The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 update

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SYRON CONVERSIONS
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The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 update

Post by SYRON CONVERSIONS »

:shh: The Rocky Mountain 4x4 Trail near Queenstown, Saturday the 11th February 2012 Exploration to check and see how over grown the trail has become.

Dear All.

If you have an interest in 4x4ing then please contact Simon and send him your cell number, here in and around Queenstown we have some of the best 4x4 trails in South Africa, 4x4 trails that you will enjoy and have options that can be used to by-pass a section of the trail if you find that section too tough for you, some of the trails are rated as a 5, however with the help of your fellow 4x4 friends, most times you can get through these trails but vehicle damage can happen so the risk is at your expense and please note, I will not say that you can drive through a difficult section of the trail, it is up to you and your co-driver to decide what is best for you.

This afternoon we had Jakes and his son along in Jakes Toyota Hilux 4x4 bakkie, this vehicle does not have any lockers, then we had Heindricht in his 1999 petrol Nissan 4x4 bakkie and Dirk along as his co-driver then my self in my 1992 Hilux with Scott and Jenna along as my co-drivers, I was thinking of asking Saskia along with me, but was not sure if she would have come?

My wife goes and plays tennis every Saturday afternoon with the "boyfriends" and Bowls every Tuesday with her other "old boyfriends" so why can I not take my "girlfriends" along with me on the 4x4 trails? :yahoo: :thumbup: Mad Dog I am not refering to the girlfriend that you know of down in East London that I tried to............. :oops:

Anyway we ventured out onto the trail which is +- 10km from Queenstown on your way to JHB, just before The Bailey turn off, just past Lesseyton township, this is in fact an old Wagon route that was used by a farmer in the late 1800's that had his homestead at the end of the trail through this area before the main road was built that we all know of today, sections of the existing road are still to be found along the trail, where you can see rocks that have been hand placed to prevent the side of the road falling away, anyway on this trail we use sections of the old wagon route and then we venture off into more tougher areas to add a little spice into the trail and to get your blood flowing. Or should I rather use the term thumping....

The first photo shows you The Weir, this is where the people that used to live in this area used to catch the flow of water flowing down this river, by derverting it from this section of the river and then using mud furrows they managed to get the extra water to their vegetable gardens and millie fields.
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The second pick; shows you my Toyota Hilux bakkie that has a few modifications done to it. Not a bakkie to be scared of, but I can tell you with experience that this bakkie has taught me many things over the years. After rolling first over onto the left side :x Okay was not that bad because my friends girlfriend was sitting in the passenger seat and I landed on top of her, yeah I do not wear seat belts and I have a reason for that, maybe years ago I was driving my Nissan 1400 bakkie and collided with some cattle roaming on the public road and wrote the bakkie off and nearly myself in the process (that is another story of its own) but I can tell you that when you have near misses in your life like hitting cattle in the road, it changes your idea about life on this Earth and makes you think that tomorrow might be your last day here, so make the most of it, take your girlfriends along with you on the trail. Seat belts have their uses, however if I was wearing one when I hit the cattle, I would be pushing daises now.
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The blue Nissan bakkie crossing the first short river crossing, this is Heindrich and Dirk, they said afterwards that this is the way to cross water. Have sufficient water in front of your vehicle to form a bow wave and this prevents the engine from taking in water etc.
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Guys this trail has not been driven for over a year, some sections further up the trail have not been driven for over five years and the tree branches have now taken over, today's driving would not have been for the person that takes lots of pride in their paint work on their 4x4, today was an exploration to determine what the further sections of this trail are like, we managed to get three quarters of the way up the trail and because it was very overgrown we turned back at 16h00, because we still had a few difficult river water crossing to still get back through, (difficult for the Nissan but not difficult for my Hilux.

So we all managed to get through the first small river crossing, here is the next crossing, now remember we had not been this way for over a year and I was driving up front in my Hilux and thus I just took chances and kept on driving not knowing how deep the water in fact was, but because I was driving a Hilux, I knew that I could not get into any worse trouble than what I did at the Molteno 4X4 Challenge last year, where I rolled the bakkie over onto it's right side on the very first obstacle that we took part in (that is another story for another day). Yes I did dent the side of the load body, But I must just say that once the bakkie was back on it's wheels it did manage to compete that obstacle section that was very difficult.

Once again we have Heindricht in his Nissan 4x4 bakkie, please note it does not have any diff lockers it is stock standard,He is not sure but maybe it might have a limited slip diff? yes he did do things slightly different to what the 4x4 books say, but he did keep up with us guys in The Hilux except for the one crossing where both Jakes and Heindrecht decided to rather take the sissie by-pass trail, the water was about one metre deep, not many vehicle's would have made it through this section of this trail, maybe a person with a Landcruizer if he has twin lockers in his Landcruizer might have made it through if he was driving this trail with us today.
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On this water crossing he sure made a huge bow wave in front of his bakkie, not the way that things are normally done, but hey it sure was awesome to see how he did it and came across with brute force and a little water splashing around his bakkie, he did not even use his wipers and had both front windows open and did not get any water in the cab, hows that for a Nissan hey?
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I drove through the next one, got three quarters of the way across then I battled to get out the other side because the banks were very steep, but I then reversed slightly, selected high range 2nd gear and then after going forward once or twice, three then four times I eventually managed to get out the other side, Heindricht in his Nissan would most probably have got three quarters of the way across, but would never have got out the other side.
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From here on there was a tree blocking the trail, thus while the Sissies were taking the by-pass trail, I hooked up my tow strap and soon had it out of the way, it had fallen half way and was in the way, will have to take along a chainsaw the next time.

So here we are, at the cross axle section, this is a real awesome place to drive your 4x4, this section gets a lot of people in their 4x4 held up, this section teaches them the capabilities of their 4x4, where it can drive and where not, but most importantly if you know where to place your wheels and you have sufficient forward motion and speed you will get through, but now the guys that have twin lockers, just crawl through this section easy and as slow as possible, because they know that their vehicle will get through, even if their wheels are in the air.

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Lekker to have lockers hey? :lol: :yahoo: :thumbup: :shh: :clap:

Not sure what the aim of the two thin blokes on the back of the Nissan were attempting to do? Do they?
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So here we were again, we normally drive in this river section, the trail now became very over grown, me thinks that we did cut back this section up until here about a year ago, but it now is basically impossible to drive any further up this trail with a vehicle that you care about the paint work. (just think how we can get lost in this thick bush with our girlfriends) :shh: ?
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Photo 7734 is in fact part of the trail that has overgrown, you need a chainsaw if you want to venture further up this trail. It is best to tuck your mirrors in as well or even better still just remove them.

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I was worried about spiders and snakes, no wonder I suppose.

Getting back to the trail, basically it took us in and out of this river section, but then we decided it was getting late in the afternoon and that it was now time to turn around and head home.
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Join us the next time, just send me an email and your contact details.to bigballs@vodamail.co.za or you can try big balls at vodamail dot co dot za

On our way out, once again through the cross axle section.

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Well that is all for now, see you on the next 4x4 trails.

cell 083 703 6430
http://www.queenstownforklift.co.za" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have asked Mad Dog to post some pics for me, will give him some honey in return. lekker hey?
1992 Slightly Modified Hilux, 2008 VW Caddy panelvan work, 2010 Isuzu 2.5 td bakkie for work, a pair of big 'balloons' as well hanging at the rear of my Hilux

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Re: The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 up

Post by Mud Dog »

The blue Nissan bakkie crossing the first short river crossing, this is Heindrich and Dirk, they said afterwards that this is the way to cross water. Have sufficient water in front of your vehicle to form a bow wave and this prevents the engine from taking in water etc.
Yep, that's the way .... maybe not as aggressively, but that's the idea.
...... will give him some honey in return.
You owe me big time! Your pics were as disorganised as ..... well never mind :D: , but seriously, you should get your connection sorted out. ;-)


Some nice pics! :thumbup:
When your road comes to an end ...... you need a HILUX!.

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Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers ... what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
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And be yourself ..... everyone else is taken!
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Re: The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 up

Post by C.R.Gillmans »

Now that looks like a proper ride! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
If it ain't broke...it don't have enough functions yet...

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Re: The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 up

Post by Andre du preez »

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Re: The Rocky Mountain Lesseyeton 4x4 Trail 11th Feb 2012 up

Post by jacques kotze »

Dit lyk of dit lekker was :thumbup: :thumbup:
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