Try saying the title of this one 5 times in a row. So as the title says, the 4x4 club i am in asked the club if we could help extract an abandoned blazer up on Cow Mountain. As some of you read in our other posts here that we love our neighborhood. And by that i mean we respect our lands and hate the idea of them being closed because someone elses stupidity.

So the club agreed to meet at the 4x4 Obstacle course on Oct. 17 at 8am. I was able to convince Mark to come along with me as i was going to be using my car trailer to haul the vehicle to the BLM storage yard. We got a late start, but made it. We had a small crew of 5 club members, Mark and I. The other crew members were already in the process of rolling the abandoned vehicle up a rivene. One crew member used his built bronco and a tow strap to roll the car about 4 times up the rivene, over shrubs and small trees. We were able to drag it up on the trailer as it had no wheels. The BLM Ranger showed up just in time as we were strapping the load down preparing the difficult ride back out of where we were; a road requiring a 12 point turn with my truck and trailer at one point.

I want to thank everyone who showed up, and of course Mark for volenteering his time. We hate to see this kind of stuff on the lands we are blessed with having access to play on. We hope that we can keep these places open for our kids, and so on.

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I made a quick video from the clips from this years Fall Mud & Crawl footage. It's not much but it will have to do.

With less than a week to go we have been cranking away getting ready for the 5th Annual Oroville Fall Mud & Crawl. We made some major changes, had some major breakage, but with only a few hours left on the clock I think we are ready to go.

If your looking for something to do on the weekend of September 11th and 12th head up north to Oroville's Surplus City and enjoy two full days of rockcrawling and side-by-side mud drags.

Joe will be driving his stretched 1974 CJ5 with John as his spotter. John has never competed before, but has been a spectator at several major events. The biggest changes on Joe's rig are the 18" SAW Air Shocks. And a fresh coat of black cherry paint on the body and silver roll cage. Joe has never driven in a competition before. Last year, Joe was my spotter so he at least has a basic feel for the competition.

I will be driving my 1942 Willies AKA "Wobbly Bob" and sporting a brand new 3 link system on the front with 14" coilers. Chris will be my spotter this year. Chris has never competed before, and to my recollection has only been to one event ever as a spectator ever.

It should be a pretty fun day for everyone. Especially for us. I think or primary measure of success will be completing a corse on time without breakage. Beyond that we are there to have fun and get some experience.

Joe and I have been to several WE Rock events, but always up north in Oroville CA. This time we headed East to Donner Ski Ranch in Tahoe. Donner Ski Ranch offers some incredible natural terrain,  a far cry from the man made course in Oroville. I am not saying that it Oroville sucks now, but it's very different.

Personally, I liked the course layout more than Oroville as you could hike up and down the mountain and get much closer to the action in many ways. Joe disliked the fact that you had to walk (hike really) around more the steep rocky inclines were more than he was up for. I thought he was being a puss really. HAHA sorry Joe, couldn't resist the jab. I know, "that's what she said" right? zing!

Anyway, the day started off pretty cold. About 50 degrees, with a supposed high of 60. There was pockets of snow in the shadow areas behind rocky areas that did not get warmed by the sun as much. But by mid afternoon it was warm, getting hot really. We got a little sunburned as the high mountain areas do not offer much in the way of shade.

The course seemed to give the drivers a real run for their money. I overheard one of the unlimited drivers taking to his spotter saying, "I hope the judges are up on their three tire inside the cone rule." Indicating that the course was going to be tough.

The course had several steep off camber slides and the cones were strategically placed so that drivers would slide down the slick rocks and possibly roll over. For those thinking the side hilling would be easy, think again. The granite rocks become super slick with only a drop of water.

The highlight of the day, had to be the nasty back flip that Nicole Johnson took while attempting the bonus line on A2 (or A3?) Had a rock not stopped her, perching her vehicle precariously on the edge of yet another cliff she would have flipped at least two more times end over end before resting at the bottom. Fortunately she was okay. Her vehicle on the other hand needed some serious work.

Overall, the day was filled with lots of spectacular flips and rolls. I think the crowd really enjoys the rolls so the course designers did a great job of ensuring that. I also think that this course really challenged and pushed the drivers to think outside the box. I am looking forward to more events up in Tahoe.

Here is a video montage of the pics and video that we took. Since the video is so small, I suggest you all to check out the 2010 WE Rock at Donner photo page after watching the video to see the large pictures.