The main group meet at Tim's shop at 8 am and were on the road by 8:15. We made it to Hollister around 9:30 or so. 
Ron and Danny were already in the park and exploring the trails. We continued on to the campgrounds and set up camp and unloaded all the trucks. 
We meet up with Ron and went over to a big sand pit area and played in here and gave all the rookie passengers a little taste of off roading. Tom found a more difficult section and soon all of us were over there trying it out. This little hill had a hugh rut in it and some of us had to back up and try it a few times. 
From here we headed up to the obstacle course. We Drive up and see a guy in a Toyota truck stuck on a rock on this little section of hugh rocks. Well with Ron suggest we jack him up and put rocks under his tires to allow him to back off the rock. So I get my 2 day old Hi-lift jack out and we get him up and throw some rocks under and he is on his way. 
Then we went and looked at the mini-rubicon course but decided we would do it later if we had time as it would take a lot of time to move all the rocks.  All of us went up a little hill with big steps and rocks . No biggie in a Hummer and then decided to head up the Tank Trap Trail that stopped us last time 
So we headed down the trail to the entrance and started up the nasty little trail. We were doing good and making it up each section as it is built like a bunch of little humps that like to high center our trucks. Some of the spots are quite tricky and I left a bunch of yellow paint on the dirt on the few I was going on. 
Well we hear on the CB that someone is on their side. We could not understand at first then it registered that someone has rolled it. Well we haul butt over a few humps to catch up to see what happen and we come around this corner and see tire sticking out 90 degrees. Well the person who will remain nameless had got a little to high on one side of the trail and when the front dropped down in the hole the truck very slowly rolled onto it's side. No one was hurt as that was the first worry. 
So we hook up a tow strap around the truck and with my winch and a snatch block on a nice tree way up the hill (was down to my last roll on the winch) we pull the truck back on it's wheels. Well as we all were doing this we thought the side would have broken windows and mirrors and be all destroyed. Well much to everyone's amazement there was almost no damage. The roof rack and spare tire had cushioned the roll and all that happen was a bunch of the rain gutter brackets had broken. 
We get the truck fired up and continued on our way. I can't believe there was almost no damage. A few scratches in the roof but that is about it. These things are built tough. So we head up to one of the final humps and the first truck gets high centered and cannot get out under it's own power. Well all the trucks have winches and a tree is in the perfect spot to give a little tug to get off the high centered spot. The next truck almost gets stuck but pulls it off and makes it over. Well it is my turn and sure enough I get stuck too. By this time I have left the winch controller on the dash and we pull mine off and we leave the strap on the tree for the last truck and sure enough they get stuck too. So we get him off and we are on our way out of the trail finally and head up this nice steep section that takes you right up to the obstacle course. By now word of a roll over had spread and a bunch of people come over but we had the truck pulled up and on our way very fast so all they got to see was the 3 trucks getting pulled off the hump and the last section of the trail. 

So after all this excitement we decide it is time for lunch. Well during lunch a another friend shows up in his brand new Jeep so we decide to drive to the top of the mountain. The Hummers decide to go up the famous Truck Hill. Tom was up first as both of us had just done it a few weeks before and knew where the hole is. Tom goes right up the hill no problem. I went next so I could video John and Ron coming up. I had no problem and did not need much BTM at the dip as I remember last time.  

John is next and this is the first time for him so Tom and I fill him in on where to avoid the big hole/dip. He looks good going up and then hits the dip and you can see he is having problems. The left front wheel is about a foot in the air and I thought he was stuck and sliding. Well he gets traction and finally gets past the dip and makes it up. 

Ron is the last one and all looks fine until he hits the dip and we see his front left tire about two or 3 feet in the air (ok maybe not that much but it looked scary to me) So all we see is a big hugh cloud of dust and figure he is stuck and just spinning. Well out of the cloud comes Ron and Kathy like they were on a Sunday drive. We all applaud and are happy to see nobody had problems.

We continue on up the hardest trail to the top of the mountain. One thing about a Hummer is the trails that are marked hard are quite easy in this beast. So we reach the top and meet up with our Jeep and our tag along Toyota. We all have refreshments and take pictures and enjoy the great view. 

We then decide to go over to the toughest hill in the park which is called Five Fingers. So we caravan down the mountain and meet up with a Unimog heading up the trail. It was an open top and a nice German guy was driving and he was quite shocked to see 4 Hummers coming down the trail. Nothing like good military company. No sure I would feel safe in one of those as there is no roll over protection. 

So on a short little path to Five Fingers we hit this section with a real bad angle and each truck goes very slow as it felt like you were on the edge of tipping. John is the last one through and I here him on the CB say my tilt meter is pegged. We were in front of him and he kept asking if his front tire was in the air. Well it was not and he continued on no problem.

We all get out and look at this nasty hill. What makes it so bad is they plowed hugh humps that gets the Hummers High centered as well as being real soft dirt.. Tom is the first one and he makes it almost up and I loose him in a cloud of dust (I was video taping it). Not sure what happen I keep looking and sure enough he emerged from the dust and makes it to the top. Ron is right behind him and he has no problem and meets Tom at the top. John is next and makes it to the last hump and almost gets stuck but makes it all the way. 

So now it is my time and I am feeling confident as I have the lightest truck and the most powerful engine AMG uses. So I am thinking no problem I should be just fine. Well I have 3 passengers also and we have been wheeling all day so they feel good too. We make it to the last hump, the same one John had problems with and my tires start to spin so I give it major brake as well as full gas thinking I should be able to make this. Well all four tires are spinning and have both feet mashed to the floor (now I believe I had too much BTM and slowed myself down) and we are right at the hump and I hear a loud THUMP. Well this stopped the truck right away. So being the positive person I am I think ok no problem just a little problem and try to back up and the truck does not move. So I give it more gas and the rear tires spin a little and I get off the hump and back down about 10-15 feet. I try to go forward and the truck will not move. At this point I know something is wrong.

Ron comes on the radio and I tell him what happened and he ask me to look and see if the front wheels are moving. Well one of the people in the truck get out and say NO they are being dragged down the hill. I tell this to Ron and he says shut it down and he will be down in a second. So Ron drives down this nasty section and puts his winch cable to my truck and with a hand full of tools dives under the truck. Now picture this on a very steep hill of soft dirt Ron's truck is pointed down hill and mine is up with the winch cable holding them together. So Ron is disconnecting the front drive shaft and we hear a loud POP and the truck moves a inch or so. This scares the sh*t out of everyone as Ron is under my truck and now I know why he had the winch cable hooked to my truck. So Ron comes out and says ok your free but now have a 2 wheel drive Hummer and you got to back down a steep hill of soft dirt!!

Ok so now I am at least free but the backing down part is scary so we see a side trail that is easier and we decide to try for it. Well I have to make a sharp turn to make this trail and Ron keeps yelling to take my foot of the brake but I am not sure how to slow down as the front tires were sliding and I did not have good control. So finally I listen to Ron after plowing into a small bush so I just let off and start to roll fast but got steering and get straighten out and make it down the rest of the way no problem. 

Now we start to wait for the rest of the group but say we can't help and the truck is making a bunch of noise from the transfer case so we head back to camp which is real close. As we are heading back we hear on the radio that Ron as got stuck trying to back up the hill and over the nasty hump. Tom gets in position to pull him off the hump and we hear that he broke something trying to pull him free. So then John has to drive around to the bottom and go back up the hill to get Ron free. Earlier we had gave John the nickname of Pokey as he has the slowest truck (94 NA Diesel) and had a hard time keeping up on the freeway. So now we have been humbled by the old Pokey with not enough power to blow-up his transfer case. 

Back at camp we call it a day and Tom's truck is making a nasty sound as he got free without disconnecting the drive shaft. Tom and Ron were not camping so they head off to try to limp Tom's truck home. Well about 1/2 later our Toyota buddy shows up and says Tom's truck blew the transfer case out all over the highway a few miles from the park. John decides to go see what happened and we send him with a care package of sandwiches and drinks as it was past dinner time by now and they have had nothing to eat since lunch. 

Well it looked like Tom's T-case blew out so bad it left the chain on the ground and half the case blown away. Ron and Tom wait for a tow truck and that turns into a whole new story as the tow truck was only rated 10k pounds but it has never towed that much. Well after a 45mph drive home Tom gets his truck to Fremont and gets home around midnight.

So in the meantime we are having a great feast after the hard day and Kris the chef for our group (Joe,Steve and I) cooks up a great meal. We all have a fun time sitting around the campfire and finally hit the sack. Well we have a group at the other end of the campground that is loud with music playing and we all say ok it's cool it is still early (9:30 or so) well hours later they are still partying and our buddy Toyota boy is quite drunk and trying to drive up every hill in the area. It was really getting on everyone's nerves by now and he Toyota boy keep playing the same tape over and over again as well as the campers with him. I don't think any of use will ever be able to listen to those two tapes again in our life. I was surprised non of us got out and yelled at them but finally around 12 or 1 they went to bed. Not sure of the time as I was sick (flu) and was sort of delirious. 

The next morning we get up early and make tons of noise cooking breakfest and packing up our gear as well as honk our horns as we depart. I get about a mile down the trail and my truck is making a bunch of noise so out on the entrance area I crawl under and see the front driveshaft is now turning and banging around so I disconnect the shaft at the transfer case and head on our way but the T-case is still making some noise. Joe and Kris were following in their street truck and as we were about a mile down the road we hear a thump 
and see parts fly out. Well I thought it was just the U-joint caps as they were close the the output shaft and maybe just fell off. I see them flashing the lights and turn around to go pick up the parts. Right after that noise the transfer case stopped making noise and everything felt good.So they come up and show me the part they have and it is part of the case. I said O Sh*t and crawl under to look and we see a 2-3" hole up at the top right side of the case and it looks like it still has oil in it. Joe and Kris said when it let loose it sprayed oil big time even got on their windshield. Well at this point the T-case is already gone so I say what the heck lets try to limp it home. So scared and worried we made it home going 55-60 and with my hand on the trans shifter as it was quite noisy and this made it go away. The next day I looked underneth and the hole had enlarged to a pretty good size.

The next day I drove it to Fremont Hummer and a few weeks later got it back all fixed as they had some other warranty stuff to do so had them do it all at once. Tom got his back the week before and both of us had complete new transfer case replaced.

Back to 7-19-97 Hollister Trip page 
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Visit Hollister Hills SRVA web site  for maps and info on the park. 

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