COMPLETED - 2013-04-27 - GWNF Exploration

[firefox2501]

To everyone out there in the Virginia/West Virginia area or don't mind traveling, we are planning a ride to George Washington National Forest to explore some trails we have not been on yet.

At the moment we are planning on exploring Long Run and Dictum Ridge, but there is some interest in the group to do Flagpole Run after we check out those trails.

A formal trip plan will be published in the next couple of days and I will repost it here for those who are interested.

Much of the planning is being done by a buddy of mine on Wrangler Forum [1] but if you are interested in joining us, let me know and I will definitely include you on the trip!

[1] http://www.wranglerforum.com/f74/flagpo ... 32945.html

[Trail X]

I'd be very interested, but I will be out of town this Saturday.

If you do Dictum, make sure you go all the way to the bottom. The top half of Dictum is just flat dirt, but at the bottom it gets a little more interesting. Not much room to turn around. The bottom of Dictum is closed now, since the pass through is a huge rock garden, and it passes through private land. There is a connection for ATVs only between the bottom of Dictum and 2nd Mountain.

[firefox2501]

Thanks for the tips on Dictum.

We try to go on a trail ride at least once a month and I will keep posting them here. Hopefully next time you can join us.

[Blazintrails03]

I'd be interested also unfortunately I can't make it. 1:I can admit I'm at mall crawler status(I'm lifted and have got her dirty, but I need recovery gear bad), 2: either way already have plans for the weekend. Especially since we live a couple minutes away from each other. Gonna have to cross paths sooner or later.

[firefox2501]

Don't let your lack of recovery gear be a factor. While there is no such thing as too much recovery gear, the reality is that as long as the equipment is out there (and people know how to use it!), you are fine. As you can see from my build thread, I have quite a bit of gear already. And several of the guys that frequent these trips compliment what I do not have (mainly, a winch).

As for the mall crawler status - we all start there. The best way to bump up is to go on rides - mostly to have fun, but also so you can get an idea of what you want to do next!

I have not been on either of the trails that we are exploring, so I am not sure what to expect. But I would suspect that if you have a lift and at least 31"s, you will be fine.

But I understand having other plans. This was a bit of a short notice trip. We normally have at least 2 weeks notice for our trips to give folks a chance to plan for it.

Maybe a future ride!

[firefox2501]

All - sorry about the lack of promised trip plan. The planner of the trip has not posted one yet - which is admittedly unusual for him.

I mentioned it to him at work today, so I am hoping to have a trip plan soon.

[Blazintrails03]

Don't let your lack of recovery gear be a factor. While there is no such thing as too much recovery gear, the reality is that as long as the equipment is out there (and people know how to use it!), you are fine. As you can see from my build thread, I have quite a bit of gear already. And several of the guys that frequent these trips compliment what I do not have (mainly, a winch).

As for the mall crawler status - we all start there. The best way to bump up is to go on rides - mostly to have fun, but also so you can get an idea of what you want to do next!

I have not been on either of the trails that we are exploring, so I am not sure what to expect. But I would suspect that if you have a lift and at least 31"s, you will be fine.

But I understand having other plans. This was a bit of a short notice trip. We normally have at least 2 weeks notice for our trips to give folks a chance to plan for it.

Maybe a future ride!

Yeah see I have a problem with being the kid to show up at the playground and play with everyone else's toys. I'd rather hold off and be more prepared for when I actually go

As for tires there lies another problem I'm lifted and love the way it looks and rides but I'm still on factory size tires. I just got tires within this year and don't see a reason to buy another 5 until need be.

I thought about trying some of these trails out one day but if factory size tire is gonna be a issue I guess I'll be waiting.

[firefox2501]

With the trails we are doing this weekend, I just don't know. I have not been on them yet.

Peter's Mill you can definitely do with stock size tires. I have seen a stock, non-lifted GMC Yukon do that trail.

Flagpole I would be leery about. It is probably doable if you watch your lines. The main concern is your oil pan/radiator on a couple of the areas that are heavily rutted...

[firefox2501]

Sorry folks, no formal trip plan for this one. But here are the important bits:

Meet up point #1:
Sheetz in Haymarket
Meeting there at about 7:15am and departing at approximately 7:45.
Address:
15315 Washington St, Haymarket, VA

Meet up point #2:
Sheetz in Harrisonburn
Meeting there at about 9:00am and departing at approximately 9:30am
Address:
798 E Market St, Harrisonburg, VA

The current game plan is to explore Long Run and Dictum Ridge. The trip planner has to leave the area by 3:30pm, but there are several other folks who will continue on and do Flagpole.

I am going to play it by ear, but as of right now, I will probably also do Flagpole.

Let me know if anyone is interested and can make it out there.

[firefox2501]

Due to popular demand, instead of exploring some trails that we have never been on before, we ended up taking a group of new folks out to Flagpole Run. We started on the Union Station side, rode up to Meadow Knob, then Flagpole Knob, then back down to Switzer Dam where we aired back up. The first few miles and the last few miles were very dusty, but the rest of the trail was in good shape.

Weather was beautiful for the trip and the turn out was pretty good. Ended up riding with 7 Jeep Wranglers along with my TB. Three of us had been on the trail several times before, the rest were out on Flagpole for the first time. So we spent a lot of time showing the right lines, pointing out the off limits areas, and explaining the purpose of various pieces of recovery gear.

I think a good time was had by all!

This is the first trail ride I have been on since removing my rear sway bar, so of course I had to try out my flex-ibility... (front sway bars are still connected)




Stopping for lunch


Going up a rock crawl that we usually go down


That moment when you realize that you are about 1/3rd of the way into the ride and your power steering dies...


Airing up the tires for one of the new guys.


And of course, the obligatory group shot!

[dvanbramer88]

Airing up the tires for one of the new guys.

You might have enough air hose when you can air up the tires on that jeep, waaay over there... On the other side of the road.

Anyway, looks like a good trip!

[v7guy]

hahaha, looks like a good time. wish I was a hell of a lot closer

[firefox2501]

You might have enough air hose when you can air up the tires on that jeep, waaay over there... On the other side of the road.

That is kinda the point - I am too lazy to keep switching where the compressor is plugged in!

[Trail X]

What happened to the power steering?

Looks like a good group. Some of my first trail rides were with a group from jk-forum.

[firefox2501]

Not sure on the power steering. For about half of the trail it was not working, but the other half it was. No leaking, no weird vibrations, no signs of damage on the control arms. The power steering fluid was a little low and it was in need of a change. Since my HOA does not allow us to do anything with engine fluids in our driveway, I took it by my mechanic and had them flush it out and fill with new fluid. Right now everything feels like it is working correctly but I am definitely keeping an eye on it.

So far I have had pretty good experiences from the folks over at Wrangler Forum. And they do trail rides pretty often.
There are a few bad apples in NOVA Jeepers so I usually don't like to ride with them. But all in all the Jeep community around here is pretty good.

[Blazintrails03]

Damn the whole time I was reading about your PS I was thinking don't have it flushed. All a BG "flush" does is suck it out and fill it. On 3 different occasions (my 03, my mothers 07, and my sisters 07) the PS started to act funny and make noise. I took a turkey baster and sucked the fluid out, filled it and turned the wheel lock to lock a couple of times, sucked it out, and filled it again. No issues ever since.

[firefox2501]

If it weren't for my HOA rules, that's probably what I would have done. And most of my friends have similar HOA rules, so I can't exactly go over there to do the work...

If it starts acting up again, I will head to my brother in laws place to do it. But it is an hour and a half drive and involves having to deal with my sister....

[Blazintrails03]

Bottle of PS fluid, a baster, and an empty water bottle and you can do it in the auto parts stores parking lot haha