On a beautiful Saturday morning, we left the Corner Cafe in Clayton to assemble at Steve's Shop. We left at 8:00 a.m.. We were headed for Mr. Freeling's land.
The members and guest present for the run were: David Burkett, David and Colton Loessin, Billie and Rob Young, Heath and Seth Tate, Mark and Beth Ford, Tyler Beavers, Phil Bargman, Demrick Sumpten, Aaron Keith, Adam Roberts, Gene Wilson, Buddy Harris, and Larry, Josh, Hunter Long. Please forgive me if I left your name out or misspelled it.
We formed two groups and hit the trails. We went down Back Forty Road and then down to Freeling's Staircase. The hard core group started up the staircase while the other group went on to another trail. I can't speak for anyone else, but I appreciate all the spotting and rock stacking it took to get over the large rocks that make up the staircase. We then headed over to T.S.O.B. I was farther back in the pack, so I didn't see everyone climb the last big rock of the trail, but I did see Aaron Keith climb it, and he did an amazing job. I'd had reservations about coming to four wheel, considering the heat we'd been experiencing. Fortunately for us, somewhere around noon on this Saturday it turned cloudy and a nice breeze picked up. The rest of the day the weather couldn't have been better. Especially in mid-July. I appreciate Phil letting Josh ride with him. Hunter, however was stuck with me most of the day. We ran several more trails, who's names I can't remember, before we called it quits for the day.
Throughout the day our group suffered several broken axles and a drive shaft. We ran across the other group several times that day. I think Feeling's is a great place for the day because it has trails for everyone. We made a full day of the area. I believe everyone had a good day. At about 4:00 p.m. we headed back to Clayton to get cleaned up for dinner. We reunited with Jeannie Dobson, Janita Young and Melissa Long, who'd gone shopping for the day. We had dinner with our Trailchaser friends, at the Corner Cafe, before we headed home Saturday evening. As we left Saturday, there were a few more club members showing up in town for a run on Sunday.
I had a great fourwheeling day, enjoyed the cool weather, had fun with friends and spent some good time with two of my sons. What more could you want in an outing?
Larry E. Long
At 6:00 AM I was sitting on the step at the A&A Annex in Clayton wondering why we were getting up so early when Joe wasn’t going with us. Then it hit me…Oh Yeah! Phil is just as bad. Phil and I headed to the restaurant for breakfast and were the only ones from our group there. The rest had the good sense to sleep a little later.
After breakfast we met at Steve’s shop for some early morning story telling and last minute technical adjustments. Satisfied that everyone was there, Phil headed us out for Frieling’s place.
A slow speed journey brought us to the payment stop at the entrance to the OHV Park. Much to Mr. Frieling’s personal satisfaction, everyone paid then we all climbed the hill to the parking area. Those of us who drove aired down and everyone got ready to go. Phil got a hold of Gene on the radio and off we went.
We drove up the first trail and headed for Frieling’s Staircase where the hard group would spend a large portion of their morning. While the hard group headed up the Staircase, those of us in the moderate group chose a parallel trail that would allow us to stop and observe the mechanical mayhem being wreaked upon the poor unsuspecting vehicles being coaxed up the Staircases’ bouldered avenue.
The moderate group consisting of “Toyota” Dave, Mark Ford, Billy and Rob spent some time observing the thrashing and decided it was time to go our own way. Our trail meandered up the hillside taking slow track through the trees. The track was tight and the rocks were in just the right spots to “help” us along. Just when we thought we were getting good at this, we came to the trail’s best off camber spot.
This off camber spot holds a special place in my heart. Since I love off camber so much, I couldn’t wait for my turn to arrive. Sadly, after a while arrive it did and I took my turn sliding around the off camber corner while falling down hill and, eventually, scraping along Mr. Tree. Mr. Tree is my friend.
Our trail soon intersected with that of the hard group and we watched them pull themselves on up the trail. We all joined up at TSOB soon after.
After lunch Dave, Tyler and I were the only remaining members of the moderate group. We split off from the rest and drove down Turtle Hump to try on Jo Jo’s Yo Yo. This trail is a must for people who like off camber or just like to abuse a long wheelbase vehicle.
The temperature never got to high, and a good breeze kept us all cool during the day. TSOB and the Staircase did their jobs by increasing the income of the parts supply guys. All in all it was a good day of wheeling.
On Sunday, Phil and I headed
out with Gene and Buddy to tackle some areas around Yanush. We took a run at
Magazine Hill and conquered it handily. Our trail that day led us up and down
some good hills; with many locked gates, this area seems to be a bit restricted,
but there is enough open trails to make a good morning run.