We moved out at about 9:10 AM and headed east toward the Hartwell Hills, home of the famous "Hammers".  "Couldn't we just say 12 or 14" someone said over the CB, after our leader, Chris Geiger, advised us that there were 13 rigs in our group.
 

Me on an early obstacle on Sledgehammer

As we began to head up Sledgehammer canyon, the first few obstacles gave us little trouble.  I was surprised to see a guy with a professional video camera filming us... I then recognized him as Doug Meyer, host of 4x4TV, which airs on The Outdoor Channel.  Doug later told us that we would be featured in an upcoming episode.  "Hi Doug, love your show" I said to the camera, passing by.  I saw a smile cross his lips as he had his face buried in the viewfinder of his video camera.

Chris moved up ahead of us as we all took a little time on one obstacle.  Jesse and his wife Janet, in front of me, had walked down the trail to watch the others move past the obstacle, so I couldn't move.  I walked up the trail to see what was next.  There were a couple of difficult obstacles, the kind that you really want a spotter on, and then a yellow 4Runner came into view. 

This yellow 4Runner must have broken down the night before, or earlier that day, and was blocking the trail completely.  The driver was nowhere to be seen, presumably he was off obtaining parts or help.  There was a bypass to the right, but it reminded me of a course at a Rockcrawling Competition.  A big hole, followed by a steep climb with big rocks to climb while straddling another pit.  Much harder than the main trail.

A group of Jeeps had used this bypass and were busy welding and chaining up a broken leaf spring.  Chris made his way over the bypass, struggling a little bit, and parking in an awesome position at the peak of the obstacle, over the pit.  You must realize that Chris's rig is awesome, especially compared to mine!
 

Chris Geiger parked over 'The Pit" and the rock that ate my door

I thought to myself, "I think I'll let the guys with more lift and bigger tires go through this first, and see how they do before I try it".  I was the only rig on the trail that was running 33's and a 3 1/2" lift, rather than 35"+ tires and 5"+ lift.

I watched as Chris, on camera for 4x4TV, used the broken steering on the yellow 4Runner, which had Dana axles and Jeep type steering, as an example of the weakness of this type of steering.  Chris then used his rig, with an All Pro Hy-Steer setup, as an example the best, strongest way to set up your rig, with both the tie rod and the drag link attached to the steering arms, not with the drag link attached to the tie rod, as the Jeep design does. 

When I got back down to my rig I started looking for a good place to pull off, out of the way.  I told Drew, who was behind me, of my plan.  Drew encouraged me to go on.  "Trust your truck" Drew said "it's a Toyota, it will get you through". He was right about my truck, but hindsight is 20/20 and I wish I had listened to that little voice in my head saying "pull aside, let the others try it first".

I forgot all about my plan to hold back and moved up the trail.  I felt proud of my truck, and myself, as I heard Drew's comments over my CB.  "Modest Mark" he said several times as I deftly crawled over two of the hardest obstacles I had ever done...  Then I was at the bypass...  we had thrown a lot of rocks into one end of the hole, and it looked better.
 

Drew	Jessie and Janet

I moved into the obstacle, but was unable to climb a ledge with my passenger side rear tire.  The next thing I knew I started to slide to the right, deeper into the hole, and was soon high centered on my cross member.  For what seemed like an hour, but was probably more like 15 minutes, my fellow Toyota drivers tried hard to extricate me.  Finally, a combination of a tow strap from above (I had no winch), guys pushing from the rear, and my Hi Lift jack on the passenger side rock slider, got me free.

Next was the steep climb and straddle.  I was able to climb into the obstacle, but as I was halfway through I slipped off on the passenger side and caved in my passenger side door.  I watched in horror as I saw the door buckle in, and heard the window, which was rolled down, shatter from the inward pressure.  Another tug and some more pushing from the rear and I was clear.  I said my thanks to everyone who had helped.  I was just glad that my truck hadn't become a permanant obstacle on the trail!

Back on the main trail I stopped to assess the damage... door caved in, window broken (it was down at the time so at least I didn't leave glass all over the trail), and exhaust pipe flattened just behind the catalytic converter, almost to the point of being closed off.  I pulled out a hacksaw, intending to cut off the pipe, but instead cut a couple of small slots to allow some of the exhaust pressure to escape.  At the low RPM's I was turning, the truck seemed to run ok, and it wasn't overheating, so I moved on.

I was busy moving up the trail behind Chris and Jesse, so I didn't see the next 4 rigs, Drew, Steve "Powertank" Sasaki, his friend Randy, and Bryan, move through the bypass.
 
 

Steve "Powertank" Sasaki

 

Randy

Bryan

We made our way over 2 or 3 major obstacles, including a particularly nasty ledge near the plaque, and stopped at the famous "Mailbox" and had some lunch. 

Drew and I walked down the canyon to see how everyone else was doing.  We discovered that a well built early Pickup had bent his tie rod, too severely to continue, on the bypass.  He was in between the first hole and the straddle rocks, and was in the process of removing his tie rod so that he could pound it straight. 

The trail was now completely blocked.

The owner of the broken yellow 4Runner that was blocking the trail had arrived and was busy getting his steering fixed.  The consensus was that the trail would be clear in 20 or 30 minutes, so Drew and I hiked back up the canyon to our trucks.  I was amazed at how steeply the canyon climbed.  It was difficult to walk up it, and we had just driven it.

The lead group was just moving out as we arrived back at the mailbox.  Drew decided to wait there for his friends, which we hoped would be along shortly.  I moved on up the trail.
 
 
 

Me on the last major obstacle before the "Mailbox", my munched passenger side door is visible

Several major obstacles and one that Randy and I chose to bypass led us to the infamous "Sand Hill" escape route.  Everyone made it up the hill, some needing several tries before getting the right tire pressure and gear combination.  I was surprised that I made it up with my restricted exhaust and resulting lack of top end power.  For me, 10 lbs of tire pressure and 3rd gear double low, about 80:1, did the trick.

Drew was right, my truck had gotten me through!  That and a lot of help and patience from my fellow Toyota drivers.

We saw the yellow 4Runner that had been blocking the trail moving up the canyon above the mailbox.  Hopefully the rest of our group would be along soon.

We headed down the Fissure Mountain Trail for camp.  The only obstacle left was a very steep, rocky slope which also happens to be covered with sand.  We all made it down fine, and were back at camp on Means Dry lake by 4:30 PM.

Later, at the raffle, I saw the guy who had bent his tie rod on the bypass.  He said that everyone made it out fine. 

I had a great time.  Even with the body damage, I am glad that I did Sledgehammer.  It was the hardest trail I have ever done, and, with the exception of the bypass that ate my door, overall my truck did pretty well!  Only a few stacked rocks, a push or two, and some great spotting.

The BBQ Hamburger Dinner, provided by Inland Empire 4Wheelers (a Jeep Club... go figure... thanks!), was great.  The raffle was loads of fun, even though I didn't win anything... last year I won 3 items, so I have probably used up my luck for life.  Thank you also to All Pro Off Road for putting on a great event!

I camped with Steve Sasaki and friends.  Great company, on the trail, and off.  It was a little windy, but the dust wasn't blowing as bad as usual for Means dry lake.  We were on the western edge of the lake, and the wind at Means usually blows from the west, so that probably helped.

Now, as I lick my wounds and fix my truck, which also has a broken motor mount that I discovered upon getting home, I need to decide if I want to go to the next level... more lift, 35's, Hi Steer...  for now I am just glad to have such a capable, reliable truck.  Time will tell.