You didn't need 3 to 4 tire rotations before touching the rocks. That didn't hurt anything.

When you're on dry pavement in 4WD none of the tires can slip easily, so it will bind up. Shift (more likely, pry) the transfer case back into 2 wheel drive and the binding should go away. If it's really bound up, you may have to drive STRAIGHT forward and backward up and down the driveway a couple times to relieve enough tension to let you beat it out of 4WD. But any time you turn in 4 wheel drive, all 4 tires travel different distances making that turn, so the drivetrain gets all bound up until something snaps or one of the tires slips. On wet/slippery surfaces it's not an issue since the low traction means a tire will always slip before something breaks.