May 28-31, 2010
The core group of the now defunct Trees Ranch Offroad met at a new offroad area called Texana Ranch, inviting some of its loyal participants from its 8 years in existence. Texana Ranch is located between Bronte and Blackwell, Texas. It has been established as a motocross/dirt bike park for the past 20 years, but has recently entertained the idea of opening for 4x4 and Baja Trucks. With a trail system of over 100 miles for the 2 wheel group, the 4x4 trails are limited at this time. And the country is definitely different from the hill country, with sandy dirt being the prominent feature. The rocks are either gargantuan or a top shelf rock with undercuts into the sandy dirt. Club members Artie & Bunny, Jack & Connie, Val & Vallery, Alex, Ana and Mike Zumwalt got to be in the first group to ever even run most of the trails. And we had some interesting "first time" experiences.
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1)We literally drove through fire on the trail we dubbed Wiener Roast. (The trails were cleared and the debris was burned in and around the trail - it was actively burning in places and HOT!) One rig got on its side against a tree on this trail and it melted his wrap paint job! We are pretty sure we passed the fire test, since no vehicle caught fire from a gasoline leak!
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2)We had never seen a jeep roll on a smoother than glass ranch road either - but yep - that happened also. Basically the driver was not watching the edge of the road and came upon a wash out and fell right in it, causing him to do a 360 roll down the embankment. Luckily there were cedar trees to stop him from continuing what would have been a couple more rolls to the bottom and the next people in line on the trail. Luckily also he was wearing his seatbelt and the cedar tree did not enter the driver compartment. He was fine and the jeep suffered minimal body damage and minor mechanical. No broken windshield or CB antenna!
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3)We had never seen a jeep shear all the bolts on a rear axle and drive it down the road till it worked its way 2 feet out of the axle tube! And the driver didn't even know it! He said "Huh, guess that was that weird sound I heard when I hit that dip at 80MPH!"
TRO made it a great weekend, shelling out for a steak dinner and live band on Saturday night. And for the umpteenth time (and hopefully not the last) we had a fun time running trails, eating good food, and hanging out with great people! We will keep the club posted on the development of this property!
