Calvary 4-Wheelers

The day wasn’t done. There were some in our group who still wanted to run Hells Revenge. Since we finished Fins and Things by 3:30, we had time if we kept a pretty good pace. Tim, Loren, Chuck & Charlotte and I pulled down to the parking lot at the entrance to Hells Revenge where I aired Loren back up so he could go do some shopping. Chuck and Charlotte changed their minds and decided to head back to town as well so Tim and I made plans to run the trail. I thought our plans were busted when my bronco died while airing up Loren. We troubleshot the problem to find that, when I turned a fuel pump relay upside down, it stopped the pump and killed the bronco. We pulled the connection apart, cleaned the contacts and put some lithium grease in there. That seemed to solve the problem so we went on, knowing that I could bypass the relay if it gave us more trouble. My weakened driveshaft was also still on my mind as I knew I’d be in big trouble if I needed a tug out of that trail. The first climb is a good indication what to expect the rest of the trail. It isn’t that it was steep but it is a large fin that you travel on with drop-offs on either side totalling around 80ft at the top. If you got off track here, it would get ugly in a hurry! We both made quick work of this fin as we continued on. We caught up to a tour group and watched their hummer travel up and down the steep climbs, and even at one point going backwards.

Soon we came to the famous Hells Gate. I was nervous to try this obstacle as I had seen many horrific accidents here when you get only inches off your line. It got worse when I saw how you drop down into the option obstacle but I dropped down fine and made my way to the main attraction. As I approached, I dropped the Atlas into Low-Low and selected first gear to take advantage of the 240:1 crawl ratio and began my way up with my Dad spotting me the whole way. The climb, while very exhilarating, was uneventful, which is something everyone wants on this climb. Everyone was too focused on the climb that no one in our group got pictures. What a bummer. We made our way to the Overlook, which is simply amazing! The next attraction we hit was the Carwash hot tub. This is the tamest of them all, but the only one either of us were willing to do. We both made it thru unscathed. I even had to do it twice to make sure.

We followed a group around Mickey’s hot tub, and down the next descent. When we approached the Escalator, there was a buggy there in pretty bad shape. He had broken an axle shaft in the rear, allowing the tire to fall off, and broken a u-joint and axle shaft in the front. They had strapped the corner without a tire up trying to keep it off the ground and used their Chevy tow-rig to basically drag the buggy out. The first bump they tried to pull the buggy over caused it to flop on its side. With a few guys, they managed to tip it back on all three tires. They hooked the strap in a different location and continued on. We had our fill of escalator and trudged on, passing these two guys trying to get the buggy out. Tip-over challenge is the next recognized obstacle. It was a pretty unnerving climb, but very rewarding when you crest the rock. Sadly, no pictures. We continued on enjoying the rest of the trail as dusk set-in. It was another late evening on the trail, but what better way to spend the time?
[Trip Pics]

Click HERE to return to the 2010 Schedule Click HERE to return to the Calvary 4-Wheeler's page