2015 WAYALIFE Last Chance Canyon Newbie Run

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
For almost 10 years now, Cindy and I have been doing newbie runs up in the El Paso Mountains on a trail called Last Chance Canyon and without question, it is one of our favorite runs that we do each year. Nothing beats seeing the expressions of people who are new to the world of off-roading, take on terrain that seemed otherwise impassible and then conquer it with their Jeep. The smiles and laughter that we see and hear are as sincere as they get and it is in times like these that we truly get to remember what it is about the Jeep WAYALIFE that we love so much.

I apologize for the lack of photos but here are a just a handful of photos that we were able to take from the run and I hope you enjoy them.

Topping off with gas that's a dollar cheaper than California for the last time.
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Making a stop along the Walker River to take in the view.
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Checking out the old iron at the world famous Erik Schats Bakkery in Bishop.
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Home for the night before the run.
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And look what we have here - some friends to join in on the fun!
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Because it's never too late to celebrate a good time - CHEERS!!
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Everyone starting to show up at the trailhead.
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It's always a pleasure to see some old iron show up for a run like this.
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Time to let some air out of the tires.
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Here's a shot of Moochie and JeepFan helping to disconnect sway bar links on a stock 2-door.
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OverlanderJK and Irish JK helping out as well while Tessa supervises their work.
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Heading into the canyon and ready to have some fun!
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What we love about Last Chance Canyon is that the obstacles are big enough to give a stock Jeep a hard time yet can still be tough enough to give a modified Jeep a challenge as well. A perfect trail to learn on.
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A minor hiccup. The sway bar on this Jeep wasn't tied up properly and so it got caught up under the spring perch after flexing it's way on the trail. Fortunately, there was a rock nearby where we could get it flexed out again and get things fixed.
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Back on the move again and on to some ledge climbs.
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Making our way out of the canyon and onto the last obstacle.
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Lining up at the bottom of what we call Graduation Hill. Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of anyone going up because we were filming this.
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Here's a shot of us at the famous Burro Schmidt Tunnel where we stopped to make the half mile hike through the tunnel and have some lunch.
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Crazy to think that some guy spent 38 years to dig out this half mile long tunnel and all by hand.
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Out on the other side.
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Home for the night - couldn't have asked for a better day.
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To all my friends old and new - CHEERS!!
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A shot of camp the next morning.
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The air smelled like you were in a flower shop.
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Heading out in a sea of gold.
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Working our way off the trail through the Goler Gulch Narrows.
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Cindy and I would like to give a BIG THANKS to JeepFan, OverlanderJK, Moochie and Irish JK for all their help in making this run possible. We'd also like to thank everyone who came out for the run as we had a great time with all of you. It is our hope that you were able to learn a few things about your Jeep and that you had a good time as well. Until the next time, keep the shiny side up, all four on the floor and with any luck, we'll see you on the trail! :cool:

More photos from members are posted below...
 
Had a blast with these guys today! Wish I could have stayed the night. Until the next time…thanks for everyone who helped out and showed love. Much respect! :clap2::thumb:
 
Made it home. With a quick stop at In N' Out to pick up lunch.:). Thanks again Eddie and Cindy and to all who helped out. Lisa, myself and the kids all had a blast. Now to eat and unpack.
 
Finally made it home from this weekends run. I can't even begin to explain how much fun I had. Got to meet lots of new people and finally had the chance to put faces to screen names.

Huge thanks to Eddie and Cindy for everything. You both and your team of helpers really made this weekend a great time. Looking forward to getting back out there again for some ore fun.

I got a butch of pictures so I'll make sure to start posting them up asap. Thanks again to everyone there and I look forward to seeing you all again soon
 
CJ and I got home nice and early. Thanks again to Eddie and Cindy, as well as all the people who helped me along the way. This weekend was awesome, and I hope to do it again with all of you soon. It was a pleasure meeting all of you.

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Finally made it home from this weekends run. I can't even begin to explain how much fun I had. Got to meet lots of new people and finally had the chance to put faces to screen names.

Huge thanks to Eddie and Cindy for everything. You both and your team of helpers really made this weekend a great time. Looking forward to getting back out there again for some ore fun.

I got a butch of pictures so I'll make sure to start posting them up asap. Thanks again to everyone there and I look forward to seeing you all again soon

Ditto! Despite where I am now. Had a blast. And my adventure continues! :)
 
1. This is a long story.
2. It's rated PG13
3. The break had nothing to do with the trip.

--------------------------------------------

Ok. Finally made it to a hotel. The good news is my adventure continues. The bad news is that it's not in my jeep.

So one time after coming back to Ca from Mt I got a check engine light. Took it to the dealer and they were like 'oh it's a piston issue. It's under warranty we'll take care of it. Give us 3 days.' Called in three days and 'oh it's taking longer than we thought. Called back in 5 days and 'oh it was not the piston we thought.' Got called back a week later that it was ready.

Since then, it's been getting hot. A little over midline but it would come back to normal once the fan kicked in. I took it back to the dealer for an oil change and explained the heating issue (and a burning smell) and they said it was nothing.

Then one day while in hollister hills, it actually redlined and screamed at me. So I shut it down and waited and it's been fine ever since. But it was all street driving. Occasionally it would creep up a little but then normal.

Anyway... It was heating up this weekend on the newbie trip. Nothing I hadn't seen before. In fact Eddie gave me some tips to keep it cool and it was all working. No excessive over heating except for on small portion coming out where we saw coolant dripping.

Ovrlander had a look with us and we agreed it was just coming out the resoviour. Not problems.


Made it out the canyon, aired up and started driving home. It got a little hot but always went back down. Until I hit Bakersfield. Then it hit the H and yelled at me. I turned off my ac and rolled down the windows and it went back down. So I thought 'ok no ac. Fine.' Until I hit the middle of nowhere on I-5.

Here is where it decided to go to H and stay. So I pulled over. I heard the fan was on but it wasn't going down so I turned it off. It was here my nerves started to kick in. I wanted to go home to my wife and dog. wtf. My stomach replied with its usual 'panic response.' Where as I explained to it that we were in the middle of nowhere, please don't do this here.

So anyway, I waited about an hour and started it up again and it seemed fine. That lasted about 5 miles. It heated up again but all the way to H. My stomach said 'how about now?!?!?' in which case I told it to shut the duck up, I did not have the time and this was not the place.

I should mention at each of the stops I checked and filled coolant. I saw leaks but res seemed ok each time. It was never empty.

So I called towing assist from Chrysler. The guy said 'where are you?' I said 'middle of nowhere in California.' He said 'what businesses or buildings do you see around you?' And I said dirt and sand.

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Finally after giving GPS coordinates he was able to sort of figure out my location. (Somewhere north of Avelon). So he said he would call the towing company who would tow me to the nearest dealer which was 50 miles away in Hanford. It was at this time my phone started bitching about low battery. (About 10% at this point).

So after all that my stomach was like 'ok!!! Now!!!' And I was like "ugh. I'm starting to think so. I'll think of options and get back to you. Settle down for now."

Wait another 30 minutes and I get an incoming call from Ontario,ca. It was Chrysler. Asking me to verify my location because it seems the previous request was put in wrong. I asked what that meant. I didn't get an answer really. Only the same scripted questions and that a tow company will be called to take me to the nearest dealer.

Wait another 20 minutes. The tow company calls. I'm paraphrasing now but not too much "uhhhh.... So since I don't know where you are in going to cancel the call. I need your exact location. So we aren't coming out. Just dial 911 and ask them to come out." I offered gps coordinates but he said those aren't always accurate so he wouldn't even take them. No longer having the energy or patience to deal with Stupid I just ok I'll call 911.

So at this time my stomach said "DUDE! It's now or now. No time for never! Make this happen! Or I will!" So it was at this time I demonstrated some ingenuity and the versatility of the jeep (that is not advertised). Without giving away all the details but painting enough of the picture for you to do so, it involved the hanging of a bed sheet over the frame inside the hard top and what used to be my lunch box. I'm sure many a Overlander would have been proud. I'm not proud of what I did but did what I had to do. And sadly I'm no longer able to use my lunch box. EVER.

So with that out of the way, I thought I could focus on fixing my problem. I ripped off the POS plastic skid plate under the front of the jeep (seriously wtf does that thing do?) and looked under. What i saw was a leak coming from the passenger side of the radiator. You think this story is getting long? Let me tell you why I'm paranoid of radiator leaks. So I said duck it and called 911.

Nice operator. Got me the CHP dep on duty to come out. He showed up. Basically my options were that he would call a tow truck for me but I would have to deal with reimbursement and all that poop later ( ha jokes on him. Little did he know I already dealt with it) or he drive me to town (kettles-something). Think this story is long? Let me tell you why I will never leave my car on the side of the road to pick it up later.

So I told him to call the tow company and he did. He understood that being a jeep owner why I would want to stay with it. After which it felt like the weekend all over again. He talked to me about jeeps and his jeeps and his buddies jeeps and a bunch of jeep stuff I didn't really understand. Then he left. The tow truck came.

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I had him drive me to the nearest dealer whig, according to Chrysler was in Hanford. So we drove. An hour later we arrived.

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Well, $650 dollars later. I thought I would just sleep in the car at the dealer and be there first thing. But there were way to many people walking in this neighborhood. Sketchy people. So I thought I spent this much might as well get a hotel. "Siri, where is the nearest hotel in Hanford." To which she replied " there are no hotels near Hanford." Wtf. Anyway I eventually figured out the right way to ask her and found a comfort inn. Only problem was it was the same direction on foot as all the other sketchy people were going! Who's the sketchy one now ducker? The dude who was out camping in the desert and didn't shower during that time. That's who. Anyway, I locked everything up and walked the 6 or so blocks to the hotel where I was able to use a shower and a "not a lunchbox".

I will try to sleep tonight and be at the dealer first thing in the morning where I hope they will tell me it's a simple fix and I can be on my way to my wife and dog tomorrow. Oh and that I won't break down again.

So there you have it. Enjoy. :)

Wow...just wow! Sorry to hear that buddy. You are indeed a patient man! We salute you!!
 
Woo hoo.. Lucky n I made it home safe late Saturday night. Definitely camping next time. Eddie n Cindy thanks for putting this newbie event together. I finally know how to properly operate my jeep in 4 Lo.
Tony n Stephanie thx for all the help n encouragement. It was nice to meet everyone! Nelsone... sorry about your jeep and your lunch box.
Looking forward to the next outing.
 
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