“Windy Acres”

by Sharon

Finally I had a chance to go on my first BSJ run this year.  It seems like everyone we talk to has been very busy this summer and haven’t had much of a chance to 4-wheel or even 2-wheel (Jeep vs. Motorcycle).  If it wasn’t because you were busy, it was because of the rain or heat.  This year has been tough to say the least.

Paul Kelly and I left on Friday night around 3:30 PM to head to our motel in Plymouth.  It was incredibly uncomfortable, sticky and hot on the way up.  About ¾ the way up (around Bristol), a mustang with it’s top down zoomed by us and gave us the “thumbs up” sign (assuming it was for the look of the Jeep) and the next time we saw them, they had pulled over into the breakdown lane to put their top up because it was slightly raining. (What’s a little rain?)  We just kept on rolling by until we noticed the rain clouds were very dark up ahead and it looked like we better do the same and put our doors on.  We pulled over and raced to get them on just in time just as the mustang went flying by again and this time they were laughing at us. What a storm.  It came at us like a freight train.  We eventually drove out of it and noted the coldness in what was once a hot trip.  When we reached the motel, they were completely without power.  Thankfully it was still light out and we checked in anyway.  It was rather amusing.

Saturday morning, we left for the meeting spot around 9 AM and stopped by Miller’s Market/Gas on Route 25 and by chance, happened to meet up with Pat.  Grabbing some food we followed Pat to Shawnee’s where most everyone was waiting.  We left as a huge group of 25 vehicles and 29 people to including 2 dogs and 2 kiddo’s, and made our way to the “landing” area at “Windy Acre’s”.  I’ve never seen this many folks show up for a trail cut/run.  There were 6 from NEWJO and 5 from NE4Wi and the rest were BSJ’ers.  The Deepwoods Extreme people were not present, because they were busy setting up for the Annual Truck show on Sunday.

As we traveled up the first road, we noted a few hard-core rock-crawlers in an area set up for anyone who trailered their vehicles.  These guys were assigned to do the “south side” cutting, so we only got to see them pass through at the landing area and then again at the end of the day.  Cool rigs though! The pavement quickly turned to a gravel road and the further up we went it became a bit rockier with some good gullies and wash outs.  A bit tough on the full tires, but it was half the fun of getting up to the landing area.

Once there, it became very evident to the landowners, Scott and Jenn, that we had more vehicles than expected.  Scott had to make a decision in regards to the main trails that needed work and were left quite messy from Friday night’s rain.  It ended up that a few Jeeps would go to work & run it, also there was a need for more exploration of milder trails (Class 6) so he asked Pat to take a group with her to go run them.

Having clippers in hand and following Scott, Rosco and a few other walkers with equipment, we started the clearing as those in the Jeeps tried to keep up with us.  The mud was just oozing from every ditch on the trail you came up to and was extremely slick. Those who were trying to drive up the trail felt bad that most of their time was spent just trying to get through the trail and not able to help clear as much.  Between the narrowness, mud and muck, hard 3 or 4 or 5 point turns, rocks (and there were some pretty big ones at that), it took forever for the Jeepers to catch up with the clearers.

At lunch time we took a well deserved break and viewed the many mountains sides, chatted with old friends, kept all the dogs at bay from our lunches (the owners had 4 dogs, plus the 2 that were with us), and just rested.  Soon after eating we attempted another course.  This one didn’t seem as tough as the first one until the end……….the mud hole at the end was unreal.  Only a few got though without a strap, but it took them over a half dozen tries to do so.  The rest of the Jeepers made a few attempts once in the mud pit, but had to either get pulled back or front or both to get out.  Paul was the tail gunner on this one and boy did he get stuck!  He obviously couldn’t get pulled back being the last one and he couldn’t get pulled out because his front drivers tire was wedged against a rock and he would have lost it.  What to do?  Jim Higgins Jeep was the puller and we took Paul’s winch over as far right to a tree as we could.  We needed to get the Damn Yankee up straighter to make it over the big rock which everyone ended up running into (whether they wanted to or not), so Paul worked his winch as Jim pulled slowly forward – plop – he finally was out.  Many of these guys were in the muck trying the best they could to help.  What a mess we were at the end.  Thanks for all the help.

 By this time Pat’s group had returned and watched the mud show.  Pat called for a short meeting and we headed back down the road to air up and fix what needed to be fixed.  Some folks were staying at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds for the Truck Show, some back to their camp sites and others were driving home.  There wasn’t enough interest to do a run on Sunday, so we said our farewells and headed out.