Rugged Mountain Ranch and Hot Springs ORV recap -
Last September we went to Green Acres in Clayton OK and it was one of those "magical" weekends where the weather and trails were perfect. So we decided that we needed to make Oklahoma an annual September trip. This year we decided to head to Rugged Mountain Ranch which is just north of Clayton on a map, but way of driving it is like a state away
. Original plan was to arrive at Rugged Mountain Ranch (RMR) Thursday afternoon and wheel there Thursday and Friday and then head to Green Acres, but due to logistics and Sunday afternoon needs at home we decided to do RMR Thurs and Fri and Hot Springs ORV on Saturday (which is 3.5hours closer to home).
Thurs:
I was planning on getting to RMR around 3pm on Thursday; however, I couldn't pass the David's Burgers on the way across Arkansas, so we arrived RMR around 4pm. Upon arriving we quickly unloaded and hit the first trail out of the top of the parking lot. At this time there is two of us, me/Christian in my TJ on 38s and Beeker/Eddie in his Toyota Buggy on 39's. It was pure joy of rocks big and small right off the bat, not only was it rock garden, waterfall, and rock splines as far as one could see in all directions, but it was dry and full of traction. Oklahoma is a hidden gem of wheeling. After getting through the first trail we looped back around to the parking lot where Drew with his stretched samurai on 37s was just pulling into the parking lot. Now with the crew all together we headed out to explore the park.
Me/Christian in my TJ
Drew in his Sami on 37's
Beeker/Eddie in Toyo Buggy on 39's.
First trail we hit was called Baby Wash and it was the start of a fun night full of decision and luck. Which we made and which was delivered, Bad or Good, was soon to be determined. Rock Garden as far as one could see, pick your line, cross your fingers, sometimes close your eyes, and go. After finishing Baby Wash we headed for a trail called Green Mile. Wow, pure joy of rocks, some that would sit and allow you to maintain a climb, some that would move and roll and put you into a bind. One rock rolled and got bound up between my rear drivers side shock and another rock and my diff was hard against another rock, attempting to go forward or back delivered no movement, so I had to pull cable. Out of the tight spot and continuing up the mountain I heard Drew yell that I was leaking something. I jumped out and quickly noticed it was shock oil and that the shock was badly bent. So a 3/4" wrench and impact socket and shock was removed and we continued on. Green Mile continued to deliver, and we got to a part where it appeared the trail went up and to the left and an access road went right so we continued to the left. Immediately the trail got easy and we got to the top where it met an access road. A quick review of the map and I knew we made a wrong turn and still had a lot of Green Mile to conquer. Decision was made to loop around access roads to the point where we departed the trail and continue on. The access trail down was a level 5 trail at most parks (haha!). We entered the trail where we departed and soon thereafter I was backing off a rock when it rolled and the tire slipped off and the entire weight of the jeep came down on the tie rod. The TRE on the drag link side sheared off and the TRE on the knuckle side broke off the stud in tension. Quick evaluation to ensure nothing else was broke and I loaded up in Beeker's passenger seat to head back to camp to grab my spare tie rod. Christian, Drew, and Eddie stayed to work on getting the jeep prepped to reinstall the new tie rod when we returned. Now in the passenger seat with map in lap and headlamp to view, I quickly evaluated diagram and determined the easiest/quickest way back to camp. On the RMR map, Black Trails are access roads, Green Trails are Jeep Trails, and Red Trails are Buggy Trails. So far we have only done red trails, so made a decision that green trails were all easy. Like I said, good or bad, was soon to be determined. One thing that I had not paid attention to up to this point was that not only are the trails marked as green (jeep) or red (buggy), but each trail is also numbered 3-5 (I am assuming it is really 1-5, but there is nothing below a 3 at this park). So you have Green 3-5 and you have Red 3-5. Green does not necessarily indicate easy in this case, possibly a Green 3, but a Green 5 would be a very hard trail for a "built jeep" per this map. We were heading down a green 5 thinking it was a "green" trail. You know that feeling on a roller coaster when it just barely makes the top of the climb and is turning to go straight down where your shorts are barely touching the seat and the belt is "just" starting to tighten against your waist. Kind of like weightlessness but you know your fuqed. That was what I felt as the buggy rear wheels were feeling weightlessness themselves. Here is where luck stepped in and along with a little throttle the front wheels just stayed slightly forward of the buggy center of gravity. This is also where I made a decision that we were taking a different way back from camp. At camp I grabbed my spare tie rod and some other spare parts (just in case) and we took all black trails back to the Jeep (note that the access trail back down to Green Mile where my jeep was located would have been a Level 5 at most other parks). Quick install of the Tie Rod and we got back to camp around 1am, Day 1 in the books and we were all smiling but tired, when I hit the bed I assumed I would fall right to sleep; however, luck and decisions had my mind spinning thoughts for a few hours.
Fri:
Fri Morning after breakfast off we headed to a trail called Tackett Creek. If you have never heard of RMR Tackett Creek trail, just google search it and you will find all kind of Youtube videos on it. It was really why we were here, and we were all excited. Tacket Creek trail is broken into 4 sections (lower tacket, middle tackett, upper tackett, and upper upper tackett). Lower, Middle, and Upper tackett are Red 4's on the map, upper upper tackett is a 5, there is also a few trails off of tackett, one called Main Vein which is a Red 5. Prior to coming to RMR a friend of mine said that Lower Tacket to Main Vein and up Main Vein was some of the best wheeling in the country, I didn't ask him why he never did middle or upper tackett. Lower Tackett has a gate keeper which is pretty tough, but I think it is mostly more mental because you are starting in deep water and failure would put you under. After the gatekeeper it is non-stop rock garden, just joy mixed with heartache as far as you can see. We wheeled to just past the middle tackett creek sign when we hit a huge undercut waterfall with huge waterhole at the bottom, main vein went off to the left. I now realized why my friend said that he took main vein in lieu of continuing on tackett. Main Vein is somewhat different then what we had experienced up until now, in lieu of a rock garden intermixed with large boulders, and rocks big and small, it was steep slabs with off camber. We walked it and thought it was impossible, but that I would put tires on it and see what happens. WOW! Luck would have it that there is better traction than even Moab on these slabs, a slow crawl up and through the slabs and the tires never broke loose, not one chirp of the tire, it was traction that I have never seen before and probably never will again. Up we went until we hit a trail called Horny Hill, It looked like it would drop us back down to Tackett, so we took it.
Side Note - At this point my rear spring had already popped out at least three times and thus we took a few minutes to add a ratchet strap to act as a limit strap. We zip tied and duck taped the hooks so they wouldn't come undone when the strap had no load on it. It amazingly worked for the rest of the trail so when we eventually got back to camp I replaced the ratchet strap with a heavier duty axle strap and it worked perfectly for the rest of the weekend. Now back to the story -
Heading down Horny Hill was not the easiest and there was at least one winch incident to get down. But back down into Tackett Creek we were ready to get back at it. Just like lower Tackett, Upper Tackett between Horny Hill and Texas Chainsaw was non-stop rock garden and spines, it took the three of us quite a while to pick our way through but even though it was taking a lot of time, the fun factor removed any feeling of time. Where Upper Upper Tacket starts and Texas Chainsaw goes to the left, there is basically three gatekeepers to Upper Tacket. We walked them all and decided that Drew and I would give the first two a try and after those two there was an easy out to the right. Beeker was going to try all three and then take the easy out (yes there is an easy out after the gatekeeper so that tells you why we weren't continuing). Now looking at these two gatekeepers; if we were at any other east coast location, it would have been a no go. But here in Oklahoma where traction can be found we gave them a shot and sure as shit we walked right up and through the first two and Drew and I bailed. Beeker gave number three a go and ended up pulling cable, just couldn't find a line where he would clear links, belly, diffs, etc.. all at the same time. We went 3.2 miles in about 6 hours and were smiling from ear to ear at this point. Dinner time, back to camp. After dinner we loaded up and headed out and hit a red trail called 7-up and First Blood. We also hit some greens with no name and two greens called Mission Impossible and Cedar Canyon. Back to camp and in bed around midnight. Great Friday and much better than being at work!
Sat:
Sat morning, we packed up and drove 3.5 hours to Hot Springs ORV. We hit the trails starting around 1pm.
We hit the following:
Ult Adventure, Four Fingers, One Rock at a Time, bubba's stump, headbanger, Shafner's hollow, Slammer, Outlaw, Can Opener, Gorge, Ravine, Vertical Challenge, Humdinger, Ingrid's Revenge (Beeker was only one that made the bowl at the top, Drew and I gave it a shot but was denied), and Baily's boulder. We were back at camp at 7:30pm. So we did more trails in 6.5 hours than most people will do in a weekend of wheeling at this park, it is so nice to wheel with not only other capable rigs, but also with similar mindset! At camp and with a full belly of fajitas and a few beers we made the one good decision of the weekend and decided to not go back out and hit more trails that night. Luck and Decisions were made this weekend, both good and bad!
I will come back and edit and add some pictures later (I don't have any accessible at this time). Here is a quick youtube video that I put together last night which captures a few highlights.
And yes, there was poems written and here is one that I am willing to share:
Load up the Van
Put the Jeep on the Trailer
Drive across the natural state to enter a different world
A heaven for those of us in search of rocks with traction
Small rocks and big boulders full of luck
Both Good and Bad, Luck is here it is clear
Mix in a little skill and a machine that can take a beating, and you see what the day will bring.
Curses you will yell or praises you will sing
Metal will bend and it will shear
Rubber will grip and it will slip
Rocks will lie still and allow you to climb
Others will move and put you in a bind
Yes, skill is needed but which luck will you find
Friends ahead and friends behind
We are all just trying to pick a good line
Amazed with what we were able to climb we continue on to see what we would accomplish next
Fellowship built on help and trust.
Friendship grows on the luck, because it must.
Good luck and we all cheer
Bad luck is what we all fear
But when bad luck finds us it is also what binds us
Bad Luck is where friendship grows and is strengthened
Good Luck is where it is celebrated
Luck is here it is clear
