Tug-n-pull
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Will My oldest son came home today to tell me that He wanted to miss school this Friday! Well I said sure cause he has good reasons this time. There are a bunch of high school boys that are going to take the day off to head up to Rich Mountain in the Bumpas Cove area to just what their Off Road Rides I use this term lightly can do. I will be taken the camera extra batterys and plenty of disk. There are some really nice street 4x4's going to be there. One hole up ther has claimed so many transmissions, drivelines, clutches, differentials, and the like it will be wild just to see these young un seasoned drivers break stuff. I will be posting some pics firday night if all goes well. hehehe tug 
This is a wright up from the Jeepers for Jesus gang! Worth the read. Sorry for such a long post but it is a great trail. L33TJ33P is going to be here Thanksgiving for a run up there o his new set up. What fun! Any way check this out.
Bumpus Cove Ride, Nov. 16th, 2002
Bumpus Cove. This name brings to mind a serene, sheltered harbor like extension of some lake somewhere, like the perfect fishing hole. You know, kind of a mystical place that only exists in dreams. Not hardly! It is actually a National Forest Service road in Erwin, TN that offers four wheel drive vehicles obstacles and challenges as you wind to the top of the mountain. I knew we were in trouble when we arrived at the trail head and the Appalachain Off Road Club (AORC) guys who trailored there rigs arrived from the unload area. There were many purpose built off road machines in attendance. It sounded like awaiting the start of the Daytona 500 with the rumble of the high horsepower V8s. Our ride got off to a slow start thanks to a YJ in the AORC with an overheating problem. Everyone knew right away we were in for a slick ride. The first few hill climbs assured us that we were correct, because it was very slick! Shortly after the YJ casualty, we our second retiree, a 94 Dodge Ram truck with a front pinion bearing going out. So far so good for us 4X4Grace guys! Then came the first real test of machines, an offcamber hill, sloping off to the left with a large rut on that side and a rocky section to the right side. The rain and wet leaves made this a formidable obstacle for any open differential vehicles (note: all 4X4 Grace members in attendance have open differentials). After a few AORC guys with open diffs gave the hill a try, it was Jonathon (Rocky Top Jeeper) and David's (NissanBoy & Co-pilot) try. No luck though! Got to about the same spot as all other open diff vehicles. It was the same story for Mike (High Country Jeep) and Brian (Hot Rod YJ). On a side note, Brian's wife walked up this hill! Leon (Rigger) tried to carry a little more momentum into the hill to no luck! There was an impressive pop as a tire contacted the fender flare. Sounded like something broke, but all was ok. All 4 had to receive a helping rock and push off the rocky ledge to gain traction to drive on up. After this obstacle, it was just muddy all the way to the lunch clearing with little to no problems with traction though. After lunch, we proceeded on the trail through some deep mud! So deep, the splash came up over Leon's hood! Then came the hardest part of the trail yet! Some offcamber ruts that would switchback from left to right on a slick clay mud hill. These were some deep ruts with embankments on the downward side as tall as the roof on the Jeeps. These were very close to taking off mirrors and fender flares, and body damage could have been a real possibility as well as tipping over! On a slippery climb, Jonathon's TJ lost traction on a tree root and had to back up to give it another go. Not quite sure what happened next, between the mud and wet brakes from the deep puddles prior to the climb, his TJ began to slide backwards down the trail. A quick shift to forward gears and lots of gas did not stop the slide either. The TJ ended up slamming into the front bumper of Leon's TJ and both slid to a stop. If it had not been for Leon's Jeep stopping the slide, who knows where Jonathon and David would have stopped. Off to the left side of the trail where we were sliding was a drop off of about 40 feet with lots of trees. More than likely would have been a roll over the bank! Leon's TJ had a broken bumper fog light and a bent fender. Jonathon's TJ had a dented rear bumper, bent CB mount, and torn rear tire cover. No major damage and no one hurt! We continued on until the trail turned really nasty with deep ruts where body damage was inevitable! At this point the fog was rolling in and the 4X4Grace guys decided to head back down the way we came in, since no one wanted to intentionally damage their Jeep. The same challenging hill climbs made for some challenging decents as well! We all made it out without too much fuss. Mike's wife got scared once by his two wheeled action down a steep decent, but was ok afterwards. Driving out of Bumpus Cove, Jonathon threw a rock from his Goodyear MTR's into the Mike's windshield, which once again scared his wife! We then rode around Erwin looking for air to fill the tires back up, but no luck. We finally just went on to Johnson City. As you can tell, the ride went well as we tested our Jeeps to the limit and the risk of moderate damage. Everyone enjoyed being in the mountains despite the rainy weather and slick conditions. A big thanks to the AORC guys for their help spotting and getting the Jeeps unstuck from the hill climb. Can't wait for the next ride!
Here is a link from a local club that was up there last month. Same trail different day different rides. This is where I had Tugly up on her side on two wheels a week or two ago. Check out this area http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=942942701522_48313266105&collid=57739336105
This is a wright up from the Jeepers for Jesus gang! Worth the read. Sorry for such a long post but it is a great trail. L33TJ33P is going to be here Thanksgiving for a run up there o his new set up. What fun! Any way check this out.
Bumpus Cove Ride, Nov. 16th, 2002
Bumpus Cove. This name brings to mind a serene, sheltered harbor like extension of some lake somewhere, like the perfect fishing hole. You know, kind of a mystical place that only exists in dreams. Not hardly! It is actually a National Forest Service road in Erwin, TN that offers four wheel drive vehicles obstacles and challenges as you wind to the top of the mountain. I knew we were in trouble when we arrived at the trail head and the Appalachain Off Road Club (AORC) guys who trailored there rigs arrived from the unload area. There were many purpose built off road machines in attendance. It sounded like awaiting the start of the Daytona 500 with the rumble of the high horsepower V8s. Our ride got off to a slow start thanks to a YJ in the AORC with an overheating problem. Everyone knew right away we were in for a slick ride. The first few hill climbs assured us that we were correct, because it was very slick! Shortly after the YJ casualty, we our second retiree, a 94 Dodge Ram truck with a front pinion bearing going out. So far so good for us 4X4Grace guys! Then came the first real test of machines, an offcamber hill, sloping off to the left with a large rut on that side and a rocky section to the right side. The rain and wet leaves made this a formidable obstacle for any open differential vehicles (note: all 4X4 Grace members in attendance have open differentials). After a few AORC guys with open diffs gave the hill a try, it was Jonathon (Rocky Top Jeeper) and David's (NissanBoy & Co-pilot) try. No luck though! Got to about the same spot as all other open diff vehicles. It was the same story for Mike (High Country Jeep) and Brian (Hot Rod YJ). On a side note, Brian's wife walked up this hill! Leon (Rigger) tried to carry a little more momentum into the hill to no luck! There was an impressive pop as a tire contacted the fender flare. Sounded like something broke, but all was ok. All 4 had to receive a helping rock and push off the rocky ledge to gain traction to drive on up. After this obstacle, it was just muddy all the way to the lunch clearing with little to no problems with traction though. After lunch, we proceeded on the trail through some deep mud! So deep, the splash came up over Leon's hood! Then came the hardest part of the trail yet! Some offcamber ruts that would switchback from left to right on a slick clay mud hill. These were some deep ruts with embankments on the downward side as tall as the roof on the Jeeps. These were very close to taking off mirrors and fender flares, and body damage could have been a real possibility as well as tipping over! On a slippery climb, Jonathon's TJ lost traction on a tree root and had to back up to give it another go. Not quite sure what happened next, between the mud and wet brakes from the deep puddles prior to the climb, his TJ began to slide backwards down the trail. A quick shift to forward gears and lots of gas did not stop the slide either. The TJ ended up slamming into the front bumper of Leon's TJ and both slid to a stop. If it had not been for Leon's Jeep stopping the slide, who knows where Jonathon and David would have stopped. Off to the left side of the trail where we were sliding was a drop off of about 40 feet with lots of trees. More than likely would have been a roll over the bank! Leon's TJ had a broken bumper fog light and a bent fender. Jonathon's TJ had a dented rear bumper, bent CB mount, and torn rear tire cover. No major damage and no one hurt! We continued on until the trail turned really nasty with deep ruts where body damage was inevitable! At this point the fog was rolling in and the 4X4Grace guys decided to head back down the way we came in, since no one wanted to intentionally damage their Jeep. The same challenging hill climbs made for some challenging decents as well! We all made it out without too much fuss. Mike's wife got scared once by his two wheeled action down a steep decent, but was ok afterwards. Driving out of Bumpus Cove, Jonathon threw a rock from his Goodyear MTR's into the Mike's windshield, which once again scared his wife! We then rode around Erwin looking for air to fill the tires back up, but no luck. We finally just went on to Johnson City. As you can tell, the ride went well as we tested our Jeeps to the limit and the risk of moderate damage. Everyone enjoyed being in the mountains despite the rainy weather and slick conditions. A big thanks to the AORC guys for their help spotting and getting the Jeeps unstuck from the hill climb. Can't wait for the next ride!
Here is a link from a local club that was up there last month. Same trail different day different rides. This is where I had Tugly up on her side on two wheels a week or two ago. Check out this area http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=942942701522_48313266105&collid=57739336105
