So... Side B had a nice run yesterday to one of our more notorious trails, Morne Diablo.
In the dry season this trail is quite entertaining, lots of hard ruts and ditches to climb over and flex out your suspension. But in the rainy season, this trail can become very difficult, grade 3-4 and for more experienced drivers. Even a little drizzle of rain can quickly change the landscape in this trail and make even our seasoned veterans cry (maybe just a little bit).
Everyone met up at the starting point in Gulf View KFC carpark mostly on time... one or two late straggles (namely, myself and the VP droppa - had to make a detour on the way down south). Did a quick safety and trail briefing, then headed promptly down to Morne Diablo. The convoy got split up as soon as we left, because some of us took the long way around while others went through Palmiste; but we all rendevous back at the Debe market.
Getting into the trail was easy, and getting to the volcano was just as easy. Turns out the trail had been graded into a mostly smooth surface and was quite driveable - I only had to use 4WD in one hilly section where I only had to stop because I got cross-axled. Otherwise it was 2WD almost all the way in to the volcano.
The midday sun didn't dampen the spirits of the new folks who came along for the adventure, as they were all excited to see the mud bubbling from the deep pit. I tried testing the integrity of the mud surface and almost fell in - but was saved by a gas-brained member of Side B. Lots of pictures were taken, a certain surflux zanted out, tales of the previous night's adventures were shared and then it was eventually time to hit the beach towards the West.
Getting to the beach proved a little bit more tricky, but only because the trail became narrower and had more trees to get around as the teak-fields thickened. However it was still 2WD all the way, and we eventually got to the beach. The climb down the cliff face to the beach seemed intimidating to the new guys who had never done rock crawling or hill descents before; as evident in some of their hesistance to make the descent. However our experienced Side B guys positioned themselves at strategic locations throughout the descent trail, and coached the excited newcomers down to the beach. The tag-line of the day was "4Lo and crawl slow, inna first gear and yuh there!" Only one minor incident happened where a hilux on highway tires hit a hidden tree stump and suffered a sidewall puncture - but the rapid action of the Side B seniors helped him back onto his feet and back onto the trail in very little time (time to get some proper A/T tires!!). Good communication was the key between the two convoys, as radio-chatter and messages kept everyone up to date and well informed of each other's situations.
The beach proved a welcome relief from the hot midday sun - with little breeze blowing through the teak trees it was nice to be close to the water and away from the unbearable heat. Lunch was taken out from containers, hot dogs were sliced and served, cold drinks taken out from coolers and a liming atmosphere took over. Some of the younger (and newly instated) Side B members took to flying bird-kites (and divebombing other side b members with the same bird kites) and others kicked around a football on the beach. Some did donuts on the sand, and a surflux went and flexed out on some rocks. One straggler even came up to the beach well into the afternoon, so badly he wanted to join the convoy he closed up his shop early and rushed down to meet us!
Eventually, the day wore on and it was time to leave, as tide and time wait for no man. We turned around and set up to climb the cliff face in low-range 4WD again. This time the newcomers were a bit more brave and took on the hill ascent with more confidence - however a particular black frontier had a bit too much enthusiasm and slid off the easy track and into a ditch. That proved to be no problem for the other side b guys who were with him, straps were whipped out and he was tugged back onto the track in no time (good job bai AASTRA!). By this time, the evening was coming up and most of the newer guys had seen enough action for the day. They bid their goodbyes and left, leaving behind mostly the senior and veterans of the group.
We took an alternate route on the way out and found a nice long rut where we could have a flex-out competition. We slowly drove each truck into the rut to flex both the front and rear suspensions. Each driver had a blast, enjoying the feeling of stretching out the truck. The eventual winner of the contest was a certain green hilux on 4" suspension... but don't worry, next year some of us will come with upgrades to give more competition.
Would you believe that a couple of the guys had not yet seen their fill of offroad action? We were still deciding what to do with the remains of the afternoon, when a call for MUD came up in the group.... and the closest trail was RAVINE SABLE.
Being that we were in dry season, ravine sable proved to be mostly easy grade 2 stuff. The underbrush was thick and hard, leading to more scratches on each vehicle but the real challenge was the deep ruts and thick tree roots. There were still a couple soft spots with deep ruts and it proved to be a challenge to navigate, straddle and avoid the deepest ones. A mitsubishi L200 fell into one of the ruts near to the exit of the trail, but luckily we had all come prepared for such a situation with full recovery gear (except for a winch). After some digging and tugging, the L200 gas-brain was freed and we were back onto the trail. More deep ruts couldn't stop us, we blasted through the trail easily with the good use of an experienced spotter (thanks and big up to DAVE!!) and lots of teamwork. Radio communications played key again, and the back of the line knew exactly what the front of the line was doing.
To that end, we had a happy and adventurous day. More excitement than we had originally anticipated towards the end, but all in all, typical Side B hijinx. Can't wait for the next run and I hope that the newcomers who braved the most treacherous of our trails - Morne Diablo - will come back again for more Side B action. Thanks for coming guys, hope to see you soon... and congrats on rhe rest of the guys for good teamwork and communication!!
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