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this past weekend i went camping with my friend and younger brother. It was about 7 years sense the last time ive been camping. My friend Cody has been to Bushcraft lately and was mostly ready for camping. my brother steven and I where in the Boy Scouts years ago. I Made it to Eagle Scout, but Steven didn't stick with it. we loaded up the back of Steven's cherokee and the 3 of us set off for shepard state park in MS. When we arrived we checked in at the main office then set off to the tent camping area. The sites are first com first serve with no defined camp sites. So we where able to find a spot and claim it as ours. we unloaded the gear form the jeep and pitched the tents. after the tents where up steven and cody started on the cooking fire. while they where getting the fire ready i was preparing dinner. For dinner i cooked a whole chicken, potatoes, and carrots in a dutch oven. after a couple hours it was fall off the bone tender. on day 2 i started breakfast while steven and cody gathered and processed the woof for the fire. around 10 am, i started cooking dinner, i filled the dutch oven up quarter way with water, and dropped in some diced red potatoes and seasoning and let it start to cook down for the stew. while the potatoes where cooking cody and i scouted the nearby trails. after about 30 mins we headed back to camp. most of Saturday was gathering wood, hanging out, chating, and laid back. at 12 i cubed a roast and more red potatoes, and added it to the stew with some bacon and carrots as well. about 5 ish we added more carrots and potatoes, and at 7:30pm the stew was ready. As we got settled into our tents at 12am someone came driving through the tent area with their high beams on. As you can imagine we weren't amused. Cody and i got up with our flashlights in hand to investigate. we watched the car drop off 3 people then drive off, the 3 people then walked off some where, maybe 20 mins later 2 cars are now driving around with the primitive camping area shining their lights everywhere. they eventually stop and set up a single tent and we counted at least 4 people. we stayed up for another hour just to make sure they wouldn't bother us. thankfully they where quiet and never disturbed us after they initially drove through. Sunday morning i slept in but steven got up around 7 and decide to sit in his jeep, and eat my chips while watching netflix.... around 8 or so we ate breakfast and started packing up. I was surprised at how quickly we packed up. we opted to head home instead of staying longer. On the way out I stopped by the office to check in on out late night arrivals. and the college student said they did pay. So I thanked him and we headed home via HWY 90 and where home shortly after. Probably not the most exciting camping trip, but we all had a good time and looking forward to the next one. I'll be able to leave a bunch of stuff at home next time around. Day 1 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 1 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 1 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 1 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr Day 2 by Blue88Comanche, on Flickr

As title says, Uwharrie trip Fri, May 30th - Sun, June 1st. If I don't work Friday morning, I'll be aiming to meet up at the Outpost at 11:00 am. Otherwise, I'll be out there later that evening. I'll be driving this XJ and my buddy Sam will likely be driving that Yota. My name is Shawn. PM if you want my number. Add me on FB for more updated trip event info. www.facebook.com/onlyinajeep726 Should be a good turn out.

Hello all. I wanted to gather opinions here, seeing as how y'all are the experts when it comes to the 'Manche's. This summer, I will be conducting some field work for my employer, in which I will be required to basically live out of my vehicle in areas ranging from wooded mountains in South-eastern New Mexico to the deserts of far West Texas. We will be operating in the vicinity of populated areas ( think approx 50-70 miles), but we will mostly operate on our own. The extent of this "camping trip" will be for about a month; from June to July. In this part of the country, we don't get a whole lot of rain during this time of year, but we do get extreme temperature changes. During the day, it can get as hot as 110 degrees, while at night, in the open desert, it can drop to the low 60's, to mid 50's. Now, this is mainly a mental exercise, but I will be taking suggestions from here as to what some of the future mods will be to my Comanche to get it to be able to pull off stints such as this. We won't be doing any XTREME ROK KRAWLIN!!!!!!, but we will definately be driving over some badly maintained fire roads, gravel utility roads, and at times, make some not-so-deep water crossings and maybe have to scramble up some jeep trails and ride some sand dunes. My knee jerk reaction to this scenario is to take my ZJ. Why? Well, it has a fantabulous suspension for fast, long distance off roading, is dead reliable, has plenty of lighting, and , if push comes to shove, I can sleep in it. The problems it has is that, quite frankly, it has crappy cargo room, it sucks gas down compared to the 2.5 MJ, and I already have it set up for what I want it to do. So let's look at what I have to start with: 1987 Jeep MJ 2.5L 4 cylinder (runs GREAT and is surprisingly capable and frugal after fixing the vacuum and electrical issues it had) AX5/NP231 swap currently in the works (Ditching the AX4) Non C Clip Dana 35 in rear. Originally came with 3.55's, but will be swapping in a set of 4.11's and either a Lock Right or a Spartan... maybe a Detroit if I can swing it. HP Dana 30, matching gear set, open diff. EBC USR rotors and green stuff pads. I like em on my ZJ.... I currently have the stock rear springs, ZJ V8 front springs with Energy Suspensions isolators and Skyjacker 10 stage Velocity Sensing shocks at all four corners. At this point I have insgtalled a pair of Hella Rallye 2000's, have plans for a new front and rear bumpers, and, to deal with the weight increase, I will probably step up to a pair of 3.5-4" springs in the front and maybe add a leaf from a XJ pack to my rears. Oh, and I'm running 31x10.5R15 BFG T/A KO's on 15x8 aluminum wheels. What else would you guys add?

Hey guys, just like the title says... I'm planning a visit to Uwharrie that weekend. Planning on camping and wheeling. Going to be there 10:00AM Saturday and leave sometime in the late afternoon on Sunday. Been building the XJ up since my last trip in July, so really want to see what she'll do. Anyway, I know some of my Charlotte buddies should be done with exams by this point, so no excuses lol. Let me know what you guys think and if you're able to join us.