..I didn't notice that it looked like he is til now. There was no texting and driving on this obstacle! Not sure what he is doing with that hand though haha.
The tent is awesome, but what's that unsightly thing under it?
Oh yeah forgot you Jeep guys aren't up to speed on such things. That device is called an ARB fridge/freezer. It allows me to have good beer and nice food rather then Budlight and hot dogs out of an ice chest.
"The Journey of life is as much in oneself as the roads one travels"
What the rain didn't get, the hillbilly car wash did....
Wow!.....If you were to do this in California, multiple police agencies would swoop down on you...
The Water Police
The Storm Drain Police
The Street Police
The Anti-Jeep Police
etc. etc....
Wow!.....If you were to do this in California, multiple police agencies would swoop down on you...
The Water Police
The Storm Drain Police
The Street Police
The Anti-Jeep Police
etc. etc....
What, no dream police?
It rained while the jeep was sitting in the road too....this just helped things along. Nothing fell on the street that wouldn't have fallen on the street had I simply just drove it around while it was raining.
Oh, and the police were on the scene when this photo was taken.
It rained while the jeep was sitting in the road too....this just helped things along. Nothing fell on the street that wouldn't have fallen on the street had I simply just drove it around while it was raining.
Oh, and the police were on the scene when this photo was taken.
Oops! (oh crap)
No disrespect to any police - real or imaginary was intended by my comment.
I was actually hating on the hideous, over-regulation that we have here in the Peoples Republic of California.
I personally like dirt - I ride my MTB in it all the time.
After not having been to The Badlands in Attica IN, since September of 2011 I decided it was time to get out on the trails. I posted up in the JGW section, as well as Facebook. I was a bit disappointed with the JGW member turn out....or lack there of, but that didn't keep me, and my daughter Ashlynn from heading out. My wife and my other daughter were going to join us, but a basketball game changed their plans.
I wasn't able to get on the road until 6am, and arrived at the park at 9:30am....which is 10:30am Indy time, losing that hour sucks. The park looked pretty full, but I think part of that was an illusion, since they don't let you park in the lower lot anymore.
Once at the Park I met up with Doug, silver TJ and Chris, white XJ.
My Rubicon
Doug's TJ
Chris, along with his Dad, arrived a little after I did. Once he was unloaded we headed to the trails. Doug took the lead, which was great, since I hadn't been there in so long I was more than happy to not have to lead the way.
We made our way to the quarry and climbed up the woods trail (AKA: Kevin's Trail).
Chris climbing out of the quarry.
There was some rain the day/night before so the holes were really full of water. There had been some work done to this trail since my last visit. A few of the bigger holes, along the fence line, had been filled in.
After Kevin's Trail we made our way towards the creek....where we found plenty more water.
Chris started through a section of water, stopped, backed up and tried it again, this time a little faster......
I did say faster, right?
Once in, it was peddle to the metal.
A little churning, and he was through.
As we made our way to towards the creek we found a few obstacles to climb.
This is a view from the top, of course it's steeper than it looks.
We did that climb twice. The first time we were there Doug and I went up and to the right. Chris couldn't make the turn, backed down, and found a tree, don't worry the video will show that.
After tagging the tree, Chris took the bypass.
The second time we were there, well, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
We played in and around the creek, as Doug found some trails I hadn't been on, then ended up back in the quarry to play on some rocks.
Doug found a little rock garden to drive through.
Chris bypassed the garden, due to not having any armor on his gas tank, I dove in....I have in cab video of it.
Doug saw someone else climbing a wall he had never climbed, so he climbed it...
I climbed it too....hopefully there's a photo out there somewhere.
I did a couple of artsy shots, as and ode to csouers.
We made our back towards the creek, during which we saw a butt load of Nissan Exterra's drive by us. We caught up with them at the hill climb I mentioned earlier.
This time we went straight up, which lead to a tight squeeze between a couple of trees.
Doug climbing on up.
The trees made the squeeze for Doug really tight, but with my Rubi being a bit narrower, not so much for me, tight, but nothing to worry about.
Chris popped a bead on his front passenger side tire on his way to this climb so I broke out my Viair and we aired it up, as much as we could.
By the time Chris was up and through the squeeze the tire was flat again. I told him if we ran across the Nissan's he'd have to let them know he made the climb open/open and on three tires.
We decided it would be a good idea to change Chris' flat, which actually gave me an opportunity to bust out the Hi-lift, probably only the second time I've done that since I bought it, but it just goes to show you it's a good investment.
We wandered through the woods and creek a bit more and found our selves over by the quarry pond, where there just happened to be a wall for Doug to try and climb.
That wall was pretty undercut and was going to require a heck of bump to get up, after a few attempts Doug decided enough was enough....he wasn't happy with that decision, but he found another wall, right next that one.
Again, the wall won, but I have a feeling Doug will go back and win.
Chris taking a pic of me, as I take one of him.
We made our way back along Red to the woods around the quarry, where Doug took us up a ledge I had never been up.
Chris' open/open and low tread tires were giving him fits on the ledge.
Doug telling Chris to "drive easy"....which ended up getting the job done.
We decided to do the Orange Trail, which I failed to get any pictures of, as we were moving right along. It was fun. The swamp was a swamp anymore, which was nice.
After Orange we went to Green, AKA: The Roller Coaster. Some call Orange hard, I think Green is more of a challenge, as you can hardly every see where you're going as you climb the many, many hills.
At the end of green Chris had a wire come off under the hood, which left him dead in the water...it's on video. Doug tugged him out of the water hole and Chris found the loose wire and all was good.
Doug and I drove through the boulder field at the end of Green. I hadn't ever had the Rubi in there, but it did great.
After that it was off to the quarry, so I could let my daughter, Ashlynn (11 years old) drive. She had only driven once before, the last time we visited the Badlands. She only putted around the dunes that time, but this time she drove in the quarry.
I let her drive up an easy hill, then a few more, each of which were harder than the first. She did real good. We took video too. Her favorite part was when she climbed a hill that Chris couldn't make it up. Some claimed it was because she was locked, so she did it again, unlocked. Good tires and the trac-lok in the back helped I'm sure. :teehee:
We ended up doing 15 miles of trails, and left the park just before 5:30pm. It was 9pm by the time we arrived home....we had to stop for some Dairy Queen on the way.
All in all I had a great day, one of the best times I've ever had at The Badlands. To those of you that chose The Cliffs (I won't mention any names) you missed a great time, it was well worth the drive.
Comments
What the rain didn't get, the hillbilly car wash did....
A lover of all things photography.
Olympus E-500
My Smugmug Gallery
Looks like a great trip!
A lover of all things photography.
Olympus E-500
My Smugmug Gallery
I did become a grandpa last Thursday though.
Thanks, here I am with her...Payton Elizabeth, 5 weeks early, but doing great, as is her mother, my daugher.
She's a future Jeeper.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Just about to drop the ban hammer
I like the setup! Looking forward to hearing how you like it over time.
The tent is awesome, but what's that unsightly thing under it?
Oh yeah forgot you Jeep guys aren't up to speed on such things. That device is called an ARB fridge/freezer. It allows me to have good beer and nice food rather then Budlight and hot dogs out of an ice chest.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
There was even a little bit of mud and snow this time in the 60 miles of dirt roads.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Could that be, I think it is, snow.
Wow!.....If you were to do this in California, multiple police agencies would swoop down on you...
The Water Police
The Storm Drain Police
The Street Police
The Anti-Jeep Police
etc. etc....
What, no dream police?
It rained while the jeep was sitting in the road too....this just helped things along. Nothing fell on the street that wouldn't have fallen on the street had I simply just drove it around while it was raining.
Oh, and the police were on the scene when this photo was taken.
Oops! (oh crap)
No disrespect to any police - real or imaginary was intended by my comment.
I was actually hating on the hideous, over-regulation that we have here in the Peoples Republic of California.
I personally like dirt - I ride my MTB in it all the time.
None taken. I figured it was more of slam directed towards California.
I'll be getting the Jeep dirty again this weekend, then depositing more dirt on the roads of Indiana and Illinois.
I wasn't able to get on the road until 6am, and arrived at the park at 9:30am....which is 10:30am Indy time, losing that hour sucks. The park looked pretty full, but I think part of that was an illusion, since they don't let you park in the lower lot anymore.
Once at the Park I met up with Doug, silver TJ and Chris, white XJ.
My Rubicon
Doug's TJ
Chris, along with his Dad, arrived a little after I did. Once he was unloaded we headed to the trails. Doug took the lead, which was great, since I hadn't been there in so long I was more than happy to not have to lead the way.
We made our way to the quarry and climbed up the woods trail (AKA: Kevin's Trail).
Chris climbing out of the quarry.
There was some rain the day/night before so the holes were really full of water. There had been some work done to this trail since my last visit. A few of the bigger holes, along the fence line, had been filled in.
After Kevin's Trail we made our way towards the creek....where we found plenty more water.
Chris started through a section of water, stopped, backed up and tried it again, this time a little faster......
I did say faster, right?
Once in, it was peddle to the metal.
A little churning, and he was through.
As we made our way to towards the creek we found a few obstacles to climb.
This is a view from the top, of course it's steeper than it looks.
We did that climb twice. The first time we were there Doug and I went up and to the right. Chris couldn't make the turn, backed down, and found a tree, don't worry the video will show that.
After tagging the tree, Chris took the bypass.
The second time we were there, well, lets not get ahead of ourselves.
We played in and around the creek, as Doug found some trails I hadn't been on, then ended up back in the quarry to play on some rocks.
Doug found a little rock garden to drive through.
Chris bypassed the garden, due to not having any armor on his gas tank, I dove in....I have in cab video of it.
Doug saw someone else climbing a wall he had never climbed, so he climbed it...
I climbed it too....hopefully there's a photo out there somewhere.
Chris gave it a shot....
Being open/open was working against Chris.
After this Chris called it.
After that climb we took a small break.
I did a couple of artsy shots, as and ode to csouers.
We made our back towards the creek, during which we saw a butt load of Nissan Exterra's drive by us. We caught up with them at the hill climb I mentioned earlier.
This time we went straight up, which lead to a tight squeeze between a couple of trees.
Doug climbing on up.
The trees made the squeeze for Doug really tight, but with my Rubi being a bit narrower, not so much for me, tight, but nothing to worry about.
Chris popped a bead on his front passenger side tire on his way to this climb so I broke out my Viair and we aired it up, as much as we could.
By the time Chris was up and through the squeeze the tire was flat again. I told him if we ran across the Nissan's he'd have to let them know he made the climb open/open and on three tires.
We decided it would be a good idea to change Chris' flat, which actually gave me an opportunity to bust out the Hi-lift, probably only the second time I've done that since I bought it, but it just goes to show you it's a good investment.
We wandered through the woods and creek a bit more and found our selves over by the quarry pond, where there just happened to be a wall for Doug to try and climb.
That wall was pretty undercut and was going to require a heck of bump to get up, after a few attempts Doug decided enough was enough....he wasn't happy with that decision, but he found another wall, right next that one.
Again, the wall won, but I have a feeling Doug will go back and win.
Chris taking a pic of me, as I take one of him.
We made our way back along Red to the woods around the quarry, where Doug took us up a ledge I had never been up.
Chris' open/open and low tread tires were giving him fits on the ledge.
Doug telling Chris to "drive easy"....which ended up getting the job done.
We decided to do the Orange Trail, which I failed to get any pictures of, as we were moving right along. It was fun. The swamp was a swamp anymore, which was nice.
After Orange we went to Green, AKA: The Roller Coaster. Some call Orange hard, I think Green is more of a challenge, as you can hardly every see where you're going as you climb the many, many hills.
At the end of green Chris had a wire come off under the hood, which left him dead in the water...it's on video. Doug tugged him out of the water hole and Chris found the loose wire and all was good.
Doug and I drove through the boulder field at the end of Green. I hadn't ever had the Rubi in there, but it did great.
After that it was off to the quarry, so I could let my daughter, Ashlynn (11 years old) drive. She had only driven once before, the last time we visited the Badlands. She only putted around the dunes that time, but this time she drove in the quarry.
I let her drive up an easy hill, then a few more, each of which were harder than the first. She did real good. We took video too. Her favorite part was when she climbed a hill that Chris couldn't make it up. Some claimed it was because she was locked, so she did it again, unlocked. Good tires and the trac-lok in the back helped I'm sure. :teehee:
We ended up doing 15 miles of trails, and left the park just before 5:30pm. It was 9pm by the time we arrived home....we had to stop for some Dairy Queen on the way.
All in all I had a great day, one of the best times I've ever had at The Badlands. To those of you that chose The Cliffs (I won't mention any names) you missed a great time, it was well worth the drive.
It was a great day. Here's a link to my YouTube channel, if you want to see even more of the terrain.
My Channel
My Site
My Facebook
Added some parts to the truck. Still need to get out on a photo trip.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion