This was year number 4 (or 5 if you count the pre-run I attended one year.) Word got around in our local club about the great wheelin' out there so 11 other " Boyz from Illinoiz " also attended. Some got " initiated " into real wheeling! The rest of us, once again, had a great time. Doc, one of the Illinoiz crew, wrote an article for our Two Rivers Jeep Club newsletter. It was great, and with his permission, I'm using that as the text for this page. Comments I've added are in italics. Enjoy!

You know you're in the wilderness when there is no cell phone service. So starts the first day of a long weekend when Woodpecker Dave shows up at the rented palace at 1500 hours (3:00 pm for you civilians), and says, " Let's go run Kong, I hear it's a highway now. " Six hours later, in the dark and semi-wet night, we drag our group off the trail. (Some of us, however, got through with Kong in about 2 hours - but we'd run it before.)

We started with six jeeps: Dave's with Jack as co-pilot, Steve with side kick Larry, Mike's, Jeff's, mine, and a TJ with Vern, " the road builder " , from Colorado. The first obstacle got the attention of everyone who had never been to South Dakota and then things got a lot more interesting when it started to rain. By the time we got to the second obstacle, Vern was tired from lifting big rocks to build a launching ramp for his Jeep (since we wouldn't help him screw up the trail any more than it already was!) so he turned around and went back. The rest of us moved on, powered by limited traction, high lift jacks, and winches.

(Holy Jesus Falls was unofficially given to this obstacle last year by BackWudz, aka Rock Slut, the guy from New Hampshire who went on Kong with us and when he saw the obstacle called it " Holy Jesus Falls " cause you get up there and if you are unfortunate enough to look out the passenger side, you say " HOLY JESUS ! ! " ) Running Holy Jesus Falls in the dark with it's eight foot drop off on your right while traversing a ledge narrower than a Jeep is an experience that should not be missed. Everyone made it through Kong with only some minor clutch linkage damage. However, Mike and Jeff won't be asking Dave for highway road conditions for a while. Later that evening we arrived back at the rental palace and John and Randy were there, having just arrived from Illinoiz. When John asked where we had been, we told him. We got the " ARE YOU NUTS " look. (John had run Kong with me the previous year!)

Today, we left with a slightly smaller group as I'm sure that Mike and Jeff decided that we were indeed nuts (actually, they had some repairs to do that they didn't find in the dark). Dave and Jack led the group through Rapid City by Braille with John and Randy also leading from the back with advice from Steve and Larry on the GPS. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who was lost. After meandering through the forest for a while, Dave found a shelf road that led down into the canyon we wanted. This road was plenty narrow and had a considerable drop-off on the passenger side (Randy, Larry, and Jack looked like cheerleaders dating the football quarterback as they were leaning in so close to the drivers to get away from the edge).

Iceman features one truly gargantuan boulder that sits next to an almost vertical ledge. For a sense of scale, this rock is taller than Steve, with the gap between boulder and ledge about four feet apart. I'm not sure why anyone would try to drive over this, so of course we all gave it a try. John went first and really got to test the tilt-o-meter before he got over. Dave got about six feet of air under the driver's side front tire, then got a case of the smarts and backed out. Steve (who from now on will be known as the " rock master " ) just drove over, ho-hum. Later on this trail, nature got even and Steve's front drive shaft pulled apart. Dave was considering the new handle of " Porcupine " as he managed to poke holes in all his tires, and had as many as six plugs in one tire. We then had a spirited drive on the fire roads going back as we made the mistake of putting the Mangler in front. No question who had the V-8. The last I saw of John till we hit pavement was a forty-foot mud rooster tail. Did I mention it was raining again? Back at the palace, Graham and Brad made it to camp with the TJ, driven from Illinoiz.

This trail has been under water for the last few Dakota Challenges. Unfortunately, this year it wasn't. John led off the carnage on the first waterfall when his springs went into an incredible example of negative arch and pulled the front drive shaft apart. Things went well for a while, if you consider bashing the undercarriage of your Jeep on a rock every two feet as normal. More broken parts at " Tip-Over-Rock " . John broke a front U joint on the long side and then had a fun time winching to the by-pass road. Steve broke the cap on a U joint at the same place, but had an easier time making it to the by-pass. Dave and I decided to go on. Then we came to a squeeze and Dave mangled the right rear corner of his Jeep. (Jeepman told me that would happen!)

We get to the next hill and as I get to the top, Dave says, " Cool ! ! ! There are sparks shooting out of your right front wheel ! " U joint, inner axle, and outer axle turned into expensive scrap. Well, I thought there is only about one hundred and fifty feet to the end of this section, I'll drive out in three wheel drive. Wrong! This is a hard trail. Out came the winch cable and we finished up. Things could have been worse, one of the Jeeps on this trail broke the transfer case cross member and put the fan and most of the water pump through the radiator. Did I mention it was raining? Special thanks to Jeff for following me and my wounded Jeep back to camp. I always feel better knowing that if my Jeep turns into a flaming ball of wreckage that there will be someone who can identify the body. (Afterwards, I of course, had to go into Deadwood to buy a case of tire plugs. We happened upon some of the Boyz from Illinoiz and proceeded to the nearest Deadwood eatery for some food and a few brews - not necessarily in that order !)

Jake is close to camp and was not finished all the way up. But it is a very challenging, if short trail, consisting of mud covered rocks with the main attraction being the waterfall at what is now the end of the trail. Our guide tried to go up with his diesel powered Jeep, got stuck, then hooked up his hydraulic winch which immediately broke. We all rolled our eyes and then volunteered John to try next. No go. Then Dave gave it a shot. No go. Then Steve (who from now on will be addressed as " The Rock GOD " ) drove right up, ho-hum. After we all made it to the top, I found that my Jeep broke a weld on the fuel tank and was in danger of indeed becoming a forest fireball. The afternoon turned out to be a trail that didn't sound too interesting, so we went back to the palace. Did I mention it was raining? (The palace, by the way, is the rented lodge high on the hill.)

We were sitting around watching video from the day when a local we had met earlier knocked on the door and asked if we could help pull his Jeep back on the road. For some reason (the speculation was almost as much fun as the rescue) this guy and his girl friend drove off a perfectly good road and slid down into an aspen tree, which kept them from rolling down a BIG hill. Things turned out well as our club members did a nice job of getting the Jeep back on the road with no additional damage.

Did I mention it wasn't raining? What a great day! Tops off and windshields down, we came to the first obstacle. Everyone made it through with ease, until we found Steve's U joint cap lying on the ground. Steve and Larry decided to call it a day, but walked ahead to video the next obstacle; a near vertical ledge about six feet tall. Our trail leader broke a front axle right away, but winched up. Three out of the group made it up and all used different lines, one of which I would never try and still can't believe worked. This was where a Willys rolled the day before. Not to be outdone, the guy in our group driving a Branger (Ranger body on full size Bronco frame, very tall, very narrow, very unstable, go figure) managed to do the complete roll and then some; breaking out the glass he didn't break when he rolled the first day. Larry has this on tape. If you want to see a copy, send him some e-mail.

The rest of the trail was uneventful, with some interesting challenges, but nothing really difficult. However, that doesn't mean that if you do something dumb enough you can't make it difficult. I decided to stuff my left front tire in a hole with the locker off. Then I turned the locker on and broke the left front axle. The " Boyz From Illinoiz " Pit Crew jumped into action and changed the axle assembly by the time the Branger was up right. Everyone had a great day except maybe for Steve and Larry, who did some cave thing. Quote of the day by Steve, " It had about a million steps coming out " .

Back at camp that evening they gave out some special prizes for ramp travel and Swamper toss (our own Randy finished second). The highlight of the evening had to be when Gumby's head exploded (hat too tight after making impossible climbs) and left Toumbs looking like Ben Stiller in " Something about Mary " . (Steve was consuming an adult beverage and claimed I made him laugh at an inopportune moment. I think he sneezed!) Gumby guards will be available at a modest price from the Woodoff Corporation in a few weeks. Order now!

All in all, " WHAT A WEEKEND! "
and wherever we go - we have fun!