Here are some pix of our latest adventures!! It has become a habit of taking a ride on Sundays!!Join Digger Dan Ken Sterrett, Mike Talbert, and Myself as we embark on several fun trips! there are others that joined us as well! We always seem to have fun when we are out four wheeling!!
Date(s): January and on.. 2006. Album by John Eickhof. Photos by jeickhof. 1 - 128 of 128 Total. 8924 Visits.
1 January 7th..Mike Talbert, Ken Sterrett, Paul Taylor, Pat Freeman,and Myself embark on a run..it had thawed and we had rain thus the roads were muddy!! I had my 1943 Dodge 6x6 truck with winch and lockers in both rear axles!
2 Here we are at a watering hole playing around!
3 Mikes Jeep was WHITE at one point!
4 Everyone had fun!!
5 here we are at four corners heading to Hole in the wall..
6 waiting for the others to join us..
7 heading out for Hole in the wall
8 Every one likes the 6x6!
9 at Hole in the wall we get out to show the newer guys what it looks like! Paul decided ths smelly old mud wasn't destined for his nice pick-up!
10 Pat wants to give it a go! so the jeeps want to play!!
11 in the HOLE! It is a deep soggy natural spring that runs year round..the mud gets as deep as 4-5 feet!
12 Pat is giving it all he can and not moving!!
13 This is a medium difficulty part of the mud hole..its only about 3 feet deep and 60 feet across..
14 after rocking it he finally starts moving!!
15 January 15th Digger and I head out in our 1952 Dodge M-37s With Mike in his Jeep and two others from Gooding and Jerome..we are heading for the Little City Of Rocks..it has snowed about 2-3 feet up here the few days before this trip! After chaining up, we are on the trail!
16 The snow is getting deeper!
17 a quick coffee stop and check the chains! Behind me in a slightly raised Toyota pick up is Paul and his wife...the little 'yota did exceptionally well considering his tire type and no chains!
18 Mike is first with his CJ-5 then Digger in Scruffy the M-37, then Pat with this real nice Jeep!
19 Mike is doing some digging! At this point Digger Dan has only chained up his front axle..
20 We're doing pretty good but Digger is having a hard time!
21 After we got Digger chained up all the way around we head up a steep grade with snow about 2 feet deep!
22 Digger and I make it to the top!! Meanwhile the Mikehad tried to go off road and retreat!! Then Pat went off road to help him But both of them end up mired!
23 Dig and I take a break before I go to rescue the Jeeps!
24 Here comes the Paul from Jerome in his Toyota 4x4 it did very well!!
25 Here I am dug in and ready to winch BOTH JEEPS out at the same time!
26 I'm pulling them uphill backwards!!
27 Got 'em near the road....
28 Then Mike tries to go by himself..no luck...just stuck!!
29 So I reposition to get mike out first
30 I have the M-37 buried in good and ready to winch again!
31 Here comes Mike and the Pat's Jeep!! by way of Braden LU-4 WINCH!!
32 I'm back on top waiting for the jeeps!
33 You can see how deep the snow is by Diggers tires!
34 Now we're on the flats except the drifts are over 3 feet high and Digger gets buried, so I tell Mike to try and go uphill! And that didn't work well so Pat ended up tugging Mike back out!
35 This was about as far as we could go this trip! It was getting late and the snow was drifted over 4-6 feet deep ahead of us! Those are snowmobile tracks in front of Digger! His truck is buried up past the running boards!
36 We get back out and turned around, Pat in the Red Jeep and Paul in the 'Yota have already bagged it and gone home! Digger, Mike and I play around in the snow again for a while!
37 I am here grading the snow with the snowplow mount on Rusty the M-37..I've been having fun with the sloppy old transmission.. 3rd gear sounds like the gears are going to fly right out of the case! I think i'll plan on swapping it out soon!
38 Here we are back at the highway removing the chains..
39 We then took a detour across near Dead Horse Cave and to Bray Lake then to Bliss on the way home..
40 Just starting to get dark..
41 Last stop near Bray Lake..
42 Heres the M-37 a week later pulling duty plowing snow! The old transmission is getting harder to shift!! And noisier!
43 We had about a foot of fresh snow that Saturday!
44 The 6x6 rests with a coat of new snow
45 The WW2 trucks are at ease too...
46 The WC-52 Radio truck is on standby..
47 The carryall is awaiting orders..
48 and the '52 B3PW awaits a call..
49 Red white & black! A nice color combo!
50 The M-37 Radio Truck sits as bad order awaiting another engine!
51 The trusty 67 W200 'Old Blue' has the block heater plugged in and is ready to roll!
52 Sunday the 29th of January..Digger and I embark to the desert near 7 & 7...It was the fresh snow the day after I was plowing..it ended up to be quite a fun trip!! A perfect day for a trail ride!
53 I was driving the 70 W200 with factory 383 v8 and rear Detroit Locker! with 35" 12.50 x 16.5 Hummer tires, Digger is leaning on his new toy...YOTA that is! He mounted up a set of 4 9.00 - 16 Mud Boggers I traded to him..
54 We found a rather strange looking bunker out in the desert! It has been unused for many years!
55 A large retaining wall about 60 feet long with a dirt embankment protecting the other side and a small masonry building about 12 ft x 12 ft at the end!
56 The trucks await our return!
57 Another ranch watering hole farther up the road..
58 Digger takes on a hill climb!
59 he almost makes it!!!
60 I finally found a rather deep hole covered by about 4 inch thick ice..the old Dodge broke through and the ice kept me from moving!
61 I wait for Digger to come back for a pull out..
62 I broke through the ice and high centered on both axle housings!!
63 Digger gets a picture of me trying again!
64 Right on through..a better run and the horsepower helped too!
65 Pretty deep mud hole!
66 Here comes Digger!!
67 I have slightly impaired vision throuh the passenger side windows!
68 And the windshield too!
69 Here Digger tried to cross the empty canal..only to get stuck on rocks on the other bank..
70 meanwhile I head down the road to cross over and see if I can help him..
71
72 By time I got across at a bridge..Digger was right behind me! He had come back out the way he went in! Now for a few more icy mud holes!! And home we go!!
73 Sunday the 5th of February.. Digger and I again hit the snowy..muddy trails heading for Hole in the wall and then to Bray Lake and Bliss then home..
74 Digger slides off the raodway only to find gumbo 2 feet deep!
75 He works it trying to get out..
76 the mud under the snow is simular to perma-frost..once you break through, it becomes almost liquid with no bottom!
77 Its hard to see in the picture but the mud is like water cascading off the tires!!
78 just like liquid glue!!
79 you can see in the fender wells how the mud flows off the tires!
80 the only thing keeping him from sinking out of sight is the axle housings!!
81 The ruts in the road are quite deep also!
82 Digger finally relents and I pull the Dodge up and Harland hooks him up so I can get him out!!
83 No more than a mile farther and it's my turn! I got into a deep rut and finally high centered on the axle housings!!
84 I had to get out the passenger side as my door wouldn't open up!!
85 a very deep rut! Digger gives me a tug out!!
86 back on the trail near four corners, we meet up with Mike and Josh on 4 wheelers! Digger had brought some gas for them..
87 just a great day!!
88 The creek in the background of my 1970 W200 Dodge
89 taking a break before we try to go to Hole in the wall..
90 It was warming up and the snow is getting soft!!
91 We tried to get out to Hole in the wall but the snow was just too deep and it was thawing and very heavy..so we decided to head towards Bray Lake on the way home..
92 getting ready to go..
93 Here we are along the shore of Bray Lake..Digger has gotten stuck ahead of me..the snow is about a foot deep but the ground under it has thawed and if you break through..you're done!!
94 I went to turn around to pull Digger out then found my truck buried as well! even with all the sagebrush..the ground was mush!
95 We were too busy digging out for me to get pics of the first couple times we were stuck..and we finally got Digger out (after about 2 hours) Then we got My truck out and were heading out when I found this soft spot and sank down to the axles!
96 Digger had come back to try and get me out..all he was able to do was pull me backward about 40 feet! After he got butired 4-5 more times, we dug and pulled him out with a four wheeler, he finally got his truck loose the last time!
97 Digger gives the 'high sign' when he is finally free!
98 Now for my truck! Digger had pulled me back about 40 feet to no avail..the ground was so soft at this point My truck would not climb on top! We decided it was getting dark so we had better go back home 35 miles and get the big iron to get my truck out!
99 2 1/2 hours later we return with My 1943 Dodge 6x6 with winch..it has lockers in both rear axles..the going was tough but I got it there..by that time the ground was freezing up again so the 6x6 easily winched out the W200 and we were heading home finally..it was about 1 AM when I got this picture before we started winching..the others were too dark to show up..We got back to Wendell about 3:30 AM!
100 Feb. 12th Digger Dan, Mike Talbert, Mike Sword & I went on a sunday ride in the hills!
101 Right out of the gate..Digger tries to climb a rocky knoll...only to stick his rear hitch into the frozen ground!! I hook up with the M37 and give him a tug out!!
102 Mike T gets a shot of me 'breaking the ice' in a rather deep puddle on the roadway! The ice is about 4-5" thick and my snowplow mount makes a great ice breaker!
103 Another hit and stop! It took me several tries to finally break through!
104 Lined up for a quick picture at Dead Horse Cave..L-R: Mike Talbert's CJ5, Mike Sword's new LJ Jeep, My 1952 M-37 Dodge, and Diggy's Toyota 4x4..
105 Mike Sword joined us today at the last minute to try his new jeep off road for the first time! He has returned recently from a tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Mike has several Dodges, jeeps, and deuce-and-a-halfs!
106 on the trail.. Mike T runs up against a slick rock while crossing a creek and can't move..
107 Digger backs in and gives Mike a tug out..
108 Mike gets out to unhook..of course Diggy leaves him in the deeper water!
109 Mike T should have bought a BROWN jeep afterall!
110 Beer break before we head for Hole In The Wall..
111 except we are missing Mike T...he got mired about a quarter mile back!! Digger to the rescue!
112 Digger, Mike T and I replaced the tired transmission in Rusty my M37 plow truck this morning! It sure does shift nice now!!
113 Mike crosses another creek and up the other bank..
114 heading in through deep snow towards Hole In The Wall
115 Lined up above the Hole In The Wall mud bog / spring
116 A really nice afternoon!
117 This is what taking a sunday drive is all about!
118 Getting ready to head on back to Bray Lake then to Bliss Idaho..
119 While here I used Mike T and his jeep as a drag weight to rewind the cable on my LU-4 Braden Winch on the M-37..It has been used a lot lately and needed to be rewound properly!
120 It's late afternoon and the sun is going down over the hills
121 Digger mounting up getting ready to roll..
122 heading back out towards 4 corners..
123 Climbing out Mike T is having a little trouble up ahead..once at 4 corners we will head south towards Bray Lake and then on to Bliss Idaho
124 Mike Sword will depart from Bliss on the freeway west to his home near Boise..Dig, Mike T and I will head east to Wendell along the back roads..
125 Mike T again having a tough time climbing a hill with the soft powder snow..it appears his rear limited slip differential is no longer working correctly..
126 still a lot of snow around here!
127 Sunset is getting close! we are near Bray Lake now only about 10 miles north of Bliss.
128 Overlooking Bray Lake and the spot where Digger and I had the troubles last weekend!!In the right center of the picture along the sagebrush!!
