=mov023.flv

Keith did you tell the story about your famous Pine Barrens trip?

No. Shssssh you.

Spill it.

Well

it was a dark and stormy weekend

actually it was a slightly overcast slightly rainy day



ok so keith saw a body of water that he wanted to try to go through. i would call this body of water a lake, yes a lake indeed it was. Keith was hellbent on driving through said lake and no matter what anyone said to him he said he was going through. So at the insistance of myself Schteve and TJ he allowed us to attach TJ's winch to his rear tow point.

Keith starts eyeing the water hole(not noticing the 44 inch bogger tires going in, but not coming out). he decides on a point of entry and on the other side a point of exit. he has made up his mind and the resolve of an elephant is painted in his eyes. He slowly fjords into the water and gasses it a bit to give some bow wave. Approx 3 feet into the lake the entire front end of Keiths Xterra is submerged. As Keith gasses the hell out of his rig in forward and reverse he gets nowhere. At this point he is noticing the water seeping into the speaker and the floorboards. Keith's howls of "BACK ME OUT' are drowned by our collective concern for the wellbeing of our friend (we were laughing too hard). After getting Keith's X back on dry land and humping the tailgate for 30 minutes(to get the water out of the exhaust) we decided to drain it and fire it up. It RAN! AMEN God be praised it....sputtered out. So now we have a waterlogged Xterra that runs about 5 minutes out of every 30. We now have to get him back to the main road, and its starting to rain and its getting dark.

Oh and he had to call a tow truck cause a cop stopped him on the way home (BS i tell ya)