MOHAWK MADNESS labor Day Weekend!!!! sept 3 - 5

[sidriptide]

ok while we wait for the planning forum to be opened up i will start it here... (please move this thread when a new forum is opened)
the basics..
who: all NAXJA members and XJ/MJ owners who wish to attend a weekend of camping and wheeling in the north adams ma area

when:friday sept 3rd thru sunday sept 5th...

where: the mohawk trail is US Rt 2 that runs from the boston area west into new york... the area we are reffering to is the northwest corner of massachusetts near north adams, williamstown, and florida...

base camp: TO BE ANNOUNCED .. one of the many state parks inthe area our intention is to get a group site for all of us to be in the same place....

what: a weekend of running legal unmaintained 4 wheel drive roads in Ma and Vt. accompanied by camping/BBQing and BSing... there are a few of us who have spent alot of time scouting and enjoying the area out there and really feel that it is worth sharing with others..

meeting times and such will be posted as soon as we iron out the details.... i reallyy apreciate the interst in this event even though it seems "last minute" the logistics are nothing i havent handled before... our trails of choice will be dictated by the abilities of the vehicles and drivers.. we can offer scenic dirt roads all the way thru hard core insane trails.... i will be setting up a seperate thread for a "role call/pre-registration".. we will run with all NAXJA rules/by laws as well as COMMON SENSE....
the basic schedule will be..
friday: early arrivals.. trail ride depending on attendance and interest..
saturday: more arrivals.. trail rides meet and depart in the AM.. depending on time and interst more trails can be added to the day.. retrun to camp and prepare dinner (this time around it will be BYOF, may change that for next year)
sunday: break camp and depart on trail rides forthe day...

the surrounding towns have all the stores and services you may need.. whether you have trail breakage or simply forgot something at home.... we will be sure to point out the local businesses that support us as offf-roaders...

myself and eagle can answer any questions you may have....
(i know i forgot something)
COME ON OUT FOR THE FUN!!!!!!!!!!

mike

[Skorpyo]

I've posted this info up on the front page of the NAXJA website. I'll update it when we get further details together.

[sidriptide]

I've posted this info up on the front page of the NAXJA website. I'll update it when we get further details together.

thanks skorpyo.... any chances of getting a "planning forum" like the other events have?? or is that already in the works??


mike

[Skorpyo]

um....I'll mention it to the BOD.
Tim

[Skorpyo]

Forum is up and running thanks to Mr. Forum Fixer. The front page has a link to it now in the news section and the forum is accessible from the forum index.
Skorpyo

[sidriptide]

please move this thread to the new forum...

thx

[sidriptide]

the camping situation is settled..

Mt Greylock state reservation, the "chimney" group site.. we have it from friday 9/3 thru sunday 9/5.... should be plenty of room for all of us...

i want to point out that consumption of alcohol is STRICTLY PROHIBITED in Massachusetts state parks... so be a good wheeler and don't crack a beer at camp.. there are establishemnts in town that can take care of you if its that important but it will not be tolerated on the trail OR the camp..

mike

[Eagle]

Mike, I haven't had a beer in so long I probably wouldn't like the taste now, but for those who do and just can't enjoy a cook-out without a brewski in hand -- do you know if the state parks allow the non-alcoholic "beers" such as O'Douls? Can we find out, just in case someone wants to bring that type of quaffable?

[sidriptide]

do you know if the state parks allow the non-alcoholic "beers" such as O'Douls? Can we find out, just in case someone wants to bring that type of quaffable?

probably not a problem and i wouldnt take issue with it.. but ... why????

mike

[Eagle]

probably not a problem and i wouldnt take issue with it.. but ... why????

mike
I dunno. Just thought I would ask, in case someone wants the taste of a beer w/o running afoul of the rules. But I think O'Douls contains a small amount of alcohol, so if anyone wants to bring it, check with the rangers ahead of time.

[wilsmick]

sounds like this should be a really good time. i love that area of the state, but don't make it out there a whole lot. it'll be nice to visit again.

i had a few questions though before i post back to the headcount thread. this'll be my first trip with NAXJA.

friday thru sunday means that we don't have a campsite sunday night, right?
i'm definately planning on wheelin sat but still think about sunday.

also, what are the group sites like at greylock? are they all tent sites? or are there lean-tos (sp)? is it all in one big area that's centered around one main fire pit? or are there littler sites with thier own pits? i assume we should plan to bring all of our own supplies, but i'm just thinking about the cooking/firewood situation? if there's just one main fire, we probably shouldn't plan to do any cooking on that, correct?

thanks, mike

[TekkaMaki]

Hi Mike :wave:

We have the group campsite from Friday afternoon to Sunday before noon, meaning we'll need to break camp before wheeling on Sunday basically.

I haven't seen the "Chimney" group site in person but I expect it to be similar to the group site we had on Memorial Day which was a large fire pit in the middle and tent clearings spread out around it. I belive there is a single lean-to on the "Chimney" site and judging solely on the name I wouldn't be surprised if there was the relic of a foundation with an actual chimney but that's just speculation on my part. On the Memorail Day group site in the same campground we had a dozen tents set up comfortabley with room for a few more probably. For cooking I plan on bringing a small charcoal grill and I know others will too and if you wanted a piece of the campfire to cook I'm sure that would be cool too, bringing some dry wood might be a good idea as well.

You can find out more about the campsite HERE (http://www.mass.gov/dem/parks/mgry.htm) and if you wanted to reserve your own site for Sunday night you can do that HERE (http://www.reserveamerica.com/jsp/commonpage.jsp?goto=/usa/ma/mgry/newindex.html) although you are required to reserve at least 2 nights.

Glad your planning on coming & see you there!
-Bic

[sidriptide]

i expect the site to be like bic described. but i will be up there scouting this weekend and will check out the site so we know what to expect... mt greylock is pretty "primitive" with no running water although there are toilet facilities near by.... everyone should bring what they need to sustain themselves. although i'm sure we will share quite a bit of stuff we should all expect to take care of ourselves.. a few charcoal grills will certainly be needed, (i have one as well) the site will have a central firepit and we already have a plan to get firewood from a local vendor.. a few $$ from everyone who camps will cover the things some of us are pre-paying out of our own pockets... i see no reason we couldnt try to cook on the fire pit.. i think i will pick up a wide grill this week and bring it along to see if it is practical.. if you forgot something there are supermarkets and walmart in town...

mike

[sidriptide]

i dont believe nobody has any questions... just a few weeks away..

mike

[massxj]

whats the latest date i can sign up i still have to do gears on my truck and im leaving for vaction and will only have a few days to do them when i get back

[sidriptide]

i guess up until the last time i check my email on friday the 3rd before i head out of town... have a good vacation and hope you get the gears done in time to play....

mike

[massxj]

thanks i should know whats up by then

[mrfreakinwhite]

Is this run for members only?

[sidriptide]

who: all NAXJA members and XJ/MJ owners who wish to attend a weekend of camping and wheeling in the north adams ma area

mike

no need to be a member.. just an XJ/MJ owner with an interest in the event.. however as a non-member you are restricted from inviting any non-XJs along with you.. if you have freinds with XJ/MJs they are welcome just as you are... come on out and have a good time.. be sure to use the registration link i re-posted..

mike

[wilsmick]

hey, so now that i'm all payed up and stuff, is it cool if invite my brother? (drives a ZJ w/ 33's)

[sidriptide]

congrats on the membership... and yes, as a member you may invite your brother.. please make sure you have registered on the web link...

[wilsmick]

ya, i registered at www.naxjanac.org/mohawksignup.html and in the official head count thread a while ago. but just for me and my passenger.

should i go back and sign up again after i know that he's definately coming and if he's bring a passenger or not?

[sidriptide]

that would help keep a good count. thanks

[xj87]

anything set for a time schelle yet for the days
i will definly be up sat. morning with shaun and passage and staying overnight to wheel on sunday too

[bj-666]

hey everyone i will prob be heading up friday if anyone wants to lead or follow not sure how to get there yet but hey at least we can all be lost together i will be going up from North Kingstown RI and will meet anyone along the way to form some sort of caravan i have a cb for the ride and you can reach me on my cell at 401-309-9216 feel free to call anytime i party late night.

[sidriptide]

i'll send you Earle's phone # so you can hook up with him for friday.. he plans on leaving Woonsockett mid morning...

[bj-666]

this is a stupid q but what are you all bringing for food i'm trying to think of things that don't require refrigeration. pb&j is all that is comming to mind.

[sidriptide]

i carry a 12V refrigerator.. but PB&J is cool.. we always meet in front of a supermarket each morning so you can shop for the day and just throw it in your cooler.. LOTS OF LIQUIDS.. i am making some KA-BOBS this week to throw on the grill saturday night... im sure earle is bringing a big pkg of burgers.. we usually throw all our stuff together when dinner finally rolls around anyways.. we can talk about a group BBQ so we dont have too much of one thing and not enough of something else... i highly recommend the 12V fridge to anyone who camps alot.. hell i used it at home for the first week in my new place before the new fridge was delivered...

[Northern Pride]

What is the name of the supermarket in North Adams where everyone is meeting?

Is that for Friday folks only or every morning?

I will be there Saturday morning around 9am. How about a physical addy for mapquest?

Thx

[TekkaMaki]

I'm planning on making some tandoori chicken and steak satay skewers for Fri/Sat night and my standard trail lunch is ham & cheese sandy's. You can always buy bags of ice as needed so you can bring just about anything you can fit in a cooler :thumbup:

-Bic

[TekkaMaki]

What is the name of the supermarket in North Adams where everyone is meeting?

Is that for Friday folks only or every morning?

I will be there Saturday morning around 9am. How about a physical addy for mapquest?

Thx

The Big Y
45 Veterans Memorial Drive
North Adams, MA 01247

it's right on Rt 2 as you roll into N Adams. By 9 Sat morning just look for all the Jeeps :passgas:

[sidriptide]

here is the thread for directions..

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33261

and here is the web-page for PRE-REGISTRATION..

http://www.naxjanac.org/mohawksignup.html


the directions thread has everything you need, if you need more/better/different directions just holler... please take time to pre-register...

[Grizzley]

Anyone have an open seat for the trail rides?

[sidriptide]

Anyone have an open seat for the trail rides?

i may.. it depends how much junk has to ride in the back seat with my daughter.. we will find a taxi for you..

[TekkaMaki]

Anyone have an open seat for the trail rides?

I'll have an open shotgun seat :thumbup:

[xj87]

i'll be there sat and have a seat

[Art Triggs]

I will have a seat too, if you can stand how hot and noisy my jeep is.... :rolleyes:

[Grizzley]

Thanks everyone! By the way, if ya get stuck behind a gold 84 XJ with a small smoke cloud following it, while climbing that 2 mile hill out of Greenfield, don't be afraid to push! hahaha :D See ya all there!

[techno1154]

:wave1: Anyone traveling from the Waterbury area on Saturday? I will most likely overnight there from NEPA with family. We could caravan together. Shoot me a line so we could meet some place. Thanks.

[sidriptide]

:wave1: Anyone traveling from the Waterbury area on Saturday? I will most likely overnight there from NEPA with family. We could caravan together. Shoot me a line so we could meet some place. Thanks.

i believe Eagle will be coming thru there saturday AM...

[bj-666]

what are the ages of the people going i think i am the youngest at 19

[sidriptide]

my friend sean may be coming and he's 19. but there are gonna be some "crusty ole' bastids" coming too.. i'm a 30-something (damn that is sobering)

[Art Triggs]

Crusty huh???? ....dunno about the crusty part :sure: , maybe by sunday am....lol .... now ole bastage..... yep, cranky too...... :passgas:

[Grizzley]

my friend sean may be coming and he's 19. but there are gonna be some "crusty ole' bastids" coming too.. i'm a 30-something (damn that is sobering)

Hmmm! Imagine that youngun' saying that. :moon:

[bronco2man]

Hi everyone,

Had a great time up here on this madness, I learned alot being a first timer at it.

Ralph

[Art Triggs]

Hope everyone got back ok, I had to get back to the ole homestead - the honeydoo list got kind of out of control.... :twak: , but I had a great time wheeling what I did wheel, and enjoyed meeting everyone that I did. :wave1: I Have some pix of Bic and Eagle, unfortunately thats about it, y'all got so far ahead of my slow little heep that I didnt get many shots at all. I'll post a link when I get 'em together. :greensmok

[TekkaMaki]

Great weekend, big thanks to Earl & Mike for organizing it!

On Saturday I went on Earl's run to Tunnel Rd, Soapstone and Florida Mountain with between 5-7 vehicles (2 dropped on the last trail) and they were awesome trails. My favorite was the last one which didn't have any real hard obstacles but was technical and you needed to be alert the whole way up while threading your Jeep between trees and slinging mud and climbing roots and rocks at the same time, and the payoff was a spectacular view at the top. :sunshine:

My only carnage was a dislocated E-brake cable that broke when a 6" diameter by 4' log got between it and the axle and then twisted up and wedged between the gas tank skid and the inside of the rim, this of course happened in a 12" deep mud pit LOL :mad:

Sunday I went with Earls group of 4 on an easier run to the loop and sucker pond rd but Alan's driveshaft u-joint gave up on the dirt road in so he turned around and went out in front wheel drive. Then I got crossed up on the trail trying to avoid a big log and dug myself in and spent the next hour trying to get unstuck before getting yanked out in a double snatch with Earls XJ strapped to Patricks budget boosted XJ (which only got stuck because he was trying to back up to help me, Patrick drove awesome) strapped to my XJ with a total of 100' of tow strap, way to go Earl! :worship:

Didn't get to take too many pictures but I've put up what I got HERE (http://community.webshots.com/album/184044915VFKDfr)

It was a really fun time doing some excellent wheeling with great people and I can't wait to do it again!

-Bic

[sidriptide]

holy crap what a weekend!!! saturday i took 6 of us thru sucker pond and the corridor 9 trail, and we finished off with the "elephant" run... the latter being the high point of the day with a few of us learning the value of rock rails and lockers.. got some pics but none from " the elephant" ... awesome potluck BBQ kinda came together at the base camp that night.. i brought my beef Kabobs.. bic brought some excellent chicken and steak .... uh.. tandori?? i think thats what he said.. and propane-jay was flippin bugers like a real fry cook.... sunday my group was only 4 rigs so we covered alot more ground.... we ran tunnel road and soap-stone (top of the world). after lunch and a few repairs to jay's leaking t/case we were off to run dodge road a short but real technical run.. and followed that up with a run at Notch road... which was incredibly washed out (even more than mid july when i ran it last) it used to be a long grades hill climb and some pretty smooth switchbacks, and the highpoint was a split-level ladge and hill climb at the very top... now every switchback is washed out and some of the ruts are 3-4' deep and the road is totally reshaped in places.. rocks you drove overr in may are now window-high and threaten your body panels now.. a few straps and some group-spotting got us up that trail.. all was fine until mike (wilsmick.. sp??) decided to get great traction on the second step of the last hill and climb the down-hill tire up the 3' bank and lift the right front 4' in the air while the left rear was also airborne.. quick thinking, and a few of us on his front fender kept him from rolling down the 30' cliff literally 2' to his left... a lil panic is fun.... cant wait to see the video!!! aftert hat we headed down the mountain to call it a day.. but there was this one lil mudhole just minutes from the end that i told jay (mud-boy/propane jay) to take a run at.. it was only 20' across but it was deeper than the doorsills on his doorless XJ so he barley got out.. chris made a run at it with his ZJ and swamped his motor and airbox and needed a tug to get clear of it.. a lil water-removal and jay's donation of a t-shirt to act as an interim airfilter to replace the muddy old fram and we were rolling once again.... and on the final decent jays alternator died and when his battery was sucked dry his engine quit.. on a pretty step decent... no power assist on steering or brake. jay hollered on the CB that he couldnt stop so we all whipped off the trail or made a banzia run to the botttom staying ahead of him.... after getting jay on a trailer we finally got back to camp around 1130 and stayed another night on greylock and called it a weekend monday AM....
awesome weekend guys!!!!! thanks to everyone who came.. and i promise it will be alot more organized next year..

pics and video will be posted soon....

[xj87]

thanks for a great weekend wish i didn't have to leave sunday.but with everything that happen had no josk. but did have a great run with the stocker sat look forward to the next time. without the rockman and his targets, steve thanks alot it was fun and raflh said he learned a lot from you

[Northern Pride]

Hey everyone! What a great ride Saturday with Earl.......Thx Earl look forward to wheeling again sometime soon. We had a great group of guy's and lady's on Saturdays run. I would wheel with all of you again!

My buddy Mark got some pics, just wish we could have taken more.

Here is the link to the photos hope you all like um!

http://photobucket.com/albums/v458/NorthernPride24241/MOHAWK%20MADNESS%20labor%20Day%20Weekend09062004/

Doug...

[wilsmick]

GREAT GREAT weekend!! I had such a good time! I wasn't really sure what to expect coming into it, but this weekend I met a great group of people and wheeled some really great terrain. Thanks Mike, Earl and whoever else helped this come together. :thumbup:

Saturday was definately fun, especially towards the end of the day when we hit the elephant run. This was our first real go of some pretty challenging terrain for my little XJ with a 3" lift and 31" A/T's. It was a real sloppy combination of some nasty-slippery mud and loose watermelon-sized rocks. Picking a line through that stuff was just not a realistic option for my little XJ. All I remember hearing was "STAY ON IT!!! <crunch> STAY ON IT!!!! <bang>" It was fun as anything though.

Sunday I was hoping for even more..... let's just say I got it. I still can't believe I made it through some of those spots with as little damage as I did. The only real damage was a couple more dents to my driver side rocker panel, no worries though, it was toast anyway. Tunnel road up to Top of the World was a blast. Dodge was short and sweet and Notch road had a bunch of completely unexpected new obstacles from the wash out.

A sincere thanks goes out the whole group for the effort that everyone made to get me back on solid ground after my little near-roll experience. :rof: It took some time, but everything worked out okay in the end. I even had a nice little snack and a drink while I was hanging out in there (with a strong foot on brake of course). I never thought it would be possible to lift a tire that high with open diffs! :confused: Live and learn. I should figure out how to get some of that video on-line. I got a bunch of pics too.

As for my brother Chris's ZJ, that thing did great, I was totally impressed with it (more than once), but man, his rockers took a serious beating. Just mangled them. They hang down way to low anyway. They were just askin for it. So now, we've both got new to-build lists. Lockers and Rockers.

I really had a blast this weekend, can't wait to do it again.

[sidriptide]

Here is the link to the photos hope you all like um!

Doug...


great pics.. i havent gotten many good pics lately cause i'm usually leading and geting the rest of the rigs thru obstacles.. more than 1/2 my picks were taken by my daughter so i guess i have to keep bringing the kids....

mike

[Northern Pride]

great pics.. i havent gotten many good pics lately cause i'm usually leading and geting the rest of the rigs thru obstacles.. more than 1/2 my picks were taken by my daughter so i guess i have to keep bringing the kids....

mike
Thx I hope everyone liked them. I wish we could have got more of everyone, but we were trying to get 4 trails in and just didn't have the time.

[sidriptide]

heres my link.... i have video i will be working with this week too....

http://www.fototime.com/inv/0064EC9C5F65985

enjoy!!!!

[Boatwrench]

Good Job Mike,
Looks and sounds like everyone had a good time. Don't know if you heard but Mary bought a 2001 XJ and ordered armor for it so SHE can return to Moab. while I just get to install the stuff :tears:
Take care,
Tom

[sidriptide]

hey thanks tom... it doesnt look like i'll see the western desert this year.. but april is alreay in the works

[Stick]

Mike, I haven't had a beer in so long I probably wouldn't like the taste now, but for those who do and just can't enjoy a cook-out without a brewski in hand -- do you know if the state parks allow the non-alcoholic "beers" such as O'Douls? Can we find out, just in case someone wants to bring that type of quaffable?


Eagle, Non-alcoholic" beer is fine in state parks here in Virginia, and we are boarder line communist state. So you should be fine in your satate, as long as its not Cali-for-nia. :roflmao: