We got there in about 2.5 hours from the bridge despite rain the whole way. At the meeting spot off RT 91 we met up with Dave Steckowski and his passenger in his big 1978 CJ7 and Bob Churchill in his nice ZJ on 31's. After some fueling up, breakfast and general BS’ing we met up with Bob Fisher from Eastern 4 wheelers and headed out to the trail head. We ran into a snag here, with the directions being a little vague but ended up at the trail and airing down in time for the gray skies to start clearing.
The first water crossing was a little more than hub deep on Howler and was rushing along pretty quickly. This led into a wide tributary stream that was frozen over but rapidly broken up by Howler. We all made it to the first obstacle, an uphill off camber rock face with varying degrees of difficulty depending on the line you took. Scoutmaster and Howler valiantly attempted to take it right up the middle but the combination of wet, muddy tires and some undermining of the rock this winter forced him off to the left a bit where he made it right up and over. Cousin Mike in his bone stock TJ was the dark horse of the day, blasting up and over the far left line as everyone was looking for the tow strap that he never needed. I went next and made it up with no drama followed by Bob C who hammered it through what turned out to be his ZJ’s first ever rock obstacle. Dave in the CJ with open diffs did what he does best and stomped on it and made it through without a second look. Bobby Taz came next and gave his kids a nice bounce as he popped up and over with ease. The best attempt of the day goes to our tailgunner Bob Fisher who went left and than hard right with his 2004 Rubicon taking the hardest line and making it no problem.
After clearing that obstacle and boosting the confidence of all drivers involved we came around a bend to another decent sized but optional rock outcropping. Scoutmaster went around it to the left (I don’t think he saw it) followed by Cousin Mike while I made my attempt right up the middle. After smashing my brand new Tummy Tuck Skid on the center of the rock a few times and a quick tug back from the ZJ I decided it was not happening today and took the right side and parked in the brush off the side of the trail. Bob C opted out due to lack of clearance but Bobby Taz again popped right up and over to the screaming delight of his kids. He’s loving the new gears and 35's!! Dave in the Big CJ decided that without lockers he was going to have a rough time with this rock so he took the right side go around full throttle kicking mud up in what turned out to be the theme for the day. Next came Bob F in the Rubicon again. Once again he got over with little difficulty after some human winching by me.
After that obstacle I would say there weren’t any more “real” rock obstacles but there was a tremendous amount of rocky sluices to crawl up and fun mud pits to play in. The trail was a tremendous amount of fun due to the heavy rains the night before and the long snowy winter. There were a lot of rocks that have been made harder by the runoff. There is also a lot of the trail that has not been taken advantage of. We drove right past some nice rocks that with a little seasoning could make this a serious trail. The theme for the day though became the full throttle mud tossing runs through various bogs on the trail. Somehow my Jeep and Daves seemed to be the muddiest.
After stopping for lunch on the big rock for a nice scenic break, we moved on to splash around in the mud some more. We got to a road which we crossed and headed into a steep twisting downhill that led to a relatively deep and fast water crossing. This is where it got dicey. At this point I was leading the trail and at the water crossing discovered that the other side was a sheet of icy snow up the steep climb on the other side. After some consulting we decided it was stupid to do and not worth it. So I went across anyway and through the magic of 4 wheel drive I shot right up with out a hitch. At this point all the naysayers followed suit and Dave cruised right up followed closely by Howler and Bobby Taz.
After coming back down we bid farewell to Bob Churchill who was heading back to his native New Hampshire. We went the opposite way and decided to take the road back to the meeting spot and call it a day. It was a day that we were expecting little of but ended up being a great day that was probably the most fun I have ever had on a trail. The combination of rocks, mud, water and good people made this a run to remember. I would highly recommend this trail for an introductory trail to newcomers but also to the grizzly old vets as a great place to have some fun without having to worry too much about breaking gear. It will only get better with time and wear. See ya all next time.
