Liberty run, Labor Day weekend

WFW WWU? :dunno:

Well, to start off a great weekend of wheeling, I came over Friday with a buddy to stay at his families property just outside of Cle Elum. I had a blast on Sunday, wheeling with you all. Liberty is a great place with some awesome wheeling! So, when are we going again?

We ran into BAD traffic on I90. It started at the Tinkham Road exit, and didn't open up until a mile before the exit to Lake Easton. Bumper to bumper all the way over.





After waking up late on Saturday afternoon, I went to do some wheeling on thier property, and took some shameless posing pictures.





After dinking around at the property, I went to visit my family at the Cle Elum cemetery.



The group awaiting to go up a difficult trail.



Howard explaining how not to run into the stump in the trail. It was steep, off camber, with loose gravel and dirt, some big rocks, large ruts near the end, and almost a flop by Matt.

Matt, reminding me that I am number one.



A big rock where you can climb up onto to look out at the valley and mountian range.



(Picture took to make it look really steep. )

A tight trail, like most NW trails.



The group met up at Lions rock, a great view it was.



Matt in the posing mode.



Most of the group.



I took no more photos the rest of the day, as wheeling was to be had!

But breakages. I broke my PA off its mount. Smashed the crap out of the rocker down by the river the day before Liberty. Andy's fuel pump took a dump. Matt left with a puckered butthole and a broken mirror, along with some steering issues. Diana and her tree branch. Harold and a lower rad hose. Thats all that I came up with, any more?

Absolutely! Great time was had by all...of those who actually showed up!

For the record, Liberty hereby gets my vote for NWFest 2007. Here's why: There are LOTS of trails. There are lots of trail with different levels of difficulties, so everyone from box-stock to Pathatten/Avanteone level types can all have fun. There is LOTS of space to camp/hang-out. Sounds ideal to me!

It was really great to meet a bunch of the SJC guys, especially George, Diana, Kelly and their whole crew. I'm looking forward to wheeling with y'all in the future. Anyway, as Eli eluded, I did have one kinda scary moment. Thanks to Howard and Eli riding high-side, I escaped with nothing more than an elevated heart rate.

In conclusion, I know this post is worthless without pics ...but I got a of pics that I'll upload Tuesday, so stay tuned.

-----Matt-----

P.S. I fully expect you to replace the mirror that you, without provocation, broke off my rig, Diana.

what mirror ???:eyes:

MY92XJ said:

what mirror ???:eyes:

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He tried to break that stump with it, before your windshield attacked it Stump won .

Thanks to those who came over to play at Liberty, I had a great time
It was time to :repair: flush the cooling system , Routine Maintenance :in the heat and dust on a run.
At least I didn`t try to kill the vampire by "Driving a Wooden Stake through It`s Heart"
But Look at the adventure and places I took you that you would have never experienced.....:bs:

We had a :explosion of a time as usual. Just to set the record straight Kelly was driving.....lol. I'll be posting the pictures tomorrow but the skewered grill and radiator has now been replaced....By the way it was really nice meeting all of you in person. Oh and Matt.....I have allready put a set of mirrors in our spare xj parts bin just for you :roll: and if you supply the bourbon again I'll even install em.....

MY92XJ said:

Oh and Matt.....I have allready put a set of mirrors in our spare xj parts bin just for you :roll: and if you supply the bourbon again I'll even install em.....

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You got a deal!

-----Matt-----

Here are the pics!

This was on the way over the pass Saturday afternoon (I was busy that morning...watch for new thread about it) . Everytime I make that drive I'm amazed at what a beautiful place we live in. Also, notice in the top left corner...the temp gauge:



Al little closer for you:



Yeah. That was with the defroster on blasting hot air. This was a common theme the entire weekend, and not just for myself. Diane apparently thought her Cherokee was going to suck her blood, 'cause she stabbed it through the heart with a wooden stake:



I guess nobody had any garlic:



Our (dark) campsite:



First trail:



Howard went up first to anchor himself and run a winch cable down to help people get around a particularly nasty spot near the top of a VERY steep hill. After a few minutes, we heard him say, "Somebody send Matt up to give me a hand." Uh, okay.

Did I mention the hill was steep? And loose? And very slippery. After a bunch of wheelspin and bouncing, I make it to the "Stump of Death" (I seem to collect those, don't I?), at which point I promptly stall it. Perfect. No big deal, though. I get her started, in gear, and let of the brake and the clutch while stabbing the throttle. It's at this point that I start sliding backwards...very quickly while tearing off my driver's mirror (remember the really steep hill? Yeah). Apparently my T-case came out of 4-lo while I was sitting there. So there I am, sliding backwards down the hill, brakes completely locked, contemplating what the afterlife might be like.

Luckily, it finally stopped after about 15 feet, I put it back into 4wd and sheepishly made my way past the stump.

Howard and I were pretty sure that most of the group wouldn't be able to make it, at least without significant damage to metal or running gear. The decision was made to have George (...the Jeep) and Diane come up and give a second opinion. George did the same thing I did and creased the front fender of his CJ and tapped the windshield frame.

We all agree it would be inadvisable to bring the group up the trail; Diane and George head back down the trail to lead the rest of the group to a spot where we can all meet.

Then Eli decides to throw caution to the wind and come up the hill...and does it with no problem. Who'd of thunk it? Anyway here are a couple of pics from the top of the hill:



George turning around...on the VERY steep hill. Notice how far over the CJ is leaning, and hor far over Howard in bent? Did I mention it was steep?



Howard winching George up the hill:



After Howard got his winch stowed and truned around, myself and Eli followed him down the trail. Lots of off-camber side-hill stuff...my favorite.

Notice the angle of the tree vs. the road:



Some cool ridgeline stuff:





-----Matt-----

As has been eluded to, I had a near miss on this trail. As always, off camber and downhill, this time around a large outcropping of rocks on the driver's side. I try to hug it to avoid severe side angle...when I start going over...and over until I miraculously stop. I have no idea what's holding me from going all the way over, but I was afraid to even get out of the Jeep. I radio to the others that I need assistence. Maybe it was something more colorful, I can't really remember.

Finally, I work up the nerve to crawl out the window, the entire time waiting for the Jeep to roll over me. It turns out to be better than I thought, but it wasn't something I wanted to try without a spotter.





The rock was the only thing keeping it from tipping further. You can see what made me tip; the rock under my right/front wheel that I didn't see until I went up on it:



With Eli and Howard high-siding and bringing the heep back onto four wheels, I reversed and made the corner without incident. A tense moment!





Never too tense for a poser shot, though.



After "chasing" Howard at a Baja 1000-esque pace through the rest of the trail (which I had to do in 2wd in order to keep up!) we met up with the rest of the group at a great formation of rocks:





We then set off as a group to find some trails! Until we had another SNAFU, this time in the form of a fuel pump on a CJ8...Andy's. We all decided that since he wasn't cool enough to own an XJ, he was S.O.L. and on his own. We abandoned him there and continued wheeling.



















































At least that's what Sniggs wanted to do, but instead (at our insistence) he went into Cle Elum where we had located a new pump. The rest of us did press on to some really fun trails the SJC guys "knew about." No pics from this, but I know Dale got some. POST UP!

The only major downside to the wheekend was the dust. Eli and I both thought that we got dustier in one day than all three at TSF...and that's saying something!





-----Matt-----

Imagine that! Overheating!



Taking a lunch/admire the view break.



Imagine that! Me, posing!



Howard, showing off his wicked flex. Those of you who can read lips will see clearly that Howard is saying "RAAAAWARRRR!"



We then ran back and collected Sniggs and Andy (now running) and hit a couple more trails, and made our way back to camp.

Beer time! It seems my bottle opener is getting tired:



Diane, "checking out Howard's rear end, before blowing on his tube." This is a direct quote, so help me God.



Eli and I both headed home after socializing for a little while and stealing a few chips from the feast. Again, thanks to everyone who helped make this a fun trip. Looking forward to hitting the trails again with y'all soon!

-----Matt-----

P.S. On the way back across the pass, I was treated to an incredible sunset. Here are a couple pics I snapped from the truck at speed:

Nice Pictures Matt. I can't wait to get back over there soon. It was a great place, except for all the dust.

IXNAYXJ said:

The only major downside to the wheekend was the dust. Eli and I both thought that we got dustier in one day than all three at TSF...and that's saying something!
-----Matt-----

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WOW! is that possible. i am still blowing dust out of my rig....and my nose from TSF.

mojojojo said:

WOW! is that possible. i am still blowing dust out of my rig....and my nose from TSF.

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I still have it in mine from West Texas/Arizona/New Mexico from 7 years ago. You'll never get rid of that stuff.

Nice pics everyone! I can't wait to see it in person. Topography reminds me of the Blue Mtns SE of Walla Walla (last toured in '96 with a POS nissan pickup ).

IXNAYXJ said:

Howard, showing off his wicked flex.

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Dammit! I've been upstaged! :doh:

-i

Nice pics. Looks like a good time. I had planned on going over there too but plans changed and now I wish I could have met up with you all.

BTW, this pic makes me want to get back into snowmobiling...


We used to drop down into that bowl and hill climb across the road to the trees above and flip it around and do it over and over again. Did you see the S10 at the bottem of that or is it long gone now?

Slacker87XJ said:

Dammit! I've been upstaged! :doh:

-i

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You aren't going to break out into Show Tunes, are you? :scared:


:roflmao:

T&A-XJ said:

Did you see the S10 at the bottem of that or is it long gone now?

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Yea, some sort of mangled rusted out body of a truck. Its still there. Red and White I think it was?

Yep thats it. Been there for well over 10years.

Sniggs said:

You aren't going to break out into Show Tunes, are you? :scared:


:roflmao:

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For you, Mark? Of course I would!



















Or not so much. Wierdo.. :wierd: