PERCHES CREEK TRAIL

We hooked up with some local off-roaders, some of whom we had previously wheeled with, to do another run in the Anchorage area. This time Brook left his stock Cherokee at home and brought his 'Freak', an old tube-framed Chevy on 45" tractor tires. We climbed the scenic route over Hatcher Pass to the trail head.
After airing down and disconnecting sway bars we started with the shallow water crossings right at the entrance of the trail.

We snaked along the dusty path until we came to the first obstacle, a long incline with loose dirt and some scattered rocks inbetween. This section required some articulation to keep the tires on the ground on the twisted terrain. The vehicles kept creeping up the mountain passing the occasional mud hole. On top of the plateau we came to a wide area of muddy tundra. Curtis attempted a route through the middle with his Cherokee but got stuck in a deep hole. The two buggies had no problems cruising through and Nick's Land Cruiser also made it, throwing mud all over the place. From here the trail continued downhill towards a river which we had to cross. The water was almost four feet deep in the middle, but equipped with snorkles and/or big tires we all made it. John and Brook decided to return at this point to head back all the way to Kenai.
A little bit further up the trail Curtis' track bar mount on his Cherokee ripped off and he had to reweld it on.
We headed to a cabin on the opposite hill and pushed on to see what we'd find further in the trail. After Curtis (the guinea pig) got helplessly stuck in another mud hole, we decided to turn around.
We had to return the way we came and slowly crawled back. At the river crossing, my rig's driver's door which was facing upstream and I got a few gallons of water penetrating past the door seal and flooding the area at my feet. Across the river we tried to soak up as much water as possible with paper towels. Pushing back up the mountain some sections privided a challenge, but we all made good time on our return. This time we chose the easiest possible way through the mud field and I got stuck again. Nick was the only one to attempt a route through the middle and needed a winch.
On the way downhill we played around on some challenging sections and made it out of the trail without any major breakage.

We followed the dirt road out to the pavement and filled up our tanks before everybody went their own way. Thanks again to everybody involved on taking us out on these amazing trips.

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