I've had my 2x 5spd for almost 3 years and I finally took it on something more difficult than fire roads this past weekend with SCCXTERRA.

We took 11 X's and a Frontier to Anza Barrego and did the grapevine trail (4-2x's in the group).
We all had fun and were able to cover similar terrain including a section were we were told by the ranger that some 4x's turned around the day before.
At one point I had 2 wheels off the ground (different axles), later on we were tilted over to almost 40 degrees. No problems with the 2 wheel drive.

Consider joining a club, these guys were great and my wife and I had a lot of fun (Thanks Brian, Blue Leader, and Logan!!!).