Attendees:
- Matt – Toyota 4Runner (Member)
- Jendra & Melinda – Jeep Wrangler (Member)
Thursday, January 9th 2025 was declared a federal holiday to mourn the death of former president Jimmy Carter. Having off that day, I decided to host a trip to Assateague National Seashore on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Eastern Shore received several inches of snow on Monday, so I hoped that we might be able to drive on the sand and the snow!
Being a Thursday, and with the short notice, it was tough for folks to be available to take the day off to come out. But we had at least two along for the trip!
Unfortunately the beach was almost completely snow free! There was a little up in the dunes, but the wind had done it’s job on the barrier island. The wind was quite intense, as we drove through big sand and snow gusts the entire way down! It looked like rivers of sand and snow blowing across the beach. Still it was a fun day, we drove all the way down to the Virginia State Line, seeing what the bay access roads had to offer. We only saw two or three other vehicles, most people aren’t crazy enough to go out there in the windy cold!
The beach sand was very firm, due to the cold and any frozen moisture that was still in the sand. Exploring the two bayside access roads was fun, as there were quite a few frozen large freshwater puddles to dunk in. They had about an inch of frozen ice on top of them. After a quick frozen splash, we hopped out at the bay to take some photos at each access, and then went back to the beach. After the last bayside access road, we tried putting the trucks into 2WD for the rest of the drive, and they had absolutely no trouble at all making it all the way off the beach, including the access path, which has a reputation of being soft and chewed up.
When we got onto the beach at the beginning of the day, we were vehicle numbers 6 and 7 on the beach. And leaving, we were 7 and 8. So certainly a quiet day on the sand! But definitely a fun experience!
Trail Report written by Matt Malone. Pictures contributed by Matt Malone, Jendra Rambharos, and Melinda McGhee.