Mohawk Madness details!

[Lawn Cher']

August 1st-3rd, North Adams, Massachussetts. We will meet at the Big Y market on Rt. 2 at 9am on Saturday for the big day. Friday evening and Sunday morning runs will be organized based on attendance & interest. Group site camping is reserved on Mt. Greylock for Friday and Saturday nights in my name. I hope to see many of you there, and I look forward to meeting some new faces. Please reply if you intend on attending.

 

[Lawn Cher']

So is it just gonna be me & Earle?

 

[sidriptide]

it seems i can do as much planning ahead as i want, but as my luck goes it looks like i'm gonna be a last minute decicion again.....
mike

 

[Lawn Cher']

Ya know, Earle & I put a great deal of effort into plannig these things... I don't make the drive up from Jersey just to burn gas. This is an awesome place to wheel, a nice place to camp (or stay in a motel or B&B for that matter) and there is no admission price to the trails. At one time there was a great deal of interest in establishing events in New England; where did all that enthusiasm go? I know there are quite a few members from New England that could take advantage of this as a much closer destination than Paragon or Rausch Creek... and it is well worth the drive from points south for a change of pace from the short trails at the Pennsy parks. There are routes that have been scouted out that can take all day to traverse without changing trails more than once or twice... it is more like an expedition than just a romp in the rocks, wherein you cover ground at the wheel of your vehicle rather than stand around and watch each other crawl over the same rock pile.

(Rant mode off.)

I hope to see you in North Adams.

 

[Eagle]

Mark is correct. I know that Earle has spent a LOT of time scouting trails up there. It's amystery to me that all the people who are asking for new places to wheel don't show up to try out some really great terrain, as well as simply to support the chapter and as a way of thanking and supporting Earle and Lawn 'Cher and BrokenXJ for all the effort they put into making these runs available.

We're having the same deafening lack of response about Maine. At my BBQ two years ago lots of people wanted to wheel in Maine. Now that we have a date, a place, and a trail leader -- we have one or two people who have indicated they will "probably" be there.

What can we do (short of paying appearance money ) to get more people at these rides?

 

[TOZOVR]

Jeesh, How about me here in NH? I run almost every weekend...(ME, MA, VT and NH)
I just stop posting because no one comes generally speaking. I'd love to run it with you guys but I'm Entered in a competition the 23 and 24'th with BSROA and the VTXS (www.vtxs.org ) and that would put me there 2x in 3 weeks...not including once I get the ROver/Jeep Summit scheduled.

 

[Mike in NJ]

Must be that historic New England isolationist streak - didn't you guys root for the Brits in 1812? (and after the redcoats sailed away from Boston, that other war was fought in the Mid-Atlantic and the South!)

It is mystifying though, especially to those of us who come from states that don't have a legitimate place to wheel. C'mon folks - people are trying to entertain you! arty:

BTW Eagle, I'm not "probably" planning on Maine, I said I would be there on Friday night (and I can't make North Adams because I'll be out west that weekend).

Mike in NJ atriot:

 

[sidriptide]

count me in for showing up saturday late afternoon.. this is my chance to get together with you guys so i'll see how fast i can get done with the other events on saturday morning... maybe do a trail sunday a.m...
mike

 

[Adam T]

I'm in

Hey guys...I can make the saturday run...possibly camping too depending on how much work i can get done... see you soon. Anyone have directions to Mt. Greylock?

Thanks

 

[Eagle]

Don't know where you are in CT, but take I-91 north to Greenfield, MA. Exit for Route 2 West. There's a big rotary at the bottom of the exit ramp -- you want to go 1/4 of the way around and head out past the Texaco station and McDonalds.

Follow Route 2 to North Adams. After you have gone through the center of town you should see signs for Mount Greylock. It'll be a left turn, and you'll be going uphill (duh!).

If you're not showing up Friday night, the meeting place Saturday morning will be the Big Y supermarket in the center of town. Big Y is in a small strip center, next door to Advance Auto Parts. We assemble between 9:00 and 10:00, and should be ready to roll at 10:00.

My drive time to North Adams from New Haven is between 2 and 2-1/2 hours, cruising basically at the speed limit.

 

[C-MuRdaA]

POOP! I wish I checked this thread earlier in the week 'cause I would have been down. I guess I will just have to go next time.

 

[Lawn Cher']

We ran 2 groups this weekend... the hardcore guys had a great time from what I heard. Eagle, myself & Sidriptide scouted out some stock & moderate trails and found some interesting routes through Green Mountain National Forest thanks to some newly acquired topo maps.

This tract of land is so big, I think it would be worth considering planning a multi-day wheeling & camping trek through the mountains for next summer. In the meantime, Earl is planning on events there for Columbus Day weekend (Oct. 11th), and potentially the weekend of Sept. 6th as well.

Despite being a 5-6 hour drive from the Philadelphia region, it is a fairly easy drive. I highly recommend checking it out if you can... long trails, mud holes, water crossings, rock gardens, boulders, logs, etc. You can wheel for a full day without seeing another vehicle, which makes it a much different experience from the Paragon/Rausch Creek type of destination.

 

[stu's jeep's]

are there any stock trails

 

[Eagle]

are there any stock trails

Very much so. The ones we found on this trip started off as maintained gravel roads and in the middle deteriorated a bit to "semi"-maintained gravel/dirt roads, but very much passable by a stock XJ with no worries other than mud spatter.

I see several other "items of interest" (to borrow a term from our new Departent of Homeland Defense) on the topo maps I acquired this weekend, so there will be more exploring the next time I'm in the area.

 

[sidriptide]

i wasn't sure what we were going to run into out there so i slapped the 30's on my stock 99. the only problems were a few bumps from a few rocks i lost track of as they went below my line of sight. nothing that will tear your truck up.. and there is always another road if it gets too hairy where we're going... i felt out classed being the only stock ride there.. guess i gotta lift the trail rig higher next year...
mike

 

[Eagle]

Sidriptide's bumps (and the new dent in my right rear quarter panel) actually came on the Sucker Pond trail, which is not a stock level trail and if I had had the topo maps before we started out in the morning, we would not have been on that trail. I had run that trail before, but got into/onto it from a different cross trail so I didn't know what trail we were on when we started. The two we found later in the afternoon were much tamer.

 

[Moto]

I must be slow or something, I have no Idea how I missed this post. I was doing NOTHING those dates except wishin that I was wheelin and somehow I missed this. I have been itchin to try out the new mods. Hopefully I am more with it and actually get my self together and go whenever the next event comes up.

 

[sidriptide]

just keep an eye on this board moto.. we should be doing it again in early september...
mike

 

[Easy Xjer]

I have been off line since May due to bathroom remodeling. As such remodeling is still under way my Jeep has not been worked on since then either. Once the bathroom is done I can again get My XJ in shape for trail rides. Catch ya later Mark

 

[Lawn Cher']

Good to hear from you, Dan. Hope to see you sometime in the fall.