We went to the 14th annual Great Smoky Mountain Trail Ride last week. My buddy Drew and I left Roxboro for Tellico on Sunday, May 15th. We stopped in Greensboro to caravan with Roy Nilsen. We arrived at Crawford's around 4:00 Sunday afternoon. We spent the rest of the afternoon setting up camp and buying groceries.
Monday - Slick Rock
Roy (FJ40), Jonathan Lehman (FJ40), Jack Ingold (FJ40), and myself (FJ40), headed out for Slick Rock mid morning. We met up with Scott and Greg from Long Island (FJ40s). We all made it up the rock face without winching with the exception of Scott, who had an open front diff. However, we all had to winch up the last ledge on the way out of the trail. Jonathan broke a leaf spring center pin on Slick Rock and Roy had to replace the clutch master cylinder at Fain's Ford.
Josh Walsh and his buddy Charlie arrived at camp on Monday afternoon.
Tuesday - Guardrail, Helicopter Pad, & School Bus
Jack, Roy, Josh (Tacoma), Scott, Greg, and I hit the trail Tuesday morning. Josh and Roy both made it up Guardrail without winching. Jack and I had to pull cable. Scott and Greg took the bypass.
Jack and Josh made it up Helicopter Pad without winching. Roy made the first climb, but a weak battery forced him to be pulled the rest of the way up. I broke my rear driveshaft in the middle of the climb, and had to be winched the rest of the way up. I borrowed a driveshaft from Greg that wasn't quite long enough, but it worked with some creative washer stacking.
We went down School Bus to get back to camp. The driveshaft rig held up fine to get me back to Crawford's.
Wednesday - Lower 2
I got up early to use Steve's shop to repair my driveshaft, but Roger Theurer had one the exact length I needed that he let me borrow for the remainder of the week!
Jack, Jonathan, Roy, Josh, Jody (FJ40), Benji (4Runner), and I go to Lower 2. We all made it to about the same spot before having to winch. The spot we winched through was near the top where the big rock on the left hangs out. I heard some guys referring to this part of Lower 2 as "Jaws". There was a little more carnage on Lower 2. Josh broke a CV, Benji broke a birf, and Roy bent his rear driveshaft. Jack had some steering issues on the way back to camp.
Thursday - Upper 2 & School Bus
Josh, Roy, Jody, Benji, Chris Johnson (FJ40) , and myself went to Upper 2 first thing. We all made it to the top pretty easily without winching.
Roy, Jody, Benji, and I went from Upper 2 to School Bus. I had to winch once going up School Bus, the others made it without cable.
Then we came down the Helicopter Pad and Guardrail bypasses to get back to camp.
The only carnage was a slightly bent leaf spring on my Cruiser.
Friday - Slick Rock
Josh, Jack, Will Leaman (FJ40), Bill Baxter (FJ40), and Jonathan and I in his Cruiser went back to Slick Rock since some of the guys hadn't been yet. Again, everybody made it up the rock with out winching, but all winched out the ledge at the end. Jack broke a pinion on trail 8 as we headed out.
The S.T.L.C.A. had a band and free beer and hotdogs Friday night for everyone registered for the event!
Saturday
We spent Saturday relaxing and packing up. Some of the guys went to Upper and Lower 2 on Saturday. There was a BBQ dinner and raffle Saturday night. Jack, Roy, and I left Crawford's at about 9:45 Saturday night headed home. I got home around 4:45 Sunday morning.
We had a great time in Tellico! Crawford's is a really nice campground, but it's a little far from the trails. We didn't get a lot of pics this time, but I will post the ones we got when I get them all together. We did get some good video, but it's not digital.
R.K.
Monday - Slick Rock
Roy (FJ40), Jonathan Lehman (FJ40), Jack Ingold (FJ40), and myself (FJ40), headed out for Slick Rock mid morning. We met up with Scott and Greg from Long Island (FJ40s). We all made it up the rock face without winching with the exception of Scott, who had an open front diff. However, we all had to winch up the last ledge on the way out of the trail. Jonathan broke a leaf spring center pin on Slick Rock and Roy had to replace the clutch master cylinder at Fain's Ford.
Josh Walsh and his buddy Charlie arrived at camp on Monday afternoon.
Tuesday - Guardrail, Helicopter Pad, & School Bus
Jack, Roy, Josh (Tacoma), Scott, Greg, and I hit the trail Tuesday morning. Josh and Roy both made it up Guardrail without winching. Jack and I had to pull cable. Scott and Greg took the bypass.
Jack and Josh made it up Helicopter Pad without winching. Roy made the first climb, but a weak battery forced him to be pulled the rest of the way up. I broke my rear driveshaft in the middle of the climb, and had to be winched the rest of the way up. I borrowed a driveshaft from Greg that wasn't quite long enough, but it worked with some creative washer stacking.
We went down School Bus to get back to camp. The driveshaft rig held up fine to get me back to Crawford's.
Wednesday - Lower 2
I got up early to use Steve's shop to repair my driveshaft, but Roger Theurer had one the exact length I needed that he let me borrow for the remainder of the week!
Jack, Jonathan, Roy, Josh, Jody (FJ40), Benji (4Runner), and I go to Lower 2. We all made it to about the same spot before having to winch. The spot we winched through was near the top where the big rock on the left hangs out. I heard some guys referring to this part of Lower 2 as "Jaws". There was a little more carnage on Lower 2. Josh broke a CV, Benji broke a birf, and Roy bent his rear driveshaft. Jack had some steering issues on the way back to camp.
Thursday - Upper 2 & School Bus
Josh, Roy, Jody, Benji, Chris Johnson (FJ40) , and myself went to Upper 2 first thing. We all made it to the top pretty easily without winching.
Roy, Jody, Benji, and I went from Upper 2 to School Bus. I had to winch once going up School Bus, the others made it without cable.
Then we came down the Helicopter Pad and Guardrail bypasses to get back to camp.
The only carnage was a slightly bent leaf spring on my Cruiser.
Friday - Slick Rock
Josh, Jack, Will Leaman (FJ40), Bill Baxter (FJ40), and Jonathan and I in his Cruiser went back to Slick Rock since some of the guys hadn't been yet. Again, everybody made it up the rock with out winching, but all winched out the ledge at the end. Jack broke a pinion on trail 8 as we headed out.
The S.T.L.C.A. had a band and free beer and hotdogs Friday night for everyone registered for the event!
Saturday
We spent Saturday relaxing and packing up. Some of the guys went to Upper and Lower 2 on Saturday. There was a BBQ dinner and raffle Saturday night. Jack, Roy, and I left Crawford's at about 9:45 Saturday night headed home. I got home around 4:45 Sunday morning.
We had a great time in Tellico! Crawford's is a really nice campground, but it's a little far from the trails. We didn't get a lot of pics this time, but I will post the ones we got when I get them all together. We did get some good video, but it's not digital.
R.K.
