I've been doing a lot of work on the Taj, so I decided to take it on a shake down run. I went to an area that I very familiar with. It is an semi reclaimed surface mining area. It was mined in the 50-70s, everything is growing back nicely. The trails/roads see a lot of ATV use and are typically narrow, rutted, and sloppy. Like I said, I've run these trails a million times but never with a trailer. I left after work on Friday and arrived at entrance at about 6:30. My destination was a campsite named Sand Spring which is about 12 miles from the hard road. The trailer pulled nicely. Most of the crappy sections of trail had slightly off camber by-passes created by the ATVs skipping around the ruts and mud. I was able to nimbling stay on these by-passes, which were pretty dry, and moved right along. As it started to get dark, I missed a turn and ended up on a logging road with no possible way to turn around (due to trailer). I had a general idea of where it came out so I kept on going. Right at dusk, I realized exactly where I was. One steep downhill, washed out off camber, right turn from where I wanted to be. This is fun little hill in an offroad jeep, but not so much pulling a cargo trailer. I got out and scouted. There was no going back. I saw a line that looked the least stupid and drove down. I put the trailer up on the bank in the brush on the inside of the turn and crept down the hill in low range first gear. All went well until the trailer sipped into a rut and stood on one wheel ready to tip over. I think the only thing stopping it was the coupler. It would have been a neat picture, but my hands were too busy squeasing the resin out of the steering wheel cover. I changed direction slightly and was able to drive out. At the bottom of the hill I found a nice grassy area and set up camp for the night. It was too late to find the Sand Spring site.
The night was uneventful, dinner was a fillet cooked on the grill and Baxter approved!
Saturday morning started off cold but clear. I packed up and set off for the Sand Spring camp. This area is a maze of trails and I was able to get to camp without having to go back up that damn hill. I set up camp started a fire and made lunch. I was visited by a family (literally) of rednecks. Grand father, son, grandson (2 years old). They stopped and offered me a beer. They were setting out salt blocks. I was a little worried that my dog was playing too rough with the 2 year old, but they said he was fine and used to dogs. We BS'd for a minute or 2, when my dog started howling like a maniac. The 2 year old had him in a headlock and had bull dogged him rodeo style to the ground. Thank God my dog was like WTF and didn't hurt the kid! With Baxter completely emasculated, the rednecks took off. I cleaned up lunch and took a nap.
Around 3pm it started raining, I was totally psyched, I love sleeping in the rain. You know the pitter pap of tiny raindrops. Well this is Houtzdale, so of course it rained hard and long. I spent the rest of the evening trapped inside the trailer ironically reading Stephen King's The Dome. The trailer was buffeted by wind and rain all evening. It started to cool off so I cracked the roof vent and started the heater. At ten pm the plastic dome on the roof vent broke and blew off. I had 2 rain coats hanging in the trailer. I threw one the bed, because water was pouring in. I put the other one on, grabbed a headlamp and went out. Luckily the dome was on the ground right outside the door. How do you get on top of a 9 foot tall trailer? The spare tire is mounted high on the front of the trailer. I was able to climb on to it using the spare on the jeep as well. I got myself standing on the trailer spare with nothing to hang on to. I reached across the roof to put the cover on but it was too far away. The whole time I'm doing a Clooney/Perfect Storm re-enactment. The only thing missing was the pitching boat. It is pitch black, raining sideways, with high wind. I managed to turn around and grab the shovel off the back of my jeep. Using the shovel as an extension, I was able to set the cover over the hole. I am the man! So I climb down, when I open the door of the trailer, the wind whips in a blows the cover off again. It lands in a briar patch. I retrieve the dome and climb back on to the roof. This time, I use a heavy rubber wheel chock and the shovel to hold the dome in place. Back inside, I use some zip ties to hold the broken doom in place. I went back out to retrieve the shovel and wheel chock then I cranked the heater, changed clothes and went to bed. Here is a picture, the next morning, of the fix
At some point through the night, the pitter patter changed to a higher pitch and I awoke to this
It had rained so long and hard that it completely killed and cooled my fire to the point that it was covered with snow
I packed up and started heading out. All of the off camber by-passes that I had used going in were out of the question. Either the jeep would slide or the worse the trailer would slide. I ended up doing some pretty challenging terrain with the trailer. I have determined that the last thing I want is a lift. This thing is crazy tippy in the really rough stuff. I do want bigger, higher floatation tires. I think I will look at moving the fenders up rather than lifting
At the bottom of long nasty hill, I got out the check the trail. Baxter had had enough and tried to leave but luckily I had the keys. We talked it out and moved on.
All of the rain created several new water crossings. This was not here on Friday
The beaver damn was overflowing but the road was washed down to bedrock and easily passible.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, I took some shots of old mining equipment
Here is picture of an AMD retention pond
Much of this old mining area has been remediated with catch basins, unfortunately this site has not. AMD has destroyed Mosshannon Creek. There is literally no one alive who would remember this stream with fish in it.
Overall the shake down run was a huge success. Going solo gives you a true sense of accomplishment. You have to fix it, drive it, whatever, or you are not going home. I highly recommend you all do a solo trip soon!
The night was uneventful, dinner was a fillet cooked on the grill and Baxter approved!
Saturday morning started off cold but clear. I packed up and set off for the Sand Spring camp. This area is a maze of trails and I was able to get to camp without having to go back up that damn hill. I set up camp started a fire and made lunch. I was visited by a family (literally) of rednecks. Grand father, son, grandson (2 years old). They stopped and offered me a beer. They were setting out salt blocks. I was a little worried that my dog was playing too rough with the 2 year old, but they said he was fine and used to dogs. We BS'd for a minute or 2, when my dog started howling like a maniac. The 2 year old had him in a headlock and had bull dogged him rodeo style to the ground. Thank God my dog was like WTF and didn't hurt the kid! With Baxter completely emasculated, the rednecks took off. I cleaned up lunch and took a nap.
Around 3pm it started raining, I was totally psyched, I love sleeping in the rain. You know the pitter pap of tiny raindrops. Well this is Houtzdale, so of course it rained hard and long. I spent the rest of the evening trapped inside the trailer ironically reading Stephen King's The Dome. The trailer was buffeted by wind and rain all evening. It started to cool off so I cracked the roof vent and started the heater. At ten pm the plastic dome on the roof vent broke and blew off. I had 2 rain coats hanging in the trailer. I threw one the bed, because water was pouring in. I put the other one on, grabbed a headlamp and went out. Luckily the dome was on the ground right outside the door. How do you get on top of a 9 foot tall trailer? The spare tire is mounted high on the front of the trailer. I was able to climb on to it using the spare on the jeep as well. I got myself standing on the trailer spare with nothing to hang on to. I reached across the roof to put the cover on but it was too far away. The whole time I'm doing a Clooney/Perfect Storm re-enactment. The only thing missing was the pitching boat. It is pitch black, raining sideways, with high wind. I managed to turn around and grab the shovel off the back of my jeep. Using the shovel as an extension, I was able to set the cover over the hole. I am the man! So I climb down, when I open the door of the trailer, the wind whips in a blows the cover off again. It lands in a briar patch. I retrieve the dome and climb back on to the roof. This time, I use a heavy rubber wheel chock and the shovel to hold the dome in place. Back inside, I use some zip ties to hold the broken doom in place. I went back out to retrieve the shovel and wheel chock then I cranked the heater, changed clothes and went to bed. Here is a picture, the next morning, of the fix
At some point through the night, the pitter patter changed to a higher pitch and I awoke to this
It had rained so long and hard that it completely killed and cooled my fire to the point that it was covered with snow
I packed up and started heading out. All of the off camber by-passes that I had used going in were out of the question. Either the jeep would slide or the worse the trailer would slide. I ended up doing some pretty challenging terrain with the trailer. I have determined that the last thing I want is a lift. This thing is crazy tippy in the really rough stuff. I do want bigger, higher floatation tires. I think I will look at moving the fenders up rather than lifting
At the bottom of long nasty hill, I got out the check the trail. Baxter had had enough and tried to leave but luckily I had the keys. We talked it out and moved on.
All of the rain created several new water crossings. This was not here on Friday
The beaver damn was overflowing but the road was washed down to bedrock and easily passible.
The rest of the trip was uneventful, I took some shots of old mining equipment
Here is picture of an AMD retention pond
Much of this old mining area has been remediated with catch basins, unfortunately this site has not. AMD has destroyed Mosshannon Creek. There is literally no one alive who would remember this stream with fish in it.
Overall the shake down run was a huge success. Going solo gives you a true sense of accomplishment. You have to fix it, drive it, whatever, or you are not going home. I highly recommend you all do a solo trip soon!
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