Since we did not have a trail report for the RC run in October, I thought I'd throw together a short write-up. 

 

This was a great trip. I think most of us drove up on Saturday morning. It turns out there was a Women's Wheeling day at RC on the same day and there were a lot of people staging for that event, so we had a hard time finding everyone.  It was very windy and bitter cold, and I remember that Mike Anderson was way underdressed, but he didn't flinch. 

 

It had been raining the day before, but the skies were clear and blue. The wind mostly dried off the rocks and the moist ground still made a few obstacles more challenging, but it wasn't at all sloppy.

 

When there are special events at RC, they open up the northeast property for free rather than the typical $10 additional charge for that area. [Side Note - I found out that the north east property has a different owner which is why normally costs extra.]  Fortunate for us, Mitch had called his buddy, Jim from PA, who apparently wheels RC practically every weekend and asked if he would be our trail guide. Jim did a great job and started us out on the northeast property which had less vehicles, mainly because less people know their way around over there.

 

Throughout the day we mainly wheeled blues and maybe a short blue-black. Just before lunch, few vehicles peeled off to hit a black trail.  A couple of people got hung up and high centered in a couple of places, but it was all pretty easy to break them loose with rock stacking or a quick tug. David Nigh in his buggy took at least one obstacle that others would not do, but his rig made these obstacles look easy. 

 

After lunch we made our way across the highway towards the back part of the south property. We got split up at one point, I think because there was confusion about where we were going. I know we passed the Fire Pit, Tomb Stone and the Lunch Spot. I think we were on a trail near Lunch Spot, about 2/3 of the way to the back where a couple of people got hung up and George Mattocks broke a driver's side u-joint. He was able to drive, but needed to get off the trail. About that time, CJ and I had boys that were really interested in getting to camp to play for a bit before sundown, so the two of us along with someone else that had to get home all escorted George off the trail.

 

The group continued wheeling down towards Snakebite, and I guess it was uneventful. CJ Johnson and I camped at Echo Valley Campground, about 10 minutes away because it's very quiet and probably more family geared than at RC. The campground was empty, and we ate a great dinner at Buddy's Log Cabin Family Restaurant in Pine grove. It was cold, but our campsite was protected from the wind some.

 

I'm not sure what happened to everyone the next morning, but CJ and I slowly packed up and headed home. I know that David Nigh couldn't find anyone from OCC on Sunday, so he wheeled with another group. We passed Mike Anderson towing his yellow Jeep on the highway.

 

All in all, it was a great trip. Although we came across a few groups coming at us, we never really got hung up waiting on another group. Thanks to Mitch for finding a great guide. 

 

This was my second trip with my upgrade to 2.5" lift and 315/70's and man, what a difference it makes!

 

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Jim Jones