SUNDAY, 20 FEBRUARY

 Well, we placed bets that Ryan wouldn’t make the 100+ mile drive back out to Manhattan for the second day of the Run, but he proved us wrong. The weather on Sunday was perfect - - clear skies, temperature at 60 degrees, but still enough mud to make things interesting…

We traveled new trails for the most part of Sunday, but our first destination was “Drive Shaft”. For the second time in two days I was thwarted by that hill, and I knew Matt wouldn’t be running through the mud bog again to provide entertainment in lieu of my excuses for failing to reach the summit. 

After I sheepishly backed down the hill (again), Matt started his ascent. He made it without a problem - - much to my consternation. It was a great effort, and it reaffirmed my goal of getting to the top of that hill before the day was over. Matt had offered to take me to the top of ”Drive Shaft” in his rig, but I demurred. Oh well…

We hit some more trails and wound our way to a fairly off-camber muddy trail that gave us all a good practical exercise that included mass (Explorers), lack of friction (mud), and leverage (camber). I was in the lead and couldn’t help but notice that in addition to my forward momentum, I was also sliding to my left down the hill. I overcame my initial reaction to brake and accelerated slightly, regaining my relatively forward progress, bypassing a steep drop off to the creek below me. Mike was next down the chute, and experienced the same sliding motion as I had. He reached the point of decision on the trail where an intersection with a small trail leads down a steep embankment to the creek. Although the embankment is steep, it is not off camber. Mike started to slide just as he got to the embankment trail. With a subtle maneuver, he backed up and turned his wheels down hill. He coasted down into the creek with ease, making a condition that could have been a potential roll over look easy. Matt followed Mike, experiencing the same conditions. At the decision point he stopped, which I mistook for a pose for a good camera shot. In a situation that only seems funny after it is long over, Matt positioned his body into the passenger seat area, leaning as far to the up hill side of the trail as possible, trying to insure that “Tippy” kept its current nickname, instead of something like “Rolly”. Within a few seconds, he pointed the front end down the embankment and entered the creek. 

It was at this time I was certain that Matt was getting enough excitement from the trails in Kansas!  Yesterday’s concerns of him considering the trails in Kansas as “average” ended as soon as he entered the water. 

  Here’s Mike driving into the same creek, but a few hundred yards down stream. The embankment that he and Matt descended was steeper than this one…

 We headed back through some of the more narrow trails, wary of the influences of mud. We stopped at some more rock areas, getting another good suspension workout. 
 
 

Mike on  the ledge

Ryan climbing a hill

From this area, we found our way to a neat area within the woods with a large concrete sewer pipe. Matt and I climbed the pipe with relative ease, but even with my “Rock Grabber” rocker protection, I wasn’t going to completely traverse the pipe - - just a bit too much approach and departure angle for me…

From here we headed back towards to “Drive Shaft”. Well, enough of the anticipation building, I made it up the %*/@+”~* hill! I’ve climbed that hill a dozen times, but none were as satisfying as that ascent.

From the vanquished “Drive Shaft” we made our way to “Hard Luck Hill”. This is another steep descent into a cut followed by a steep ascent up the other side. Again, elevation change from top to bottom is about 100 feet. We made the trip across without a problem, and decided to reverse direction to return to the starting point. It was on the return trip that Mike had some traction problems. Although mostly sunny for the last two days, sufficient mud still existed on the slopes. He fought the uphill battle on the ascent, finally making the summit after a few minutes. Again, a difficult but usually doable trail had almost gotten the best of us. Mike was overheard mentioning something about “Lockers” once he got to the top…

With that final assault complete, we decided to call it a day. We headed back to the local gas station to air up, get gas, and clean the vehicles. 

All in all, a great weekend. We were able to run some pretty challenging and technical trails, and had fun doing it. Other than Ryan’s slightly damaged running board, there was no damage to the vehicles (although Matt temporarily closed the car wash after the Mud Bog caper). We got a chance to check out each other’s rigs, getting some ideas for future modifications, and articulate the pros and cons of some of the modifications we’ve made to date. Perhaps the best part of the Run is the opportunity “to put the faces to the names” for guys who frequently post on the Rick’s site. A great bunch of guys who share the common bond of the Ford Explorer… 
 

See you on the trail,

Paul