Trip Report: Kelly Flats
June 11th, 2007 by mark.muskopf,
On June 3rd, 18 trucks made the trek north to run Kelly Flats. The vehicle make-up varied from stock to heavily modified trucks consisting of 9 Discovery Is and Discovery IIs, 3 Defenders, 3 Range Rover Classics, 2 LR3s and 1 Jeep. The weather was great and the scenery superb. Multiple lines were tried as the truck proceeded up Heart Attack hill without real incident. The real entertainment of the day started when everyone rolled up to the Chutes. Anthony in his D90 ST made quick work of the obstacle with only minor body damage. Next up was Kyle in his ‘customized’ RRC. Kyle quickly showed his energetic and enthusiastic driving style. The line chosen, ‘careful’ spotting by Ali, along with ample skinny pedal resulted in Kyle landing on his side. The truck was put back on it’s wheel with a strap and manual labor. A little winch action was required to properly orient the RRC Special, but after that Kyle proceeded through the rest of the obstacle with spirits non-the-less dampened. [Considering Kyle’s recent propensity to do acrobatics with his truck and the nice job he did fabricating the roll cage of this soft top RRC, one has to wonder how long it will take for him to make a complete external skeleton for the truck and stop typing up wanted ads each week on the forum for body panels.] Next up was Ali and his RRC. He chose a more delicate style of driving to negotiate his way through the obstacle. With just a little rock-to-metal contact he was through. Garbs was next and made it look easy with the short wheel-base of his D90 SW with 37” MTRs and rugged sliders. Scott in his DiscoII climbed up the first part of the obstacle with a nice wheel-stand and subsequent soft positioning of the truck’s front wheels back on the ground. He made it through with just a little rubbing (“Rubbin’s racing”- Days of Thunder) to the driver’s rear quarter panel. Last up was Jimmy in his highly modified DI. With the right line and ample use of his sliders he too was through with just a little ‘rubbin’. The rest of the contingent having taken the by-pass with their vehicles took a seat in the rocks to enjoy the show. Everyone had a great time, and served as a reminder that anyone interested in running trails with the club should come on out and enjoy themselves, regardless of their type of Rover, modifications, and driving experience.