Camping trip stuck

[DirtyLarry]

So a buddy of mine made it out from Michigan for our annual camping, fishing, and trail riding trip up to this mountains this past weekend and we decided to hit a lake where we went 2 years ago. The trail over to the lake is usually a pretty easy one but this past winter was a tough one up in the high country that apparently took its toll on what is usually a very easy part of the trail that leads to the summit of the pass.

While the freshly installed 8.1L ran like a top, the stinking frame mounted fuel pump kept getting hot and would not immediately pump fuel after restarting the engine after driving on the trail at a low speeds for a few hours. It delayed us twice on the trail after I shut off the engine so the rest of the weekend it never got shut off anywhere on the trails during photo opporunties or beer breaks.

So, there we are right smack in the middle of the smoothest part of the trail stuck in a bottomless truck eating mud hole (That we slide into while trying to squeak around) with an overheated fuel pump. Lockers and Super Swampers couldn’t get me out of this one so we had to recruit the winch. This is where things got crazy. First, the 1 year old Optima deep cycle battery that runs the camper and winch was deader than hell (it had been charging all during the 6 hour road trip to this spot to boot and overnight in the garage before we left...I am not too sure about these over priced Optimas!) and nearest tree to winch to be what seemed to be a mile away.

As we strung the winch cable to that far away tree the end of the cable popped out of the spool. That was a PITA to put back in. Oh, yeah….I forgot my gloves at home and got poked a few times in the fingers by winch cable hairs! With the cable stretched as far as it would go we were still about 20 feet short of the only solid tree around. On top of that all of my recovery straps were in the topper under the sleeping platform and the truck was twisted so bad the tailgate wouldn’t open plus the 300 lbs of wood on the back of the truck wouldn’t have allowed the gate to come down anyway. Luckily, a few ATV’ers came down the trail with a couple decent size straps they let us use. By then the fuel pump cooled off and we were able to winch it out rather quickly. Note to self...leave the recovery gear behind the seat!

Actually, the funniest part of the whole trip was getting stuck. Hopefully, I will get the video’s from my buddy soon as well. The video turned out pretty cool.
Here are a few pictures.

[DirtyLarry]

A few more of the trails. This trail actually has a stream running through it. Also got some carnage to the shock bracket further up the trail after winching the Jeep up the wall.

[shortbed70]

Dang you aint kiddin about that hole that thing is deep. Nice truck.

[62 short step]

Man that looks like a blast! Awesome country!!

[DirtyLarry]

Got the rest of the pictures up on Flickr. Hopefully, my buddy figures out how to convert the video tape to something that can be uploaded to YouTube soon. The dudes in the Heep and Motorhome met us on the other side of the pass (They came in on the graded dirt into Taylor Park….Pansies).

My buddy has an autobody background so that came in quite handy as he rubbed out the past three years of tree pin stripping with the buffer before he flew home. Even after these horrible pictures the truck looks just as good as it did after it was painted in 1999. The left rear shock mount....not so much.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/1188958...7606974631688/

[OLDCHEV4X4]

That looks like lots-o-fun. I like it when camping, fishing and wheeling is combined into one trip. Was the elk not afraid of people or trucks?

[Yukon Jack]

Dang, that hole really swallowed the rear tire. Such beautiful country. I am very envious! Kansas has some pretty areas, but nothing like that!!

[DirtyLarry]

Yeah, it is pretty up there!

That baby Elk appeared to be really sick. This was the first place I shut the truck off to watch the Elk only to find the fuel pump was hot and would only cavitate the fuel when I tried to restart it. We were stuck next to the little elk for about 20 minutes while the pump cooled off.

The poor little guy laid down in the mud puddle less than 4 feet from where I was laying under the truck wrapping the pump with a wet rag.

[OLDCHEV4X4]

Poor guy, Mabey he had a fever.

[highrpm]

What trail is that??

[Bishops Trucks]

Looks like a great place to camp. I hate to see wildlife sick as much as my kids. poor thing.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by highrpm

What trail is that??

The first batch of pictures is Tin Cup Pass and the second is the trail up to Taylor Lake. I think they call it Taylor Pass. The area is between Almont and Buena Vista. It is a beautiful area. We go up to that area every year due to the large amount of trails to ride and places to fish and camp.

[steelhorse]

Have you thought of switching to an in tank fuel pump?

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by steelhorse

Have you thought of switching to an in tank fuel pump?

Yep, that is already in the works but I didn’t have all the parts before this trip. I am switching the RH tank to a 1987 fuel tank, 1987 sending unit with an AC Delco EP241 high pressure in-tank fuel pump. The LH tank will feed the RH by way of a transfer pump as I cannot find a switch valve that does not restrict the return line causing the fuel pressure to run sky high.

[special-K]

I wish I could go up there and get stuck.I think if the hole was big as your truck it would be sittin`in China by now.That`s a bottomless pit!That hole wouldn`t have scared me in your truck either.

[Hoods69BadBowTie]

Sweet pictures looks like a nice place to get out and go to. Wow thats a pretty big hole too and got the truck nice and stuck.

[Mudder]

Great pics and I am a little jealous also. Beautiful country.