Trail ride report & pics, AOAA 7/26/14

    This was the first official club trip to the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area (AOAA) since they officially opened this spring. I've been there twice before, for a 2012 Jamboree pre-run and with the DEJA preview run last year, both of which were guided by AOAA folks.


    I made it to the park around 8:25, thankfully the gate and office were open. We split up into two groups, easy and hard... the hard group was waiting for a straggler, so the easy group rolled out a few minutes before 10. The maps aren't really ready for prime-time yet... a nice line layout over a simple topo map with numbers marking the intersections. Out on the trails, there are markers that correlate to the map. Mostly, at least. Many intersections aren't marked yet, some aren't where they're supposed to be, some trails aren't on the map, etc... The main problem is that there is no way to know if it's a Jeep trail or just an access trail.


    We started exploring and after leaving the map, we found a fun trail. Then drove around some more and finally found a marker that matched the map (741). From there we found a narly hill climb, two lines up with a bypass trail. 20 feet up the trail, a 3" log bounced up and rammed into the side of my transmission (fit perfectly between the skid and driveshaft) and took out my shift linkage (knocked off the shift arm and bent the linkage). I thought it got the pan or line as well since there was a lot of water dripping...


    With some help from the group (and Slowpoke dragging me), we got my Jeep off the trail and to a safe spot to have lunch. After the exhaust cooled down, I crawled under and was able to get the linkage reconnected. Thank you to Bob and Neill for offering the use of their trailers to get my Jeep home if needed, glad it wasn't needed! And then we we after the trail again. I'd rate it as a high black, with a red line to the left. With some (ok, a lot) spotting from Bob and Dave, I finished the trail, with Slowpoke following behind making it look easy. Everybody else decided to try it next trip and we resumed exploration.


    We found the hard group not too much later and ran trail backwards that they ran the hard direction. The hard group might remember the name of the trail, but our entire group finished it. From there we started heading west towards the parking lot and trying trails along the way. Hit a few dead-ends and such but we made it back... chatted a little, aired up and left.


    As soon as I got on Rt 125, started having trans problems. Revving high and lurching. Thought it was the trans downshifting, but finally realized it was the shift linkage backing out and not holding in Drive. Sigh... Also through a P0306 (6th cylinder misfire) code during this. ConcreteCharlie was following me and stopped with me multiple times trying to get the transmission to cooperate. Ended up using a ratchet strap to hold the linkage in Drive. Ghetto and a bit stupid, but it worked. I guess I need to figure out how to straighten the linkage tomorrow.


    In the easy-ish group, was me (JK), Slowpoke (V8 CJ), 92Renegade (YJ), ConcreteCharlie (JKU), YJDave (YJ) and hookedonthebay (TJ) running at tailgunner all day. Props to Slowpoke for making it all look easy and YJDave for bouncing that stock YJ through everything. All in all, it was a good trip, can't wait for better maps to be developed, I'm looking to many more trips there.


    Lastly, we learned that the best trails all have "Caution" signs. :innocent:

    Jerry / Whatevah

    2020 Gladiator Mojave - 33" Falken mud tires, LoD side steps, Zroadz bed rack, Quadratec QRC winch bumper, Superwinch EPi 9.0, Kleinn on-board air, Kleinn air horns, lots of lights, Yaesu ham radio with GPS tracker.

    Gone- 2012 JK Rubicon with stuff. Long gone- Long-arm 2001 Cherokee with stuff.

    Edited once, last by whatevah ().

    A quick group shot from the play area.

    Jerry / Whatevah

    2020 Gladiator Mojave - 33" Falken mud tires, LoD side steps, Zroadz bed rack, Quadratec QRC winch bumper, Superwinch EPi 9.0, Kleinn on-board air, Kleinn air horns, lots of lights, Yaesu ham radio with GPS tracker.

    Gone- 2012 JK Rubicon with stuff. Long gone- Long-arm 2001 Cherokee with stuff.

    We had a good time, Daves stock YJ continues to amaze me, he has taken that thing through hell and back, not only making it on the difficult level trails but doing it damage free. As Jerry said once they get the mapping squared away this place will be a blast.

    It started off slow, but we found some really good trails. Many props to Jerry for leading where no Jeep has gone before and because he didn't let a busted transmission stop the action. If he thinks it looked easy, it's because he wasn't sitting on CJ leaf springs bashing those rocks! Oh, my aching spleen!

    Good report, I can't wait to get back there. I would expect the trail maps and markers will improve in time. Did anyone camp?

    '88 YJ, 4" suspension, 2"body lift, 456 locked F & R, 35-12.50-15 BFG KM2s on Cragar Soft 8's
    &'03 KJ, 2"+ shackle lift, armor, BBs, 245-70-16 BFG A/T TAs

    Edited once, last by shorebird ().

    I had a blast in the hard group yesterday. The guided trail we hit first was a good time. The hill climb we hit was a lot of fun being fresh and slick as hell, I felt like I was on a mini rock bouncer trail. We should have kept the guide though because the trail mapping system needs a lot of work although I guess it has to start somewhere. We wandered for awhile and hit some random trails that were fun and then found the Barney rubble area wich was a good trail. Things went south for me at that point, my E-fan fell out and broke a bunch of fins off. We managed to zip tie it back in with two remaining fins and it was enough to get me out and down to autozone but it was pretty much the end of my day since it kept making awfull noises on the remainder of trails we attempted to hit. I managed to throw in a new one down the street at az and all is well. Zip ties saved the day! The guys on 40's were fun to watch making the trails look easy with some crazy articulation. Jman spotted me through some tough stuff a few times and got me through clean. We fixed him up on the first trail replacing a wheel stem that a knarly rock ripped out. I can't wait to get back up there but it will be a lot better when the trails get some names along with difficulty ratings so we can better navigate the day. Thanks for a great day !!

    Had a great day, Thanks Jerry! Thanks for all the great spotting from everyone!
    I must say hanging on some of those trails with all you modified jeeps was work but amazing how much fun.
    Not knowing what kinda trail we are heading down made it really interesting to say the least. The word is they were going to wait to open until all trails and maps were marked but didn't want to wait longer and wanted to start recooping some money.

    Would like to go back and see some more black trails ... with know where they are on the map next time :) Good day, here are a couple shots, and I intend to go through the GoPro video this week, should show the trails pretty well.







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