here's a quick report ... hopefully those who took photos and/or video will post links <img border="0" title="" alt="[Cool]" src="images/icons/cool.gif" />

we wheeled for eight hours Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm on trails 5,4,8,6 (trail 6 has a lot more berms than it used to, and somehow seems to have fewer rock obsacles going down it than going up it ... the lower rock step at Fain's Ford was paved with stacked rocks, bummer) ... along the way we stopped for a late lunch about 2:00 at the top of trail 9 (slick rock), most everyone hiked down to watch two rigs try to ascend slick rock, only one made it, the other broke something up front ... then we went to the overlook of trail 2 (rock garden) and those who got there first saw some gnarly action, including a Samurai that rolled on its left side, but didn't seem worse for the ware

all in all it was a great day ... it was cool to have such a variety of rigs ... i was very impressed with everyone ... but especially with stony-man (Keith) in his 4-door Montero on 31s, he had been looking forward to this for months, those one-inch sliders really helped him in some tough spots, i wonder if mounting biking will still hold its thrill for him now that he's tasted Tellico

here's who showed (i'm sorry i'm unable to name all the passengers):

Selimyar (Ray), 88 Montero 2-door, Ringgold,GA
stony-man (Keith), 92 Montero 4-door, Ohio
jasonb_exp, 99 Explorer Sport, Suwanee, GA
Caleb, 94 explorer, Greensboro, NC
Eric Upchurch, 95 Trooper, Raleigh, NC
RobG, 95 (built) Rodeo, Winston-Salem, NC
silverman (Josh), 01 Ranger, Westminster, SC
zman2day (Marc), 96 4Runner, Atlanta, GA
Bratik (Paul), 00 4Runner, Alpharetta, GA

i aired down to 6 psi and didn't loose a bead ... i kind of took it easy (limit wheel spin), wanting to test my rear leaf spring over, and not wanting to trash a second t-case in less than a month's time ... slamming down on a few unavoidable rocks left my center cross-member shifted toward the rear, so i used a snatch-block on a tree and winched it a little back into position ... i need to fab a custom crossmember since i lowered my driveline in the rear, one that doesn't hang so low ... i think i'm ready to weld front and rear soon, and go to manual hubs <img border="0" alt="[Hillbilly]" title="" src="graemlins/notooth.gif" /> Daniel, who rode with Eric, said it well when he told me i'll be dangerous with lockers <img border="0" alt="[Satan]" title="" src="graemlins/satan.gif" />

stony-man's trailer hitch left its mark on many of the rock obstacles, but saved his rear bumper in many instances, his one-inch square tubing rock sliders held up very nicely as he took aggressive lines to test them out ... way to go Keith!!

jasonb_exp made everything look easy eventhough he chose tough lines, including the second tier at Fain's Ford ... why is the water always down when I go to Tellico? he gave out window stickers that say "Tellico Tested", thanks man!

Caleb cruised through some spots with open diffs that gave the rest of us problems, chalk it up to driver capability on his part ... he finally started using low range when his tranny overheated, yes, he was in high range almost the whole day <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" /> we camped both nights at Capsite #3 and had to use gasoline to get a campfire going due to how wet all the wood was that we collected

eric enjoyed picking lines that tested his skidplates ... one of his belts was squealing almost as loud as mine was at Uwharrie ... he was eager to maybe wheel more on Sunday, but Daniel talked him out of it, something about wanting to get home in time to get some sleep before having to go to work Monday ... we were all so exhausted (fulfilled?) no one opted for a night run nor a Sunday run

RobG led the pack most of the day (thanks, Rob) ... i could see he wanted to descend the rock ledge on trail 7 (peckerwood), but we all decided to stick together and avoid that one ... so he's got something to dream about for next time ... i had fun gawking at those dual t-cases, and seeing him flex over every obstacle

silverman (Josh) cruised thru like a pro and led the pack at one point late in the day (thanks) ... it was fun watching him enjoy listening to the underside of his truck grind as he got pulled off a high-center at the culvert (all four tires were in the air)

Mark absolutely crawled up the second tier at Fain's Ford, no wheel spin at all ... those 4.88 gears and ARB lockers make all the difference!

Paul made easy work of everything ... his dad came along with him and had a blast ... he slashed a tire and plans to get it replaced using his road hazard coverage

everyone should hit Tellico at least once a year, just to see what's changed !!

<small>[ July 04, 2003, 02:32 AM: Message edited by: Selimyar ]</small>