Trip Report - Overnight GA
What better way to start off a camp trip then with 2 big “L”’s. Yep…that’s me. I kicked off the morning by trying to wrap my hood. Turns out the wrap I bought wasn’t much of a wrap and more of just a decal. As I tried to stretch the “wrap” to fit the hood it ended up tearing. I scrapped the idea of wrapping it and went a head and packed for camping. The plan was to meet up at Adams house and swap the transmission mount out in his drive way since it’s flat and should (key word there is “should”, this is where “L” #2 comes into play) have been an easy swap. First nut came off no problem, second nut however on the top end of the mount…completely stripped. I decided to not spend too much time on it today and to just pack up the tools and head out for some camping and exploring.
Our trip started in Travelers rest, we headed west on highway 11 to walhalla where we headed up into Mountain View through Sumter NF and then into GA. We spent the better part of the day driving the endless gravel and dirt roads that Sumter has to offer. This is my first time exploring Sumter NF but I have driven through many times and I will say it didn’t disappoint. There was a lot of fun wash outs to climb, light rocky sections, a few muddy bits, and surprisingly a lot of ice patches even though the weather has warmed up a great bit over the past few days. While out exploring around i decided to brave and icy mud hole. It gave the disco a run for its money, it was a good bit deeper then expected and the ground was very slick, she chugged up with a big puff of black smoke and crawled out through. Adam did not attempt it in the Lr4 for good reason, he recently went through the pain and suffering of replacing a motor on his lr4 from a similar venture that didn’t go as well.
A few miles down the road we stopped to get our bearings on the gps so we could start looking for camp when I smelled what seemed to be burning rubber. Turns out my hella light’s decided to burn up a fuse. Could have been a lot worse but it melted the fuse and the hella lamp fuse box. That ordeal will be another project for another day, since they all need to be rewired anyways. I pulled the wires running to the battery and called it a day.
We pressed on to camp and after what seemed like hours of endless dirt roads (not complaining) we rolled up into camp just in time to set up before dark. After popping the tent and the awning I grilled up some steaks be veggies on the flat top grill. Everyone was pretty dang hungry so we wasted no time in devouring dinner. After food we started a camp fire and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and talking about our outdoor aspirations for the coming year. As the fire died out and the rain started to make its way in we decided to hit the sheets and head to bed.
I woke up the next morning to some light rain which was to be expected. After getting up I cranked up the flat top and made some darn good breakfast burritos if I do say so myself. We rushed to pack up camp after breakfast as the rain started to really come in.
The ride out of the forest was foggy, rain, and a little muddy. We decided on taking a portion of the SCAR (South Carolina Adventure Route) back to highway 11 where we parted ways. The route home passed some frozen waterfalls and some nice scenery but it wasn’t anything close to what we rode the day before. As we made our way to the end of the last dirt road a hawk flew down and in front of Adams Lr4 were it coasted with us for about 40 feet on a straight. That was pretty neat.
That wraps up our Rover year! One last little trip in 2022 which has been a mostly uneventful year being that the rover was gone for repair for most of it. Next year I hope to make a big one with rover adventures so stay tuned! Also keep an eye out on my YouTube Channel “Venture Valzone” for updates and trip videos.
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jeep to drive in the mean time and a better space to work on it as well as all my tools. I’m going to pull it all apart tomorrow and Saturday in hopes to get a parts list together to order Sat night. I will update my findings then! I will also be ordering new rod ends for the steering. I know those need to be replaced too.
