Past Trail Rides of 2-Big Broncos 4x4 Club

Pipeline in Lakewood, WI

Topographical map of the area

Overview

I met Brett Yerks at a gas station just east of me (Woodbury, MN) at 3:30 Friday afternoon and I filled up the gas tank there for our long drive out there.  We got on the highway for 20 minutes and pulled into a truck stop to get our vehicles weighed.  Brett weighed his F-350/trailer/F-250 combo- came in at 19,600 lbs!  I went next, mine was 5820 without me in it.  My rear weighed in almost 800 pounds heavier than the front!  No wonder I was lifting my front wheels on the trails a lot.

We then got back on the road and drove the rest of the way out to Lakewood stopping once for dinner and gas.  We arrived at the campground at 10 pm and went ahead and got our site.  Brett left his F-350 running while we were looking around and when he went back to shut it off- guess what?  Yup, he locked himself out!  This was at 10:15 at night in the middle of nowhere.  I convinced Brett not to break anything and to give my AAA membership a try- we lucked out.  They got us a guy and he came out at 11 pm and got his truck open- big relief.  We warmed up our cabs REAL good and then went to bed (boy, was it cold).

Participants

1. Dustin Siebert
2. Brett Yerks
3. Jim Hunter
4. Mike Masse

The Details . . .

Brett going through the water hole at the bottom of the gravel pit (he has 39.5" boggers on). He barely made it out.

Brett going through the water for a second time.

Brett climbing out of the gravel pit. The smoke is from the tranny fluid he spilled on his exhaust while refilling it.

We got onto the Pipeline and the first obstacle we came to was the rock hill.  The rock hill is a hill about a 1/4 mile long filled with boulders strewn about.  Jim tackled the hill first and broke a hub 30 feet into it.  After a bit of fiddling around with it and not being able to fix it, he went ahead and did the hill in 3WD.  Brett was next and didn't have a problem at all going up it.

Jim going up the rock hill.

Brett climbing the rock hill.

The group at the top of the rock hill.

I went next and made it up without much of a problem other than a major tranny slippage problem.  Turns out later on I discovered my tranny was a quart low on fluid which allowed the tranny to function just fine on flat ground but slip on an incline.  I filled it back up later down the trail and everything was fine after that. After the rock hill, we drove down the trail for a while but the obstacles were few and far in between.

Most of the mud holes were filled in and blocked off with huge boulders for some kind of restoration project.  The only mud holes around were the ones that were impassable and too big to fill in- these were the ones we had a little fun in ;-)

The next area we played in was a sand pit area where we goofed off and I dug myself in a hole.

Jim climbing the gravel pile.

Brett climing a gravel pile.

Dustin playing in the sand area.

We kept going until we reached the first of the two impassable mud holes.  Brett played the role of being our guinea pig putting his 460 and 39" boggers to good use- if he can't get through, we can't get through.  Brett backed into the right side of the hole which was the side with the most water but least mud.  He backed in until his rear bumper was underwater and decided that was too deep so he tried pulling out and promptly got himself stuck.  I hooked my Bronco up to his and got his truck pulled out without much incident.  Brett then went over to the left side and the mud there was unbelievable.  He went in forward slowly this time and when his front tire got totally buried within a few feet, it was time to back out of that one.  That one also ended up getting Brett stuck so Jim took the opportunity to put his rear super bumper to the recovery test.  Jim got Brett out after a few tries and then we went up the bypass which was a very twisty hill up and around the mud hole.  Jim had the cool hovercraft effect when he had his front right tire floating a foot off the ground for a good 4-5 feet distance.

Brett posing just for the effect.

Jim pulling Brett out of the mud hole.

I went next and didn't have quite the hovercraft effect Jim did since my rear was so heavy.  I went up and my front tire popped off the ground a few feet up in the air for a short moment and I kept on going.  Brett went last and didn't even lift a tire due to his long wheelbase and flexiness.

The dirt hole, about a five foot drop but not too bad. If it was rainy, this would've been awesome.

Jim approaching the dirt hole.

Jim going into the dirt hole.

Brett going in the dirt hole.

We went down the trail some more and came upon a dirt hole, the entrance drops down immediately about five feet then gradually rises back to level ground- if it was wet, it would've made an awesome mud pit.  Brett went in first and scraped his rear bumper and made it out with no big deal.  Jim went next and didn't rub anything and came out right-side up ;-)
I decided not to go in because I knew I would get my spare tire hung up and didn't feel like taking it off just for that.

We kept going down the trail until we came upon the second impassable hole.  Brett went ahead and tested out how deep it was and got stuck again.  Jim pulled him out without a problem then hopped in Brett's cab to get the mudding experience.  Brett has no passenger side window but Jim didn't get dirty since Brett was able to back out the second time.

We walked over and checked out the bypass for that particular hole- boy was it nasty.  It leads away from the main trail for about 10 feet then parallels it for 40 feet then leads back to the main trail.  The bypass itself was barely wide enough for a Bronco to fit through and there were two uprooted trees which left two large holes filled with super thick, nasty mud that sucks you in.

I volunteered to give it a try after a while of thinking since it would be pretty difficult to get me out if I got stuck.  I went through the first turn and backed up so I could get a better line at the first hole, dipped my front tires in slowly then hammered it- I made it!  Of course, once I made it through that one, I was basically forced to tackle the second hole which was the bigger one of the two.

I dipped my front tires slowly into that one then hammered it again. Darn, didn't make it this time- I was buried up to my frame.

Dustin stuck in some thick, thick, nasty mud on an narrow and twisty "bypass" to the impassable mudhole (not seen). Mud was thrown 20 feet into the air and stuck on the trees.

Dustin stuck in some deep mud.

Mud thrown onto the tree from Dustin's stuck Bronco. Goes as high as 20 feet.

Brett took his truck back down the trail to the long bypass and was able to get his truck within 25 feet of me.  Due to the sharp turn in the bypass I was in- the pull had to be done in two steps.  The first pull was straight ahead with the strap between two close trees.  He was able to get me pulled out of the worst of it, my Bronco rose up three feet getting out of the hole- there was a tree root going across the mud hole that we didn't previously see and that's what halted my forward progress initially.

Brett then moved his truck over to the exit of the bypass and pulled me out while I was turning at the same time and I was finally free.  We went back to look at the hole and we could see a full 38" circular impression right in the mud wall of the tire tracks I left from me spinning my tires in one spot.  We also looked up in the trees and saw the mud sticking to the bark as high up as 20 feet- made for a good laugh.

Brett churning some water.

Brett looking around for his strap and a way out.

Brett fiddling around trying to attach his strap underwater.

Dustin pulling Brett out of the water hole.

Brett's truck breathing fire and smoke.

Brett totally buried his front.

It was around 4:30 at this time and daylight was running out so we headed back to the campground.  Brett loaded up his F-250 onto the trailer, Jim pulled his bad hub out and loaded up his Bronco with spare parts from Dave Berryman and I fixed my driving light wiring so I could have a safer drive home in the dark.  We headed to a restaurant where we had dinner (thanks, Jim) and got gas then headed home.  Brett went his own way to store his truck at his parents house an hour south of there and I stayed with Jim and Mike Masse until we got to Wausau where we split up.  One very cool thing on the way home was that Jim, Mike, and I stopped by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and got an excellent view of the Northern Lights covering most of the low northern sky.  After we split up in Wausau, I drove the last 2-1/2 hours nonstop and got home at 11:15 pm.

All in all, it was a pretty good day and we all enjoyed it.  I'm looking forward to our next run which would be a snow run in the same area.  Pics are coming real soon and possibly some video.

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