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Saturday March 14, 2015

 

Print out a Rausch Creek map and follow the bouncing shamrock as I regale you with tales of wheeling and adventure.

So, after it was determined that everyone who was going to be there was there, we had a little longer than usual driver's meeting for the newer drivers and guests while Ryan unloaded the only trailered rig of the group.

We decided that since the weather was so great we'd head straight for Snakebite (high high green rated) to let the bigger rigs play a little and the other rigs could follow along on trail B (green green).  I led the group in, with Marlowe as a passenger, followed by Ryan O'C, Ed, and Scott. Once the Snakebite group intersected green trail B, Rich opted to take the green group to Quarry while we finished Snakebite.

We all met up again at the top of Quarry and talked about sending a rescue team into the hole rescue Ryan O'G and Yuriy, who both thought since the weather was so great they'd drive down there.  But after some slipping and sliding they made it back up to join the rest of the group.

From Quarry we opted to run green green trail 21, which would be great for the new drivers and smaller rigs, and also allow Ryan O'C to play around in the high high high green areas along trail, as depicted on the map if you're following along.  Well, green green 21 was a little more challenging because of the great weather, and it didn't take long for several of us to get all discombobulated.  Randy got stuck and Ryan O'C got wedged between two trees trying to recover him.  I managed to end up off the trail entirely, and managed to get Scott stuck trying to recover me.  In the meantime, Scott's exhaust came apart at the catalytic converter.  After that got "fixed" and Scott got moving again, I managed to get myself still stuck, just facing the other direction this time.  After a tug or five from Ed, I said the heck with it and broke in my new to me winch, for a pull of about eight feet.

So, moving right along...... still on green green trail 21.  We all motored along nicely after that, enjoying the great weather, slowly making our way back to green green trail B.  There was one wee little hill climb before we exited the trail that proved challenging for some of us.  Rich made it up through sheer stubbornness after he realized his winch wiring had given up the ghost, and Randy and I both needed winches to make it.

We had lunch at the intersection of B and 21 and after our respite Randy had decided he had his fill of the great weather and headed back to the parking lot with Rich and Carl.  The rest of us decided to run high high green trail 22 and meet up with the rest of the group after we finished.

About 50 yards in I took a took a line that was a smooth blanket of snow only to find out it was just a drift hiding some pretty big rocks and again got stuck in a hole.  After being extricated by Yuriy, he, Ryan O'G, and Scott decided they were in a bit over their heads and turned around to catch up to Rich.  I then ended up in the same hole (thanks snow) and after some persuasion on my rear bumper from Ryan O'C I got free and we started moving.  I don't think anyone had run this trail since the snow fell so it was a bit difficult to determine exactly where it was.  Ryan O'C. Ed, and I continued on for maybe another ten minutes until I decided, in Ryan O'Cs words, that the trail had pissed me off enough and I bypassed onto green green B.

The three of us then made our way back to the parking lot on green trails to meet the rest of the group and re-group.  It was maybe 2:30 or 3:00 at this point so we opted to stay close to parking lot and just motor around.  A bit of a side note here.  A good portion of the East property was recently timbered and frankly it looked like hell.  I won't try to describe it, but since the trees were gone, it was difficult following the trails because there were no trees to stay between.  It was a matter of just following tire tracks looking for the rocks, and I wasn't sure half the time if we were on a named trail or if we were following the logger's haul roads.

Anyway, after motoring around some enjoying the great weather and just being on the trails, we opted to end the day with a bang and try our hand at Crawler Ridge, which is rated anything from high green to high high high green.  I wrapped around the left side, Rich headed up the right side, and Ryan O'C went straight up the middle, loving his bald tires on the slippery, snowy rocks.

Yuriy followed me up the left side needing no more than a little spotting and a shove to keep his rig off of a tree.  Ed went next, just walking right up with his brand new 37" KM2's.  Then it was Carl's turn, in the brand new 2105 JK with paper tags. He took several attempts at trying different lines before we opted to winch him up, not because he wouldn't have made it but because it was after 4:00 by then and Rich had gotten a call from the office with a reminder it was getting late. Last up was Scott in the big K5 who made it up on the first or second try. 

So now we're all up on top of Crawler Ridge, how do we get back down?  We all took different routes, some down the way they just came up, and some down the easier lines in the middle. Nobody went down the far right side as you face the hill, mainly because the weather was so great it would have been pretty challenging, especially at the end of the day when everyone was tired. At this point the only damage I'm aware of occurred, and naturally it had to be to the brand new rig. There was a good sized rock that had been knocked loose just lying in the middle of one of the exits, so Carl tried to maneuver his JK land yacht through a couple of trees, took a bad line, and crunched a fender flare. It was only cosmetic and will most certainly buff right out. 

From there we hightailed back to the parking lot to check out, air up, etc. At this point Yuriy, Carl, and Ryan O'G headed home, Scott went to find an auto parts store to fix his exhaust, and Rich, Ed, Ryan O'C, and myself went back to camp Comfort Inn to change, clean up, and get ready for dinner. We topped of a great day of wheeling in some great weather with a fantastic dinner at O'Neal's pub in Pine Grove. We enjoyed some excellent food, pleasant company, cold beer, and bagpipers.  For those who have never been to O'Neal's, go!!  Best wings ever!!

All in all, the trip gets two thumbs up. For those of you who missed out, well, you missed out. The weather was great; the snow was definitely a game changer and made even green trails more like high greens or even high greens in some spots. It was great watching the newer drivers and smaller rigs tackle everything they were comfortable with and do well at it. The two kids on the trip handled everything very well, especially Ryan O'Cs little leprechaun Ashlyn. She rode around all day, in the great weather, in an open rig, with a smile the whole time and not a word of complaint.

As always, a big "thank you" to everyone who came out to wheel and to the Board for putting this together.  And don't forget to check out the OCC calendar, lots of wheeling events coming up, and with spring on its way, the weather is going to be great!!!!

Erin Go Bragh,

Chip O'Woods

Green group, consisting of::

Chip O'Woods - TJ on 33's, member

Rich O'Martinez, JK on 35's, OCC President

Ed O'Salas, TJ on 37's, OCC Vice-President

Ryan O'Connor and his awesome daughter Ashlyn, what used to be a YJ on really bald 39.5's I believe

Randy O'Wood, member, XJ on 31's?

Scott O'Gilbert, brand new member, K5 on some kinda Iroks I think

Yuriy O'Ostapchuk and his friend Alex O'Something, both guests, X-Terra on 33's

Ryan O'Gillespie, guest, Pathfinder on 31's maybe?

Carl O'Messineo and his cool son Marlowe, brand spanking new JK with paper tags on whatever comes from the factory.