Prologue
On the
May 19th trip, a group went out and
ran Dry River at around 4 p.m. after the clean-up run down and up
Old Long Run and down Second Mountain. I asked my kids
if they wanted to go. We had already been on the road since 7 a.m. so it was no
surprise that my oldest, Teddy, said "no more 4-wheeling" (he's three). So
we went to McDonald's, the "Jeep" wash and then home. About 1/2-way home,
Ted say's "let's go 4-wheeling"... Untapped reserves of energy kicked in
after that food we ate at the Irish restaurant with the golden arches... We went
home anyway. Which left Dry River a mystery until this trip.
Trip Notes
This time I left the kids
home. Later I would be a little surprised to find how much I missed them on the trip
because, as any parent knows, 2- and 3-year olds are very demanding. But this did
give me a chance to wander around a little more freely so in some ways it was nice that
they took the day off.
Muster
We assembled in the usual
fashion, at Wendy's in Manassas. A good-sized group of Jeep TJ's, a couple
YJ's, Cherokees, and a Ford pick-up. An interesting combination of vehicles with
mine and Mike McCready's TJ's being basically stock. I'm getting used to being in
the minority but it was nice to have someone else along at my ride-height.
The drive out to
Harrisonburg was the same as usual, a brisk pace but nothing illegal or antisocial.
We made good time and rolled in to a gas station in town after about 2 hours. Most
folks took on fuel and attended to various needs. Back on the road to McDorman's we
spotted a YJ for sale, and someone mentioned it on the CB. This drew a response from
Mark and Houston Long who were waiting about 8 miles down the road at McDorman's!
That is a pretty incredible reach for a CB. It turns out they are using a Cobra 75
WX ST with a Wilson antenna mounted on the side of their Jeep. I just ordered this
CB so I am looking forward to seeing if I can get as much out of it!
We stopped briefly at
McDorman's so people could get
sandwiches and visit the facilities. I grabbed a ham and cheese, and we hit the
road.
Just a couple miles down
Route 33 we stopped at the beginning of the Dry Run trail so folks could air down and so
on. I wanted to drop top but with the rack it takes a little too long. And the
weather was looking like rain so I didn't even take the windows off.
While all this was going on
I made some photographs. And I got a look at the first crossing.
Geeze... I am starting to think that I am a wimp. These river crossings are
not something I would have tried on my own. But after seeing people go right through
without a hitch, it makes me realize that maybe it's not all that bad. I still
wouldn't do it if I was alone, but it's nice to know it's possible.
After the first crossing or
two it didn't seem too bad and the carpet was still dry. I expect that I will
eventually get rid of the carpet, but for now... I did put everything up on
the seats and lash it all down, but it looked like it would not be a problem, so I was
just enjoying the ride. The trail was narrow and there were lots of roots but there
wasn't anything that was challenging. Just a nice ride in the woods so far. We
popped out on a rocky little peninsula where we stopped for lunch.
Lunch
I spent the time eating,
chatting and making photos of the different people and rigs. It was a nice spot
where you could see the ridge rising in the background. We had a sun shower and then
some sunshine.
Crossings
After lunch, we made another
crossing. All the vehicles ahead of me were quite well lifted and going deeper into
the water than I would have liked. Without the lift, and in fact, with something of
a negative ride height from stock, I wasn't sure that I even wanted to try it. But
before I could really talk myself out of it, Mike McCready had started to cross the stream
ford.
He got about half-way
across, started taking water over the top of his hood, and got hung up. We later
guessed that he got stuck on a rock that was just too high to climb over, and he might
have taken the crossing a little deeper than he had to. So he gets a strap from
Jason while I take my strap down from the roof and unroll it for the very first time,
preparing for my turn... Then I really got nervous.
As luck would have it, I was
able to benefit from Mike's misfortune and take a line more to the right, where it is not
as deep and where I was able to avoid the rock. While making the crossing, I
was convinced that the water was over the bottom of my doors and that I would start
taking on water any second, but looking at the pictures, it was nothing like that.
Others that crossed later did go deeper and got a little more wet than I.
From there, we meandered
through the woods at the foot of the ridge and, after passing the entrance to the
Dam, made another crossing that took us up the road. flooded by a meandering stream
and onto the other side, out of sight from where we entered.
It was quite picturesque,
very pleasant after the somewhat murky mud puddles that we had been going through along
the trail. Shortly after, we reached the road.
Right by the side of the
road was a flock of yellow butterflies that were drawn to something on the ground. I
only wish I had been behind Mark and Houston so I could have gotten a photo of their
yellow Jeep with the yellow butterflies.
Kephart
After a quick hop back down
the road, we went up the Kephart trail. This was pretty easy. Back on
March 24, it seemed a little more difficult but I think not
having the snow this time took away some of the mystery.
We encountered a pick-up
truck coming out. Everyone ditched in the woods to let him by. Later, we
encountered a fire that someone had left behind. It always amazes me how careless
people can be with fire. That was squelched and we continued to the water fall rock
obstacle.
Waterfall
Rock
In
March, I passed up the opportunity to climb this for a
variety of reasons, not least of which was the fact that I had a full Jeep (wife and two
kids, overnight gear, and trail clearing tools) and wasn't sure I wanted to risk getting
broken. This time around, it looked less threatening, my Jeep was empty, and it
seemed do-able. And it was no problem climbing up. Everyone took it on and
everyone made it, with varying degrees of finesse.
I made it up without so much
as a little "graunch". We hung around while everyone climbed it, with lots
of picture taking and discussion about how to climb back down.
Coming down, I made up for
my clean ascent by getting high centered on my engine skid plate. While the others
made photos of my silly position, and with a couple of people on my back bumper to make
the front wheels dangle just for the pictures, I made the mistake of moving the steering
wheel. The Jeep slid an inch or two to the side. This got me off the rock but
also convinced the bumper- riders it was time to head for cover. After that it was
an easy crawl back down to terra firma.
The drive out to the road
was pretty basic. I stopped in the middle of a stream to make some photos of the
Jeep and was treated to trail hospitality when the guy in front of me came back to throw
me a strap! I was not stuck but it was nice to know someone was right there if I did
get hung up.
Epilogue
We hit the road, drove out
the the Exxon near Route 81, where everyone aired up, reconnected and made arrangements
for the trip home and later. Mike McReady and I went to Luigi's Pizza Place and had
something to eat, while exchanging our "how I got my Jeep" stories. One
the way home, we saw a yellow Hummer parked at the same Exxon, with a matching
trailer. Very serious looking rig...cubic $$...
More Photos here:
Jackie
Cooper | Jason |
Mike
Ball
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