*PICS* Badlands 3/25/07 **56K, STAY AWAY!**

Trip Report:

ZYNE and I arrive about 20 seconds apart at Badlands. We both thought we were an hour early, but we forgot about the time change where the park is located at. After waiting around for 15 min, the park opens. We pay or fee and get to the parking area.. ZYNE calls HG to find out they are about 40 min away. So Zyne and I go for a short expedition around some of the dune area.. We get back and call HG again.. He is still 40 min out??!! So we wait around about 50 min, then HM and HG show up with their dates. We air down and hit the trails.

The park is packed with quads, bikes trucks jeeps and ofcourse these 4 awesome Hummers. We slowly make our way around the park catching the eyes of every man woman and child with awe.

The weather is wonderful everything is great.. except this shreaking noise most of us hear on the CB.. Wait a min.. it sounds like a little girl.. But i have the only female in the group.. who could it be? Ohhhh it's HG going down the first hill...  after the hill we romp though what some are calling a river (i call it a creek) to a nice large hill to climb out of the water. ZYNE gets a little leaning coming out, but does a great job and pulls on though...

Next its HG's turn.. we are all waiting but he doesnt see this HUGE rock he is climbing over in the water. I tried to stop him but nope.. He moves over it and "thud". Hes stuck. After working it for a few min, he gets loose and the crowd roars.. (Crowd= man, wife and child on ATVs in creek.)

HG makes it up the hill in great style and form. I give him a solid 9.5. (-.5 points for rock incident)

Now, being the observant guy that i am, I avoid the rock and just make my way up the hill silently. No fanfair for me thank you. lol

We take a run on the perimiter trail, driving on mostly flat ground with some puddles and a couple whoop-dee-doos, more or less a relaxing drive. HM find a nice drop down onto another trail. We drop down the trail. ZYNE makes it look easy with his H2, HG does it with flair and has no problem (see videos).

Next we drive around ont he trail a bit and we come out back on the perimeter trial. HM decides to drop down again on to another trail then ******** ********  ******** **** ** **** ******  ******** ********* ********** ** *** ********* ****** ***** ***. So we decied to go another route. (Ask HM what happened.. the *'s are there to protect the innocent.) This is where HG decide that a 4 lb. rock that is maybe the size of a medium size coffee can is too much for his tires, so he climbs down the hill to move said rock out of our path. Thank you Mike for saving us all with that possible disaster waiting to catch some unsuspecting Hummer! We all owe Mike our lives!

We end up on some dunes and take a few pics then off to some more trails. We end up on a trial that is a little narrow for fat vehicles Cough*H2's*cough, but we try it anyway.. ZYNE had a battle with a tree that has been there for a little bit of time. We pulled the tree out of the way so he could pass. I must had it to ZYNE, he did very well in these tight areas, i dont think anyone else could have done any better!!! hats off to you bro! :)

We get back to the parking area for some grub where we all sit and chat in the WONDERFUL weather. We decide, since some of us drove a long ways, lets air up and head out.

Again, my wife and I feel lucky to have meet all of you. Thanks HG for getting this trip together. We look forward to doing it all again with you guys.




Here are about 2/3 of the pics I took. I am uploading 2 videos as well..

Here's the group:

HummerGuy, ZYNE, jdrew, HummerMike (in order from left to right)



[image]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t172/j

These are great pics! I just sent the link to my wife.  She's coming next time! 
 
Nick:  How's that tubby bitch look NOW?
(tubby bitch = Nick's H2, his nickname for it)

Still muddy as hell LOL!  I'm working up the energy to head on down there to get it done .. in fact, I'm pretty much out of here ... should be one lenghty endevour getting all the mud out .. there's needless to say a ton of it ....

Great event Guys...Glad you all got to meet up..
 
Was this guy flippin you off Nick..just so you'd feel like you were back in the Hood..?

LOL.!!!
 
I added a nice trip report above the pictures..

First Vid of ZYNE

http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t172/jdrewh3/?action=view&current=MOV00317.flv
 

Hey J, you got it wrong.  You said HummerMike got stuck on the rock........................  We ALL know who really did............

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

Hey J, you got it wrong.  You said HummerMike got stuck on the rock........................  We ALL know who really did............

 
 
hmm... not sure about that one.. lets see if the check you wrote me clears before I really look back into my memory...
 
Here is a vid of HG..
 
http://s160.photobucket.com/albums/t172/jdrewh3/?action=view&current=MOV00322.flv
 
 

NO sir.  I got stuck on the rick on the creek, remember? HummerMike was the first one up!  You are getting us confused, AGAIN!!!!!!
 
And to think you don't even look THAT old..............

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

NO sir.  I got stuck on the rick on the creek, remember? HummerMike was the first one up!  You are getting us confused, AGAIN!!!!!!

And to think you don't even look THAT old..............

 
you're right, typed wrong letter there... oops! HM's spot was the other one... I didnt get you confused... i just cant type..

LOL Den!!!  No, HummerMike saved my ass more than once spotting me down what I can only call more or less blind drops! 
 
Thanks for the compliments JD!  That last mud trail before the posed picture on the mound was definitely a wee bit tight for a Deuce but ... Deuce 131 - Trees, brush and other vegetation, well, about 3 that I saw today lol!
 
Had a great time and hopefully by the time we're due for the next trip my truck will be in order again :-)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ZYNE

LOL Den!!!  No, HummerMike saved my ass more than once spotting me down what I can only call more or less blind drops! 

Thanks for the compliments JD!  That last mud trail before the posed picture on the mound was definitely a wee bit tight for a Deuce but ... Deuce 131 - Trees, brush and other vegetation, well, about 3 that I saw today lol!

Had a great time and hopefully by the time we're due for the next trip my truck will be in order again :-)

 
Just so you guys all know, ZYNE/NICK was the queitest and most mellowed out person there.  I think he said something like 25 words the entire time lol, totally opposite of what you'd expect from him.  Now, Jeremy and myself on the other hand, yeah, we talk as much here as we do in person, in fact, people had to turn their CB's off to shut me up......................

to be honest, the best was seeing ZYNE and HG having fun... I like to see when people not real familiar with off roading having a good time and gaining confidence in what they are doing..
 
 

the videos were nice, but it would have been fun to see their faces when they came down the first drop at the top of the hill.  glad you guys had a good time and came out relatively unscathed. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: jdrew

This is where HG decide that a 4 lb. rock that is maybe the size of a medium size coffee can is too much for his tires, so he climbs down the hill to move said rock out of our path. Thank you Mike for saving us all with that possible disaster waiting to catch some unsuspecting Hummer! We all owe Mike our lives!

Hey, that rock was VERY sharp OK?  I'm sorry if I'm not Mr. big and bad I have nice tires.  Hell you drive 100 miles a day to and from work and see how your tires hold up
 
And Drew/Jeremy/Ocifer (damn, I didn't call him that not once): You have to admit, like you said, he piloted that H2 through places I didn't even think a ATV could get past.  I mean you guys should have seen the approach angles.  He had that fat biotch at a 45 degree angle on it's side squeezing through trees and trails made for ATV's.  I honestly was amazed by it all.  We kept getting out to watch him.  There was only one large branch that Jeremy and I had to pull away from his H2 so he could squeeze through, but the rest he did on his own.  I'm still amazed.  I wish I would have gotten some video of him coming down that slope where the tree was 1 inch from his pass. side.  I caught like a 5 second clip of it.  I'll post it if you want lol

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

quote:

ORIGINAL: jdrew

This is where HG decide that a 4 lb. rock that is maybe the size of a medium size coffee can is too much for his tires, so he climbs down the hill to move said rock out of our path. Thank you Mike for saving us all with that possible disaster waiting to catch some unsuspecting Hummer! We all owe Mike our lives!

Hey, that rock was VERY sharp OK?  I'm sorry if I'm not Mr. big and bad I have nice tires.  Hell you drive 100 miles a day to and from work and see how your tires hold up

And Drew/Jeremy/Ocifer (damn, I didn't call him that not once): You have to admit, like you said, he piloted that H2 through places I didn't even think a ATV could get past.  I mean you guys should have seen the approach angles.  He had that fat biotch at a 45 degree angle on it's side squeezing through trees and trails made for ATV's.  I honestly was amazed by it all.  We kept getting out to watch him.  There was only one large branch that Jeremy and I had to pull away from his H2 so he could squeeze through, but the rest he did on his own.  I'm still amazed.  I wish I would have gotten some video of him coming down that slope where the tree was 1 inch from his pass. side.  I caught like a 5 second clip of it.  I'll post it if you want lol


You're right.. I only drive about 45 miles a day to work and back...

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

And Drew/Jeremy/Ocifer (damn, I didn't call him that not once):

Smart man you are... lol

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

You have to admit, like you said, he piloted that H2 through places I didn't even think a ATV could get past.

I believe I already admitted it.. "You have to admit, like you said" 

Mike... you were the life of the party...

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

quote:

ORIGINAL: ZYNE

LOL Den!!!  No, HummerMike saved my ass more than once spotting me down what I can only call more or less blind drops! 

Thanks for the compliments JD!  That last mud trail before the posed picture on the mound was definitely a wee bit tight for a Deuce but ... Deuce 131 - Trees, brush and other vegetation, well, about 3 that I saw today lol!

Had a great time and hopefully by the time we're due for the next trip my truck will be in order again :-)

Just so you guys all know, ZYNE/NICK was the queitest and most mellowed out person there.  I think he said something like 25 words the entire time lol, totally opposite of what you'd expect from him.  Now, Jeremy and myself on the other hand, yeah, we talk as much here as we do in person, in fact, people had to turn their CB's off to shut me up......................

 
Shhh ... you're messing me up here man lol!!!  In all honesty, I'm normally not quite THAT quiet but after everything I had experienced that day, I was a wee bit humbled by it all! 
You just had an image of me as Mr. Highstrung which is quite true most of the time but ... being out of town, hanging out with ya'll in the mud and not being bothered by work for a change .. hell, that stuff does wonders for an over worked IT idiot like myself! 

quote:

ORIGINAL: jdrew

to be honest, the best was seeing ZYNE and HG having fun... I like to see when people not real familiar with off roading having a good time and gaining confidence in what they are doing..

 
Gaining it!?  I feel like I had it crammed down my throat every hill we climbed or every drop we went down .. I haven't had this much fun in years!  Having the experience you guys offered readily available is truly what made it what it was for me ... I wouldn't have tackled any of those pucker factor spots with out it ... Like I always say "I've done been schooled" and I thank yas for it! 

quote:

ORIGINAL: HummerGuy

quote:

ORIGINAL: jdrew

This is where HG decide that a 4 lb. rock that is maybe the size of a medium size coffee can is too much for his tires, so he climbs down the hill to move said rock out of our path. Thank you Mike for saving us all with that possible disaster waiting to catch some unsuspecting Hummer! We all owe Mike our lives!

Hey, that rock was VERY sharp OK?  I'm sorry if I'm not Mr. big and bad I have nice tires.  Hell you drive 100 miles a day to and from work and see how your tires hold up

And Drew/Jeremy/Ocifer (damn, I didn't call him that not once): You have to admit, like you said, he piloted that H2 through places I didn't even think a ATV could get past.  I mean you guys should have seen the approach angles.  He had that fat biotch at a 45 degree angle on it's side squeezing through trees and trails made for ATV's.  I honestly was amazed by it all.  We kept getting out to watch him.  There was only one large branch that Jeremy and I had to pull away from his H2 so he could squeeze through, but the rest he did on his own.  I'm still amazed.  I wish I would have gotten some video of him coming down that slope where the tree was 1 inch from his pass. side.  I caught like a 5 second clip of it.  I'll post it if you want lol

 
I know the hill you are talking about Mike .. I think that was right out of the creek and before I got the hang of it ... yep, 45 degree is no lie .. not to mention the 2 inches I had from my drivers side door to the ground/other side of the hill LOL!  If anyone wants a picture of the shark fin in my drivers seat, I'll be more than happy to take it .. that one puckered me up .. some lol! 
I'd like to see the vid if you have it .. if nothing else I'll pull still frames from it!
 

I wish I had a sunroof like ZYNE.... 

Nice pics.... especially that white one...

He may have been smart in not calling you Ocifer or nuffin BUT .. let's face it here .. that pic of your makes you appear 10 times more of a badass than how you come across in person!  Seeing how you and your wife gave each other a little rippin' while we were eating lunch was too funny ... it's dead on what Les (my wife) and myself do on a daily basis!  Badass?  At work maybe .. but off duty .. nahh .. ya aight! :-)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Muddydawg75

I wish I had a sunroof like ZYNE.... 

Nice pics.... especially that white one...

 
I have a hack saw and a spare sheet of plexiglass just sitting in the garage if you want it lol!!!  Thank ye, though even AFTER a VERY thorough wash today it's white .. with a slight haze of mud brown ... lol! 

quote:

ORIGINAL: ZYNE

quote:

ORIGINAL: Muddydawg75

I wish I had a sunroof like ZYNE.... 

Nice pics.... especially that white one...

I have a hack saw and a spare sheet of plexiglass just sitting in the garage if you want it lol!!!  Thank ye, though even AFTER a VERY thorough wash today it's white .. with a slight haze of mud brown ... lol! 

I dunno bro... I don't think I could get a clean cut on that overhead console...

Is it safe to assume we all have high speed Internet connections by now!?  I'm guessing we do .. something struck me as I was browsing through JD's Photobucket album again checking out all the good pics ... 
I get some pretty good discounts on certain things through work, well through our parent company I guess.  I've been contemplating getting a hosting service setup here for a while .. I do quite a bit of (non-offroading lol) photography and really wouldn't mind publishing some of that stuff online ..
If there is an interest in maybe sharing these full size pics we took and will take in the future ...  I'd be more than happy to up my initial 10GB storage estimate to 20GB and facilitate that and even the HTML if you would want to use it.  The cost difference is so insignificant I'll probably up it regardless as it gives me additional bandwidth to play with each month .. 

If nothing else for us who want the full sized images it would be a hell of an easy way to get it all accessible to everyone. 

quote:

ORIGINAL: Muddydawg75

quote:

ORIGINAL: ZYNE

quote:

ORIGINAL: Muddydawg75

I wish I had a sunroof like ZYNE.... 

Nice pics.... especially that white one...

I have a hack saw and a spare sheet of plexiglass just sitting in the garage if you want it lol!!!  Thank ye, though even AFTER a VERY thorough wash today it's white .. with a slight haze of mud brown ... lol! 

I dunno bro... I don't think I could get a clean cut on that overhead console...

 
I have access to a plasma cutter too if that falls a little closer to your own taste .. hehehehe .. I'm guessing it would run ya at least $1,500 to add it as an after thought .. if not, close to 2 grand .. pretty expensive for a hole in your roof ... and may I add I got one hell of a tan/lobster color in my face driving around all day with that thing open .. lol