Jeep River Adventure

Me and the crew decided to do a little 4X4 adventuring this Saturday and headed off to our usual trails. I knew there was a creek in that area but haven't really tried to find it. Long story short, I found it and got the Jeep down into the creek. It had a really hard and flat white sandstone surface just a few inches below the freezing cold water [we'll get back to the cold water later]. Driving down the creek was a little bumpy but nothing the Jeep couldn't handle.


One of the nice benefits of driving in the 4 wheel low setting [and when I say "setting" I don't mean a cute little button on your dash that you push. I mean you get out, twist the manual wheel locks into the 4x4 position, jump back inside and slam the transfer case gear shift to the rear to lock it in place "setting"] is that the Jeep will just creep along at 1mph without stalling or stuttering, which gives you a chance to look around.











Typo and Baxter loved it!











After driving along for a while we rounded a corner with some fairly dark water. I parked the jeep on the bank and got out to see if I could determine the waters depth. After a very scientific rock tossing and stick poking I determined that I wasn't sure how deep it was but decided to try it anyway. There were markings along the far bank that looking like they might be old tire tracks that had been faded by erosion. The Jeep was leaning to the passengers side about 30 degree's as I started creeping along the wall. Everything was going smooth when suddenly the right front tire dipped off into the murky darkness and the whole Jeep pitched to the right threatening to roll over into the cold water. Sunmi was laughing and having a good time thinking I was in complete control even as water began shooting up from the floor pan drain holes like a drinking fountain. Inside I'm screaming OH SHIT OH SHIT HERE WE GO but at the last second I got it together and slammed it into reverse and gunned the engine. We bounced along roughly as I rushed down the trail in reverse, cranking the wheel and crossing back over the middle onto the sandy bank on the other side.
We sat there for a few moments laughing and praising our good fortune before we decided we'd had enough adventure for one day. As I put the Jeep into gear I heard a loud clank and suddenly the clutch pedal stuck on the floor. We rushed forward halfway into the creek before I could jam on the brakes and turn off the engine. Having experienced this before I immediately knew the clutch linkage had come undone and that this would be a quick fix. Unfortunately the portion of the vehicle I needed to lay beneath to work on was in the cold muddy water.

Guess what I had to do.






























The end.