Would love to do something in AR. I'm heading to St. Louis over Memorial Day weekend for a friend's wedding. On my way back to Austin, I'm going to detour to Bentonville to check out the amazing mountain bike trail system they have there and then head down to Hot Springs for an overnight stay before continuing on back to Austin. I have never really been around AR, but have been told that the trails there are extensive and quite impressive.
I went to the Cruiser crawl the Cottonland Cruisers put on at Hot Springs ORV last October. There were a lot of trails for 100s and a lot of overlanding type routes. It's a great event they have and I wouldn't want a 100 series only event to impact it.
I'd definitely be interested in a 100 series only type event in the Eastern half of the US if it was later in the year. The Smokey Mountains or somewhere like Windrock ORV would be great venues as well.
Having gone to HIH3, then 6,7,8 and now 9, I've seen the growth from 30 of us in a muddy campsite with some raffles and a killer potluck to a full blown event with ties to a small town and appreciate how much time and resources Chris and Stan put in to make that happen, so I would suggest a name that doesn't link back to the HIH event unless they're directly involved.
Here's a pic of me in AR in October for required #overlandingcredpoints.
View attachment 1924654
Chris and I are open to setting something up on the east coast. It's something that we've talked about with the southern 100s group.
I'll say this (and I'm sure someone will try and flame me for it), when you create another Hundreds in the (Anything) event, it gives the impression that it's a HIH event in a different area. If you understood how much time, energy and thought went into getting HIH to where it is right now, you'd understand why Chris and I may have some trepidation.
By all means, do your thing. Chris and I have invested a lot of our time, time away from our families, our own money and certainly our sweat equity in building this into what it has become. We purchased and registered the names 100s in the Hills, Hundreds in the Hills, 100s on the Rocks and 100s in Moab, but there's no way we could afford to purchase every HIH name for every area of the country. There are a ton of other names that can be used. Please don't use our hard work, energy, money and time away from family to create another Hundreds in (anywhere) event. If anything were to go wrong at one of these events, it could create a bad look for HIH.
We've worked so hard to get to this point. Chris and I had to put our own money into HIH4, 5 and 6, because registration fees couldn't cover all that we wanted to do. Please try to understand where we're coming from. This thing didn't happen overnight. We encourage everyone to gather with like-minded folks and get out on the trails, especially in their 100s.
@paflytyer Stan, appreciate the kind words. BUT, having been to all the HiH events since HiH3 and personally witnessing the huge amount of time and energy you and Chris spend on making HiH the event that it is, it's become apparent (to me anyway) that the atmosphere and feel of the event simply can't be replicated elsewhere without you guys being involved. So short of that, i'll just keep making my annual trek northwest
Good luck to
@Nuspee and the other the guys thinking about putting an Arkansas gathering together. The Ozarks are a beautiful place. But, couple points of note:
- @aaronrules was right, the trails up there are TIGHT. Show up with pretty paint, leave with 'custom' paint.
- AND, even more importantly, water is always a huge concern (lots of trails become impassable depending on creek levels).
- AND, this is the south...unless you want to lose 15 pounds in a weekend sweating your a** off, and then get carried off by mosquitoes and get covered in ticks, i'd recommend holding your event before Memorial Day.
- AND the trails are not at all conducive to large groups (we never travel with more than 3-5 trucks)
- AND permitting up there for large groups is supposedly a huge pain. On that note, there is a group that does a non-vehicle specific event called Rendezvous in the Ozarks every year. Guy named Randy Putt is the organizer, they have a Facebook page. If you guys are serious about doing this, i would definitely reach out to him. He'll have some knowledge about doing an event in the Ozarks that will save you a lot of time. Maybe even look into attending, get a feel for doing group runs in the Ozarks.
My .02c anyway. I do have quite a few public GPS tracks if you wind up doing the event and are looking for routes. Be glad to share those.
So I started another thread without seeing this one, but I would like to add my opinions. After reading these quotes, I may have changed my mind on keeping it a strictly 100's only event.
@ntsaint is 100% right in his point to note, especially the Rendezvous in the Ozarks. I missed it, but this event has the potential to be something very special. @bamarock also makes a good point about Cruiser Crawl at the OHV in Hot Springs...I missed that as well, but this event and the location would be very nice as well! Hot Springs, AR is one of the most well know vacation areas around. As
@bamabrock also said...the sweat equity that
@paflytyer and
@bluecruiser put into HIH is nothing to shake a stick at. I was at HIH 3...it wasn't anything close to how awesome it is now! It was fun, but HIH's now are about as perfect as they can be.
Some other notes about Arkansas and the south in general:
- I wouldn't plan anything to happen from May to about Thanksgiving. You have no idea what heat is until you have been in a place that has the same amount of humidity in the air as the temperature...and I'm talking triple digit temps! It is inescapable and miserable short of having electricity and air conditioning. This is probably my biggest point...it is just oppressive down here in the summer. Maybe it's because I grew up in Washington state, but I have lived in Arkansas since 1992, I hate every summer to this day.
@ntsaint is right about the bugs...but also the critters. You take off in the grass, or tall weeds in shorts...you will more than likely come out with a tick on you. And the snakes that bite here, don't make noise before you step on them! LOL.
- If it's not planned during the summer, everything will more than likely be wet and muddy. You can be driving down a trail and come up on a mud hole...literally a mud hole. You won't know how deep it is, what the bottom is like, or if you can make it through. It's also frustrating to see giant ruts all over the place by the "YEE YEE" guys in their Jeeps and full sized trucks ripping through everything, including said mud holes. Gotta love rednecks!
-Yes it is tight...that's because everyone down here has some kind of Jeep or Side-by-side for off-roading. With the exception of forest roads and some OHVs, once you head off the beaten path, it will get narrow...I don't even pay attention to the pin striping down the side of LX anymore.
All that said, those of us who live in the south, know all of these things and still venture out in our 100s! I would love to be able to help organize something around here, but maybe we could easily jump in on the Rendezvous in the Ozarks or the Cruiser Crawl and be just as happy with most of the leg work already done for us. I bet if a few of us industrious folks asked to help either of these events, they would probably let us. If we are able to bring a decent sized group of us to these events, we could organize ourselves in getting together for camping and hanging out or whatnot.
I can't remember when the Rendezvous or Cruiser Crawl happens, but for me, Thanksgiving break is perfect part of the year around here for some kind of event. It's still warm enough out, but not oppressive. Plus the kids will be out of school, and I personally wouldn't have to attend the 4 different Thanksgiving meals we usually have to go with my wife's and my side of the families. I have had this in the back of my head for years now. Having an annual 100s Turkey Trail or something would truly be awesome! We all deep fry our turkeys in the south anyway, so having a potluck Thanksgiving feast with a bunch other 100 series people would be pretty east and super awesome!
Let keep this topic going. Let me know what you guys need me to do if anything, and I will try my best to do what I can. I would love to see everybody more than once a year too!
Also in the back of my head is the fact that Chris and Stan have said they may be planning something for the east side of the country....this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside!
www.mardikrawl.com
