Thursday:
Steve & Matt
arrived in Rogers around 10:30pm. We spent the evening watching
basketball games & catching up on the war coverage on the news
channels.
Friday:
Matt & I were also asked if we were storm
chasers by a local in
Rogers while Steve was getting his CO2 tank filled up. We left Rogers
around
9:00am and headed down to Superior Nissan of Fayetteville to speak with
the
dealership about club sponsorship, then proceed to Hot Springs.
When we
arrived at Superlift Offroad park, we did the usual trail preparations,
got our memberships & map and were off to explore the
trails.
Just as were heading out to hit some trails, a Jeep owner that had been
at
the park the same day as Steve's previous visit came up to us & asked
if he
could join us.
We went on all kinds of trails that were rated between 1 - 4. The level
5
trails were decribed as "Disreguard for any vehicle damage whatsoever.
Spare
vehicle recommended". Needless to say, we didn't attempt any level
5 trails.
Steve & Matt were able to force their way up the "Slammer" which
was a very
steep incline with several large boulders on slick smooth rock. We hit
the
trails all day until around 6:30, then headed back to the main office
to
checkout.
We went
out to eat at a mexican restaraunt in town, then headed out to our
campsite at Lake Ouchita.
Saturday:
After a good night's sleep in the cold tents, we headed back to the
park to
hit some more trails that we didn't get to the day before. We got several
looks from the other offroaders at the main office while we prepped the
trucks for the trails. One one trail, we ended up waiting at the base
of the
hill for well over an 1.5 hours for a jeep to be winched to the top.
After
he finally got to the top, all 3 of us were up it within minutes. We
watched
a jeep crawl it's way over a boulder path and then finished up our trail
runs. We went back to the main office where Steve & Matt tested their
truck's articulation on the ramp, then headed back to camp.
Sunday:
Nothing out the normal, we drove back home. Matt had a rear tire hopping
pretty bad on the interstate so we pulled off to a gas station to change
it.
We ate lunch in Rogers then Matt & Steve went on their way back
home.
This
is probably the first "Alay-free" xcursion.
We were always getting
strange looks because all three of us were driving yellow X's. All of
us
sufferred carnage. I was lucky enough to back up into 2 trees, Steve
backed
up into a tree, and Matt also had some tree damage on his driver side
door.
All of us had to change a tire at one point or another and I left with
a lot
of under body damage.
Damage aside, it was a fun weekend and possibly the most challenging
xcursion yet, in my opinion.
Chris Blum
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