Long Island Off Road Club Trailride

Carnage Hill, NH July 2008

by Joe Levanti

The Shir-Roy Camp ground in southern New Hampshire was the meeting spot for the annual Carnage Hill LIOR run. Some members drove up the night before, some took the long ride that morning. We waited for stragglers till 9:45 AM then left for the trail totaling twelve trucks. Leading us for the day was Mark and Josh from Bay State Jeeps in Marks modified Jeep TJ. The plan for the day was to run the main trail then the side trail backwards due to heavy rains during the week.

Aired down and on our way the first major obstacle was a washed out, sandy, rocky, ravine. Andy was the first to come to a stop. John Acconi, quickly did some fine spotting to have him and the others moving through with out incidence or line pulls. As we moved down the trail and onto the next section of obstacles the Howler started to run hot. On the last outing the radiator was wrecked by the fan destroying the clutch in the fan. Luck has it that it was fine until the next trail ride. Bob, Evan, and others wrapped some hose clamps in the fan binding it up to work just fine for the rest of the day. While that was going on some of the others played on a series of rock climbs in the area lifting some tires and getting tippy but keeping the rubber side down. Lunch was devoured at this time also. Once moving a very steep off camber rock face was encountered. Andrew leading the way decided to try it first. This spectator thought the jeep would just climb the face so started spotting that way. Wrong, after two tries and two almost rolls he backed out sitting a little taller in the seat. I too was done letting him try further attempts. Glen with a longer wheel base attempted the same line also to no avail. Damian saw a different line utilizing some dirt on the side but unlocked in the front had him losing traction as soon as the opposite tire rose in the air. Garrett was the only attempter to successfully bump and claw his way up that rock face. Nice going Garrett. The rest of this long trail was a series of ups and downs with water holes in the downs. Andrew at one point avoided some water just to find some mud. He came to a stop with the front tires almost completely buried. Garrett pulled the stuck jeep and on we went. At the turn around spot the Howler shut off and would not start. Bob changed the ignition module bringing it back to life.

Finishing the main trail meant we would be heading off to the woods to run the loops. As mentioned before we ran the loop backwards due to rain. A hill climb started this loop with a three point turn at the top to avoid the trees. The down side had a steep ledge towards the bottom that dropped you down about 3 feet and into the mud. Rear tires saw air on almost every rig especially Mike Sussman’s short wheel based Samurai. Then the rocks began. Most needed to be spotted, pulled, or winched in various places. This loop is what makes this trail hard core. 33’s one locker and a winch, or 33’s with two lockers is needed to get through. At the half point some decided to return to the hotel to ready for dinner and a few finished the loop and was treated to a manifold Stromboli by Glen. The remaining group headed out the way we came in without long stops.

This July outing is growing every year. The trail is challenging, the scenery very green, and the comradeship is just amazing. Fun was had by this guy and all. Other than the two trail repairs and a trailer flat suffered by Mark on the ride up we suffered no carnage on Carnage Hill.