pictures coming On a recent weekend in early May a group of Cherokees tackled the infamous Lake Cavanaugh trail called Second Chance in Northern Western Washington. A total of 7 rigs made the trip with only 1 rig suffering major mechanical damage!
The Second Chance trail was a rock and root infested mud fest on this rainy spring day. We arrived at the trailhead at about 10 A.M. with plans to run as many of the side trails in the area as possible. After airing down we positioned the vehicles to make sure we had non-winch equipped vehicles placed in between those with. This would hopefully keep us going at a good clip.
Heading into the trail it soon became apparent that it was going to be an interesting day. Paul Weitlauf quickly became crossed up and slid over into a small bank, knocking his factory style tire rack from the back of his XJ! His outside spare tires soon became his inside spare tire as we removed the still attached pieces and placed them all into his rig. This was to become the smallest of Paul's concerns later in the day.
Moving the group forward we made decent progress with each driver helping to spot for the rig behind him. It was quite a site having so many well equipped Cherokee's running this tight difficult trail. The best part was watching all these same model Jeep's hit the same obstacles. If one didn't fit, none did. I believe the final tally was four out of seven right taillights either broken or cracked by the end of the day! At least we were consistent!
Our only major breakage occurred mid day. We were attempting to climb a very steep hill with a series of rock ledges near the top. Tom Bentsen (built white XJ with the roof rack) made it up with style. His ARB equipped Cherokee clawing at the rocks all the way. Next up was Paul Weitlauf. With only a rear locker Paul had some trouble. He would hit a ledge and lose his forward momentum, bouncing along the way. Paul went for some speed! He hit a ledge with both rear tires and went airborne, way airborne. The rear tires were over 2 feet from the ground, launching more horizontally than vertically because of the angle of ascent! As he left the ground his Jeep started back down the hill and landed hard. hard enough that he broke his transmission mount and damaged his motor mounts. He also shattered the rear driveshaft transfer case output yolk and rear yolk U-joint. The impact pushed the motor forward into his radiator and bent the fan. Paul wasn't terribly happy! Thankfully a seasoned wheeler he took it in stride, declaring things could be WORSE!
We did manage to remove Paul's Jeep from the woods after some careful front wheel driving by Paul and some winch assistance along the way. His Jeep would return another day.
The rest of the day was good fun, Paul hitched a ride with Chad Johnson after parking his Jeep at the road and we continued to explore the trail network finding many trees to put fresh dents into our rigs with. We finally headed for home as the sun was getting low. The Jeeps' tired, but happy to be used for their intended design purpose. A word of thanks to Bill VanTuyl who joined us with his white Cherokee (the one without the roof rack). Bill is the manager of our local Central 4wd store in Everett Washington. He really helped me in a jam as project Tuff Enuff was without it's rear Lockright only days before the trip. The locker had been sent in for warranty work and had not yet returned. Bill was able to get me a locker in a hurry when I called and asked for some help. He was also kind enough to give away some nice door prizes for all the attending individuals that had been supplied by Central 4WD.