The 2009 inaugural run was so amazing I can barely put into words. By far one of the best Off-Roading days this club has seen! 28 4x4’s were in attendance, not including the army of 4 wheelers that watched us crawl all over the trails. It started with a “Holy Crap” factor as 4x4 after 4x4 rolled into the Jeffersonville Mobil station. I had a few surprises through out that 30 min wait. My boy Adam was trying to syke me out all week with them not coming and they showed up first. My day just got better, and then rolls in Brian with the Willys!! He finished it just to attend; I believe he said, “I’m not missing this run!” Then my Colchester/Richmond boys rolled up in the new Jeeps, built in less then a month. It was great to see them! Our member Matt drove “Babe” up from Massachusetts the night before just to attend the ride! The boys in the MULE camp came in like a rolling thunder show with the tires rumbling and engines humming in tune to the mood of the already buzzing morning. Then came some more new faces, SAS Chevy S-10 on swampers, what? That thing is sick! Some lifted Toyotas and some stockers rolled in to close out the wait. So with that excitement done, we hoped in and headed to the trail head.
As we drove up the “Yard” we waited for the trailer queens unload and we had a quick driver meeting to give a heads up on the days plan. It was a site to see the all those rigs in one spot. I didn’t get a picture because I was too damn excited! We lined up and headed up the main trail. A few comments on the opening rock face from some of the guys: “What? Uh, we’re going up that? What the F*** Trevor?!” “He knows I gottta drive this home right?” “Ahhh, the beginning of an awesome day.” “Hold on dude, we are either going to make it or be the first rig flipping, there’s no turning back now.” We climbed the canyon with out issue. It was a very nice slow comfortable pace. We got to the 3 headed beast which has three lines to chose from, medium, hard, medium. Matt Tried the hard, he ended up on the left medium, Trevor tired the hard, followed Matt, and Adam did the hard and laughed and ridiculed Matt and Trevor. The silver Rubicon (need a name) tried the Hard and followed Matt and Trevor. Brian with the Willys tried the far side of the medium and almost flopped it. Moving on we kept pace to the beaver pond. About 6 rigs got the beaver pond and waited for the rest of the crew. About 15mins pass and they were not coming. So Trevor went back to check on them. Chris decided to get his yota stuck on a rock/mud ledge and had to winch out. *Chuckles* as we snaked back up the main trail we crossed the beaver pond to do the lower trails. Well, almost all of us crossed the Beaver Pond. Dustin’s Jeep had other ideas. After some serious peer pressure and some Kodak courage Dustin tried the mud in the middle of the pond. His axle puked out and the tire decided to rip the knuckles apart and his tire looked like a hover craft. So we pulled him out and left his butt to deal with that. We split up the crew, 10 went down then the rest went down the side trails without problems. When we got back up to the main trail, Dustin had it band-aided back together. With the only turtle there, Adam pulled Dustin to higher ground for easier retrieval. We went back down the main trail to the “Yard”. At this point, Rick and crew had to hit the pavement. With smiles on there faces I assumed they had fun. Can’t wait to get back and ride with those guys.
With the good-byes done we decided it was Axle Alley time, with a warning to all others that were coming a few decided to park and walk. With in the first 100 yards is a mud wall. If you can’t make this wall, park the 4x4 and walk. And that’s exactly what a few did. With some hairy moment in the Willys Brian made it up. Try and try as he might, Chris could not get that Toyota up the wall. Bruce and Jess, said, another day. So with Matt, Adam Trevor, Brian and some locals we headed to Axle Alley. The snake that was became a worm. Just 6 rigs made it to Axle Alley. Matt was the first one there, after the name sake place claimed him last year, he spent the money on some birfields and he was determined to kick the monkey off his back. With a little guidance from Adam, he hopped his Blue Toyota up and over Axle Alley. He parked at the top and waited for someone to join him. So, not to be out done, Adam fires up the Turtle and goes up the alley with ease. So he parks at the top and joins Matt in the Toyota parking lot. Trevor has wanted to always attempt it and decided today was the day. With more guidance from Adam, Trevor made a grand attempt to put his Grand on the top. He made the lip up and over. With a 3rd bump to try and get the rear up the front gave up. *Snap* The Alley claims another. Trevor broke a front right side axle. After trying to unwedged him, the crew had to push him off the rock. With a smile on his face, he didn’t mind the broken axle, after Adam had told him everything broke. *loser* So with that, we all headed back to the yard. We talked about the day, all the people, all the new 4x4s and new friends we had. It was a great day and it was a blast to see everyone there! Hope fun was had and we will see you all on the next ride!!!
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