vengeful
Explorer
Wednesday through Saturday:
Well, the weekend is over, everyone is home, trucks are unpacked, damages have been assessed. All in all, I would have to say it was a very successful weekend. We had 10 trucks, ~18 people, and a ball hound Jack Russell named Corbit show up.
In typical Pennsylvania fashion, it rained every single day for the week leading up to the event, however, from Friday on, the weather was absolutely perfect. Clear to partly-cloudy skies, and moderate temperatures for August on the East Coast, adorned us all-day on Saturday for the main trail ride portion of the event.
Before I get into too much more detail about the event itself, I'd like to take some time to introduce those of you who aren't familiar with the park, to my home-away-from-home, Rausch Creek Off-Road Park, in Jolliett, Pennsylvania. Rausch Creek is a privately owned park, that is open to all 4WD Trucks and SUVs, sorry no bikes or ATVs permitted. They provide primitive campsites at no charge to those who come to enjoy the wide variety of 4WD trails in the park. Chris (cshontz) is familiar with the Park, and he'll make sure that I'm not embellishing anything. I actually had the pleasure of meeting him, even though it was only in passing, the last time I was there in May.
Rausch Creek boasts a very laid-back and family friendly atmosphere. The park staff is very friendly, and always welcoming, provided, of course, that you follow the rules, which basically entails staying on established trails and not ripping donuts. Most of the park staff is volunteer based, which helps to ensure that the park staff is dedicated to the preservation of the trails, and the preservation of the park. Luckily, Rausch Creek is on a property that is owned by a company whose long term business plan includes the Off-Road park. The parent company also owns the Rausch Creek ATV Park and Racetrack. RC has trails suitable for any level 4WD vehicle from factory stock, to a dedicated rock buggy. They've just recently added a full rock crawling competition area, and another "property" onto the park. The park consists of an East, West and South property, basically three separate areas of the park, with varying trails in each. Depending on the level of trails you're running, you can see all three properties in one day, or spend a full day on just one property and not see the whole thing.
Rausch Creek is also home to the legendary Rock Creek, a 2500' glacial deposit of 3' and larger boulders. This deposit is an open trail for only the most experienced drivers with extremely highly modified vehicles, though I have heard rumors that someone successfully traversed the entire length of "The Creek" in an IFS 1994 Toyota Pickup with a 3" lift and a lunchbox locker.
Anyways, on to the event! And more importantly, the pictures, which I know is the only reason you opened this thread to begin with.
Here's the lineup of vehicles:
Me - 1999 Nissan Pathfinder (Black)
Jason - 2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO (Grey with TEETH!)
Tom - 2001 Nissan Xterra (Silver)
George - 2003 Nissan Xterra (Tanish/Goldish/Brownish? I think?)
Charlie - 2006 Nissan Xterra (Dark Blue)
Alex - 1999 Nissan Frontier (Gold)
Jody - 1999 Toyota Tacoma TRD (Green)
Mike - 2000 Nissan Frontier (Yellow)
Richie - 2002 Nissan Frontier Supercharged (Silver, Sunday only)
Dennis - 1994 Geo Tracker (Purple)
Jody and Alex arrived at the Park on Wednesday to help cut trails and help out around the park for a few days before the run. There is an understanding that if you volunteer your time to do trail work, you work half the day, and can wheel for free the rest of the day. Overall, from what I heard, they had a successful trail-cutting event, save for a couple of run-ins with some Wasps and some trees that didn't want to fall the right way.
Mike arrive on Thursday to help Jody and Alex cut on Friday. I arrived Friday night, after the most gruelling, tiresome, and annoying drive ever. I probably should have taken the drive as a sign, and simply turned back and went home, as I later learned, but being the stubborn SOB that I am, I pressed onward, determined to find alternate routes around all of the closed roads. I even had to stop and wait for cattle to cross at one point! I arrived quite a bit later than I originally planned and ended up setting up my tent on unlevel ground, with a rock in the middle of my sleeping position, in the dark.
The rest of the crew arrived intermittently Saturday Morning. After everyone paid their dues, and got registered, we headed down into the park to run some trails. Rausch Creek has a similar trail rating system to ski slopes. Green trails are beginner trails, suitable for stock trucks, with no protection, complete Novices may require spotting in some sections. Blue trails are intermediate trails, and require a slightly modified vehicle and somewhat experienced drivers. Less experienced drivers may require spotting in some areas. Black trails are for highly experienced drivers, or highly modified vehicles only, and generally require locking differentials and substantial armor. Spotting is required along most of these trails. Red trails, are one step above a Black and are only for the most experienced, or purpose built rigs. The Rock Creek example I gave above is a Red "Trail".
We decided that we were going to attempt to tackle a new Blue-Black (A little more than a blue, but not quite a black...yeah, sure) trail on the South Property called Snakebite, which we were soon to learn was very aptly named. Unfortunately, 10 minutes into the Park, Alex broke a leaf-spring center bolt and his truck was disabled. After spending about an hour on the trail attempting to fix his rig, He and Jody told the rest of the group to press on without them, and they would catch up with us later.
Once on our way again, we started to head over to the South Property to pick up Snakebite. However, our fearless trail leader, myself, got the group lost, and ended up finding an emergency exit off the property into a neighborhood.
After a minor delay while all the rigs got turned around and regrouped, we decided to go run trail 18A on the West Property, which featured an exiting obstacle called "Pizza Rock", which you will see in the pictures below, is also very aptly named.
Here I am approaching Pizza Rock.
Climbing onto Pizza Rock.
Charlie, in his almost brand new Xterra, approaching Pizza Rock, with Tom spotting.
Jason, perched atop Pizza Rock. Mark, you might recognize his rig from ClubFrontier.org - he goes by ratsworld.
Dennis in the Tracker coming down off Pizza Rock.
Tom narrowly escaping a catastrophic exit from Pizza Rock....he now refers to it as Pissa Rock, as he nearly peed himself when both drivers side tires lifted off the ground.
After running trail 18A, Jody was able to reach me on the CB radio. They were under way again. They caught up with us at the end of the blue rated 18A. Alex, Jody and Charlie split off to run lighter rated trails, since Alex's truck was running a non-certified center bolt, and Charlie had some first-time passengers with him and did not want to scare them too badly. The rest of us headed over to run trail 10, down across the Rock Creek and run trail 13B. Unfortunately, nobody in the group got many pictures from this point on in the day, as the trails got hairier and hairier, and everyone needed to concentrate on driving, rather than snapping photos. Somewhere along trail 10, my transfer case skidplate decided it no longer wanted to be attached to my truck, and broke off. Jason, who was behind me, spotted it, and alterted me to "something dangling" under my truck. After removing the skidplate, and tossing it in the bed of his truck, we were back underway, a little slower and a little more cautiously.
Trail 10 meets up with another trail that runs down to the Rock Creek, across a small section that's been cleared for non-Creekable vehicles and over to trails 13a and 13b. We got held up at the bottom of this shortcut route, after nearly everyone smashed up their rear 1/4 panels on a rock jutting out into the trail, by an inconsiderately large group of Jeeps from Cape Cod. One fellow in the group said there were 38 trucks. After waiting for about 20 minutes for them to clear out, we turned around, and went back up trail 10 to run Snakebite.
Snakebite is where all the fun began, and 90% of the damage occurred. Snakebite is a very rocky trail through the woods, with many tight passes between trees. Oh, and most of the rocks shift around once you put weight on them. It's a fantastic trail, but line choice is imperative. I was leading the group on a blue-black rated trail, that I had never run before.
It was on Snakebite that I gashed a sidewall of one of my BFG All-Terrains, in a very inopportune spot to change a tire, too.
After completing Snakebite, battered and bruised, we decided to head over to the Competition Area, take some poser shots, and fart around for a while, before heading back to camp.
Here's a couple of the poser shots from the Competition Area:
Well, the weekend is over, everyone is home, trucks are unpacked, damages have been assessed. All in all, I would have to say it was a very successful weekend. We had 10 trucks, ~18 people, and a ball hound Jack Russell named Corbit show up.
In typical Pennsylvania fashion, it rained every single day for the week leading up to the event, however, from Friday on, the weather was absolutely perfect. Clear to partly-cloudy skies, and moderate temperatures for August on the East Coast, adorned us all-day on Saturday for the main trail ride portion of the event.
Before I get into too much more detail about the event itself, I'd like to take some time to introduce those of you who aren't familiar with the park, to my home-away-from-home, Rausch Creek Off-Road Park, in Jolliett, Pennsylvania. Rausch Creek is a privately owned park, that is open to all 4WD Trucks and SUVs, sorry no bikes or ATVs permitted. They provide primitive campsites at no charge to those who come to enjoy the wide variety of 4WD trails in the park. Chris (cshontz) is familiar with the Park, and he'll make sure that I'm not embellishing anything. I actually had the pleasure of meeting him, even though it was only in passing, the last time I was there in May.
Rausch Creek boasts a very laid-back and family friendly atmosphere. The park staff is very friendly, and always welcoming, provided, of course, that you follow the rules, which basically entails staying on established trails and not ripping donuts. Most of the park staff is volunteer based, which helps to ensure that the park staff is dedicated to the preservation of the trails, and the preservation of the park. Luckily, Rausch Creek is on a property that is owned by a company whose long term business plan includes the Off-Road park. The parent company also owns the Rausch Creek ATV Park and Racetrack. RC has trails suitable for any level 4WD vehicle from factory stock, to a dedicated rock buggy. They've just recently added a full rock crawling competition area, and another "property" onto the park. The park consists of an East, West and South property, basically three separate areas of the park, with varying trails in each. Depending on the level of trails you're running, you can see all three properties in one day, or spend a full day on just one property and not see the whole thing.
Rausch Creek is also home to the legendary Rock Creek, a 2500' glacial deposit of 3' and larger boulders. This deposit is an open trail for only the most experienced drivers with extremely highly modified vehicles, though I have heard rumors that someone successfully traversed the entire length of "The Creek" in an IFS 1994 Toyota Pickup with a 3" lift and a lunchbox locker.
Anyways, on to the event! And more importantly, the pictures, which I know is the only reason you opened this thread to begin with.
Here's the lineup of vehicles:
Me - 1999 Nissan Pathfinder (Black)
Jason - 2005 Nissan Frontier NISMO (Grey with TEETH!)
Tom - 2001 Nissan Xterra (Silver)
George - 2003 Nissan Xterra (Tanish/Goldish/Brownish? I think?)
Charlie - 2006 Nissan Xterra (Dark Blue)
Alex - 1999 Nissan Frontier (Gold)
Jody - 1999 Toyota Tacoma TRD (Green)
Mike - 2000 Nissan Frontier (Yellow)
Richie - 2002 Nissan Frontier Supercharged (Silver, Sunday only)
Dennis - 1994 Geo Tracker (Purple)
Jody and Alex arrived at the Park on Wednesday to help cut trails and help out around the park for a few days before the run. There is an understanding that if you volunteer your time to do trail work, you work half the day, and can wheel for free the rest of the day. Overall, from what I heard, they had a successful trail-cutting event, save for a couple of run-ins with some Wasps and some trees that didn't want to fall the right way.
Mike arrive on Thursday to help Jody and Alex cut on Friday. I arrived Friday night, after the most gruelling, tiresome, and annoying drive ever. I probably should have taken the drive as a sign, and simply turned back and went home, as I later learned, but being the stubborn SOB that I am, I pressed onward, determined to find alternate routes around all of the closed roads. I even had to stop and wait for cattle to cross at one point! I arrived quite a bit later than I originally planned and ended up setting up my tent on unlevel ground, with a rock in the middle of my sleeping position, in the dark.
The rest of the crew arrived intermittently Saturday Morning. After everyone paid their dues, and got registered, we headed down into the park to run some trails. Rausch Creek has a similar trail rating system to ski slopes. Green trails are beginner trails, suitable for stock trucks, with no protection, complete Novices may require spotting in some sections. Blue trails are intermediate trails, and require a slightly modified vehicle and somewhat experienced drivers. Less experienced drivers may require spotting in some areas. Black trails are for highly experienced drivers, or highly modified vehicles only, and generally require locking differentials and substantial armor. Spotting is required along most of these trails. Red trails, are one step above a Black and are only for the most experienced, or purpose built rigs. The Rock Creek example I gave above is a Red "Trail".
We decided that we were going to attempt to tackle a new Blue-Black (A little more than a blue, but not quite a black...yeah, sure) trail on the South Property called Snakebite, which we were soon to learn was very aptly named. Unfortunately, 10 minutes into the Park, Alex broke a leaf-spring center bolt and his truck was disabled. After spending about an hour on the trail attempting to fix his rig, He and Jody told the rest of the group to press on without them, and they would catch up with us later.
Once on our way again, we started to head over to the South Property to pick up Snakebite. However, our fearless trail leader, myself, got the group lost, and ended up finding an emergency exit off the property into a neighborhood.
After a minor delay while all the rigs got turned around and regrouped, we decided to go run trail 18A on the West Property, which featured an exiting obstacle called "Pizza Rock", which you will see in the pictures below, is also very aptly named.
Here I am approaching Pizza Rock.
Climbing onto Pizza Rock.
Charlie, in his almost brand new Xterra, approaching Pizza Rock, with Tom spotting.
Jason, perched atop Pizza Rock. Mark, you might recognize his rig from ClubFrontier.org - he goes by ratsworld.
Dennis in the Tracker coming down off Pizza Rock.
Tom narrowly escaping a catastrophic exit from Pizza Rock....he now refers to it as Pissa Rock, as he nearly peed himself when both drivers side tires lifted off the ground.
After running trail 18A, Jody was able to reach me on the CB radio. They were under way again. They caught up with us at the end of the blue rated 18A. Alex, Jody and Charlie split off to run lighter rated trails, since Alex's truck was running a non-certified center bolt, and Charlie had some first-time passengers with him and did not want to scare them too badly. The rest of us headed over to run trail 10, down across the Rock Creek and run trail 13B. Unfortunately, nobody in the group got many pictures from this point on in the day, as the trails got hairier and hairier, and everyone needed to concentrate on driving, rather than snapping photos. Somewhere along trail 10, my transfer case skidplate decided it no longer wanted to be attached to my truck, and broke off. Jason, who was behind me, spotted it, and alterted me to "something dangling" under my truck. After removing the skidplate, and tossing it in the bed of his truck, we were back underway, a little slower and a little more cautiously.
Trail 10 meets up with another trail that runs down to the Rock Creek, across a small section that's been cleared for non-Creekable vehicles and over to trails 13a and 13b. We got held up at the bottom of this shortcut route, after nearly everyone smashed up their rear 1/4 panels on a rock jutting out into the trail, by an inconsiderately large group of Jeeps from Cape Cod. One fellow in the group said there were 38 trucks. After waiting for about 20 minutes for them to clear out, we turned around, and went back up trail 10 to run Snakebite.
Snakebite is where all the fun began, and 90% of the damage occurred. Snakebite is a very rocky trail through the woods, with many tight passes between trees. Oh, and most of the rocks shift around once you put weight on them. It's a fantastic trail, but line choice is imperative. I was leading the group on a blue-black rated trail, that I had never run before.
It was on Snakebite that I gashed a sidewall of one of my BFG All-Terrains, in a very inopportune spot to change a tire, too.
After completing Snakebite, battered and bruised, we decided to head over to the Competition Area, take some poser shots, and fart around for a while, before heading back to camp.
Here's a couple of the poser shots from the Competition Area:
