I've read everything in this thread. My buddy and I pulled my 94 t-case out in a couple of hours. Take out the crossmember (which you did) and disconnect everything (which I hope you did). There are (I believe) 5 bolts that hold the t-case to the adapter and you have to get the bottom one through the tranny mount. Jack the transmission slightly (and plan on leaving it there ubless you have a stand the right height) until the t-case is not resting on anything and you should be able to wiggle it back far enough to pop the mainshaft loose. It'll get heavy real quick. We tossed the jack we had under it (t-case) because it was more hassle than it was worth and just horsed it out kinda sideways because of the rear crossmember (which you do not want to take loose). I would definately get the exhaust out of the way. The job really isn't that hard.
Looked at your pics again. You can grab the back of the t-case and wiggle it while you pull back. It'll give you more leverage. I think we had to actually get the t-case up on the rear crossmember if I remembre correctly. You're almost there.
I would definately change both gaskets on the adapter too. That's really a piece of cake. In fact you can't take the adapter off without pulling the t-case.

 

I think it also depends on what t-case you have. I had a NP236 in my 2000 blazer. It is a crazy tight fit, but my buddy and i just had to wiggle it out. We jacked the transmission up and held it there. I let the adapter attached and removed the transmission cross member. You pretty mush have to get it in the right position then it just tilts down. I used a pry bar which may not be to good, but it worked. If you have the NP233 of NP231 they are both smaller and are so much easier to take out. I still wouldn't use a jack to lower it. Two sets of hands are defiantly easier. Best of luck, hope you figure something out.

 

My 94 has a NP233 and it's pretty long. Longer than the NP231 in my 84 Jimmy. Really don't know about your 2002. But somebody had to put it in there. Looking at your pics one more time (from what I can make out) it looks like you have to get the t-case over the top of that rear crossmember and then turn it kinda sideways and pull it that way. That's how we got mine out of my 94.

 

I dont remember having any trouble removing any of the t-cases in my '87, '93, or '00. remove driveshafts, disconnect any linkage/wires/hoses, jack up tranny and leave it up, remove cross brace. Disconnect t-case and pull it out. Maybe the difference is I didnt use a jack on the t-case, I just muscled it out, its only like 100 pounds. I also dont remember if I left the adapter connected to teh t-case or not. Regardless the t-case was easy to remove compared to the tranny. I did use a floor jack to pull and install the tranny though, its close to 175 pounds soaking wet.

 

Adapter stays with the tranny since it bolts up from the inside of the adapter. 4 bolts.

 

this thread has been a lot of help. im going to do this now before i have class at 230. i know i have a bad input shaft seal which is allowing all my trans fluid into my vacuum lines. taking this out seems easy now and the only bitch part is going to be getting the leftover fluid out of my lines.

 

To add to the record:
2002 Blazer LS; NP233 - Blocked up transmission; removed crossmember; unbolted Adapter from Tranny; slid Xfer Case as far back onto rear crossmember as possible - not enough clearance. Unbolted Adapter from Xfer Case and then it rotated right out. Regular Floor Jack was definitely just in the way!