OK... be gentle, this is my first one of these.
The Dover AM group left Quadna's at 9:15 or so, met Keith_C at 10:15, and we got to the Kephart Run campsite around 2:30 (I think). We all picked our spots, set up out tents on relatively flat ground, and started a fire. DISH, BBD, wanderlust, and me went the rest of the way up Kephart Run Trail until it dead-ended. We picked up a little firewood along the way, and headed back. Some of the members from DE4WD had set up camp further up Kephart, so we stopped and visited on the way back. Alan (1tonTJ), Brian (CJ7Easternshore), and Knucklehead were set up there. We got back to our campsite about an hour later, cooked, ate, drank, and laughed. Patti showed up just before dark, and Robin helped her with her tent. Quadna and Icky (in this case, Icky and Quadna) got in around 10:30 (I think), claymont-hillbilly around 12:30am, and Ray (in his nice Cummins Dodge) tried to make it in, but didn't want to cross the stream in the dark (smart move). He came in first thing in the morning.
Saturday morning was beautiful, and after waiting for our hotel group, and DE4WD members to get together, we finally hit the trail about 11:00am. We immediately lost Alan (our trail guide) when he ran to help a floundering Chevy Z71 stuck in the Dry River. The rivers were quite high and angry from Hurricane Frances. We split from the rest of the DE4WD group and I took one large group up FR225 towards Skidmore Lake. The "trail" didn't start out as much, paved, then gravel, then dirt, but it started to get a bit more interesting after a few miles. We stopped first at Maple Springs for lunch, met back with the DE4WD group, and then continued to Meadow Knob (elevation 3880). Meadow Knob is a great large meadow on a relatively high peak. We should really think about camping there next time! By this point, the trail was slightly rocky, but nothing difficult. A few of the stock Jeeps rubbed on rocks once or twice, but everyone handled their Jeeps very well. The trail from Meadow Knob led next to Flagpole Knob (elevation 4360). To our surprise, a large tent city had been built for a local radio club competition. We hung out for a few minutes, and headed back. An odd side note... along this trail up to these two knobs, we'd see abandoned vehicles from time to time...a minivan, then a full-size van. A couple of hundred feet past the van was a large sweaty man with a bicycle. He's shredded a tire trying to go where that van had no business going. Quadna and wanderlust jumped out grabbed tools and started to fix his flat while the rest of us went up to Flagpole Knob...weird. Alan (1tonTJ) finally pulled the van to the top of the hill, and we all made our own way back to camp. Omaha, KJ04 and Icky played on the hills on the way back. On a scale of 1-10, the trail up was a 4, the trail home a 3 (anyone else agree?)
Saturday night got really weird. Quadna and I made a beer run, Patti left to find Coleman, the DE4WD guys stopped by to cut some firewood for us. I passed out DeJA Trail Badges. Sound weird?
(insert banjo music by a kid with big ears on the porch)
We hear a loud engine. A highly modified Bronco pulls up. Then another, then another (three, right?... I was drinking.). Now we have a new group of "local" friends who want food and one of the kid's glow sticks... yup... weird. Good thing there was more of us than them. But they probably meant well... just weird.
Sunday morning came, and was as perfect as Saturday. Most of us wanted to get started home early, so I picked a small loop of a trail near our camp site and thought we'd also go check out the Chevy stuck in the river. The loop was too easy, but the trip to Dry River was fun! The truck was still there (look for pictures), and all we had to do was MENTION crossing to claymont-hillbilly, and he was mid-stream. He crossed with no hesitation, and BBD, and DCC followed easily. Claymont-hillbilly stood on the truck for a victory photo, then we all crossed back to the first bank of the river for poser photos.
We all made our own way back to camp, packed up, and left around 12:00. Most of us regrouped on the highway near the Bay Bridge, and made our way home.
If there are names here I haven't mentioned... it's only because so many people showed up. PLEASE, add a post here and tell me what I left out. Robin and I had a great time, got to meet people we'd only talked to on the boards, and learned a lot about the forest. We will definitely go again, and it will definitely be another stocker-friendly ride.
Thanks everyone for your support when things got sketchy. I'm glad it all seemed to work out for the best. My photos are here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=3779515093
(These are large 6MP files. If you want the originals, email/PM me. I'll touch up the image and send it to you.)
Thanks again, now stop reading this and go get a shower, you need it.
DrJ
? Just kidding. Glad to see that some of you guys made it across Dry River on Sunday. When me and Erica got there Saturday morning, you couldn't see the rear fenders to tell it was a Z71 and the water was above the bottom edge of the driver side door window. I'd say it probably dropped 3-4 inches overnight. BTW, did you guys find the other end of Erica's winch cable attached to that truck?
