Fall Crawl and Black Mountain A Rider's Point of View
This past weekend was a blast. We were at Black Mountain in Harlan, KY with a group of really great people. We were there for the annual Fall Crawl.
This year we had lots of fun with varying weather conditions. The first day there we had thunder, rain, hail, freezing rain, snow, and sunshine. This happened while on the trails. No matter what the weather we found plenty to have fun.
I may not drive one of the wheeling Jeeps, but I rode with my friend Jenny in her XJ named Princess. I had an exciting time riding. (Before we left for the trails the doors had to come off Princess.) Jenny is a good driver and she can handle Princess. We started on a new trail called Pappy's Pass. This was a trail with switchbacks and mud, and it is rated a Truck Class 3 trail. It was a fairly easy trail to run along the ridge over to the White Tail Camp. It was at White Tail Camp where I videoed a couple of the guys and their rigs going up White Tail Trail rock crawl. It was at this site where we experienced the changing weather in one day.
After playing here for a while we got back into the rigs and headed to Trail 15 which is rated a Truck Class 4 trail. This trail was slippery and it was said to be a great trail to learn how to trust our rig and yourself. I thought of it as a trial on which I had to also trust the driver to know what she was doing. Jenny and Princess with her new tires proved they know how to get through slippery mud on the up slopes and the down slopes as well. Great driving Jenny and get handling Princess; love your new shoes (tires).
After a cold night at camp (cold when I got away from the campfire) we started a new day heading up to Middle Fork. At first we were going to run the other end of Trail 15, but found the first hill to be a challenge and knowing the second hill would be tougher some of us decided to run Trail 20 and meet up with the ones who ran Trail 15. It worked out great. We all met at the intersection of 15, 20. and 12 at the same time.
Before heading to the Truck Challenge Course we went to a small rock garden close to the Little Stadium and a trail named Frankenstein. Jenny decided to take Princess over the rock garden and once again Princess showed how well her tires worked.
We then headed to the Truck Challenge Course and the Soup Bowl. after a rest time at The Stadium. At the Truck Challenge Course there was a big pile of boulders that some of the guys took their rigs over. While they were doing this Josh decided to check out the Soup Bowl which looked like a small pond to me. He got his truck to swim across the width of the soup bowl where his rig had to climb up a small but fairly steep hill. Evan decided to take his rig for a swim going the length of the Soup Bowl. As his rig came out of the Soup Bowl water drained out from every where or so it appeared. There was a rust hold in the floor where much of the water drained out. Of course Evan had wet feet for the rest of the day.
After playing here we decided to head back to camp. We had two rigs that needed some repair. That night found us once again huddled by the campfire with many telling stories of the day.
The next day we once again got up to the cold weather and headed out to run Trail 15 uphill. With the snow and rain Trail 15 was to prove itself a challenge. When we got to the muddy slope Mitch was sliding back down and got himself aid a bit of a pickle. After Mitch made it to the top it would soon be Jenny and Princess's turn. However, before she went uphill Tall Mitch took his Jeep up the trail. He got a little stuck and with the help of Josh he made it to the top.
Then Jenny was told it was her turn. She told everyone to get out of the way because she and Princess were not stopping until they reached the top. Jenny stepped on the gas and we were off to the top. Princess and her new tires dug in and with cheering from the guys and Jenny and Princess's determination we made it to the top. Princess did get a laugh from Jenny when she sprayed mud on Jenny's nose.LOL
We went back up to White Tail Camp and had lunch. From there some of the guys went to get lunch while Mike and Scuffy led the way down Trail 22 to the trail called T.R.O.U.B.L.E. We checked out this trail and decided it would be more fun to run uphill instead of downhill on the slippery eaves. It also looked as thought it had been run in quite some time. We took trail 22 over to Trail 18 which had a couple of interesting climbs. Princess hung her bumper cap on a log, but she didn't mind.
We eventually made it over to the Lower Rock Garden where Jenny drove up the trail for her first time and Frosty came down the trail toward her. On her second run I decided to ride with her and it all looked so easy from inside the Jeep. Mike said at one time that the skull and crossbones on the tread was the only thing pulling Princess up onto one rock.
After the Lower Rock Garden we headed to Rail Bed. This is the trail where Princess hung over the side of the cliff at Spring Fling. She was determined to not let this trail beat her again. There are three ways out of this trail. One trail goes by the boulder Jenny was staring out when she hung over the cliff. The second trail is the trial that Jenny was taking when dirt came out from under her and Princess at Spring Fling. The third way out was the way most of the rigs were taken this time. It had been rutted out and some of us had to be helped up to the top with a tug. Jenny and Princess however made it up the furtherest before having to be tugged.
After the adventure of this day, we all headed back to camp for a wonderful and tasty steak and potato boat dinner around the campfire. Once again the guys did a great job and the dinner was a success. It was a great four days! We all had fun, and with the doors off we got muddy, wet, cold and had a total blast !!!!!
