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Events/Trails CMCC 2021 Registration closes June 30th (1 Viewer)
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caz
Keystone Cruisers
I saw a green 80 on a trailer behind a white dually sitting in Strasburg today. It had quite obviously come from CMCC!
A couple guys came up from Delaware. One was green. Maybe it was him.
Another good coal mine event in the books! As Aaron mentioned, as a club we were really spread out over the campground. My cabin in the top of the park had several Keystone guys in it along with the Connecticut Polish contingent.
We wheeled three days, and it was pretty hot. First day we took trail 12 all the way out to the end, stopped at the overlook for a bite to eat on the way back and enjoyed the company of Aaron with the rather large group he was leading. Good stuff! After that we hit various blues and greens to finish out the day.
I was concerned that being a trail leader and having to find a few days full of blue and green trails was going to be a problem. I know enough trails at rausch to accomplish this but didn't feel as confident about AOAA. Fears were unrealized as we just headed out and pointed the lead truck where ever the map looked green or blue. It worked well and I got to do a lot of trails I had never been on before and others that I hadn't driven in a long time. For the most part we stayed to the left of the main trail (heading away from the staging area) on the western reserve but we did do several trails on the upper side. My friend Chris in his buggy went along with us on Saturday and he ran Barney Rubble and twister while the rest of the group ate lunch. We wheeled only four hours Saturday and were out of the park at 1PM in order to get ready and relaxed for dinner and the raffle.
Some notes, AOAA offered a three consecutive day pass for $60 that's a good deal. Kept most people going to AOAA and not Rausch. It's all but forty miles from the campground to AOAA and that's quite a ride. We drove up the interstate in the morning then took route 125 on the way home using two lanes all the way down to get on UI-81 at MP104.
Dinner was awesome, even better than I remember from two years ago. The guy does a great job with everything. The raffle was interesting and fruitful but it was loooong! we didn't get back to the cabin until after 9. As usual I did pretty well at the raffle and there were quite a few prizes and a lot of good stuff. I love the items that Beno donates- all quality genuine Toyota parts in Toyota boxes!!!!!
No trail damage in our little group although I did manage while trail leading to sink my 40 in a deep but short s***hole. Had to get pulled out!!! Wasn't the first time and may not be the last. My grandson has pictures I'll have to get them from him and post. We had two 70 series with us one left hand drive and one right hand. The RHD trick came all the way from Texas! Besides my 40 we had another 40 and two 60 series. Picked up a few others the first day but I can't remember who they were.
All in all another good event in the log book. Good times, good people and lotsa good wheeling. If ya weren't there ya missed a dandy!!!!!
We wheeled three days, and it was pretty hot. First day we took trail 12 all the way out to the end, stopped at the overlook for a bite to eat on the way back and enjoyed the company of Aaron with the rather large group he was leading. Good stuff! After that we hit various blues and greens to finish out the day.
I was concerned that being a trail leader and having to find a few days full of blue and green trails was going to be a problem. I know enough trails at rausch to accomplish this but didn't feel as confident about AOAA. Fears were unrealized as we just headed out and pointed the lead truck where ever the map looked green or blue. It worked well and I got to do a lot of trails I had never been on before and others that I hadn't driven in a long time. For the most part we stayed to the left of the main trail (heading away from the staging area) on the western reserve but we did do several trails on the upper side. My friend Chris in his buggy went along with us on Saturday and he ran Barney Rubble and twister while the rest of the group ate lunch. We wheeled only four hours Saturday and were out of the park at 1PM in order to get ready and relaxed for dinner and the raffle.
Some notes, AOAA offered a three consecutive day pass for $60 that's a good deal. Kept most people going to AOAA and not Rausch. It's all but forty miles from the campground to AOAA and that's quite a ride. We drove up the interstate in the morning then took route 125 on the way home using two lanes all the way down to get on UI-81 at MP104.
Dinner was awesome, even better than I remember from two years ago. The guy does a great job with everything. The raffle was interesting and fruitful but it was loooong! we didn't get back to the cabin until after 9. As usual I did pretty well at the raffle and there were quite a few prizes and a lot of good stuff. I love the items that Beno donates- all quality genuine Toyota parts in Toyota boxes!!!!!
No trail damage in our little group although I did manage while trail leading to sink my 40 in a deep but short s***hole. Had to get pulled out!!! Wasn't the first time and may not be the last. My grandson has pictures I'll have to get them from him and post. We had two 70 series with us one left hand drive and one right hand. The RHD trick came all the way from Texas! Besides my 40 we had another 40 and two 60 series. Picked up a few others the first day but I can't remember who they were.
All in all another good event in the log book. Good times, good people and lotsa good wheeling. If ya weren't there ya missed a dandy!!!!!
Gary,
Thank You for leading our group and exploring the unknown puddles.
We took pictures and I think there is a video out there.
The Connecticut Polish Contingent
Thanks again to Andy and Aaron for help diagnose the problem with the front diff not engaging. I was so busy rewiring the lights on the 4Runner before heading up to the campground I forgot to test the 4WD system. The family had a great time hanging out with Keystone Cruisers.
@shmukster ... is that the far left mud hole near the 3 way mud hole spot just past the entrance to Muddy Shackle? We were finishing a trail repair/ lunching there and had some quads show us just how deep each of the routes were.
Got there on Weds, got all set up at camp and was the only one there for a good while. The VA contingent rolled in early evening along with a XTerra. It was my first time camping ever and it was hella hot and humid. Plus side, camper worked just fine and I brought the world with me, so lessons were learned.
Just a few things ....
Was solid at making breakfast. The Red Bull tube is a mini fridge similar to an ARB, just way less convenient.
My blue mood lighting
Anyway, like I said, lessons were learned. Camping in that weather wasn't great for me and I doubt I will camp again for CMCC. I lasted 2 nights and then bailed for the comforts of home since I was only an hour from Twin Grove and 90 mins from Anthracite. I look forward to getting out again when it's not stoopid hot out.
Here is the route we took on Thursday. Pretty much all greens except a group of easy blues near the entrance. After the main group headed out myself, Joe, Bruce and another truck knocked out as many blue trails as we could in a short time.
![Screenshot_20210720-134223[1].jpg](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' width='1920' height='1538' viewBox%3D'0 0 1920 1538'%2F%3E "Screenshot_20210720-134223[1].jpg")
Just a few things ....
Was solid at making breakfast. The Red Bull tube is a mini fridge similar to an ARB, just way less convenient.
My blue mood lighting
Anyway, like I said, lessons were learned. Camping in that weather wasn't great for me and I doubt I will camp again for CMCC. I lasted 2 nights and then bailed for the comforts of home since I was only an hour from Twin Grove and 90 mins from Anthracite. I look forward to getting out again when it's not stoopid hot out.
Here is the route we took on Thursday. Pretty much all greens except a group of easy blues near the entrance. After the main group headed out myself, Joe, Bruce and another truck knocked out as many blue trails as we could in a short time.
Chris your camper looks perfect for camping nine months of the year. Camping without AC is a bitch in that kind of heat.
Want to add to the previous post a thank you to Brian and his guys at the shop that got the Roo ready to take before this event. Also a thanks to Gary for leading on Thursday.
Aaron and Theo got to camp on Thursday evening and Andy M. showed up early on Friday and we got ready to head out for the day. Andy advised that although the chance of rain was minimal, I should prep the Roo for rain before we left. I took his advice and was happy I did as it rained while we were out. Sadly, I didn't think to not leave my chair out and open during the day and it was soaked when I got back. I also forgot to put on my boots before I left ... wheeling in sneakers like a noob.
Friday's track ...
A group of 8 of us headed out (you can see the group in Rich's pic above) myself, Joe with JJ and Duke, Bruce, Rich and his son, Aaron and Theo, Bill and his son Reese and three guys we met there Lee (red 80), and two other guys riding in Caz's old blue 40 (I forget their names because I'm horrible like that, it's a character flaw, I know) sorry if you see this. I was leading with Andy as navigator and Aaron was in the rear with Joe in the middle. We learned on the first blue trail (19) that Lee didn't have lockers and had stock bumpers. Possibly my bad on that as I thought he said he had the only Red FJ in the staging lot and Andy and I saw a decked out FJ on our way in ... regardless, he wheeled like a champ and took the bypass when needed, but blues with open diffs and stock bumpers aren't easy, unless you're Greg.
So it became apparent that not all the blue trails at Anthracite are the same, or even similar sometimes. Rich got hung up on the base on trail 19, so Aaron and Andy stayed with him to get him sorted. Now I was leading and winging it, so the next closest blue was a little horseshoe (15). I'm not used to leading at all and certainly not used to it on blues. How hard could it be? Well, I got to the start of 15 and went up to the top, helped spot the red 80 up the hill then headed back down and there was a tight spot by a tree and larger drop off. I went around the tree and cracked the rear bumper on the way off the ledge.
Looked back and the tree had RISK painted on it. Tried to spot Lee down and have him not lose the rear bumper on my line and instead got him pinned against the 8ft high half rotted RISK tree. Busted out Andy's chainsaw and turned my rig around to hook up a strap and 15-20 mins later the tree was down. The saw kept shutting off for some reason, so it took a while. Joe was on point with helping get Lee out of that spot. Someone in the group was taking pics for sure, maybe they will post up.
We then rolled out to the main road and chilled a few before hearing Aaron, Andy and Rich got things sorted and we went back to meet them. We took trail 16 back to the head of the 538 trail. 16 is a green that should be a blue now. Really nice uphill trail.
Then off to 13A and up to 30, both blues. We then learned Aaron had just done the grouping of blues on that part of the map, so we headed to the SW group of blues and hit the next closest one, Trail 39. So this trail was gnarly, more like a Black at Rausch. I got up to the top side using the rear locker, Andy got Lee bumped up somehow and then thank goodness there was a bailout just past that. Lee headed that way and I moved up to make room for others, that was over several large rocks and then over and between a real tight leaning rock and a tree. I didn't wait for a spotter and dented the DS rear on the tree. I should have waited or gone slower.
At that point the blue 40 and Aaron were at the top of the trail and after I almost pinned the 40's soft top on the same tree that got me while spotting, I called for Aaron to help spot. Aaron took him further up the tilted rock and got him over, but it was very sketchy for a min and he was really tippy. Good news, only a bunch more rocks to get over as the trail was half done.
I helped line Aaron up and his rig had zero issues. He likely could have taken a few harder offshoots on a few trails that day. He needs Andy to get running so they can do the cra cra stuff. Maybe I can try once I get gears, but not until then.
A little more spotting and down the exit hill to safety lol. After Aaron came down I realized that Joe did the whole trail as well. Very impressive. The 40 got a dented RF fender somehow and I think everyone else made it out OK. We linked up with the rest of the group and did trails down by Barney Rubble and then called it a day and headed back. I know we ran Twister backwards (going down), but not sure what else. Sadly, I took zero pictures that day.
Aaron and Theo got to camp on Thursday evening and Andy M. showed up early on Friday and we got ready to head out for the day. Andy advised that although the chance of rain was minimal, I should prep the Roo for rain before we left. I took his advice and was happy I did as it rained while we were out. Sadly, I didn't think to not leave my chair out and open during the day and it was soaked when I got back. I also forgot to put on my boots before I left ... wheeling in sneakers like a noob.
Friday's track ...
A group of 8 of us headed out (you can see the group in Rich's pic above) myself, Joe with JJ and Duke, Bruce, Rich and his son, Aaron and Theo, Bill and his son Reese and three guys we met there Lee (red 80), and two other guys riding in Caz's old blue 40 (I forget their names because I'm horrible like that, it's a character flaw, I know) sorry if you see this. I was leading with Andy as navigator and Aaron was in the rear with Joe in the middle. We learned on the first blue trail (19) that Lee didn't have lockers and had stock bumpers. Possibly my bad on that as I thought he said he had the only Red FJ in the staging lot and Andy and I saw a decked out FJ on our way in ... regardless, he wheeled like a champ and took the bypass when needed, but blues with open diffs and stock bumpers aren't easy, unless you're Greg.
So it became apparent that not all the blue trails at Anthracite are the same, or even similar sometimes. Rich got hung up on the base on trail 19, so Aaron and Andy stayed with him to get him sorted. Now I was leading and winging it, so the next closest blue was a little horseshoe (15). I'm not used to leading at all and certainly not used to it on blues. How hard could it be? Well, I got to the start of 15 and went up to the top, helped spot the red 80 up the hill then headed back down and there was a tight spot by a tree and larger drop off. I went around the tree and cracked the rear bumper on the way off the ledge.
Looked back and the tree had RISK painted on it. Tried to spot Lee down and have him not lose the rear bumper on my line and instead got him pinned against the 8ft high half rotted RISK tree. Busted out Andy's chainsaw and turned my rig around to hook up a strap and 15-20 mins later the tree was down. The saw kept shutting off for some reason, so it took a while. Joe was on point with helping get Lee out of that spot. Someone in the group was taking pics for sure, maybe they will post up.
We then rolled out to the main road and chilled a few before hearing Aaron, Andy and Rich got things sorted and we went back to meet them. We took trail 16 back to the head of the 538 trail. 16 is a green that should be a blue now. Really nice uphill trail.
Then off to 13A and up to 30, both blues. We then learned Aaron had just done the grouping of blues on that part of the map, so we headed to the SW group of blues and hit the next closest one, Trail 39. So this trail was gnarly, more like a Black at Rausch. I got up to the top side using the rear locker, Andy got Lee bumped up somehow and then thank goodness there was a bailout just past that. Lee headed that way and I moved up to make room for others, that was over several large rocks and then over and between a real tight leaning rock and a tree. I didn't wait for a spotter and dented the DS rear on the tree. I should have waited or gone slower.
At that point the blue 40 and Aaron were at the top of the trail and after I almost pinned the 40's soft top on the same tree that got me while spotting, I called for Aaron to help spot. Aaron took him further up the tilted rock and got him over, but it was very sketchy for a min and he was really tippy. Good news, only a bunch more rocks to get over as the trail was half done.
I helped line Aaron up and his rig had zero issues. He likely could have taken a few harder offshoots on a few trails that day. He needs Andy to get running so they can do the cra cra stuff. Maybe I can try once I get gears, but not until then.
A little more spotting and down the exit hill to safety lol. After Aaron came down I realized that Joe did the whole trail as well. Very impressive. The 40 got a dented RF fender somehow and I think everyone else made it out OK. We linked up with the rest of the group and did trails down by Barney Rubble and then called it a day and headed back. I know we ran Twister backwards (going down), but not sure what else. Sadly, I took zero pictures that day.
Showered and refreshed from a night of sleep at home I got to Twin Grove in time to grab up Andy and head to AOAA. The intent was to meet up with Vince, but he had other obligations and couldn't make it. Hoping to see him next month on the trails.
Saturday's group was smaller, just 5 of us, all 80s with at least a rear locker, bumpers and a lift. Here are the trails for that day. I didn't know a single guy in the group and still don't know anyone's name.
We did all the small blues at the front of the park, had an issue with a shock coming loose on one of the rigs, but was sorted in maybe 30 mins. We did Muddy Shackle, but skipped the Shackle part and took the rocks instead as one rig had a rooftop tent. Did the BA trail and Culvert trail as well. We were headed to Trail 35 when one of the rigs developed a misfire and may have been running on 5 cylinders. Easy day, the blues were consistent and nothing too crazy. I definitely feel like I have a much better understanding of both AOAA and the stress that comes with leading a group after this trip. I will do more in the coming outings to help lead so others can enjoy being in the pack or at the back.
Saturday's group was smaller, just 5 of us, all 80s with at least a rear locker, bumpers and a lift. Here are the trails for that day. I didn't know a single guy in the group and still don't know anyone's name.
We did all the small blues at the front of the park, had an issue with a shock coming loose on one of the rigs, but was sorted in maybe 30 mins. We did Muddy Shackle, but skipped the Shackle part and took the rocks instead as one rig had a rooftop tent. Did the BA trail and Culvert trail as well. We were headed to Trail 35 when one of the rigs developed a misfire and may have been running on 5 cylinders. Easy day, the blues were consistent and nothing too crazy. I definitely feel like I have a much better understanding of both AOAA and the stress that comes with leading a group after this trip. I will do more in the coming outings to help lead so others can enjoy being in the pack or at the back.
Dang, Chris. Didn’t know that it was your FIRST time camping - we probably would have given “advice” to make you even more miserable.
I somehow missed the Red Bull cooler. Use what ya got until ya need more!
Did you at least have a fan or two in your tent? Those can help a ton, even when it’s not particularly hot.
And, congrats on making the effort to lead. This was the first time in years that I didn’t do that at all. Was probably also the first time in years that I didn’t insult a stranger by assuming they they're total noobs until they prove otherwise!
I somehow missed the Red Bull cooler. Use what ya got until ya need more!
Did you at least have a fan or two in your tent? Those can help a ton, even when it’s not particularly hot.
And, congrats on making the effort to lead. This was the first time in years that I didn’t do that at all. Was probably also the first time in years that I didn’t insult a stranger by assuming they they're total noobs until they prove otherwise!
@JohnVee ... I had the cooler in the tent the first night and realized what a PITA it was making food with it in there, so I moved it outside then. I did have a nice sized fan inside. I'm just spoiled and used to having AC 
@Crusha ... that is the ultimate goal, but it will take some time for me to be ready for that and I still need to get the electrical sorted on the camper and in the truck for the 7-pin wiring and pass through power and such.
@Crusha ... that is the ultimate goal, but it will take some time for me to be ready for that and I still need to get the electrical sorted on the camper and in the truck for the 7-pin wiring and pass through power and such.
Chris you know enough about both parks and your rig is capable enough for you to be a trail leader. It's rewarding, although I did have a guy who, when asked how the trails were on Thursday, said they were too tame. He's the guy who lined up for a GREEN ride that day!!!! I found out long ago that you you just do your best and have to realize that you can't please everyone.
Gary,
Plus varied personal experiences can be a big influencer.
For example; if the 'GREEN ride' guy's trail experience base was similar to K2 where the trails are rated by buggy performance, his green experience might equate to a Blue or a Blue-Black rating when rated for road legal trucks.
Hopefully, it just fuel for amusement at the end of the day.