Thursday morning January 1st I met Mark Colby on the 91 xway at Green River exit. We headed North on I-15. I got a call on my cell from Jeff Reynolds and he was about 15 minutes ahead of us coming across the I-210 getting on the I-15 so we met up on Bear Valley road to head across to Hardcore Heaven. We got into camp around 10:AM, got set up, had lunch, and headed out on a run. Since it was a little late to start a regular trail we went to Lower Big Johnson to run it. Near the top four “Big Dogs” came up behind us in Rock Buggies. They were going to run Upper Big Johnson so we parked at the start and watched them head up. About 1/3 of the way up the lead buggy broke his mounts on the rear axle and it wrapped up so they had to fix and weld it before going on. We didn’t wait any longer since we wanted to see the New Trail called Back Door. It is located West of camp unlike the rest that are East of camp. When they say it is extreme they aren’t kidding. Just getting on the trail separates the men from the boys. We parked a walked up and the first waterfall is one tough climb. A rock buggy and a beat up Toyota came along so we watched them. The buggy was first and he made it only with huge power train parts, 40” tires, and lots of power and a don’t give up attitude. The Toyota was next and it looked like a no win deal for him. After about 20 minutes we left and I don’t know if he ever made it. Back at camp we had dinner and set around the fire and told tall tales before going to bed.

The next morning we were ready early so we headed out at 7:15 to run Back Jack. Since Jeff had lead the day before I headed out in front. We started into Lower Back Jack, which most people go around, and I found it to be a fun section with some technical maneuvering. The rest of the trail to the top was just a lot of fun with good obstacles. On top the wind picked up on the ridge and the trail across it to Jack Hammer is getting really tore up. Once we started down Jack we found it really torn up and we all wondered if we could get back up it with out a lot of rock stacking and maybe winching. Well maybe next year we’ll find out. Near the bottom about a hundred yards from the normal start is a waterfall. Going up it you stay to your left and hug the wall but to your right is a fairly steep but flat incline. I stopped before going down to look it over and pick my line. I decided the flat area looked better going down but the bottom is broken away so it has a good drop at the bottom. There is a small groove that I decided to run my left tire in and I kept it in 4 gear and road the clutch and brake going down so if it started to do an endo when the front tires dropped off I could dump the clutch and gun it to pull it back out. It turned out to be no worries but as the back tires dropped off the back of my frame dragged which is no problem for me. Jeff didn’t like that line so he decided to go down with his right front tire in the groove. When the right front dropped off with the left front still up and all the downhill weight transfer he laid it on its side. It took out the front fender, hood, grill, windshield frame and glass, and the radiator and fan. Mark pulled off to the side and used his winch to put it back on its feet. I used my rear winch to pull out the grill and we straightened the fan. When we got back to camp we pulled the hood and used my trailer floor for a table and using an 18” piece of 4X4 and my Jeep hammer we straightened it out to where it looks pretty good. I called Warren to have him go by my house and pick up a new radiator and bring it with him in the morning.

The next morning Warren showed up, (early which is surprising for Warren), and in a few minuets we had the radiator in and were ready to go. We headed to the original, which is Sledgehammer. It may be the original but it is tougher than ever. Part way up a clip came off a front axle u-joint and caused it to break so out came the tools and spare axle. About 40 minutes later we were going again. It was slow going but we made it through the first 1/3 to the mailbox by lunchtime. After lunch we started up the second section. Everything was going good tell Mark who was in the lead missed a line and wound up caught between a rock and a hard place literally. He couldn’t move either way so we put the hi-lift in the middle of the back end to try to slide it sideways. With the jack all the way up it still wouldn’t move so I suggested starting the engine and spinning the rear tires to help it slide. The engine wouldn’t start and we thought the battery had taken a dump. We tried jumping it and no luck so in checking the starter found it to be bad. No worries, Mark had a spare starter. We put it on and same thing. We found the spare was also no good. We then started Jeff’s jeep, left it running, pulled off his starter and put it on Marks jeep. After that it was a smooth ride back to camp where we packed up and came home.

One final comment about Warren. It was his first trip to the Hammers and the toughest trail he had ever done. He made through in fine fashion and did an excellent job and next year he plans on coming out for more than just a day.

Frank Hayes KE6RDG
President Orange County 4-Play
Hayes Ent. custom Jeep work
http://hayesentjeep.com