This year CORE decided to really celebrate the new year by hosting TWO trail rides! Both were to the Peter’s Mill trail system in Edinburg, Virginia – but one was during the day and the other was at night! Below are the trip reports from each trail run. Enjoy!
Day Run
Trip report by Sam.
On Sunday, 1 January 2017 a small group of five vehicles hit the Peters Mill trail in advance of the night run. Peters Mill is about as easy an off road trail as you are going to find in Virginia. There were a number of rocky areas and small mud holes but nothing that could not be easily handled. The trail was easy enough that people elected not to air-down. We hit the trail shortly before 2:00pm and were back to meet up with the group for the night run by 4:30pm.
Participants:
- Chris & Sam (Trail Leader) – JK Unlimited
- Robert & Fred – Toyota 4Runner
- Buzz – JK Unlimited
- Paul – Dodge Ram Pickup
- Rick & Alexandra – Mercedes 250GD
For additional information about the Tasker Gap/Peters Mill Run trail system: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/passes-permits/?cid=fsbdev3_000477
Night Run
Trip report by Roland Thro
Once again a great ride this year, but sadly no snow. We had a total of 19 vehicles ranging from bone stock to a very heavily modified Jeep (plus all the passengers).
Here’s who came out to join us:
- Roland Thro – Toyota FJ
- Chris & Sam (Trail Leader) – JK Unlimited
- Robert & Fred – Toyota 4Runner
- Buzz – JK Unlimited
- Paul – Dodge Ram Pickup
- Rick & Alexandra – Mercedes 250GD
- John Oldenburg – Jeep Wrangler 2015
- Austin Bane with Alexis McCarty – Toyota Tacoma 2006
- Frederick and Kathy King – Toyota FJ Cruiser
- Robert Calhelha and Christine Screnci – 2015 Jeep KLTH
- Justin and Megan Chenoweth – Jeep Cherokee 2015
- Steve Johnson, Mary Layman, Ken Sigman, Thomas Sigman, Anne Sigman –
Toyota FJ 2007 - Tarver King – Toyota FJ 2007
- Ryan and Dan Young, Jordan Dicherle – 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Kirk Adams – 2010 Toyota FJ
- John S – 2008 Toyota FJ
- Emma Poon – 2016 Jeep Wrangler
- Todd Murdoch – 2006 Lexus LX470
- Brandon Hamlin and Brian Harnage – Toyota Tacoma 2015
- Cynthia and Hannah Anderson – 2015 Jeep Wrangler
This year’s trip was different in two ways – first, we had two separate groups showing up early to run the trails. One group ran Peter’s Mill and the other that I was with ran Tasker’s Gap. Next year I might suggest we meet earlier and run Tasker’s Gap and then jump onto Peter’s Mill. Being on Tasker’s as the sun went down was just incredibly beautiful. Maybe we could just start the ride earlier so we can experience the sun going down on the trail. The second way this year’s ride was different was that we got to practice our recovery skills! One of our guests took on the challenge of running a trail obstacle which definitely added some excitement to the night! Like last year we met up at Bo’s Xpress in Edinburg at 5:30 pm and like last year we stayed in one group – this was a mistake! With a group that big I should have broken us down into two groups, each with its own leader and tail vehicle. At one point when reaching for the CB, I unknowingly turned the squelch dial, effectively decreasing the range of my CB to just a few yards – not good if you’re the trail leader. A mistake who’s effect could have been minimized if we had been in smaller groups. Thankfully no big problems occurred.
As always, the sight of everyone riding up the mountain was amazing. I had hoped Andrew would show up so I could make him point-man and I could enjoy the view from the back of the group – oh well maybe next year! When we finally reached the parking lot on the Woodstock side we were already to call it a day until I noticed my Omega watch was missing. Everyone’s first thought was that I had lost it in the mud hole when I was elbow deep in the mud hooking up to the rear recovery point during our “Recovery demonstration”. Thank you to all that, without hesitation, volunteered to go help look for the watch. A photo of us all swimming in that mud hole would have been something and a story that would have been told for years. But thankfully a wise man spoke up and suggested we look in the back of the vehicle that had been stuck on the off chance I was smart enough to take the watch off before plugging my arm into the mud. And a triumphant cry rang out as the watch was found mixed in with the recovery gear, muddy but otherwise unharmed. The last treat of the night was riding down Woodstock Tower Rd with the lights of the town of Woodstock spread out on the valley below us. Thanks to all that came and made this a truly memorable event!
Pictures courtesy of Rob Calhelha, Emma Poon, Roland Thro, and Sam.