Rausch Creek Trail Ride Friday December 30, 2016

Buster Stewart, Stomper and I -- and Rugby -- had a good long day on the trails at Rausch Creek Friday. It was cold in the parking lot, maybe 30 degrees and windy, but not bad once we got out in the woods, with an inch or two of snow on the ground to make it interesting. We started with K and C, then did 5 (black) and 2. I was able to drive right over Frog Hole on the ice, but the heavier JK rigs thought better of it and went around. Then we went South and did 21 and Roxy's Way, went down to Lake Christy and back up, then over to the West side, did the 12s, 10A, 18B, and 18A, then went around and did 19A and cut back across on 15.

We headed back over to South property again, down Pole Line, where Keith charged through the "green" side of the Mud Pit with water and four-inch-thick chunks of ice up to his doors. I decided to take the far left side and had to spin my tires for a while, but finally got through just when Keith was ready to wade in. Meanwhile, Tim was able to tiptoe around on the right side. Keith led us around the main loop of Tatas in 30 minutes flat, then we headed back to the parking lot where Tim led us on a nice detour up K and around 3A to the far side of the parking lot. With the snow and my rear E-Locker still acting up, we did mostly blues, but we covered a lot of ground and had a real good day. Tim smacked one of his side mirrors on a tree, but that was about the only mishap.

Looking forward to the next official club ride on January 14. Don't be afraid of the cold -- we ran all day with windows open. I can prove it by the spray from the Mud Pit on the inside of my windshield.