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Shoe Creek/CrabTree Falls March 20th, 2004
  We
had been planning this trip for awhile. From a personal standpoint I had done
quite a few winter mods to both Jeeps - The TJ had gotten lifted, the XJ had
gotten full skids and both had gotten MT's and brand new firestick CB
antenna's. In addition, I had a brand new GPS V to play with. Needless to say
Jen and I were looking forward to trying them all out. We had a good turnout
for the trip. From left to right in this image: James' TJ (who had just gotten
engaged to Megan the night before...Congrats guys!), Trevor's TJ, My (Steve's)
XJ, Jen's TJ and Dales XJ.
 
We left the Waffle House (Trevor was actually on time...WOOHOO!) around 9am and
all caravaned down Rt 29 to the trail. At the trail head we stopped to air down
and disconnect sway bars. Since this was James' first real wheeling excursion
we also had a mini- drivers meeting to go over the ground rules. I decided to
set the running order as follows: Me in the lead with Trevor second since he's
as crazy as I am. Next I put Dale with James behind him. I new Dale would take
easier lines than Trevor or I and I wanted James to have someone to follow. I
then put Jen bringing up the rear. Only Dale, Jen and myself had CB's but we
all had FRS's, so FRS was our primary means of communication.
The first photo op was a little off shoot of the main
trail that had some nice rocks to flex on...so we did, well Jen and I did
anyway. She obviously wins because of the OME lift....but I've got more
pictures of mine!
   
Our next stop was another offshoot of the main trail
with a hill climb that is much more intimidating that the photos convey. We
took the majority of our pictures here. The first shots are Trevors and Dale's
excellent parking jobs...Dale's was showing some MONSTOR flex on the stocker...
   
I went up and down quite a few times. I also took the
TJ up...although Jen did so first (the pictures are of Jen taking it...see that
tire spin...yeah that's right, she can drive!). James also took the hill after
receiving a little encouragement and some verbal Jeep 101...
   
The next shots are of the "almost rollover" of my XJ in
this mini-rockgarden (not the main rock garden, this was another offshoot of the
main trail). I'll be completly honest...I thought it was going over. It's on
video as well. As soon as I edit it down to a slightly smaller size, I'll post
it up here...
 
The next place we took pictures was at the AT (the highest
point of the trail). We stopped there to eat some lunch and noticed some full
size pickups having some problems through some mud ruts on the other side...so
we decided to try 'em out. The pictures are kinda sparse here.
 
On the way back down, we hit a lot of the spots that we
did on the way up. James and Megan left a little early due to a previous
engagement. The last shots are a few of Dale going through the car wash towards
the end of the trail.
   
Check out the vid!
Here's a group shot (Jen took the picture)...FM2CD VA
has left the trail!
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