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The West Virginia Off Road Charity Event

http://www.outdoorwire.com/4x4/trail/report/va/wvorc/

Short Cuts

By: Chad Adams - 7/2001
Edited by: John Stewart & Randy Wheeler

A Charity Event For A Good Cause

Recently, I attended The West Virginia Off Road Charity Event held in Fayetteville, W.V. The event was a fund raiser for the Fayette Toy Fund and drew vehicles from several states (Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and a few others) ranging from mildly lifted to well built. The Fayette Toy Fund has been helping underprivileged kids acquire toys since 1981. Last year alone, they touched the lives of over 500 children, representing 287 different families in forty different communities in the Fayette County area. What better chance to raise some money than bring four wheelers from around the country in to hit the trails in West Virginia?

Tim Rettig, founder of Trail Keepers Foundation, and I left Friday night on the six hour journey to Oak Hill, WV. Mary Rettig, Tim's wife, went with Tim, and a friend, Jason Hyde, was JAFO in my Jeep. We arrived at the Ace Adventures Recreational Area around 12:30 a.m. and quickly got situated for bed. Most everyone else had arrived earlier and were already in the sack. We rented cabin tents, which is a tent already set up on a platform, with mattress' inside for comfort. Very comfortable and very convenient... especially when arriving after midnight.

We woke the next morning to find our group waiting for us. Our trail was over an hour away. They decided the night before to get an early 7 a.m. start rather than 8 a.m... so, quick stop in town for breakfast and gas, and we were off.

The first day's trail was on a private farm. This area of West Virginia is known for having rocky foundations to many of its back lands. This farm was no exception. Sink sized boulders and bathtub deep mud holes were scattered throughout the heavily wooded area. Rocks were covered with slippery green moss that made traction next to nothing, especially for Boggers, as Tim was soon to find out. After Tim took a quick strap over a rock, I had to boast about it. Now we all know how this ends up... friend gets stuck, you laugh at friend, take pictures, and make jokes, then you end up stuck... or worse. Well, this story is no different.

I worked my way up over a pretty tough obstacle. Once the front end was up, it slid left and wedged between the rock obstacle and a tree. I called for someone to pull me out without suffering too much body damage. It got worse. Winch killed the battery... I mean, KILLED IT. The Optima was on the brink of plastic casing meltdown and couldn't even pull the cable back in without a load on it. I borrowed a battery from an already "dead" jeep, grabbed a cable from another willing donor, and they pulled me to safety. Then I was off to the store on an ATV for a new battery. By the way, yes... Tim made it up the obstacle without assistance. Now, we're even.

While I'm winched up, Alvin (local guy) blew apart a Dana 44 hub on his CJ-7. The hub responds in kind by taking out his outer axle stub. Now he's down until it can be repaired... in about the same area. By this point, the owner of the property has phoned all his friends, neighbors, and family and told them they had to come out and watch the action. What started out as a trail ride now resembled a well matched golf competition, complete with frustrated golfers and a gallery to "OOH" and "AAH" at every stroke they took. Both drivers and onlookers were having a blast and we were only about 1/8 mile into the trail.

I got back, installed the new battery, fixed the on board air compressor line that burst, and was on my way. I caught up with Tim and Mary just in time to sit down and eat lunch while we watched a couple of fellows get over what seemed to be an impossible obstacle. The obstacle was known as "The Notch". "The Notch" was high on top of a hill. Once you traversed your way up to the obstacle, there sat a huge wall of rock with a natural "notch" down the middle of it. Only go pedal and ground clearance were getting you up this one. We saw plenty of both attempt it. Finally, a CJ-7 made it, after losing the power steering pump and overheating. We all took the small victory, and moved on out the trail.

After driving up a waterfall section, we headed to Winch Point. Winch Point got its name from the fact that you have to winch down it, or you run the risk of turning the Jeep over. While we were waiting for Darren, our Trail Guide, to fix a broken front Dana 44 axle shaft that a large mud hole claimed, Tim took his turn getting winched down the obstacle. After Tim was winched down by another Jeeper, I spun the Jeep around and winched myself down the hill backwards. Funny feeling being stuck on the end of a winch line like that. Darren caught up, and we continued up the trail.

We cleared Winch Point and headed up a rocky stream bed with boulders the size of kitchen cabinets, and eventually, up another rocky section that had a large crevice that you had to straddle in order to get up. During the tricky ascent, one participant in a CJ-8 lost an axle u-joint. After a quick fix, we headed on up to the end of the trail.

Day one ended with us getting back to camp, unwinding with some new friends and eating the grub that had been prepared for us. They pulled out the RTI ramp, so Tim and I untrailered our vehicles to join in the festivities. Jason Hyde and I disconnected the front sway bars, and up I went. About 3/4 the way up the ramp, my front right coil spring fell out of the Jeep. The crowd starts a hootin' and a hollerin' to stop, but I just kept on climbing up. Heck, I figure if it fell off that easy, I don't need the darn thing anyhow... and backing back down wasn't going to help me put it back together. Now, something has to limit your travel, whether it be shocks, limiting straps, or fixed leaf springs. I had just put on new longer travel shocks, and I don't run leaf springs... so guess what my limiting factor was? I can assure you, you DON'T want your brake lines being the limiting factor. :-) Yep, just as I got almost to the top of the ramp, the brake pedal just fell on the floor... no pressure, no brakes, just NOTHIN' but what appeared to be a busted brake line. Again, I figure... I'm up here, may as well keep going and just continue on up the ramp. Long story short, after maxing out the ramp, I had to back off of it and work on the Jeep for 1/2 hour to fix the stuff I broke. At first glance, it had appeared that the RTI ramp had proved to do more damage to my Jeep than the trail ride earlier in the day had done. Luckily, the stress on the brake line had pulled it loose from the caliper. By twisting the bolt three quick turns with the wrench, we were on our way. I did not need Tim's spare brake lines.

On Sunday morning we headed for a spot named Swiss. Swiss was a heavily coal mined area and they had the strip lands to prove it. Up on the ridge of one of these old mines was a man made culvert they had dug to help keep the land from eroding away. Some of the rocks were the size of small cars, and some of the holes were deep enough that you needed spelunking gear to get down in them. For some reason, I got nominated to be the first one into the ditch. Not that I really minded as it looked very fun. After a solid hour, and a mangled shock mount later, I worked the Jeep around and made it up out of the culvert on my own power. Rear shock mount bent into my rear brake line, and once again, I was faced with another leaky source of spewing brake fluid. Luckily, a few taps on the shock mount with a 2.5 lb sledge and a few twists on the brake line, and everything was relatively straight and leak free. I said a small prayer thanking the mighty rock rash gods for making my mistakes minor and my damage easily remedied. I know that Tim was probably frustrated with me because he kept spotting me into stuff, and I kept saying, "Are you sure"? All I could see from my seat was what appeared to be the bottom of those large holes, and I knew I didn't want to be down in them. He was as worn out by the end of the 1/8 mile stretch of rocks as I was. Our efforts were not in vain, however, as Mary rewarded us with some killer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches after it was all over.

The rest of the day was a simple trail ride that started up on top of a ridge, and worked its way down into the valley below to several creek crossings and mud holes. A few of the smaller rigs had some problems with getting distributors wet, but all in all, the entire group came out on their own power (not counting one vehicle that lost its alternator). Some of the scenic views were beautiful, and everyone had a great time just taking it easy for a while.

The event was a great time. Rob Atha, the event coordinator, was very accommodating and a super nice guy. The run was to help raise money to buy toy's for needy children in the area, and by the looks of the event, it was a success. I am definitely going to keep my schedule open next year for this run, as I'm sure Tim will as well. I am sure that many of you would enjoy it as much as Tim and I did... great people, great scenery, and good trails. It was an event well worth attending.