Naches...finally!

After a few false starts I finally made it up to Naches for the first time. What a great trail! I put up some pictures on my blog if you want to check it out. I just wish the pictures would do it justice. It was very scenic. I also need a camera that compensates for the jiggles...some of the pictures are kind of blurry from low light and bouncing around! I am definitely going again next year!

Later.

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Great bunch of photos. Just made my first trip there the weekend before last. Beautiful place. Did you make it to the funny/ moon rocks when you were up there?

No, I didn't make it over there. I was focused on the Naches trail so much that I didn't plan any side trips. Besides, due to various reasons, we only had one day to do the trip. West to east took us from about 1030am until about 5-6pm, if I remember right, with all of the sightseeing stops and lunch. This didn't leave much time for side trips. Next time I go I would like to go east to west and allow some time for a side trip or two. Either do it over the course of a couple of days or do some of the trail at night...I need more lights if it's night wheelin'! This time we had to get back home, pick up the kids and get them to bed for school like good little parents. So did the other couple in our party. I would love to check out some other areas up there sometime. Have you been to Moon Rocks?

sqidd, I just looked at your profile. Do you work for a certain large aircraft manufacturer up there in Everett? You wire'em, I fly'em!

Later

Yep, I sure do work for them, or at least when I am not on strike You must be a pilot, I work on the 777 line, what do you normally fly? Its pretty cool to get talk to someone who flys what we build.
I made it up to the moon rocks on my trip. We camped 2 nights and got the full deal of the area. Went up for some night wheeling day one and got lost and ended up on the Elensburg side of the range. Day two we ran the Katner over tyo milk road and up to the rocks. Thanks to the convincing of my two toyota driving friends ( I can over look little stuff like that) I ran the easyier right line up moon rocks. Scary as heck going up but once I made it felt like I had really accomplished somthing.

That sucks about the strike. I hope it is over for you guys soon. I fly the 737-4/7/8/9 for Alaska Airlines out of SEA. You guys do a good job. The 737 is a very good airplane.

The wheelin' sounds fun. I will definitely have to check out moon rocks sometime. Did you use lockers or is it doable with open diffs? Where exactly is that in relation to the Naches Trail?

I have a locker in the front, but we had a guy in our group with a TJ running open front and rear and he did OK. On the rocks the only places where the locker came in handy was when I drug the lip on the 8.25 rear axle of mine and at the very top where there was an 18" shelf that I had to climb up to get to the top. There are bypasses to the top on both the moon and the funny rocks and it makes for a great place to stop and have lunch and watch the crazy guys in the rock buggies. I think from a wheeling stand point rigs like ours are probly more fun on the trails though. Most of the stuff on the rocks seems better suited for the guys running 35"+ With my 32" s I made use of my rock sliders and scraped paint on my newly installled trailer hitch.

It sounds fun but I would probably bypass the really hard stuff. I still have to drive mine to work regularly! One of these days I would like to add some more lift and some 33's with a selectable locker, like an ARB or an OX locker. After nearly 11 years of ownership, about 4 years since the lift, and 210,000 miles on the clock, I don't have much money at all into this Cherokee compared to some folks and I am kind of proud of that. I did recently swap the axles for stronger ones so the stage is set for going bigger at some point...just need some more disposable income! I'm not one of those 'rich' airline pilots yet...oh, that's right, there aren't any of those anymore. Gotta love the airline industry! Maybe I will send my wife back to work to support the Jeep fund! I'm getting a dirty look as she reads over my shoulder...time to go:laugh:

Do you have an automatic or selectable locker in the front? How do you like it either way? Daily driver?

Yeah, mine is a daily drive as well. Got the wife the new car as the jeep used to be hers. For me its better knowing that she isn't stuck on the side of the road at night. I have 188,000 on mine to date and the build up of it has been as I could either afford it or find it at pull a parts. When I locked mine I went cheap and put an Aussie automatic locker in the front, I think it cost me a total of $260 dollars shipped to my door. Since it is my DD, I put it in the front so it wouldn't do anything to the street manners. So far I have been very happy with both my choice of locker brand and the end I put it in. Can't tell its there in 2wd and has added a whole world of possibilities off road. I have been able to run both May creek crossings at Reiter and had a memorable night stuck up at walker valley with a broken tie rod :wierd:. I think right now the jeep has more ability than I have skill as a driver.

squidd said:

I think right now the jeep has more ability than I have skill as a driver.

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I know the feeling!

cool write up man. nice pic's too. can't wait to go back myself !

Thanks! I'm already looking forward to next year. The views were spectacular! Next my buddy and I are going to try and do some trails at Evan's Creek before the weather turns too bad...if the schedules line up, that is. It will be my first time there as well so, once again, I don't know what to expect. There sure is a lot more information about Evan's Creek from and other sites so I won't have so many blanks to fill in with reality. Hopefully we can get more pictures that are IN FOCUS this time.

Very nice pictures and write-ups!

Thanks sams88!

Hey mojojojo, I checked out your myspace page. You've got some great videos and pictures on there. I spent a little too much time watching them tonight.