April get together--Uwharrie

[Georgia Mike]

Who's up for a little ride at Uwharrie in April? :eyes: ME!! :eyes: Who else??? I'm sure Woody would let us all crash at his place,RIGHT WOODY :laugh: ? Any proposed dates? Just about any Saturday will be good for me,how about everyone else? Glenn,are you finally gonna drag the Ghost out to play or what?? :D

[woody]

Uwharrie sounds good to me!

It opens up on Tuesday the 1st, and I see playing hookey that afternoon if I can get my chainsaw running by then. :dunno: always got the bushaxe, but that's too much like work.

Any weekend is fine for me, other than the 25th when we have a date in MetroLanta for a Jeep Show.

My shack on the hill is a little far from the trails (40 miles) but y'all welcome just the same. 3.5 acres in paradise and the copperheads might not be stirred up yet ;)

Lemme know!

[Mark WNC]

I'm up for a ride in Uwharrie,haven't been there in several years,
Just can't go on the 12th or 13th, but would love to go.
Just let me know and I'm there.
We'll see if we CAN NOT tear off a fender flare this time;) Ha, Ha.

[Economos]

Hell, I might be down depending on when yall go.:cool:

[Georgia Mike]

OK,I forgot about the show :doh: Mark's out for the 12th-13th,let's make it for Saturday the 19th then. I've got the Friday of that week off (Good Friday) anyway,so that works out great for me. Plus that'll give the returning-to-the-trails crowds a couple of weeks to die down a bit. That set it for everyone?


P.S.--Can someone please get a good action shot for me and post it on here from this trip? I REALLY need a better avitar:rolleyes:but sadly,that's the only pre-selected one that fits my personality (not being pretentious:anon:just being funny:laugh: )

[woody]

Sat 19th would be OK by me

[Kudzu]

Although I would love to go I have an Xj to regear and other things that need to be done before the show...

[Rogue Sport]

I will try and be there to. Time and place to meet is all I need.

[Mark WNC]

Sounds good to me,
which camp ya'll staying at?
The one on the lake is primative
and the other has a
$385,000.00 BATH HOUSE
Then you have the group camp
and the hunt camp.
Just let me know and I'll
see you there.

[Rambler]

The 19th is good for me. You can count me in.

[Carpenter]

I would like to go see what all the fuss about Uwharrie is but that's a little close to ERoCC for me. I'll probably be too caught up with last minute preparations to make this trip. We have a two month lay off between the first and second competitions though so I would be willing to ride in May if we can get something together. If enough people want to ride in Monteagle I'd be glad to line something up. I have plans to attempt to get my Heep up Rattlerock sometime when it's good and dry around May if anyone wants to ride in Windrock. Just let me know. I plan on doing alot of wheeling this summer, it would be nice to get a group of regulars together this summer.

[Georgia Mike]

OK,I've never been, either. But I figured it's a straight shot up I-85 for me,so what the heck?:D Let's do it! Someone chime in here and offer up some good meeting places to choose from,as I know nothing about the area at all. I guess we'll just go with the ol' standard 9:00-9:30 AM meet up time:)

Carpenter,if you wanna get something lined up for Windrock next month,that's cool with me! I'd like to try that place out,too! Let's shoot for middle to end of May if that's doable for you. Keep us posted!:peace:

[Mark WNC]

Hey Mike, once you get to Charlotte you can take either
HYW 49 or 24.
24 leads to Troy,NC, then you would go north on 109
49 takes you more north to 109 then go south on 109
I never been on 24 but 49 is pretty good HYW
Might ask woody he probably could tell us the best road
to take.

[roXJeepr]

Well damn! It's kinda far just for "trail riding", but I might be there. I seriously doubt we'll be doing any welding this trip, but it might be fun anyway. Where's it at anyhow?

[Georgia Mike]

Hey,Dale! I was beginning to wonder when you were gonna chime in! Uwharrie is about 40 miles east of Charlotte,NC.

What are the trail difficulty ratings there? I've heard there's everything from dirt roads to some extreme areas. Woody? Fill us in!

[woody]

Uwharrie NF is off NC Hwy 109 north of Troy/south of Denton/on the east shore of Badin Lake. If I were coming north from Atlanta or points south, I'd take 85N through/past Charlotte and get off at Concord NC (Hwy 29/601 exit# 58) take 601S to 49N, to 109 south. Or for you TN/NC mountain folks, 40E (I usually get off in Mocksville and take 64E exit 168 down twds Lexington & home, but 'on paper' it looks like 77S out of Statesville and across maybe better? )

We should probably meet up at the Eldorado Outpost on Hwy 109 (say 9-10am?) It's got lots of room to park, and has the last gas & snacks near the trailhead.

Anyway here's an area map, with some suggested routes.

http://www.sb-host.com/imagehost/data/3010/5Uwharrie_directions-med.JPG

[woody]

And a trail map (it's missing daniel Trail, which runs from the parking area at FR #555 the 'river road' up the mountain to the east segment of Rocky Mount Loop trail

http://www.sb-host.com/imagehost/data/3010/5Uwharriemap1-med.gif

Daniel and Rocky Mount are fairly rough, as is Dutch John. The rest arent too bad, but we'll run through them either Tues Aft or this weekend for up-to-date ratings with 31x9.50 TSL

remember with these 'ratings' to consider the source :viking:

[woody]

A link to Uwharrie NF, with descriptions of the facilities:

http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recreation/uwharrie/index.htm

The Arrowhead CG is the closest to the OHV trails, and has 'modern' shower and toilets; The Badin Lake CG and the Group Camp area is more private, but primitive. We'd need a reservation if we wanted one of the Group Camp sites.

$5 per day to trailride, and camping out there is free, but somewhat aggravating with quads & other 4x4 folks 24/7, plus the potential to be less secure if one left camp set up to wheel.

No alchohol sold nearby or allowed in the NF trails or CGs. The Eldorado Outpost is 'dry' so pack it in from up the road if you need any. It is a $5 per beer fine IIRC, so don't be blatant or piss off the Rangers ;)

[Ghost]

Just came in here to post and see who would be up for it. My local budies are going the weekend of the 26th I believe.

[Georgia Mike]

So come out a week early and do some prospectin' for the 26th :D

[Safari Ary]

I'm gonna try to make it down to meet all of you guys. I've run Uwharrie at least a dozen times and a couple of those times were stock. And yes, I ran all the trails. It's all about having a competent spotter and knowing when to give up and take the bypasses. Will have to see if I can get off work that Friday or not, and see if the woman will put me up in Winston-Salem w/o me staying to see her :angel: Woody, you gonna be runnin my old tires?? Be weird to see them on something else :laugh3: MAYBE I'll have MTRs by then, but it's doubtful, so I'll be taking it easy(a relative term) on the ATs. Hope to see you guys down there. Peace

Ary

[woody]

Uwharrie pre-run yesterday afternoon:

Rode most all the trails (Skipped Fall's Dam & Dickey Bell), and it's passable entertainment, better than watching Oprah on a warm afternoon ;)

It was dry, but if it were wet, I'd have not been able to do a few spots that have no bypass (Daniel) and the big hill on the end of Dutch John took 4 failed attempts then found second gear & the floorboard. I'd rate either as pretty much high-moderate trails (going up) and low-moderate to high-easy (going down)

There is a big widowmaker tree hanging over Rocky Mount Loop, but I was able to squeak underneath. Prolly someone in a tall rig will knock it down this weekend LOL ouch!

Overall it's a lot more washed out in places than ever before, and there are tons of new (tall) water bars that some kind soul bulldozed up in the off-season. Low slung, open diff jeeps with cautious drivers beware... Also with the washouts are lots and lots of loose, sharp rocks. This place is gonna eat alot of cheap ATs this weekend :viking: I hope it pours cats & dawgs!

I had fun though, and only saw one other Jeep (a doorless XJ!) and 3 quads and 2 dirtbikes in 4 hours on the trail. That's what I love about midweek wheeling! Peace & Quiet/no traffic jams!!!

BTW Ari, those TSL do pretty good, I ran at street pressure too. They sure arent 33s though, ground clearance-wise.

[Georgia Mike]

Well,if there's a tree branch or rocks somewhere,Mark's fender flares will find 'em :laugh: Ithink I'm gonna go and check out Beasley Knob sometime this weekend,as it reopened on the 1st, too.

[woody]

Beasley Knob...that's the one in Blairsville yes?

[Safari Ary]

Originally posted by woody
Uwharrie pre-run yesterday afternoon:
Also with the washouts are lots and lots of loose, sharp rocks. This place is gonna eat alot of cheap ATs this weekend :viking: I hope it pours cats & dawgs!

Chit, I'm still gonna be runnin AT KOs on the 19th :anon: Hopefully, they'll survive, as two of them are brand new as of today. Peace

Ary

[Georgia Mike]

Originally posted by woody
Beasley Knob...that's the one in Blairsville yes?

Yep! That's the one.:D Hopefully it's washed out a little more now with all the rains of late. Since they graded it all down last spring it was about as exciting as watching golf on TV. :laugh:

[Safari Ary]

Ok, can we get a tentative group of names going here?? Also a tentative schedule?? I wouldn't mind camping in Arrowhead if it's ammenable to everyone else. I'm gonna be backpacking for 5 weeks this summer, so I'm going for the luxury camping while it's available ;) Oh btw, my club from school is going to be down there the same weekend. It's mostly SWB guys w/ a 'yota or two thrown in for good measure(10 vehicles MAX I'm thinking). Just wondering how you guys would feel if I asked them to join us. I really don't want to overcrowd our group, but their problem is that I may be the only Uwharrie veteran to lead them around. I'm just feeling you guys out, not even sure I'm gonna volunteer it to them.

So anyway, back to the headcount. I will be coming, and I will be bringing one of the guys from work(he runs a Scrambler on 36s, but it's got no Tranny right now). Let's get organized :D Peace

Ary

[woody]

Woody & passenger TBD will be there and Arrowhead works for me. I have Friday the 18th off work, so may go on out & set up camp early.

Depending on who plans to come out, what sort of trails we want to run, weather, how man OTHER groups come that weekend etc...we may want to run more than one group. All but one of the trails form loops, so everyone usually sees everyone else at least once.

See ya soon!

[Georgia Mike]

I'll be there w/passenger (nephew). If we camp it will most likely be Saturday night. If everyone's staing at the Arrowhead place,then we'll be there too!

[Rambler]

Count me in and Ill be camping at Arrowhead also.



Steve T
Red 88 2-door w/33"

[Mark WNC]

I'll be staying at arrowhead also.
Maybe come down on fri. and stay till sunday.

[Tim88XJ]

I'd like to come and Im on spring break that week. If I do come though it would probably just be for the day on saturday as its only 1.5hrs from here and too much hassle to gather up all the camping stuff. I could be there by around 9:30 and probably hit the road around 7ish in the evening. I wont know till later and also if its raining or shitty weather I probably will skip it.

How many people are goin for sure? -Tim

[Georgia Mike]

HEY! I almost forgot I'm off that Friday :D I may just head up on Friday evening and camp out that night,too! Someone shoot me a cell # backchannel so I can call somebody if I get lost,please!

[woody]

You Can't get lost! Just follow the map up 49 to 109s, go past (or gas/stock up at) the Eldorado Outpost. If you miss it all, you'll cross the Uwharrie River, and my Jeepin Buddy's new bridge/construction zone. You gone too far!

If you're liking the pavement, head back north on 109 (1/2 mi) and take the 1st left. at the T just past the old horse camp go right, pass the new canebrake horsecamp, at the next T/stopsign the asphalt ends. Go left and the road up to the campground & boatlaunch is on the left approx 1/2 mi from the T.

If you like windy gravel, go past the outpost & take the first paved right. Take a right on the gravel road just past the Hunt Camp, follow a ways in (2 mi? past 2 roads to the left. with the OHV trail signs) take a right and the boatlaunch/CG road will be on the left) If you go past the Flintlock Valley shootin range, you done gone too far. Whip a U-ey & don't sling too much gravel fur to draw fire.

There are brown signs all over with arrows to the boatlaunch...Arrowhead CG is on the right before ya go down into the cove where the ramp is.

In any case, anyone coming in from the S or N the Eldorado Outpost/Amoco station and the new/old bridge are good landmarks. The folks at the Outpost can talk ya in to the Arrowhead, or just wait for us there on Sat AM!

Hope to see a crowd!

[Ghost]

Hey what is up with that? Just called to do my reservations for ArrowHead for the 26th and they said that it was a NO Alchol campground! Now I just cannot have that. Got to have a beer before bed! Any sugestions guys? Or am I missinformed?

[Safari Ary]

You got it right, it's no alchohol, but I don't know how stringent they are in enforcing that. I'm only 19, so I don't drink ;) ;) I mean it's illegal for me everywhere, so who cares. ;) ;) :anon:

Ary

[Ghost]

Anyone know how enforceful they are? Is there another place that has full facilities that does not have these rules?

[woody]

Unfortunately no (other sites) as long as one is discreet it isn't a problem...

we'll just not pitch tent right next to the CG host an all should be OK

The no alcohol policy is Nat'l Forest wide, not just in the CGs, and be advised that there is no beer sold within 15 miles of the CG.

[Safari Ary]

What's this about reservations?? I've never made any and never had a problem, but it may prove to be a busy weekend. The campsites are fairly large if IIRC. Anyone mind if I share a site w/ w/ them?? Thanks

Ary

[woody]

You're welcome to share mine...no pharting or loud snoring allowed, anything else goes.

[Georgia Mike]

Hey guys! Guess what? I FINALLY got a good CB AND an antenna setup!!!!!!

:party:

Mark,can you bring the SWR meter again? I hope all goes good this time. A trucker that lives across the street from me gave me a good CB,and told me to pitch the POS antenna I had. He said it looked more like a cell phone antenna than a CB antenna. Guess that's what I get for buying it at K-Mart :laugh:

[woody]

Arrgh :doh: so that can only mean... we have to listen to ya while we're driving too

I knew I should have put that stereo project on the front-burner.

1st prize for trail-talk went to Mark's (daughter?niece) up at Tellico last fall: "CAN YA HEAR ME NOW?" 2 minutes later "HEY CAN YA HERE ME? ARE WE LOST?" LOL that was cute...no one else got a word in edgewise for the Hot Mike up front.

Of course I wasn't much better... LOL "leave me room, I havta get on it" or coming down 2 "clear a path, I got no brakes" (people in front cringing in fear)

[Mark WNC]

Hey I try to keep motor mouth quiet but you know how
10 year olds are ;)
and no problem on the SWR meter
Mike,maybe we will have time to really use it this time.

I 'm going to bring the family with me and just make a
camping trip out of this one and my wife can meet
the guys she gets tired of hearing about so much.
She says it nice to put faces with names.

Oh yeh, about for got, if the campground is full
can we share a camp site with some one,preferably
close to the potty house.(beggers can't be choosers
but it doesn't hurt to try:) )

[Rogue Sport]

I will be there and I think Jeepspd431 will be there as well. From reading some of the previous posts, the rally point is the Outpost around 0930 hrs. Is this correct?

We will leave Fayettenam around 0800 and it wil put us there around 0930.

[roXJeepr]

I was planning on making this trip, but it looks like my plans sucked. Now plans are to change my gas tank, which apparently didn't like that last trip to Tellico. Hope yall have fun, wish I could go!
Dale

[Georgia Mike]

Ahhh come awn!! Just weld that sucker up and make the trip!

:explosion :flame: :flamemad: :roll: :rof: :roll:

[XJpax]

I'm not gonna wheel Uwharrie this year til i put on my neew crossmember and rockrails. when your riding stock, you need to know when to start taking precautions. but I would love to ride along for a change. if anyone doesnt mind a passenger, id love to ride along. i can be anywhere anytime to meet ya cause im close.

[BIGWOODY]

The tax man clipped me for close to 5 grand yesterday, so I need at least one weekend with no big expense. My windrock trip this weekend will have to be postponed. Since Uwharrie is less than an hour from the house , guess I'll go down there and play around this weekend. Is there a specific time and meeting place? I will be at the Eldorado about 10a.m. sat. morning.
The beer situation down there is pretty relaxed,I have always had it at my camp site (right off the trails not at the campground) and have never been bothered.

[Ghost]

It looks like I'm not going to make it that weekend. Easter weekend is bad for me! However, I will be up there the weekend of the 26th. I will be staying at Arrowhead the 25th and 26th! I know of 4-6 other jeepers going that weekend from here. I hope to see some of you out there if you are close by. BigWoody are you still working on a 5.0 V-8 swap? Hit me back channel if you are. I want to hear more about it! picturem@bellsouth.net

[BIGWOODY]

[i]Originally posted by Ghost , BigWoody are you still working on a 5.0 V-8 swap? Hit me back channel if you are. I want to hear more about it! picturem@bellsouth.net [/B]
After gathering a 5.0 from a 99 explorer,C-6, and only days from getting the atlasII, I bagged the idea. I had a customer who wanted to buy the whole set up for much more than I had in it. Although I love my XJ and love to do mods to it, first and foremost, I'm a salesman. I'll sell anything to anyone if the price is right, I make it a habit not to fall in love with things. As a matter of fact I'm giving serious consideration to selling my XJ and building my wifes ZJ.

[Ghost]

You going to be around the 26th? Would love to see the xj and buy you a beer or something!

[woody]

Them hills were a wee bit slick this weekend. Who ever it was said Uwharrie was easy :eek: wasn't up there this weekend. Liquid dust makes for interesting 4wheelin, but sucky camping. Glad we brought dry firewood from the house...

Steve and Mike made it up from GA, Ari from VA, Big Woody, Mark, Tim & Andrew, Chris, and I from NC. Pretty sure we had 8 XJs on the trails. Plus BigWoody's buds Mike & Jim in their 'big' Chevys...

Thanks to BigWoody for the tug... next time I'm up there, it'll be with my spooled 44 rear / front 30 locker/4.56:1s, a couple more inches of lift, fresh mudslingers on the back, and a big tranny cooler....all the important fluids are draining right now.

The only carnage I think we suffered was Mark's tie-rod and I got a new "Cat Back" on Daniel trail (nothing left but the cat, and the muffler got chucked in the back) Sounds nice ;) I awoke this morn to a flat rear, and found a 2" sheetmetal screw stuck in the tire LOL the neighbors prolly :bawl: when I fired up the compressor. I am sure once the mud gets rained off our Jeeps, some will find fresh dentage.

Hope y'all that travelled had a safe return trip!

[woody]

A follow up...Tim's LR taillamp found it's way around a tree...

Also it may have been a holiday weekend thing, but the CGs were packed! Karen & I got there at +-2PM Friday...Arrowhead was 100% so we went & found a site in Badin Lake CG. Mark got the last site in that loop.

In future, we may want to reserve a block of sites in Arrowhead, a spot in the group camp, or stake out one of the large primitive sites either along the FS roads or up on the trail. Reserve USA is our friend for confirmed USFS campsites.

[Ghost]

I have a site reserved for this weekend. Hope it dries out some between now and then! Any sugested trail to hit with 31" tires and a rear locker?

[woody]

One thing about Uwharrie is it drains well... if it isn't rainy between now & then it'll be dusty next weekend.

with 31" and a locker (& good brakes) they' re all yours... Loop it to go down all the abusive stuff we attempted going up. If too easy, turn around & go back up. Not good to do alone though...there are lots of holes and snags....they didn't de-ball it much...and folks wallowing it out kept it a lot of fun yesterday.

Remind me and I'll send a map w routes.

[Rogue Sport]

Next time, I will catch a ride with someone else if it is that wet. I have to talk to the wiffy about a few more upgrades :D . It was embarrassing to be pulled up the hill. Glad to see such a turnout.

Woody, I am going to email you back channel about the tread lightly in Cary.

Big Woody, Thanks for the pull up the hill.

[Georgia Mike]

Yep! We made it home alright! :D It was a lot longer drive than I expected it to be,but it was worth it. We left out from the Eldorado Outpost at 5:30PM,stopped at the McDonald's at the Lowe's Motor Speedway exit,gassed up and we rolled in around 10:30PM. It was a good trip for all,except Tim's taillight :laugh:. I had the most troubles going up one of the bypasses @ Kodak. I heard a couple of comments after the "hammer-down" approach (which did finally get me up and over,BTW) "You drove that thing from Georgia? And you're 'wheeling it THAT hard?? I love it!!!" What else do they expect from a recent graduate of the "Woody's 4-wheelin' School"???? :lecture: Sooooo........any proposed dates for a ride next month......????? :D

[Safari Ary]

Well, I made it back to a computer, albeit the GFs in Winston-Salem. Took the long route home and swung by Andy Zuber's place(Carolina Rock Shop). Helped him prep a 390(bored 360) to put in his CJ-5. Also managed to spray the Jeep down enough to keep from getting my clean clothes dirty from getting in and out. So far I haven't found any damage, 'cept the one scrape on my rock rails that I already knew about. I'm fearing some damage on my passenger side though 'cause i remember hitting something going around Kodak, but not finding any scars. Time will tell. Glad to see everyone made it back safe and with minimal damage. Take it easy

Ary(with a "y" ;))

[Tim88XJ]

Yeah... smashed up a taillight pretty good... but whatcha gonna do.. shit happens. It was pretty fun, and we probably would have crawled all over that stuff if it was dry.

I have about 40pictures I'll load up sometime... have to find a place to load them too. Also, Arya... Did/can you upload any of the video footage you got? Let me know, Tim


Originally posted by Ary'01XJ
Well, I made it back to a computer, albeit the GFs in Winston-Salem. Took the long route home and swung by Andy Zuber's place(Carolina Rock Shop). Helped him prep a 390(bored 360) to put in his CJ-5. Also managed to spray the Jeep down enough to keep from getting my clean clothes dirty from getting in and out. So far I haven't found any damage, 'cept the one scrape on my rock rails that I already knew about. I'm fearing some damage on my passenger side though 'cause i remember hitting something going around Kodak, but not finding any scars. Time will tell. Glad to see everyone made it back safe and with minimal damage. Take it easy

Ary(with a "y" ;))

[Mark WNC]

Hey all, we made it home ok also.
We had a great time too.
Woody, thanks for the help at the camp in the rain.
and Mike thanks for the spare tierod.
thank goodness for people with spares.
I'm going to start collecting spares my self
now that I have a parts rig.
Its just great to fellowship with good people,
and do something you like to do together.
Thanks everyone.

"You drove that thing from Home And you're 'wheeling it THAT hard "
Hey, I want to say something about the guys that drive thier rigs
to the trails and then really wheel them hard.
You got my respect for one, I'm too chicken to even try it,I wheel pretty hard but for those that dont know I trailer mine everywhere.Maybe its a true trust that thier XJ isn't going to let them down or maybe its just plain craziness or people like taking chances, I dont know
but you Guys got my vote and you know who you are.

[Georgia Mike]

It's just a lack of options at the moment for me :laugh:. Just wait 'til I get that tow dolly :piratefla

[Georgia Mike]

Hey Woody! You forgot to remind me about the stereo stuff :dunno: Remind me this weekend at the show if you still need any assistance with it :thumbup:

[woody]

Wifey :explosion: the timing belt-and thus the 90,000 mile engine on her Honda the week before we hit the trails, so my XJ is temporarily the only thing in the yard that moves. That's why I was being so careful up there ;)

I think I have her convinced we need to get out of the POS Honda biz and into being an all XJ/MJ Family: She needs a 4 Door Limited or Country and I need my MJ's fixed!

[roXJeepr]

Hell yeah!! Sounds like I missed an awesome time. Hopefully next time I can make it cuz I'm going thru DT's and I miss wheelin with yall.

[Georgia Mike]

Hey! What's with all the "****" when someone types in El****do Outpost?? Just curious :)