Willie Vasquez Memorial Campout & Trail Ride
Granville NY & Poultney VT
June 7-9, 2013
by Maqsood Ali
There is so much to write about this past weekend. Overall, it was a fantastic camping / wheeling weekend trip.
I met with Bob, Justin, and Sal (Justin's friend) around 10.30 pm at the campground and hung around for couple of hours. Justin's volume control was not quite working as usual and kept Jake and his new Dog, Bella (?) awake every time he opened his mouth. As we were explaining to Sal what we do with our jeeps, how much money some of us pour into jeeps (or Evan's pockets), the care we provide for the jeeps, Bob says 'It's easier to get new kids' WHAT?. Justin laughs so loud waking Bella up. Next morning, we all went to a diner for breakfast before heading out to the trail. Oh by the way, Bob has to shave every morning (with his electric shaver) Really? Justin lost a $100 bill somewhere while taking out $10 for breakfast.
We finally arrive at the trail around 9 am and the park was empty! We prepped our jeeps while the park owner was taking his sweet little time to arrive. There were a few rock hill climbs by the parking area so Justin and I warmed up while we were waiting. We were shortly joined by Ed and his wife Connie (who missed the huge park entrance sign), Damien and his wife Kate. The park also had some Jersey club's scheduled run but they never showed up so the park was empty for our 6 rigs (Bob, Ben, Justin, Ed, Damien and myself)
With all the rainfall the day before, the entire park was slick, muddy and made every obstacle very tricky. After a few minutes into the trail, we came up to our first challenging obstacle which was rocky, muddy and a steep hill. Ben goes first and tries. no go. Bob goes next and tries. no go. Damien goes next and tries. no go. Justin tries and he makes it!!! In his first attempt as he hammers his Barbie jeep. With the long wheel base, I made it as well! Ben tries again. no go. I think Ben was going way easier on his new RCVs. We played around the area and after a few more trails, we ended up in an open man-made area with a seesaw, tire obstacles (huge tires packed next to each other and you go over them), dirt mounds etc. My favorite was the seesaw. I must've gone back and forth at least 4 times on that. The mud in this area was extremely sticky and Damien got himself in a deep mud pit. We had lunch and went on for more trails. After a fun blasting wheeling day with no damage to any rigs we ended the day around 5. Washed our jeeps to get the mud off (park rule) and headed back to the camp. The trail was excellent and provided the right difficulty level for all of us. There were some areas that we did not even look or tried as they looked very challenging. The mud made it even more difficult. I really liked the trail and won't mind going back there again.
Now, this is where the fun begins. We went to a grocery store and picked up some stakes and beer on our way back to the campground to have a cookout. We came back around 6 PM, got freshened up and started the fire. Ed and Connie decided to join us for the cookout so they did their own shopping and Ed had directions to the campground printed with him already to join us later. We all sat around the fire, with meat on the grill and started drinking. Got to know Bob a little more. Bob's heritage stems from Jamaica. Really. His skin color evolved to what it is...perhaps it is the electric shaver...(I think I know how). He shared some great funny stories about his hitch hiking experience with a crazy dude with cops chasing them, stories about how he got Joan got into offroading. Justin and Sal's brother issues and their 'douche baggery', Sal's crazy Hawaii trip with bell man offering him weed and how he thought his own cousin was smoking' hot. Justin's neighbor's sex toy party. Sal's new Indian neighbors who are filthy rich and super hot (That's not me by the way). The best was when Ed got lost and ended up in a completely different place which had the word 'Catherine' in the address. 2 Hours later, Ed and Connie arrives speeding through the campgrounds and almost missing our campsite WITHOUT the loaded trailer as he left it at the wrong address. While he is telling us the story of how he got lost, he takes his printed directions/map and burns it in the campfire without realizing that he left his jeep and trailer back there. Oh crap! What now? I don't know what went through his mind but we hope he got his jeep back. Ed also grilled some sausages, dropped it on the ground, then picking it up and cleaning with Windex and eating it. At this point, my stomach is hurting and tearing. He left before it became dark. We still don't know if he found his jeep and more importantly what he was smoking that day. We talked and laughed even more and shared the Willie Vasquez story until the camp ranger came over and asked us to keep it down as we were quite loud...let me take that back...as Justin was too loud again. We hung around for about 30 more mins and then called it a night around midnight.
Next morning we, packed, Bob shaved again, went to the same diner and asked them again if they found Justin's $100 bill (they didn't), ate breakfast and left. I came home around 1.30 PM.
It was one of those times where you constantly laugh, tell great stories, sit around campfire, grilling, more stories, drinking, laugh even more, drink some more and eat some more. I am looking forward to the Florida vacation camping next month.
by Bob Blair
Max, you'd better learn to sip the beer slowly. My joke about getting new kids was in response to members adding expensive safety padding & roll bars. And while my grandfather was born in Jamaica, his grandfather emigrated from Scotland. Ya man, dont be speakin dat way bout me razor.
Anyway, back to the trails. We found the rocks in Mettowee! West of the parking lot, mud bog & play area, stay left on the path for the 'Frame Twister' trail. I asked Ben if he liked the look of it and he led us in. A rocky (but not muddy) hillclimb hides a bunch of loops over rough rock obstacles. There's lots of elevation changes, trees, downed trees, holes, etc. This section made the day for me. That and hearing that the bull dyke (Barbie) had to get winched.
Next year, maybe the park maps will be ready (or we'll plan on getting a guide). I'm sure there are trails we missed. And some sunshine would make more of the hillclimbs accessible.
The amazing thing here was how much fun we had camping, wheeling and shaving in the rain. WHAT?.
Video: Maqsood Ali