2008 CNC West Virginia Children's Charity Off Road Jamboree
July 3-6, 2008
Summerville, WV
By Mike R.
Thursday July 3
Randall Holmes and I agreed to meet in Hillsborough and then caravan up to
Summersville, WV for the 08 West Virginia Children's Charity Off Road Jamboree.
With the exception of last year (I was registered and showed up but got called
back home for an emergency) I have attended this event every year since 2001.
The trails have changed a lot, locations have changed a bit and the host club
Mountaineer Off-road has also changed a bit. This event is one of their
fundraisers for both various children's charities in the state and also for the
Make-A-Wish Foundation. Randall shows up a bit late from our agreed time because
he had to stop at a hardware store to find a locking nut for one of his lower
control arm bolts. I had decided to drive my CJ5 all the way there rather then
towing (after talking my wife into it) to add to the adventure. We topped off
the fuel tanks and hit the road for the nearly 6 hour 320 mile drive. My cj was
built in the days when the speed limit was 55 but she held steady and true at 65
mph even totally loaded down (like packing 1000 beans in a 10 bean can). We got
to the Songer Whitewater Campground around 6pm after stopping in Fayetteville
for the weekend essentials. You know all the "B"'s. Beer, brats, buns, and
bread. We set up camp when I realize that I have forgotten my rain fly. The camp
store luckily had a tarp and the girl working the counter said I would need this
since there was a small chance of rain that night. We covered my tent and around
8pm it started raining. I think it rained pretty much the entire time except
during lunch time on Friday's trail ride, a little bit on Sat's ride and then
none on Sunday.
Friday July 4
Randall have signed up to do the River trail, rated a 2 on a 5 scale but with
all the rain now maybe like a 3. I had never done this trail before and I was
determined to ride all the stuff I hadn't done in my YJ since I always like to
play with the bigger boys back then. We ran Spider Ridge to River trail (pretty
easy) and stopped for lunch along the Gauley River. What a beautiful setting and
a much different lunch stop then we are used to. One of the guys from Ohio in
our group brought along a Pocket Fisherman to try his luck and wouldn't you know
it he caught a smallmouth bass on his third cast. On the way out we play in some
mud holes and 4" diameter 5ft. long tree branch decided to ride along. The tail
gunner Jim and I stop to unwedge it from between my driver's side leaf spring
and gas tank skid plate. We caught back up with the group who are now at the
hill climb (check the pics and vid) and the group is attempting one jeep at a
time. Its steep and covered with loose rocks (think a longer Dutch John with
loose stuff) and a nasty ledge near the top. The Rubi's (incl. Randall) clear
with a little drama pivoting around the ledge. The YJ in front of me has trouble
clearing the ledge and were setting up to winch when he decided to try one more
time. A telltale SNAP followed. Initial we thought it the ujoint on the drivers
side front axle (I was carrying a spare) but it turned out to be the actual stub
shaft (I left my spare shaft back at camp). He had a portable winch set up so
the Rubi in front of him actually backed down the hill and we put the winch
cradle into his receiver. As the Rubi drove I ran alongside with the remote for
the combination pull cable/tow up the rest of the hill. Check the video for my
ride up that climb (thanks Randall).
One of the great things about riding in WVa is that many of the trails are
actually in the creeks. I counted 6 creek trails this year. We finished out
Friday riding Bowl Creek. Because of all the rain the water level was pretty
high. So high in fact that the water was coming in through the drain holes in my
floorboards! No breakage yet. Back to camp where we were treated to BBQ pork
sandwiches, beans, scalloped potatoes, lemonade and sweet tea and brownies.
Saturday July 5
After awaking to rain again we signed up for the Little Sister trail which I
think is a classic WVa trail. A little bit rocky, very steep, muddy, slick, some
sections are right alongside the mountain (don't look left, it's long way down),
finished off with a ride through the woods with some rollers, nachos and off
camber sections. Sounds fun right? Remember it was raining again and it had
rained all night. Slick was understatement. Randall was in the first group was
ahead of me but I don't think he had too much trouble. I, on the other hand had
to pull cable 4 times. Only once was because of too little ground clearance. The
climbs were just too slick for 31 inch street tires. After surviving that we
rode Left Fork Creek which is where I cracked my windshield. The Rubi in front
of me brushed some tree branches which hit my windshield when I passed next.
Later on I slipped on a ledge (its in the video) landing on my bumper which I
think flexed the body enough to crack the windshield. Damn. We all stopped for
lunch (in the rain) and then hit the creeks again. I didn't ride this time with
the water levels rising and tried to spot Randall in another creek. I had his
camera in my hand and was passing in front of his jeep when I suddenly slipped.
I guess the fall was pretty bad because another driver Mindi (Carl Barclay's
fave) was screaming. I yelled for Randall to not move an inch because I was
literally under his front axle. I didn't drop the camera though I did break off
his right side fog light with my arm trying to stop my fall. He wasn't too mad
though and made me feel better by saying it didn't work anyway. Thanks Randall.
The group continued again into Bowl Creek where the yellow TJ broke his Dana 35
driver's shaft on the exit (the easiest part of the creek). We attempted to fix
it with a couple of rachets straps and a Hi Lift jack body but ended up winching
him out of the way with the driver turning left every time the tire would come
loose. A group would come back later with a trailer to get him out because the
splined part of the shaft was really jammed and twisted in the carrier. Our
group kind of split up (one of the nice things about this event since you can
kind of do your own thing if you let your trail guide know) and I took Randall
up to the Gatekeeper obstacle on the waterfall trail. The actual obstacle is a 5
foot stepped ledge with water runnning down it. He gave it a couple of good
attempts but then backed down. We took the bypass and ran the rest of the trail.
This is a rockcrawler's wet dream. I mean that because the trail is yet another
creek bed with big ledges, rocks, uphill through a steady stream. I think this
was Randall's favorite trail. We left there to go back to the campground through
yet another rainstorm that was as hard to drive in as any of the trails to make
it back in time for the raffle (we didn't win anything) and fireworks.
Fortunately the rain held off long enough for the fireworks display at 9:30pm
and the bonfire party afterwards. Much beer was drank, many stories were told
and a very good time ensued.
Sunday July 6
We packed up camp and hit the road around 10:30 am. We split up in Princeton so
Randall could visit his sister and I filled up and headed home arriving around
4pm. I'm stoked because I only filled up the CJ 3 times. Topped off in
Hillsborough, topped off Friday am before the ride and again on Sunday in
Princeton. I still have nearly half a tank. Can't wait for next year and would
recommend this event for anybody no matter what size ride.
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