Report - written by Mike Ball:
SATURDAY
This is an event to support the Relay for Life of Nelson. This event raised $25,000 to help end cancer.
The weekend turn out to be a fantastic weekend for wheeling weather wise. The attendees added to in to make for a great weekend out on the trails.
Saturday morning we all met up at the staging area. The group is led by Mike Ball and Andrew Harvin, who have been wheeling together and guiding as a team for over 5 years. We love to wheel and work to keep things fun, challenging and enjoyable for everyone.
The group started to line up early and hit our 20 rig limit with a little over flow very quickly. We have about 50% as OCC members usually, and at least 75% overall that wheel with us every event. Both the Spring Wheeling for Hope and the fall Virginia 4 Wheel Drive annual ride.
The drivers meeting was done by Chris Boucher and Tim Burnett. The usual t-shirts and other stuff was given away. Then we lined up to leave staging.
Our first trail of the day was Chapel Trail. We staged out 1st. We headed to the first obstacle and had a great time playing on the rocks. This is a rock garden that actually changes every time someone goes through it so very rarely is it the same line.
We next went to Bob’s Creek. We had many who took on the lower rock climb but only a few that took on the V-Notch climb. Only a couple who did the v-notch climb had to be winched due to Chris Stewart’s expert spotting.
Rick Vergot’ s jeep got wrapped in plastic wrap as a practical joke. YouTube video’s by Mick Ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwZ3DvQU8QY and https://youtu.be/ZyyK1M4hhQQ
We did however before we left had to deal with a battery issue in Dave Vickery’s rig. Took us about 20 minutes to figure out what the issue was and a trail fix to get everyone moving again. He wheeled the rest of the day but did not stick around Sunday as he had to drive back to Jersey and did not want to risk further issues. We did arrange to get parts in from Fredericksburg to provide a better fix for his trip home.
Skinny Rock Trail
Z Ditch finished the day. It however was not an easy trail as there was a least a foot of water and lots of mud in the ditch. Everyone made it with a correct line and some skinny peddle. That was the end of our day however as it was past 4:00pm and we wanted everyone back to the campground for the cookout and raffle.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we met up at staging again and after the drivers meeting we headed off to Variety Mills. Everyone crossed the creek and headed for the obstacle. I was pulling tail gunner duty and after crossing the creek found a tree that was dead and leaning a bit too much for my comfort. So the decision was made to take it down while others played on the obstacle. Drew, myself and a couple of others made quick work of that.
After everyone completed their attempts on the obstacle we headed off to Findlay Ridge, now I am not a big fan of the first part of the ridge and we were somewhat pressed for time to get in more trails/obstacles. We decided to take the bail out from Findlay Ridge in reverse up the long hill climb. We proceeded to the next rock garden/uphill climb before heading to Turtle Rock and the long very steep downhill to the Off-Camber loop (we bypassed this one today) as time dictated we needed to get to CJ5 Hill so we could get the folks that needed to leave by 12:00 noon out to the main road. This did not work out as planned as there ended up being a group in front of us that was dealing with a Land Rover that broken an axle and had a wheel come off while doing CJ5 Hill. We decided to break for lunch while we waited. They eventually got the rig out of the way and everyone made it across and up CJ5 Hill.
Once we got to the main road Mike and several others bailed to head home due to other commitments.
Drew continued on with the group and went to??
Drew: The rest of the group, 15 strong at this point ran Quarry Trail, we took roughly half of the group down the hard side of the fingers at the top. The main rocks a little better than half climbed or attempted to climb. We passed on the upper rocks as well as Egg Rock on the way out, due to time. Harvin popped a cap on a u-joint just before the last creek crossing, and broke the joint when he dropped into the creek. Knowing that he would not be able to pull the shafts in the creek (safely or without flooding the axle housing) he made the climb out and up the hill climb on the other side, tearing the ears on the long side both on the inner and outer shafts. We got the shafts pulled at the trail head since it was flatter and we could let the rest of the group go on their way. (Big thanks to Rick, Chris, and Grant for the pit crew help) 4 hours later when Harvin was taking the girls back he lost the motor in the car to a recall that seized the crank. He was lucky enough that it was covered at no charge. The LJ has the stock shafts back in it, waiting on the RCVs/Free Spin kit to arrive. The Kia has its new motor in it.
Attendee’s:
Andrew Harvin (Trail Guide) + Corinne & Carlyn
Jim Jones + Luke - 2013 JKUR
CJ Johnson + Nick - 2013 JKUR
John H arvin - 2006 LJ
Chris Stewart + Danielle - 2010 JKUR
Grant S + Rachel I & Wyatt F - 2013 JKU
Hinmaton H + Sam T - 2015 JKU
Curtis H + Gary W 2008 JK
Robert H + Johnny F 1998 TJ
Stuart T + Gary - 04 LJ Wrangler
Craig R - 04 LJ
Adam H + Fiono & Gideon - 97 TJ
Eric K - 04 TJ
Rick Vergot - 03 TJ
Carla Vergot - 15 JK
Mitch C - 15 JKU
D.K. Stewart + Natalie, Rachel & Violet - 16 JKUR
Kieran M + Christi B - 2004 LJ
Morton St. H - 2003 TJ
Jim M + Jack - 2005 LJ
Mike Ball - TJ