Phase 3 of the Mounds Rock Course - Unofficial Grand Opening

[Paul Hittie]

The newest phase of the rock crawl are at the Mounds should be complete this week.  Due to the upcoming holiday weekend, Jim Kitson is planning his unofficial grand opening event for September 10-11.  Based on my visit there last week with Jim, this will be a spectator event for those who lack 2 lockers and ride on tires smaller than 35s.  Personally I think you need to be a helluva 4 wheeler to get around this course even on 35s.  

If you have never seen hard core rock crawling before, this is your chance to see, hear and smell it up close and personal.  On our "photo shoot" visit last week, Jim got his 1-ton axled, 6.0l Vortec powered, 39" IROK'd YJ in there and couldn't get back out.  Silly me left my winch on the shelf at home, thinking the only off road equipment we would need was a camera.  It took an hour and a half of stacking & winching & hi-lifting to get him back on the trailer.  Since then the construction crew has added some fill gravel to counter-act the Mounds Mud between the rocks, but it will still prove to be challenging for the big boys.

[Paul Hittie]

Anyone heading up there?

[LPM606]

THis was a good time.  When you walk the course and see 5' boulders piled all over you think there is no way anyone is going to drive over this stuff.  Of course, I thought the same thing 6 years ago when we first pulled the liberty up to the owners playground at camp jeep and then liberty got through fine) True to form, some guys from Southern Michigan Rockcrawlers with some well appointed (but not freakish buggy-like) Jeeps managed the course without extreme difficulty... Don't get me wrong - they didn't walk right through it... lots of backing up, trying diiferent lines, a few winches going out to tree straps to pull off a boulder here or there, etc.  But I guess that is what its all about.  Very cool to watch.