This is a semi chronicle of WHAT we did & WHERE we rode during our last Great Adventure to the wilds of West Virginia. Would have had more photos to share with you all , but weather conditions ( rain )prohibited Speedy from utitlizing his expensive digital camera as much as I would have liked. Hope you enjoy what I've finally managed to put together for our members & their family & freinds. Maybe YOU can find the time , money & resources to join us for a future Great Adventure , so YOU can have YOUR photo & misadventures posted on the cyber world for ALL to see .
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The trip south on I-81 & west via I-64 out of Virginia seems to go by in a flash & before long we spot the " Welcome to West Virginia " atop the last big mountain that divides these truely beautiful East Coast states . Our heart rates quicken as we envision ourselves aboard our quads rattling up & down mountain after mountain , finding wonderous sights at ever turn in the trail. Last year we met some locals who directed us to the access points to LOCAL trails that were available to the adventerous at heart & folks who had a leader like " Mr. GPS " ( Speedy Racer )who could navigate this endless maze of trails & find his way BACK to the initial launch point. After successfully mentally maping the trails access point in his GPS brain , Speedy was ready to guide us to points even further out & across these local only ridden trails.YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
By mid morning the Speedball's are unloaded & READY to RIDE after buying our permits for the Hatfield McCoy Trails at the ranger station at the Little Coal Creek system trailhead. EVERYBODY is excited about today's Great Adventure & with alot of happy faces & with squeals of delight we jab the thumb throttles on our trusty quads & head off for who knows WHAT ??????? or WHERE we will end up ???????? during today's trex to parts UNKNOWN????????? We feel like modern day Daniel Boone's as we rattle & muck our way up & down trail after trail & mountain after mountain. The puddles are DEEP & the streams swift , but we press on & explore & enjoy the Hatfield McCoy Trails as the woods get thicker & thicker as we push further & further up the mountains towards higher ground. Somewhere between point " A " & point " B " Speedy spots the access point to the LOCALS trails out of the corner of his eye & directs the rest of the merry atver's to follow him up this hollow to the " Promised Land " of endless LOCAL trails. YEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
These trails are rarely used by the locals except during hunting season, so we have the WHOLE place to ourselves! HE! HE! Just like in Pa., logging & other stuff occurs between our WV Great Adventures , so alternative routes to certain sections of trails & access to other mountains must be rerouted via exploration , but the rewards gained in being able to ride this vast network of tight & twisty trails, is well worth the time & effort. Every so often a fork appears in the trail & the trail goes in at least three more different directions! LEFT , RIGHT or Straight ahead. After awhile they all seem to look alike & the further out we go the more confusing it bedcomes. Even Speedy & Mike Yucha just shake their heads & wonder out loud " Where the HECK are we ??????? " LOL! Can we find our way back?????? Time to back track & get our bearings before we become totally disoriented & get lost in this maze of endless trails. While using Daniel Boone like techniques , Mike & I look for tire tracks & disturbed folaige to retrace our quads earlier trex up & down these wonderous tight & twisty trails. We eventually find familar turf after a FEW wrong way encounters along the way & sigh a collective " OH BOY ! WE know where we are FINALLY ! " LOL!
Everyone wants to venture even further out , BUT not without posting a few trail markers at key trail junctions . So we use old soda bottles & cans , break branches, pile old logs or stack rocks at strategic spots along the trail to aid us in retracing our route later in the day. With these markers in place , we venture further & FURTHER out across the mountains of West Virginia & are rewarded with trails that are unmatched ANYWHERE!
****** CLICK onto ALL photos to enlarge & then " click " lower right of most enlarged photo for even LARGER version! ********
