OutdoorLiving

Also known as, how I popped my Wheelin' Cherry (minor trail carnage!)

While I was still house-shopping in the neighborhood I just purchased a house in, I had noticed a very small trail leading out of the neighborhood. It was very narrow and had obvious wear from 4wheelers. I figured the kids in the neighborhood tooled around in the woods out there. It was just wide enough to get a 4Runner down with the mirrors tucked in. This was ALL the encouragement I needed.

I spoke to a friend (Nick) in the neighborhood about said trail. He didn't even know it existed and wanted to see what I was talking about. So after work, we headed over there to give it a look. [no pics]

We rolled down the windows, pulled the mirros in and crept down the trail. It was a good thing I had taken my roof rack off recently. There were a lot of low-hanging branches and trees to get snagged on. A couple hundred yards down the trail and we found that someone had dropped a pine tree across the trail. I'm sure it was probably someone in the neighborhood to discourage the kids from making noise in the woods all hours of the night (like they frequently do). I probably could have cleared it, but it would have torn up the mud flaps, so we decided to turn around. [still no pics]

Since I now live in a huge neighborhood, Nick and I drove around to see what was going on. Check out other houses for sale (I just bought into this neighborhood), make fun of redneck yards, etc. I was showing him one of the houses I viewed and he'd never been down this road. At the end of the road, is a small gravel road with an old rusted gate that was open. He suspected this was the other end of the trail. I doubted it, since it was a long way from the other trail.

There is a small "river" nearby and I suspected that it was a county access road for utilities and such. Cherokee County is littered with these types of roads since they like to bury their utilities (including sewage, yuk!) along small creeks and rivers. They're also good about identifying NO TRESSPASSING areas with signs. With no signs and armed with a couple lame exuses if we were to find trouble, we pressed on. [yet again, still no pics. I didn't know I had my digital camera on me until he located it in the glove box on the way out.]

The trail was wide enough for a large 4wheeler. A lot of tall grass, bumps, ruts and several smaller (dry) creek crossings. This is where the afternoon, after-work fun starts. These small crossings wouldn't be menacing for anyone with a sizeable lift or decent protection. But a stock 4Runner with large tires was sure to bang something somewhere. And bang, I did. After cruisin' down the trail and another couple creek crossings, we determined Nick was right. This did meet up with the other trail. With time to goof off running out, we returned. These pics were from the last (dry) creek crossing on the way out.

Here is the rest of the story with picture comments:

This ditch doesn't look like much, but it was quite deep. Nick was standing uphill looking down when taking this pic.


Lining up the approach. Original trail is from 4 wheelers.

[picture not resized]
Jumping in head first.

[picture not resized]
Trying to to get the brush guard and trailer hitch hooked up at the same time. Ha! So much for that idea. At one point, the truck was actually hung up on the brush guard mount in the front, the hitch in the back and at least one rear wheel off the ground. Nothing left to do but drive right through. /shrug, good thing I was already in 4WDLow.


Dragging the hitch through. See the dirt on the brush guard where it was pushed down the hill.

[picture not resized]
Crooked pic for a crooked creek. See Nick's shadow at the bottom.

[picture not resized]
Mud flaps took a beating, but still intact.

[picture not resized]
Popped my trail carnage cherry today. This damage was actually done on the last creek we crossed.

Sorry about the mixed pics. I had to upload them to Photobucket, because Google's new web albums aren't exactly link-friendly for the time being. If you want to see additional pics, cruise the album linked in my signature.

Damages include a good beating on the left-rear bumper. My trailer plug also got hung between the hitch and the ground, so it got severed (easy repair, I've got plenty of slack). Ripped the chrome cover off the hitch (big deal). Also warped the brush guard mount on the left side. I was looking for a good reason to remove the brush guard anyway. It's only service is that it provides a very convenient tie-down for the canoe. Other than that, it's just waiting to cause more damage than it's worth. It was removed yesterday night. I don't necessarily like the look, but we'll just have to wait until Santa brings a TJM.

Disclaimer: Unknown if I was on private property; I have a mostly stock rig, so we gotta get our kicks somehow; When I say "hitch", I'm referring to the receiver, the hitch had been removed; Nick only had a half hour or so for us to dick around before he had to run. Hope you enjoyed my lengthy, meaningless post. I only posted because my previous Woodstock wheelin' adventures didn't cause any harm to the truck.

1stgenrnrdude

its ok the pics are good

881stGenRunner

looks good man. Im trying to find some local dry spots to mess around on here since i have a ripped boot.

OutdoorLiving

Of course, it's just ok. You gotta get in where you fit in.

justinh

Down along Little River?

OutdoorLiving

But of course. I was wondering when you would chime in, Justin.

justinh

There used to be some fun wheeling back there between 575 and Hwy 5 along the river. It was even more fun on 4wheelers though since there is a fair amount of open area.

OutdoorLiving

Yeah. I'm not a Woodstock native, so I don't know most of it. I know that a lot of it is blocked off these days. I thought the Rope Mill run was a rather nice break for in-city wheelin'. I've been thinking about hitting it this week and taking a couple pics just for S&Gs.