For it’s regularly recurring club meeting, CORE 4×4 held it’s July meeting outdoors, at the top of Flagpole Knob in Virginia, west of Harrisonburg. This gives members and guests the opportunity to meet outdoors, enjoy a fun trail, and take a break from the usual restaurant meeting setting.
Attendees:
- Jendra & Kiran – Jeep Wrangler
- Brian – Jeep Wrangler
- Alex – Jeep Wrangler
- Matt – Toyota 4Runner
- Robert – Toyota 4Runner
- Jeff – Land Rover Defender
- Jon – Jeep Wrangler
- Chase – Rivian R1S
- Ken – Jeep Wrangler
We met at a small lot alongside Skidmore Fork Lake, also known as Switzer Lake. After airing our tires down, and having a quick drivers meeting, we hit the trail! The plan was to go up to Flagpole Knob via Dunkle Hollow, have our meeting up there, and then split into two groups, one taking the easier exit towards Reddish Knob via Briery Branch Rd, and the second group going down the more challenging Union Springs.
The ride up Dunkle Hollow was a fun and pleasant ride, easily doable by most 4WD vehicles. There was one spot with a bigger rut that allowed us to flex a bit, but otherwise it was an easy pleasant ride to the top.
Once we reached the top, we were pleasantly met with an empty mountain top, but our normal shaded spot under a huge tree was overgrown underneath, so we circled around the firepit and held our meeting. Jeff and Matt graciously brought burgers and hotdogs and cooked us a great lunch while we met. The meeting was lovely, and we touched on a several interesting topics, including recent and upcoming trips, options for cpr/first aid classes and recovery classes.
After we wrapped up the meeting, the group split in two, and departed from Flagpole Knob. The Reddish Knob/Briery group headed out with Matt leading them out, and I (Jendra) led the Union group down.
Union downhill is a fun descent, with some rutted out sections and medium sized rocks that are fun to climb over. It’s mostly a game of line choice and being careful not to hit the middle of the longer vehicles. Gravity helps on the downhill, so you’ll get down no matter what, but reducing body impact is the goal here.
All of our vehicles made it down with no issues at all, with the occasional spot to help the longer or lower R1S and 4Runner to keep an eye on the undercarriage. Even Kiran got a chance to tackle some of the obstacles with his RC 4×4 truck!
It was a fun ride down, stopping occasionally to check out cool campsites or overlooks, and got from Flagpole to the air up spot in about 3ish hours. We aired up, and hit the road back home.
All in all, a great trip and meeting! Thanks everyone for attending!
Union Exit
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Reddish Briery Exit
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Trail Report written by Jendra Rambharos. Pictures contributed by Jendra Rambharos, Robert Dooley, and Chase G. GPS track provided by Jendra Rambharos.