The second portion of the trail was a little bit of distance away, but not that much to be annoying. This second part was quite entertaining... for a stock truck. This is an uphill section with an off camber situation. I engaged my 4WD and followed Shane, who was al ready up the hill, just to find myself slipping on the rocks, without traction. After 4 tries, Shane came and spotted for me. What a difference! Now I had an extra set of eyes to direct me and I was up in a jiffy. Everybody else decided it was a good idea to air down at this time. I never did.

We were concerned with Peter truck at this time. We were sure that without 4WD he would need to be pulled up. Walt changed positions with him and climbed up without any mayor problems (of course, he was being spotted). Peter followed and as expected, his FJ62 could not make it on 2WD. I broke out my new strap and with together with Walt's strap and a friendly pull , Peter was up and running like the best. After 5 minutes of "more of the same" we entered a one quarter mile section that was flooded. Shane mentioned that there were going to be some water crossing, but this was not supposed to be here and like this. Rain must have flooded the swamp and water streamed over the trail. Shane assured us that the bottom was solid and rocky, Shane went first , and the rest of the group followed. Water level was around 3' high. I just went and prayed my carpets did not get too wet. They did not. The wave in front of me covered most of the front grill, and I could see the water half way up my door. Steady and slow does it for a water crossing . Again, no 4WD engaged. We stopped and took pictures of the people crossing. Rob's Suzuki was like a water beetle, Walt's FJ60 is lifted, so he had nothing to worry about. Peter went thru without any mishaps.

The third portion of the trail was several minutes of highway driving, and one of the Jeeps needed gas, so we stopped at a gas station and chatted for awhile and had snacks. Walt tried to remedy Peters transfer case problem, but we have no experience with the electrical solenoid for 4WD.

And so we continued to the fourth section of the trail after another short road. Here we stopped and chatted a bit more while we were having lunch. People were very friendly and we all were having a very good time. Now, the water crossing here was a bit more difficult. It is a swamp section that normally is like a foot of water over the trail. Again, the previous night rain played a number on the water level and we got a good 3' of water. Shane was not sure how deep it would really be, but we followed him anyway. At the end of the water covered trail, there is a dip, and then it raises again out of the water into the dryer trail. Foolishly I was checking the vehicle behind me and never noticed Shane taking the plunge... I got there without the 4WD engaged and got stuck. Still, after engaging the transfer case, my front wheels were spinning (the left one was). Shane game me a gentle pull with his strap and I got traction, getting myself out of the hole. Everybody else fared well and there were no other mishaps.

It was here as we were leaving the water that Shane Jeep stalled. We stopped and went to see why he was looking under the Jeep and not under the hood. His exhaust came undone in the climb and his muffler was full of water. So he drained the muffler and reassembled the whole thing again. No clamps, no JB weld, just pure jury rig.