Memorial Day Weekend is often the excuse for hitting department store sales or spending the long weekend on the couch, but a few hundred people each year choose to honor the nation’s veterans by rockcrawling the new K-2 Katemcy Rocks in Mason, Texas. This is one way we can all enjoy wheeling for a cause. Randy Kruse pilots his CJ-7, Baby Huey, up Ripper’s Run. He is at the steepest part of the steepest climb at the K-2 park. The 42-inch sticky MTRs allowed him to crawl up the long climb. K-2 served as a proving ground for the latest Goodyear MTRs as well.Randy Kruse pilots his CJ-7, Baby Huey, up Ripper’s Run. He is at the steepest part of the If you remember Ultimate Adventure 2007 (Nov. and Dec. ’07), that particular Katemcy Rocks location is no more. The new park is located about 20 miles away. In late 2007, the landowners terminated a long-standing agreement with Randy Kruse’s family and Shain Chapman, partners in the original Katemcy Rocks. They had less than a month to get everything off the property, so the partners loaded up everything from the park and stashed it out behind the Kruse’s house. About that time, other area landowners came knocking. Kruse swears he wore out boots tromping over the heart of Texas before settling in on the new site, which is called K-2. The new site still has lots of exposed granite, and the boulders are big and made for crawling. Of course, there are plenty of large slabs for vertical climbs too. Tom Wombles scaled an unnamed climb that he had just found. That’s the great thing about K-2. If you see something you want to climb, go for it. Just don’t drive on the grass, which is reserved for cattle.Tom Wombles scaled an unnamed climb that he had just found. That’s the great thing about K The new park is a work in progress, so many trails and obstacles don’t have names, and you can possibly cut new trails. In fact, Early Bronco Club faithful Lee Novikoff and Chris Towery were out cutting a new difficult trail that will take vehicles close to the highest point of the park, and already forced one TJ to spend the night out on the rocks. For more information visit the park’s website, www.katemcyrocks.com Jamie Gutierrez is the chef at one of those nice sit-down restaurants in Austin, but here he cooks up a good line on the Cyclops trail. While the old place had larger slabs of granite, the new park has more large boulders. Gutierrez drives his YJ to ride and back home, so he has chosen a reliable combination of an Atlas transfer case, Spider 9 axles, Alcan leaf springs, and remote-reservoir Fox shocks.Jamie Gutierrez is the chef at one of those nice sit-down restaurants in Austin, but here Shain Chapman wedged his TJ into a big crack badly enough that he couldn’t move forward or backward at one point. The 1/4-inch plate welded front to back saved the Jeep. K-2 requires exact tire placement on the granite.Shain Chapman wedged his TJ into a big crack badly enough that he couldn’t move forward or While some of the climbs at K-2 are nearly vertical, the downhills will make you pucker up too. Check out the three-wheel motion.While some of the climbs at K-2 are nearly vertical, the downhills will make you pucker up Yes, Virginia, those are 54-inch tires. The Baja Claws are bolted onto Unimog 416 portal axles. The vehicle is surprisingly nimble for its size.Yes, Virginia, those are 54-inch tires. The Baja Claws are bolted onto Unimog 416 portal a The TJ Rubicon’s short wheelbase helped this driver pivot around the quarter-panel–grabbing rock on one of the main access trails. While K-2 does offer mild wheeling, prepare your rig with at least 33-inch tires, one locker, good seatbelts, a strong cage, and a winch.The TJ Rubicon’s short wheelbase helped this driver pivot around the quarter-panel–grabbin Most 18-year-old girls would rather not risk getting hot or breaking a nail, but Shelby Gilstrap came wheeling with her mom and dad for a high school graduation present. Pretty cool, huh? K-2 has trails for everyone and caters to families as well as hardcore wheelers.Most 18-year-old girls would rather not risk getting hot or breaking a nail, but Shelby Gi If there was a theme to the weekend, it was fathers and sons. The driver of this YJ is 10. Dad says his son has been driving at Katemcy since he was 7. Many rigs were piloted by youngsters.If there was a theme to the weekend, it was fathers and sons. The driver of this YJ is 10. Tom Wombles also helped winch over a tiny Toyota-based buggy that flopped while attempting a big climb. The owner’s shoulder harness broke, and he was ejected. Thankfully, no one was injured. Please check your equipment before leaving home.Tom Wombles also helped winch over a tiny Toyota-based buggy that flopped while attempting Randy and Shain opened the weekend with a drivers meeting Saturday morning and gave a big thanks to all the veterans in attendance. Also, active servicemen always get into the park for free during Memorial Day Weekend. The new park has plenty of easy access roads to either reach the difficult obstacles or extract a broken vehicle after climbs like this.Randy and Shain opened the weekend with a drivers meeting Saturday morning and gave a big By Craig-Ellis Sasser Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
