The weather forecast is for some type of precipitation almost everyday , so LOTS of extra clothes is a MUST! Speedy has been tracking the weather all week & so I rounded up all the riding gear I could all week & bought an extra set of rain gear , just to be on the safe side. HE! HE!
Within fifteen minutes the Speedball is southbound with a BIG smile spread across my face ! Every time we ride the Hatfield McCoy trails , the Speedball's have a GREAT time & bring home ALOT of fond memories of sights seen & places found & visited during the course of our mountainous explorations , INSIDE & OUTSIDE the perimeters of the Hatfield McCoy Trail systems. Each & every trip we meet more & more locals & they direct us to local's trails that at times are of MUCH better quality & usually vacant of other atver's. ALOT of the local's trails are used mainly during hunting season , so us summer time atver's have them just about ALL to ourselves! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!
With this thought in my mind the miles click off fast on the Speedball Express & before long I see Exit # 205 on I-81S peering out from the darkness & ease off the throttle & stop for fuel & a well deserved break. Not long after my arrival , Steve & Brian rattle into the truck stop & also refuel & get ready to join me in the last leg of our westward trex to West Virginia. BOTH of them are also smiling from ear to ear & excited about our upcoming Great Adventure !
Once again the miles seem to melt away & a few hundred miles later , we exit at Charleston , WV & refuel & get a hardy breakfeast in our bellies to power our bodies for our first day of atving . After a quick stop at Walmart for disposable cameras ( Speedy FORGOT his digital camera ), we make the final push to link up with Mike & Tom at the Waterway Trailhead & begin today's Great Adventure.
As we pull into the Waterway Traihead , Mike & Tom are already unloaded & prepared for today's ride , having left late Thursday afternoon & camped overnite in their respective vehicles. So after exchanging hellos , it's not long before the rest of us are unloaded & READY TO RIDE !! YEAH BUDDY!
With a heavy mist in the air , rain gear is worn by all & no sooner do we enter the main trails , it proves a wise descision. Rain , rain & more rain seems to follow us where ever we go ! LOL! The water holes get deeper & DEEPER as time goes by & the trails become slicker & SLICKER! The rocky trails are not bad , BUT the clay based trails on the higher elevations become as slick as OWL SH-T !!!!!!!
About 1/2 an hour into our first jaunt Tom & his Artic Cat 4x4 take a tumble down a rain slicked bank ! Tom is OK , but pretty bruised! Tom left the Grizzly home & brought his Artic Cat , not so much to ride , BUT to trade in at a local WV dealership & hopefully get a good deal like Chris did last year? As soon as Tom saw that the Artic Cat suffered only a few scratches , we headed back to the trailhead , so Tom could load up the Artic Cat & head down the road & make a deal BEFORE he crashed this awkward handling 4x4 AGAIN & lose critical trade in value !
After saying good-bye to Tom for the day & wishing him luck in unloading this cumbersome quad, the rest of us refuel & head out to explore more trails OUTSIDE the Little Coal Creek trail system . From the moment we head out for round #2 the Speedball's get splash happy & hammer through most water holes full bore & wheelie across the shorter & shallower ones , squealing with delight as the rain begins to come down harder & harder! YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Every so often , we have to stop & clean off our muddy goggles & glasses , so we don't careen off some mountainside into oblivion as we slam into each & every corner HOPING we can maintain control of our quads on these rain slick trails? Speedy is going as FAST as he can & still maintain a LITTLE control & more than once , Mike Yucha & his Raptor SLAMS in the rear of my trusty 400ex as I brake for a DEEP waterhole or SHARP & DEEP rut across the middle of the trail! LOL! No serious damage , BUT a few times my teeth are rattled & my AARP body severly shaken! UGH! Brian & his NEW 450R Honda is riding real close to Mike's Raptor & sometimes it BANG , BANG as Mike hits me & Brian hits Mike!!!! LMAO! This goes on for hours & eventually we exit the traditional Hatfield McCoy trail system & head up the creek bed to access the locals trails that we discovered last year. YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Jim & his Polaris 4x4 Sportsman & Steve & his 650 Honda 4x4 Rincon bring up the rear & somehow manage to steer clear of the carnage & bumper car action of the three sport quads leading this mad dash across the mountains. With all this RAIN , it's definitely 4x4 turf!
The further we get from the "Waterway" trail system the deeper the mudholes get & the frequency of them increases ! About ten miles across the top of the mountain I spot the trail that let's us access the endless miles of trails
Chris , Jim , Joe , Brian & myself traversed on last year. As I start the descent down the mountain , I notice that the mountain has been logged to our left & the trail chewed up real bad by a loader ! The ruts are DEEP & only get DEEPER the further down the mountain we go , but we press on & hopefully we'll be able to reach the bottom & NORMAL trails??????
As Speedy reaches the last 100 yeards of the DEEP & MUDDY rutted trail , the ruts are knee deep & Speedy fights to keep the 400ex on top & out of the DEEP ruts & becoming stranded ! It's raining harded & HARDER as I near the bottom & NOW the sound of hunting hounds can be heard heading our way! I signal for the rest of the Speedball's to wait about 100 yards from the bottom until I can verify IF we can actually reach the bottom????? Twenty five yards from the bottom ,the trail turns into a MASSIVE MUCK HOLE & NO forward movement & the 400ex sinks to the bottom! The LOUD sound of hound dogs is getting closer & CLOSER !!!! OH SHIT !!!!! Not sure IF the dogs are freindly or NOT I signal for the rest of the Speedball's to retreat back up the mountain . CAN we actually make it back up this mountain trail in these conditions , no one knows????????
With a surge of youthful strength from God ONLY knows where , I manage to extract my 400ex from the deep muck hole , turn it around & get it onto the top of the ruts ! Trying to remain calm as the baying of the hounds gets closer & CLOSER , the 400ex & I somehow manage to find just enough traction to head up the mountain trail & leave the baying hounds behind. OH BOY!!!! Ive been on some mucky slick trails , BUT this MUCKY , STEEP , rain slicked trail tested BOTH man & machine to the MAX!!!!!!! By the time Speedy rejoined the others at the top , I was EXHAUSTED & so was EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!! PHEWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! PUFF, PUFF , PANT , PANT could be heard echoing through the woods!
Dogs normally are NOT a problem , but when knee deep in muck & NOT sure IF these critters are man eaters or NOT , it's wise to assume they ARE & HAUL A$$ !!!!!! LMAO!!!!! With a mile or more of deep muck between us & the hounds , the fear of being eaten alive is gone , so the Speedball's head back across the mountains towards the trailhead .
On the way back the mudholes we perviously encountered were NOW deeper & slicker! OOPS! As you can see by the following photos they were DEEPER & SLICKER & gave almost everyone a fit !!! LOL! Speedy & the 400ex with BEARCLAWS on the rear had NO PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!! HE! HE!
( Photos by SPEEDY )
After extracting Mike & Brian's 450R from the muck hole , it was time to further explore this vast network of trails on our way back to the trucks. The rain continued to come down every so often , but the Speedball's still rode up & down every new trail until our fuel gauges told us it was time to make the final push towards the trailhead.
By the time we splashed through our last mudhole & pulled our last wheelie , everyone was soaked to the bone & TIRED! LONG drive & LONGER day! Time to head back to the Super 8 Motel in Logan, WV for a good nites rest , HOT shower & some good chow! Just as we were about to depart for Logan, WV , Tom arrives back at the trailhead with his NEW BLUE 700 4x4 Susuki!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PRETTY QUAD & good choice!
Everyone else is TIRED & ready to relax for the day , but Tom wants to test out his new 4x4 , so we say good-bye for now & exit the trailhead as Tom & his Susuki 4x4 ease down the trail.
All in all it was a GREAT day with wonderful folks in less than ideal conditions , BUT worth it ALL! Can't wait to hit the trails again AM Saturday!!!!!! YAHOOOOOOOO! Goodnite! Your AARP atv buddy!
SPEEDY RACER
