Uwharrie - July`03 Review

What follows is presented in the only way that I know how… Interminably, verbose, and long-winded! --- You might want to go get yourself a cup of coffee and a snack, because even if you’re a speed-reader, this is going to take a while!

I always love seeing the view on Interstate 77 as you enter into North Carolina… It’s one of those rare places on earth where ‘On a clear day, you can see forever’.

And ignoring the collision that I somehow avoided having with a no-brain/lane-changing/mini van-driving/cell phone-distracted Soccer Mom, the trip down was great… I arrived at Arrowhead Campground at about 5PM, stopped briefly to say ‘Hello’ to our Site Host, Janet, and then headed over to #37 to start getting everything set-up.

About six-hours later, I’d pretty much had my fill of solo Uber Shelter construction, so I made my way back over to Janet’s place for a little friendly conversation. --- However, it wasn’t very long before we heard a rumbling vehicle, far off in the distance. --- It got louder, and louder, and LOUDER… but still, the source of this clamorous roar had not yet even reached the gate to the campground!

”Well, I guess I’d better go… I think Ray’s here.”

Sure enough, as I made my way back to camp in the pitch-darkness, it wasn’t long before I saw that familiar beast of a Montero. --- Ray had originally planned to arrive the next day, but somewhere along the way he decided to drive straight through instead. --- He introduced me to his son, Scotty (Who, by the way, is one smart little fellow! – In no time, he had all of us collecting firewood to fuel his pyrotechnic interests.) , and we had a great time talking and fanning the flames before finally bedding down for the night.

I was awoken Friday morning by the sound of several voices engaged in consciously quiet conversation. --- I suppose that no one wanted to wake us, but I was quite eager to see who had arrived. --- Dave, Cory, Mike, and Rubo got to see me at my post-cheerwine best as I emerged slowly from my sarcophagus (Umm… I mean: TENT!)

And in keeping with that fine Uwharrie tradition, immediately after the introductions, almost like magic… All of the faces that had been completely new to me only a few minutes before, now suddenly belonged to some of my very best friends. (Although, Rubo doesn’t count… he’s been on that list for quite a while already!)

^^^ An early morning shot of Dave’s ‘Holden Fronterra Sport’.

^^^ Mike’s Rodeo (Left) – Rubo’s Infamously Eternal Project Vehicle (Right)

^^^ The Friday morning Group ‘W’ Bench gang – Uber Shelter – and my Rodeo.

^^^ The Gang: (from Left to Right) Rubo, Dave, Scotty (on the hood of Ray’s Monty), and Cory.

Apparently, I’m every bit as tedious and mind-numbing in person as I am online…

Actually, these guys busted their ever-lovin’ butts to get to Uwharrie from NY/NJ & PA, and desperately needed some catch-up sleep… That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it! (:-P)

Now, here’s the funny thing…
I was so busy setting-up the site on Thursday… Followed by our morning trip into town for supplies (where Rubo’s alternator died, and turned it into an all-day afair)… Then returned just in time to begin preparing Friday’s Steak Feast…

I didn’t get to hit the trails until 10PM (Roughly 29-hours after I got there!) --- Mind you, I’m not complaining… well, not per se… it’s just that for a while there, I was beginning to think I’d NEVER get to enjoy any 4-Low Therapy!

And wouldn’t you know it… Even though we had an absolute BLAST while conquering all sorts of terrain out there… My camera proved to be virtually useless at taking night shots. --- Sorry, but this was quite literally as good as it got, nocturnal photo-wise.

And when we finally returned to camp, we were all afforded the privilege of hearing the sweet and somber sounds of Rubo’s rendition of ‘The Alternator & Fender-Removal Lullaby’

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^^^ The very last sight that I saw before bedding-down for the night.
(That is, if 4:55AM is actually what you would call ‘night’. - LOL)

OK, I’m kidding (Well, sort of)… But to his credit, Rubo was actually amazingly quiet, particularly when you consider everything that he removed from his rig that night. (Whoops, there’s that word again!)

After breakfast, Tad and Mark (Wareagle) let me watch them install some Aisin hubs on a 1997 Rodeo… One that looked very suspiciously like mine, in fact! --- I think they set some sort of record too, because I (Ummm… I mean: The owner of that Rodeo) was able to make it in time to join the group that was already headed out to run the Daniel trail. --- I even (Errr… HE EVEN) managed to beat everyone else to the trailhead!

Seriously guys, THANK YOU… There’s absolutely no way that I could have made it without you!

Once everyone got there, we all started airing-down, and getting ready… But moments before we were ready to roll, another group showed-up…

…Three H1s, an H2, and two Jeeps (one Rubicon, one not)

Well, being the great bunch of guys that we are, we decided to let the Hummer & Jeep group go ahead of us.
***And here’s a little 20/20 hindsight word of advice: If you EVER see an H2 within a trail group, DO NOT let them in front of you!!!

That friendly act of trail courtesy left us looking like this …

…for quite a while. --- It seemed like FOREVER before the last vehicle in their group (the Rubicon) finally pulled out of sight. --- I didn’t bother to walk up the trail to watch, but from what I’ve heard, I sure wish that I had… Apparently, the H1s, and particularly that H2, had quite a bit more trouble on the first section of Daniel than anyone in our group (including two almost bone-stock Rodeos!)

But eventually…

…we were finally on the move!

^^^ While Mike was busy making his way up the last section of Daniel’s Hairpin…

^^^ Ray decided that he’d have a little fun while he waited for his turn.

Now I’m reasonably sure that most of you have seen Ray’s avatar, and/or several of the more recent photos that show his Monty up on three wheels… But for those of you who have never been to Uwharrie, the above photo might help put things in perspective… It was taken only seconds before he pulled forward onto that mound, and tipped WAAAAAAY backward, resulting in THIS now-famous pose…

And for those of you who have snapped any wheeling photos, you know as well as I do that the pictures NEVER look as impressive as things do in real life. --- And to beat all; Ray was laughing the whole time!

^^^Sadly, right after this one, we were all a little too busy putting straps on Ray to take any more pictures… There would have been some mighty good ones; believe me!

^^^ Yeah… Kudos to my Assistant Cameraman!
Real nice action shot of me there, Bubba! (:-P)

Oh sure… Yeah, NOW you’re awake! (:-P)
(RodeoBob on the last climb of the Hairpin section)

^^^ Marc (Zman2day) and his awesome locked & supercharged 4Runner.

^^^ RobG and his frighteningly huge Rodeo on the second ascent of Daniel...

…making it look way too easy!

…Daniel’s 1st gen Trooper made short work of the hard line too.

It was basically a cake-walk (crawl?) for Matt and the V-8 powered Indy4x Project RS…

…and that’s no pebble… That rock is a freakin’ diff-killer to regular old 4x-folk like me!

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^^^ Mike elected to take the bypass on this section… and there is absolutely no shame in that.
Believe me; I skipped the harder lines of this section on each of my first THREE trips to Uwharrie.

Here are 21 words that I hope never to hear again…
”Hey Smiley, do me a favor… Stand on my front bumper for a sec, and help me get the nose down.”

^^^ And after doing just that… This is what things looked like a few seconds later.

By the way… This is the line that I took on THIS TRIP!
But you’ll have to visit RobG’s website to see the photos…
My ‘Assistant Cameraman’ was on his Union-required coffee break. (:-P)

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GO, Dave, GO!!!

^^^ I guess these qualify as ‘action shots’, right?

^^^ I really hate that all of my photos of Rob’s rig are so tame, but honestly, every time that I caught up to him, this is about all there was to see.

Remember that Rubicon? --- He spent at least 10-minutes trying…


^^^ But he never quite made it up Kodiak Rock…

^^^ Yeah… Well guess who did!

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

^^^ Bob opted for an easier line... One that I should have taken myself…

^^^ And here’s why!

And later, back at the campground…


^^^ A little more trail damage.

And finally… Here’s a shot from Saturday’s night run…
(The one that I was way too tired to go out on.)

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^^^ Marc helping is girlfriend test the OS handles on Rocky Mt. Loop. (Is that a foot on the dash too???)

It was great getting to meet David Chang, and all of the folks who made it down for the very first time. – And I really loved getting to see so many of my old friends too. ---Even if you’re not into 4-wheeling at all, it’s definitely worth the trip, if only to meet so many of your online friends in person!