Uwharrie, NC

Members in attendance:

  • Keith Holman, ZR2 Blazer
  • Mike Vincenty and Donna Edwards, YJ
  • Gil Campos and Sherrie Burns TJ
  • Missy and Maggie, Wheelchocks
  • At various times, we also had some others riding with us, including:

  • Corey Cronin, Charlotte NC ZR2 Blazer
  • Scott and Ethan Rigdon, Winston-Salem, NC, K5 Blazer
  • John Blackmore, Richmond and Norfolk VA, S10 Pickup
  • Brandon Wells, Kinston NC GMC Sonoma Highrider
  • And of course, Janet Becker, the Host at Arrowhead Campground, riding in various vehicles but predominantly her newly acquired Club Car.

” It was also interesting to see how those lines which appeared easiest at first were not necessarily so …”

On slightly different schedules and from different directions, we converged on Arrowhead. Gil and Sherrie set up the condominium project that they refer as “a tent” and it became pretty obvious why a site to themselves was the correct move. While allowing plenty of rooms for Missy and Maggie to roam, it pretty well covers the site all by itself.

We all enjoyed taking a look at the new Club Car. This acquisition allows Janet to regain some of her mobility around the campground while also allowing the USFS to save some of the fuel costs associated with that big green crew cab.

Friday night was mainly getting situated and camps setup, wandering around to greet some friends from the ISUZUwharrie event that was also in that weekend. We also crossed paths a few times with a Land Rover event that was in Uwharrie that weekend as well.

A couple of folks had indicated they might join up with us on Saturday morning. As it turned out, only Brandon came in that morning, bright and early.

We started at the Wolf’s Den gate and made the Sawmill trail our first of the weekend. It has been a long winter and this was a great place to get back into Uwharrie. As the pictures attest, we found a few rocks and a few puddles to play in. We stopped at the Rocky Mountain Loop intersection and then headed down the loop to visit a few familiar spots.

As Janet pointed out, running the RML in “the right” direction and when the ground isn’t the consistency of something expelled from a pig, made it a very different ride. After reaching the gravel road (553), we decided to swing back by the campground for a quick break and to let a passenger off. While there, we managed to run into Scott and Ethan Rigdon who went back with us in the afternoon.

The afternoon ride took us along Daniel from the 553 side. The slabs of rock on the way up provided some interest including a comparison of the way the trail looked this year to last year. It was also interesting to see how those lines which appeared easiest at first were not necessarily so, in part because of the amount of travel they had gotten in the past.

Arriving at the top side of the Daniel climb, we stopped and looked and talked and looked some more. Several walked down and back up (now that’s a feat on two feet). We finally decided that Keith would go down and make sure there was room to turn around and come back up as there was a very steep and slippery step further along the trail. Upon arriving at the bottom and the turnaround spot, we discovered a trio of driver-less Land Rovers blocking further progress. As it turns out, the occupants had walked back down the trail to watch/encourage/assist their tailrunner over the step. When the trail was eventually cleared to get by, the 4 Rovers headed on up. The step was deemed as possibly too tricky for us that late in the day and enough time had elapsed that Keith was told to rejoin the group at the top of the climb (to the wide-eyed wonder of a Rover driver or two) and we headed back towards the gravel and the campground. Scott and Ethan headed for home.

Saturday night dinner was either of two places, with several opting to partake of the fabled Italian cuisine of Zeno’s in Troy and several of us partaking of the Louisiana style cuisine being provided by Smiley and the Izusu group. I’ve had Zeno’s and it’s great but this particular evening I would personally find it hard to believe it beat the campground fare provided. Much appreciation and gratitude for the invite to join in that excellent repast.

Sunday morning saw Mike and Donna and Gil and Sherrie and the Wheelchocks breaking camp and headed towards many pavement miles back north. John, Brandon, and Keith were joined by Corey (who had been in contact with Keith via internet) in his ZR2 Blazer from Charlotte.

We headed back to the trails and managed to cover a piece of Wolfs Den, Slab Pile and part of RML before headed back to the campground for final loading and hitting the road.

As per usual, Uwharrie, in a combination of trails, people and tales (and tails, too, if you count the crawdads) was a great weekend and chance to relax, get a little bit of a challenge in and do those things that don’t require a professional driver on a closed track. Nissan encourages you to tell better stories. I think we have some to tell.

Remember to play nice, drive friendly and TreadLightly!

Happy Trails!

More info on the trails and Uwharrie National Forest can be found at www.uwharrieinfo.us.

Trail report written by Keith Holman. Pictures courtesy of Keith Holman and John Blackmore.

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