We drove through Fairmont
and out to the street that ties into the trail. We dropped into
4-LO (Ahhhh!) and drove down to Buffalo Creek.
There, we followed a
trail section that leads up a hill, along the side of the hill and then
back uo to the main road, which is a dirt road that gets rougher as it
goes deeper into the woods.
No problems there.
Jason followed a side trail that disappeared into the woods probably
used by ATV's, which were out and about.
Back up on the main
dirt road we continued North a ways and came to a long hill.
Several folks took a
minute to climb the hill, turn around and come back down.
I took the kids up and
we went all the way to the top.
The trail continues
down the other side as an ATV track so we turned around and came back
the same way.
After a break for some
talk, we mounted up again and drove up the dirt road West .
There a few people
tackled a steeper hill that went down off the road to a hollow with a
creek at the bottom.
Movie
This hill was a little
steeper with one section containing some loose rocks about the size of
softballs up to the size of soccer balls. The section was just
long enough that a vehicle would have all four wheels on rock.
Going down was no problem but going up was more interesting.
At the bottom of the
hollow, the trail continues up the other side, with ATV-width tracks.
At the bottom lies a little creek with a pool right at the edge of the
track at the bottom. The track goes slightly on an angle up the
hill and there is a slight off-camber angle to the ground, with the
right side being a little higher than the left.
Jason said that even
the most daring folks he's brought there have not tried to climb this.
After some discussion and exploration by Jason, Troy, and Tomas, Troy
decided to try it. We discussed the approach and gave some tips
about what to do in various circumstances that could develop. We
also gave assurances that we would winch him off it if it came to that.
So Troy gave it his
best shot. He got up the hill a little ways and lost traction.
That might have been the best thing because the hill is pretty tricky
looking, even though the map says it's not any steeper than the one we
came down. This looks like a hill that calls for driving your Jeep
like you stole it, or MTs and lockers and nerves of steel. Since I
left my nerves of steel at work I opted not to be the first to find out
what the hill can dish out. I am sure this little tale will make
someone want to climb this hill. Go with my best wishes for
success but do not go alone!
We drove back up the
hill out of the hollow and got back on the main dirt road.
Up a ways we turned
South-southwest to go down a trail with some tight sections and some
washed out surfaces. It was pretty easy but nice to get back into
the woods practicing on something that wouldn't leave me walking out.
Along the way we heard
the story about the property owner on a Gator ATV who was upset with the
group for going in his field. On this trip the group was not going
to go on his land. Good choice.
We got to the bottom of
the trail where the land started so we doubled back. Along the way
there was what looked like an erosion bar across the trail that was
muddy and steep on one side. A couple of us tackled it in both
directions. Fun stuff!
We drove back up out of
this section and then continued roughly North on the dirt road.
It was interesting.
We also stopped many times along the way to pick blackberries out the
window.
The kids had been
complaining that they were hungry so this helped hold them off.
When we reached Watson
Farm-Woods Run we stopped to reconnect sway bars, talk about plans for
going home, and to let little boys fight over some ammo shells that had
been found on the ground.
When everyone was
ready, we drove out to pavement at Flinches run and everyone went their
separate ways.
