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offroad-list Digest Mon, 10 Apr 2000 Volume: 2000 Issue: 046

In This Issue:
SAXE Pre-run, April 7 - 9
ADMIN: Ford employee in Atlanta?

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From: BLUESKY636 aol.com
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 22:47:39 EDT
Subject: SAXE Pre-run, April 7 - 9

Fellow Ford Expedition owners Tom Cody and Mike Wolfe (who are helping me
with the Second Annual Xpedition Expedition (SAXE) joined me in the Dry River
Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest (Virginia) to
pre-run the SAXE trails. We had a great time with every type of weather
imaginable.

We all arrived in Harrisonburg, VA around noon on Friday and after having
lunch and checking out the dinner location, we headed out to the trails. The
weather was gorgeous: sunny and warm.

The first trail we ran on Friday was Kephart Run. Kephart Run is a narrow,
rough, and rocky road (it is NOT part of the SAXE) that follows Kephart Run
into the forest and up the mountain. The road winds in and out of the trees
and has several areas where you have to inch your way through two close set

trees. It is amazing how tight a spot the Expedition will get through with a
good spotter helping out! There are also several off-camber and potholed
spots that cause you to lift a wheel. We made it pretty far up the trail and
came within a few hundred feet of the waterfall. The waterfall is a rock
outcropping that both the stream and road go over. It is quite steep and
rough. Our path was blocked by two stream crossings with quite large (2- 3
foot boulders). We had to turn around, which in itself is quite a challenge
for an Expedition on a narrow trail. We decided to pass up a side trail that
was a steep downhill with a very eroded and potholed section at the bottom
that would have presented a problem climbing back up. Maybe next trip.

Our next stop was Old Route 33 ( part of Saturday's SAXE trail ride). Old Rt.
33 begins and ends on US 33 and is a graded dirt road that climbs through the
mountain with many twists and turns before going back down to US 33. There is
one tight, slightly off-camber turn where the SAXE participants will get to
learn the value of a spotter (someone who directs you through the tight
spots). Old Rt. 33 is an easy and very scenic road.

Our last stop on Friday was the Dry River stream crossing. At this time of
the year, the Dry River is fairly full with the water coming up a little
above the Expedition's running boards. We got some great photos of the trucks
crossing the river. Unfortunately, the road past the reservoir was closed (I
need to find out why).

Friday ended with a big meal and drinks at the Harrisonburg Red Lobster. YUM!

Saturday morning dawned sunny and warm, too. This was soon to change. We met
up with some friends of mine (Keith Holman, Chevy Blazer and Jamey Lawrence,
Jeep TJ) in Rawley Springs. Since this was an Expedition trip, we christened
their vehicles honorary Fords.

We headed off to what will be the easy trail ride of Saturday (May 20),
Dunkle Hollow Road and Stone Camp Road. By the time we got to the Dunkle
Hollow trail head, the temperature had started to drop. When we got down to
Switzer Reservoir, it had gotten quite windy, though still sunny. Dunkle
Hollow Road starts out as a graded road that gradually gets rougher and
rougher as it winds down the mountain, through the hollow, and back up the
mountain. We stopped at a couple of scenic turnouts and at one of them met up
with some other fourwheelers out for a drive. While we were stopped, we
cleaned up a couple of campsites. Always a good thing to do. We then headed
up the switchbacks to the top of the mountain to Flagpole Knob and lunch. By
the time we got to Flagpole Knob, it had really gotten cold and windy (around
freezing) and started to rain with a few snow flurries.

After eating, we headed down the mountain via Stone Camp Road. Stone Camp....

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