Harvest Special
October 9-10, 2010
by Evan Silverman
Our annual fall trail ride once again took place in the Mohawk trail area up in Mass by Charlemont. It was a weekend event with most of us staying at the Ox Bow motor lodge. Our schedule had us doing three trails on Sat. and the hill on Sun. More on that later.
I think that the key to getting off Long Island on a Friday is leaving right after the am rush. If you leave before 11:00 am traffic is not that dreadful. My father and I made it up mid afternoon without too much traffic and it was nice to arrive early and have a relaxing afternoon enjoying a few drinks and some conversation.
Now I need you guys to take a couple of things in consideration when you read this report. One I am writing this a week after the event, B I did not get much sleep over the weakend and thirdly, Alcohol was involved each night (never on the trail), so I will try my best to cover most of the key events. At any rate, this report can't be any worse than Ed's last month.
Friday night a rag tag group of us ate dinner in town where the service was slow, but at least the food tasted bad. I think that the cook actually got fired after he cooked our meal. After dinner and a romantic stroll through town with Warren being nice enough to let me hold his wife Karan's hand so I would not feel left out, we headed back to the Ox Bow. Back at the Ox Bow more of our wheelin brothers and sisters joined us in front of our rooms where we hung out and had some drinks and laughs. The owner of the Ox bow had to come and speak to us like we were 18 and explain to us in his best childlike language that we were too loud, it was too late and that we had an old lady sleeping in the next room. Good thing that Joe was there to defend us with a lot of yes sirs and no sirs. I think Joe was just thinking about how he was going to beat the hell out of Andy's YJ the next day. Too make a long story short I went to bed at 2 am but no one was hurt, arrested, or kicked out of the Ox Bx.
We actually got up on time the next morning and went to breakfast in town and that is when the schedule went to hell. Breakfast took a little longer than planed but far from the worst service we had ever seen. When we arrived back at the Ox Bow (our meeting place) we found John and Angela in the parking lot with a blown brake line on their tow rig. After helping them temporarily repair their Dodge we gathered the troops and took what seemed like the long way the our first and only trail of the day, Florida road. I new there was no way we were going to do more than one trail.
Well Florida is a very nice trail with only 2 real obstacles for rigs like ours. Less built trucks would find more of the trail more challenging but they better have a winch. Four things kept us at one trail all day. A late start, trail repairs, the two obstacles and a lot of rigs. Forgive me if I leave someone out but I will attempt to name all those who attended. Glen in his XJ with JC riding shot gun, Joe Levanti in Andrews Blue Jay, Warren Silverman in his TJ Ruby, Bob and Joan Blair in the Howler, Dimitri and Stephanie in the Red Wonder Wagon, Blaine in his first trail ride with LIOR in his seriously built JK Ruby on 37's and his puppy named Ruby, Bill Sharapata in his awesome XJ(this was his first run without his son at shot gun, he is really starting to trust us), Mike Susman in his really cool little orange Samaria, Mike Galuccio in his huge XJ having its maiden voyage on his new long arm suspension with 14 bolt in back, Dana 44 front double locked on 39 inch swampers, Dan Jacobs in his stretched YJ, my father Mark in his Snow white sprung over YJ, Jake and Amanda in Jake's classic early Bronco, John and Angela in their well experienced sprung over YJ, Damien in his 4cyl TJ and me in my beat up sprung over and stretched CJ E Rex Unlimited.
Once upon a time our club used to be made up of all different types of vehicles instead of just Jeeps and it was interesting to see how different rigs performed on the same obstacle. Well this trail ride was much like the old days. Even though most of the rigs were Jeeps except 2.5 rigs(Bobs is kind of a Jeep but really a Scout), we had a nice range of wheel bases, suspension set ups and tire combos. Being the first rig can sometimes be and asset and sometimes be a detriment. Well for Glen with JC as his shot gun and spotter it was a detriment. The first obstacle gave Glen the jitters with a drop down a mountain on one side and a rock wall on the other. Well Glenn decided to pull Harbor Freight cable. Well Glenn totally demoralize Joe Lavanti and even though Joe was not driving his own rig his also had to pull T Max. Bob and Joane in the Howler showed more guts than Glenn and Joe and gave it a valiant effort but the Howler's axle broke and out came the Superwinch cable. It finally took Warren to brake the ice and make it up the obstacle. Well I think that from this point on everyone made it, except Damien, but he is open in the front and on 33's plus he has been out of wheeling for a while..
So with all these different rigs making it up obstacle #1, some long wheel base, some short wheel base, some v8's, some six cylinders and some 4 cyl, some with a lot of lift, some with a little lift, it just proves one thing. Glenn and Joe should be ashamed of themselves.
After spending a long time at obstacle #1 between all the rigs and Bob's repair and winching Glenn and Joe, we were finally headed to obstacle #2.. Some guys tried the center and left side but I don't believe anyone made it. I am pretty sure everyone made the right side which is still tough, Even Glenn and Joe made it with out pulling cable. When my turn came, JC who I am pretty sure is trying to make me break, roll, die or all three has me try the hard line. I felt like I could have actually made it. I felt like I had good traction and the long wheel base with redesigned rear suspension really felt good and stable. Well the traction took its toll on my left front axle that was just replaced at Ma Bell and I forgot that the replacement axle had a bad joint. Also my power steering and water pump belt broke at the same time. Good thing I carry spare parts so no worries, at least I thought. So I hammered E Rex up the right side and made it on 3 wheel drive and with no power steering. I did not see everything because I was checking out my broke down rig but I heard and saw pictures of Jake getting major air.
To keep from holding up everyone I decided to drive to the lunch spot to fix my truck. Well Dimitri and Joe were all over my rig changing the axle for me while I tried to find my extra power steering, water pump belt. I had extra belts for everything except for my power steering belt.
JC was there to help me. He was on his cell phone in a jiff calling Advanced Auto parts to see if they had a belt for me. Well my set up is custom so we could not give the counter man an application, but I did have a Napa and Gates # to give him. Well JC is getting mad at the counter guy at his ineptness and so am I. Well I was getting loud, but not at JC, he just happened to be the guy between me and the auto parts counter guy. Anyway JC gets made at me, I get mad at him, he hangs up the phone and before anyone new what happened we almost saw our first trail fight, 250lb 40 year old flat lander vrs 250lb late 20 year old high lander. JC and I are too much alike and both have strong personalities. JC thinks he knows a lot about wheeling and fixing trucks and I DO know a lot about wheeling and fixing trucks so sometimes we clash, but no hard feelings. (I think I could kick his ass. I grew up in the city not in the sticks). Anyway with all the drama done, I drove out of the woods running hot with no power steering but at least I had 4wd thanks to Joe and Dimitri. Glenn and JC drove a head to get a belt for me. By time we got out of the woods, Glenn and JC returned with my belt so I could make the long trek back to the Ox bow. Thank you to all that helped, even JC.
That night a few of us barbequed in front of our hotel room while some went out for dinner. We had a little earlier night and we did not get yelled at. Actually we were all hanging out in my hotel room. It reminded me of my college days. On Sunday we headed to the hill. We lost the Acconi's and Damien and gained an Ed and a Garret. We meet at JC's house, aired down and headed to the Hill. The Hill is a beautiful 127 acre piece of property. I would love to own this piece of land. It has great wheeling and is very beautiful. It would be great for hiking camping and hunting. It is like having your own out door amusement park.
As far as details go on the trail, well we start by driving over a cool log bridge that crosses a creek and then the fun begins almost immediately. Unlike Florida road, there are a ton of obstacles and hill climbs. Also unlike Florida, it is also much better to be in the front . The more trucks that went over an obstacle, the slicker it got.
We had no major breaks except that Ed's winch got squirrel caged beyond belief and some rigs suffered from minor body damage. We have to make an attempt to help our fellow off roaders spool their cables back in neatly because when the
cable is a mess, it gets wrecked the next time you need it, and in Ed's case, he needs that thing. Ed learned a valuable lesson this trip. SHOCKS ARE VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!! I am going to lay into him because he deserves it. He keeps saying he can't make obstacles because he only has a true track in the front and 33 inch Superswampers. Well those poor 33's can't do a thing if they don't stay on the ground. No shocks equals wheel bounce, equals no traction, equals beating the hell ouf of your truck, equals aggravation to your fellow wheelers. YOU SHOULD NOT GO WHEELING IF YOUR RIG IS NOT IN PROPER WORKING ORDER. IT IS NOT FAIR TO THE REST OF US. Ed almost made me forget about Glenn and Joe pulling cable the day before but not quite, but a least Glenn and Joe had to winch because they wussed out, not because they came unprepared.
Anyway now that I am done preaching the hill was very tough and did require a lot of throttle. Ed was not the only one to pull cable. I did a couple of times as well as others. There are hills, ledges and large rocks. This place has a ton to offer and we are very lucky to have access to it. I would like to thank Todd and JC far letting us
use it. I would also like to thank Warren for not only cooking a delicious lunch but also providing much of the food. Also thanks to Stephanie for her much loved baked goods.
After leaving the trail we aired up back at JC's house and did some window shopping. Ed bought a power steering pump and Garret bought a rim. Glenn took a parking brake lever and I traded for some XJ parts. I love leaving a trail with more parts then I came with instead of less which is usually the case.
That night the adults, (Bob and Joane and Warren and Karren) put on their Sunday going to meeting clothes and left the rest of us to fend for ourselves. The rest of us slobs helped Bill fix his Cherokee. We tightened his loose steering box and Glenn and Dimitri gave the XJ a carpenters wheel alignment. We finally went to a late diner and then
Glenn and I had a late drive home. I got home a 3:30 am what a dumb move but at least I had shocks or didn't winch up that first obstacle at Florida Road.
I want to welcome Blaine to our club. He is a real nice guy with a mint rig and I am sure will be an asset to the club. I would as like to welcome back some members that we have not seen in a long time.
Another great trip. Thanks to all. Until next month Happy Trails. Evan
PS Sorry Ed but I needed to vent