Our
next big stop was "The Peanut Butter Hole," which turned
out to be one of the most fun play areas we've come across in
this part of the country. Reminiscent of the dry, rock-stepped
areas of Texas, the hole was non-stop obstacles in both directions.
Plenty of spots to test your driving skills and your rig abounded
in all directions and the area was packed with every sort of off-road
vehicle, including Jeeps, trucks, rails, buggies, hybrids, ATV's,
and motorcycles. It was a free-for-all on the rocks and was great
fun.
The Peanut
Butter Hole was great fun... |
...and
a wonderful place to really play around. |
Once we were
done playing, we decided to take a somewhat more leisurely trail
back out of the area and began our trip back to camp, when Steve
heard a metal snap going down one of the power line trails. Looking
under his rig, his son, discovered a leaf spring broken in half!
As Steve deliberated over how he was going to get the Toyota back
to camp, we watched the hybrid trucks attack the hills surrounding
us.
Hybrids
are somewhat unique to this part of the country. A typical hybrid
or "cab truck" setup would be a Chevy S-10 pickup cab
atop an old V-8 full-size truck chassis. Most of the time, there
is no hood or front sheet metal at all and the motor is fully
exposed. The trucks run 1 ton axles and minimum 38" tires.
Many cabs are even starting to run Propane for fuel, as well.
These trucks are loud and usually take on the hills at full speed
and can be quite entertaining to watch, whether you like them
or not.
A cab
truck takes on the hills. |
Steve's
leaf spring snapped in half. Every leaf! |
Once Steve
figured out how to secure his broken spring, we made our way back
into town. Upon reaching the pavement, I found that I had a wobbling
rear wheel and had a violent death wobble once we reached 30 mph.
Further inspection at the camp revealed a bent Weld rim. Thinking
it would cure our problem, we swapped on a fresh wheel and tire
that had never been on the ground, however, it did not fix the
problem. Knowing we had a trailer to get the Jeep home on, we
just kept it slow and decided to wheel again on Sunday and figure
out the rest of the problem once we got back home.
Steve
Roach takes on a tall step. |
Scott
Gross takes the high line. |
On Saturday,
we met up with Steve for the G trail again but this time we had
a whole new crew. A few of the Jeeps were from back home in Birmingham,
while a couple others were from Louisiana. We pretty much ran
many of the same trails as Saturday, however, without the roll-over
delay we made it much further into the trail system and got to
see a whole lot more of what the area had to offer.
The
trails were packed, not only from the Skyjacker ride, but with
hundreds of locals, as well. Not a trail was left untouched by
the end of the day. Though we weren't with the Skyjacker gang
on Sunday, we did hear that Skyjacker Inside Sales Manager, Scott
Gross managed to drive their red TJ over some of the toughest hills the area had to offer.
The Louisiana
Jeeps had fun in the Peanut Butter Hole... |
and attempting
"Windshield Hill" |
As for us,
we had a wonderful day of trailing, wrapping up a great weekend.
The trails were great, the scenery was great, and despite what
turned out to be a bent Dana 60 axle shaft, our Jeep did great,
as well. Next Labor Day, we'd definitely recommend the Skyjacker
Rocks Tennessee event to anyone looking for lots of hills and
thrills. The scenery is gorgeous and the trails challenging. See
you next year!