Pennsylvania Rausch Creek Rides

[Westtown Willy]

Very cool man. Conditions were perfect. Barely and mud and the only stream running down trail we found the whole weekend was on Friday when we went up Crawl Daddy.

I was bummed we didn’t do 38B, but A and C were a total blast. Thanks again for the suggestion. The JKU who was leading our group wasn’t a fan. He didn’t even do 38B. Truly a TJ trail for sure!

Yup, you got probably the one of the best weekends I've seen in two years; we have had nothing short of epic rains all throughout 2018 & 2019 to the point where even if you got up there after a few days of no rain it was still a drenched slop fest. It has been relatively dry since some time in July so it has finally soaked in & dried up a good bit.

Shame about 38B, that's where I enter the trail (right at the entrance to the outer limits) then do the circuit. And yea, they're definitely TJ trails, I wouldn't want to try and maneuver a four door through that maze.

Some of your buddies had a front row seat for Pete's shot at shoot the moon, can't remember his name but one of them had a red JLUR, beautiful rig.

We've got a tentative plan for AOAA on October 26th if you're interested, it'll be posted here as it gets closer.

 

[Sj's TJ]

Yup, you got probably the one of the best weekends I've seen in two years; we have had nothing short of epic rains all throughout 2018 & 2019 to the point where even if you got up there after a few days of no rain it was still a drenched slop fest. It has been relatively dry since some time in July so it has finally soaked in & dried up a good bit.

Shame about 38B, that's where I enter the trail (right at the entrance to the outer limits) then do the circuit. And yea, they're definitely TJ trails, I wouldn't want to try and maneuver a four door through that maze.

Some of your buddies had a front row seat for Pete's shot at shoot the moon, can't remember his name but one of them had a red JLUR, beautiful rig.

We've got a tentative plan for AOAA on October 26th if you're interested, it'll be posted here as it gets closer.

Sounds good, keep me posted. That is Donnie’s rig. He sheared a sway bar bolt at some point. He’s a little timid with that beauty.

 

[Westtown Willy]

looking at Saturday September 21st for an outing, if anyone's interested lemme know; this could be the swan song for my topless/doorless season though as the next run after that won't be until the end of October & that's a real wildcard weather-wise, could be sunny & 80, could be raining & 47

 

[Westtown Willy]

Made it back yesterday, chilly ride up but it warmed up into the high 70s for the day which was perfect. Did a bunch of trails on the north side I hadn’t seen before, nothing crazy; took a loop around trail 38a which is the only video I got, nothing too difficult, no rocks just really steep, a good bit of mud at the bottom too, when I went into it I thought I might bottom out but that didn’t happen. After I got back to the top & tried doing it the opposite direction, didn’t happen, way too steep trying to get back up that main entrance, ground way too loose, had to U-turn & go back so I ended up sloshing through the mud pit 3 times.

Got my tit in a ringer on a hill climb up near the office, I had done the series of three in the past without issue but the landscape has changed a good bit. In this one spot I was moving along ok but as I crawled forward the rear kept swinging right which was putting my rear passenger quarter panel on a perfect trajectory to get hammered by a rock sticking out of the side of the trail. Hard to tell in the photos but it’s a steep incline & the pitch is to the left of the photo, the further I went the more the ass end pulled to that side, it was like a magnet.

My buddy opted out of the trail & looped around to meet me at the top so I was on my own to figure it out. There was a tree perfectly positioned about 15 feet in front of me off the driver’s side so I winched off of it about 5 feet to get me going in a straight line & cleared the rock. No gas at all, just winch which worked perfectly. This was the maiden voyage of my new thimble I spliced myself so yea, I was waiting for it to fall apart

this is the best shot to see what I'm talking about, one more bit of gas & that rock was dragging down my pristine quarter panel

and just some random shots

I lost my bumper end-cap dragging off this rock, bent the bottom of the bumper & ripped the plastic screw holes from the cap as it shot out the left side.

BFH & another 7 dollar Amazon cap & I'll be back in business

I don't thing this trail sees a lot of action

that's it, another ridiculously fun day in the books courtesy my slightly modified flame red 2004 TJ X, the everlasting gobstopper of fun

I'm tied up for the next month so the next outing is looking like the October 26 plan for AOAA, if you're interested post in that thread or message me

 

[Sj's TJ]

I loved 38A and 38B. I’ll have to try and do 38A backwards some time. That last hill would be tough. We got a Liberty through 38A, but didn’t attempt B. Only me and my buddy with the TJ on tons did B.

Sarkis

 

[Westtown Willy]

I loved 38A and 38B. I’ll have to try and do 38A backwards some time. That last hill would be tough. We got a Liberty through 38A, but didn’t attempt B. Only me and my buddy with the TJ on tons did B.

Sarkis

my favorite part is C but all three parts of that trail are awesome, A is probably the easiest one provided you go in the 'right' direction; the initial drop off is crazy, I'm pissed my camera didn't catch it from inside, in the video where I stop after coming off the edge is where I'm trying to get it to go back on, piece of shit I-phone.

About 50 feet down there's a second drop off, that's actually where I got jammed up on my attempts to go back up. I've got a little bit of video of me trying it, I didn't include it because it's a clusterfuck of bouncing around failure , it would be doable if the ground wasn't so loose but it's hard to maintain traction once you're beyond a certain degree, I had all 4 tires shooting small rocks/dirt/sand & just sinking in. Maybe late in the year when the ground is frozen I'll take another whack at it, I've climbed stuff that's that steep before so I know the TJ can do it.

 

[Sj's TJ]

my favorite part is C but all three parts of that trail are awesome, A is probably the easiest one provided you go in the 'right' direction; the initial drop off is crazy, I'm pissed my camera didn't catch it from inside, in the video where I stop after coming off the edge is where I'm trying to get it to go back on, piece of shit I-phone.

About 50 feet down there's a second drop off, that's actually where I got jammed up on my attempts to go back up. I've got a little bit of video of me trying it, I didn't include it because it's a clusterfuck of bouncing around failure , it would be doable if the ground wasn't so loose but it's hard to maintain traction once you're beyond a certain degree, I had all 4 tires shooting small rocks/dirt/sand & just sinking in. Maybe late in the year when the ground is frozen I'll take another whack at it, I've climbed stuff that's that steep before so I know the TJ can do it.

I hear ya dude. I know you have plans for a 10/26 run. Any interest in a 11/2 run? Kids activities finally end and I want to get a run in before they start salting the roads and my TJ goes into hibernation. Let me know.

Sarkis

 

[Westtown Willy]

Another great day at Rausch yesterday with Sarkis (@sjalkian) and Tyler (@ranger101) plus a couple other guys, Sarkis came with a planned list of obstacles in the South property & damn it if he didn’t kick their asses including Cemetery, Snake Bite & Yellow Jacket, he’s a maniac . We also hit some others including Jotters, the Quarry, Roxys Way & Lake Christy plus a new one called Krawlin for Cops. I pretty much volunteered to be the tour guide as his list included some stuff I’ve avoided like the plague over the years (& did again yesterday) but I figured I could be there to capture some video, below are some of the highlights.

I did decide to try Cemetery because when we took a look at it, it seemed pretty simple but I didn’t get ONE Jeep length in before getting jammed up in some rocks, bent my passenger rear control arm & backed out, that was the end of that trail for me along with the end of any further thoughts of doing shit I know I oughta avoid

figuring out the line to get through here

not sure what this is, probably taking a piss

here's the video, about 5 minutes in is Yellow Jacket, I’ve watched tons of guys try this, the success rate is not high. One of the big factors is slickness, as is the case with most rocks in PA they're really smooth & with the exception of sometime in July & August they're usually wet which makes them the functional equivalent of icebergs which increases the difficulty bigtime. A good illustration of this is the guy in the CJ taking a whack at it, that was earlier in the day. He was slipping & sliding all over the rocks & eventually ended up getting jammed between a rock & a tree & when the winch came out we split to return later in the day for Sarkis’ shot at it, which went much better.

I think I may be done for the season, it's getting cold & soon enough the salt brigade will descend upon the streets of Saltopia, Pennsylvania. We usually get some warm days here & there throughout the winter & I'm always apt to seize the opportunity if conditions warrant, otherwise I'll wait until Spring.

For now, time to order a new control arm

 

[ranger101]

Thanks again for a great day guys

Tail end of Cemetery. @Westtown Willy said there was a dirt road around here somewhere

 

[Sj's TJ]

Great time yesterday boys. Thanks again for being the reluctant lead. I think I’m done for the year also. Thanks for getting great footage. I can’t believe we tackled Yellow Jacket after watching the CJ get wedged. You even see me shaking my head thinking there is not way I’m doing that. I was wrong!

 

[Westtown Willy]

Tail end of Cemetery. @Westtown Willy said there was a dirt road around here somewhere

hahaha I swear I didn't hallucinate that. By the way great job getting out of there, that was impressive! Love your TJ color too, that thing is killer

Great time yesterday boys. Thanks again for being the reluctant lead. I think I’m done for the year also. Thanks for getting great footage. I can’t believe we tackled Yellow Jacket after watching the CJ get wedged. You even see me shaking my head thinking there is not way I’m doing that. I was wrong!

Ha, no reluctance, if it’s one thing I’m good at it’s leading others to places I won’t go . I thought I had gotten more video of your buddy (can’t remember his name) in the killer stretched TJ, he is really talented, watching him climb through the big rocks with ease was really fun & his rig is a beast.

Watching the dude in the CJ did make it seem like a fool’s errand to try, especially since that was obviously not his first rodeo; you can always identify the hardcore guys when they show up with no top or windows & it’s 31 degrees out. Fortunately a few hours later you apparently forgot all about that & dove in head first

 

[ranger101]

hahaha I swear I didn't hallucinate that. By the way great job getting out of there, that was impressive! Love your TJ color too, that thing is killer

Up until that point the most my TJ, and myself, have ever done were some very mild trails that stock vehicles have no issues with it was a great learning experience though. Wouldn’t have changed a second of it

 

[Westtown Willy]

Up until that point the most my TJ, and myself, have ever done were some very mild trails that stock vehicles have no issues with it was a great learning experience though. Wouldn’t have changed a second of it

good, you'll have to come back for one of my more typical days; it's mostly greens & blues & a few select blacks, not like yesterday...

Just yanked this off, it didn't look that bad laying underneath but damn:

one of my old ones I keep as a spare laying in front, really oughta keep this in my Jeep when I go off road

I was getting some new vibrations on the ride home, I'm wondering if this thing tweaked the axle position enough to cause that. I'll find out soon enough when Amazon delivers my new Moog lower this week, $24.79 delivered, can't beat that with a stick

 

[ranger101]

I absolutely will I never got my membership card yesterday. I’ll have to call and see what’s up.

 

[ranger101]

Here’s a couple of my videos. I didn’t realize my phone was recording at the highest quality all day(4K at 60FPS) so YouTube’s having some issues uploading some of the longer videos

 

[jazngab]

Sooooo glad I decided to sit this one out

 

[ranger101]

 

[jazngab]

Is that a poison spider front bumper? Looks good

 

[ranger101]

Is that a poison spider front bumper? Looks good

On mine? Yes sir. Just picked it up along with the winch last weekend from @Irun

 

[jazngab]

On mine? Yes sir. Just picked it up along with the winch last weekend from @Irun

I like it. I’ve been eyeing one up for a bit.