The Fellowship of the KJ`s
David B & Kimberly
Mike P & Wendy
George C & Nancy
Grant S
Kevin O & Sandy
Jack
Chris S & Jen
Jenn M & Bill
Andy B
Wow, great report David. You covered pretty much everything. It was great to meet everyone. 9 KJ`s in all, 15 people. The event was a success and tons of fun had by all.
The first day, the trails and scenery were very nice. There was a nice big mudpen play area to get the Jeeps muddy half way through the trail. Some pretty creeks to cross and a few side play hills to have some fun on, and it was on to the top of the mountain to Flagpole knob. The weather was overcast which was a good thing. It kept it nice and cool because the few moments the sun did shine through, it was killer heat. Chris was the iron chef of the mountain and did a superb job of cooking. Good food!
I loved giving away the Jeep stuff, hoped everyone liked it. Next big event, I`ll try to get some bigger prizes. The Jeep Compasses were courtesy of Hendricks Jeep in Woodbridge, Va. The other cool stuff I picked up at Camp Jeep on the Beach to use for this occasion.
After the cookout, it started to rain a bit just as we were ready to leave. Perfect timing. 3 of the group headed out and the rest of us did a cool "Jeep Trail" for the remainder of the day. The weather was threatening all day and we even got a sweet view of a downpour from Meadows knob. Group pics were taken there. The trail was a fun one and had some challenges that made it interesting for the modded ones and a great experience for the stockers. I would highly recommend that you have skid plates for this trail.
This took the rest of the day and there was one fun hill to play with near the end where you could pose or climb around in and around. After this, it was time to head out. George/Nancy and Jenn/Bill headed to the campground in WV and the rest of us headed to Harrisonburg and ate at O`Charleys. Chris/Jen headed home afterwards. Overall, the day was a total blast.
The next day, David, Grant, & I (along with the appropriate gals) decided to do the the trail Grant and I scouted out last week and this time head down a new one. The first one, Second Mountain Trail, was a fun one, especially in the beginning. Once again, minimum of skids needed for this. It had two "scenic views" from the power lines, the first one having "poser rock". Also, right before that was a nice play area full of mudholes and good mud climbs. Some "weird but cool" rock formations were also before this.
After getting to the ATV staging area where a bunch of trails meet, we did a lunch, and as David mentioned, it started downpouring on us so we finished eating in the KJ`s and headed down Dictum Trail. This trail is not to be done by stock KJ`s due to the aforementioned steep rock "steps" that no KJ in their right mind should do. Well, no "right minds" in this group!
Anyways, This trail is mostly downward and mostly rocky. It is definately a fun one and I would absolutely LOVE to go UP this trail next time if we can get past the steep rock "steps". It poured on us half way through it which was really cool. We then met up with some ATV`ers and were informed of a downed tree. OK, we`ll check it out.
Knowing that we weren`t too far from the end, we came across THE TREE. This monstrosity cracked and fell across the path and wedged itself between two other trees down off the trail. It took a small sawzall, some hacking by a military shovel, and some pulls of my towstrap to finally get Godzilla Tree out of the way. Oh, and some digging too. It would get stuck and dig itself into the ground of a tree.
Man, after finally getting past that, we thought we were home free. Well, guess what. We weren`t. Leading the way, I looked down the trail ahead as we drove and just said "Aw, chit!". There was the huge rock "steps" that, as I mentioned above, no KJ in their right mind should even attempt. But, we had come too far and accomplished too much to be deterred. The road was only a few hundred feet from us and to turn around would take another 3 or so hours.
I was the first sucker to go down and with some great spotting and also David helping and also standing on the bumper so we wouldn`t tip, I made it through. After that, David came through and then I spotted Grant through. Seriously, this was FUN. Nerve wracking, adrenaline pumping, FUN. Scared the chit out of Wendy, she went down the trail and didn`t want to watch. Man, Grant and David, you guys did great! Oh yeah, there was also a part you had to go by a tree and narrowly miss sliding into it. At the bottom right past it, the left was a muddy ledge that had a nice drop off. You made one wrong move or the ground gave way, and it it was tumble city...
But we made it...
Welllll, after that, we reached the road in about 3 minutes. There were further downhill rock "steps" that would definately let your skid plates know you were banging rocks, but after the "big one", we just laughed at these and sailed on through.
I want to thank everyone for coming and making the whole weekend a great experience. I definately agree to make this an annual event and I love the idea of using Flagpole knob as a "Base camp". I also want to extend an invitation to anyone who didn`t come to come to the next event, whether it be just a wheeling trip or even a Jeep show. All the folks in the club are very friendly and you will have the time of your life!
Mike
Here are my pics. Go to the bottom.
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. I will definitely check out these trails again. Thanks to Mike and David for scouting out a great area,, you did a good job of organizing and leading us,, thank you! Here's some of my pics,, hope it works
