The Ocala Jeep Club of Florida

Tellico June 2001

Twenty one families and 24 Jeeps from the OJC went to Tellico, (and thanks to car trailers), all got back safely. It rained most of the week until Saturday - the mud and rain made the challenges more interesting. Thursday was spent running the "easier" and "more difficult" trails 1,4,6. Everyone made it without too much problem, and later Scott Montgomery, Paul Worthman, and Bill Lanman broke off to try to climb trail 2's BobSled Run. The infamous Rack Root at the stairstep hooked Paul's HiLift and almost ripped his tire rack off (a la Jeff Priest). The same root pinched Scott Montgomery's softtop bow and proceeded to convert Bill Lanman's top to a SunRider as it peeled the front completely off.

The Beaty brothers, Bill & Greg, decided to tackle trail 7’s Peckerwood ledge. Bill gave a valient attempt but gravity took over and flipped his CJ7 over destroying the hardtop.

On Friday Scott Montgomery, Scott Allen, Ricky Maron, Bill Lanman (with a spanking new SuperTop from Farmer's 4X4), Joc (driving Diane's new CJ) and Jeff Priest decided to try to climb trail 12's SchoolBus. The combination of the Chevy V8 and 38" Swampers in Joc's CJ was too much for the front Dana 30, which grenaded it's ring and pinion before pretzeling the tierod. Going down was even more difficult due to the slick mud. Most made it down in a barely controlled slide - Bill Lanman's descent went bad when he lost control and bounced from wall to wall before flipping over. Greg and Bill Beaty were clawing their way up Schoolbus with their matching monster YJ's until one broke a draglink. Bill's Jeep made it back to the Best Western on a trailer by 12:30 am, and the Beaty's finally drove back at 3 am after swapping draglinks. On Saturday, Glen & Steve Felder, Pam Smith, Brian Shipley the two Scott's, and Jeff Priest decided to try their luck on trail 2a's RockGarden. They all made a great show for all who watched. Unfortunately the Rock Garden claimed two Jeeps as Scott Montgomery grenaded his rear pinion yoke and u-joint, and Jeff broke the rear Wagoneer axle on his YJ. But this wasn’t discovered until afterward he drove his way out.

With some rookies and rookie Jeeps, another large group tackled trail 9's Slick Rock. With some winching all were able to make it up. At the top of SlickRock, almost all were able to escape the reach of CornerPanel rock - with the exception of my full sized Cherokee Chief that now sports a crunched rear flare. The grand finale was seeing Ron Westcott walk his way up Slick Rock without the aid of a winch! Everyone made it home safely (with the usual roadside trailer problems).