Richland Rd. 'Revisited' Lenoir NC 6-4-11

[carljwnc]

A truly epic day!!! Just me and my little girl headed out for this one, and had some great daddy/daughter time on the way to meet up with the other folks we would be joining. Lots of laughs on the hour and a half drive to our meet point at the beautiful Lenoir Wal-Mart.

But first, a fuel stop.

Oh wait, the station has been burned out/abandoned for quite a few years.

We arrived at our destination a bit early and were treated to this beauty sitting in the parking lot.:biggrin:

Alright, on with it...myself and the white FJ were the only ones on time, Doug and Jami in their FJ's, were just a couple of minutes late, but no worries, beautiful day, and here's the FJ crew.

Our trip leader Larry showed up in his incredibly well built up Tacoma, and Subaru dude was supposed to join us so we waited around till about 10:50, but then we had to go meet another Jeep joining us at the trail head. Sorry if we missed you Subaru dude, but to be honest, I'm not too sure how a Subie would have done out here, this ended up being the most challenging, technical trail I'd ever been on. Yes there were 'bypasses', but even the 'road' (it is a forest service road), was in parts more difficult terrain than I'd ever been on.

The line up at the trail head, Tacoma, three FJ's, one YotaRu, and a Jeep which isn't in the pic.

 

[carljwnc]

This was our previous attempt at this trail...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uD8pBzSRXY"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. Flood.‬‏[/ame]

A bit better this time at the trail head...

Fun for the kids.:ebiggrin:

There were a couple of trees that the roses were trying to take over.

I don't have a whole lot of still photos.:sad: I've got a bunch of video, but I have a little problem I need to sort out with them, so they will come later. This is the exit of our second creek crossing, NO justice done by the pic. There is a bridge to cross here, but we didn't use it.

Doug makes it look pretty easy (one of my few videos not subject to my problem), my single biggest problem that became very apparent on this trip, I NEED a differential lock!!! I did everything the other guys did, but only with more attempts and with more momentum. Hopefully someone else has video of me at this crossing, but I almost rolled it because my need for momentum caused me to wheel spin and bounce into the rock split in the middle.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnNLSb9UZzE"]YouTube - ‪Untitled‬‏[/ame]

 

[carljwnc]

Lunch time.

There were a couple of short, steep hill climbs at our lunch stop no one really played around on them in their vehicles, but the kids sure had a blast going up and down them.:ebiggrin: Little view from the top.

Just before we stopped for lunch, I got this awful metallic rattling sound coming from my front end, I was sure I'd broken something.I was shaking, kicking, pushing, pulling on everything I could find that might have been the source (I thought I'd broken a CV joint), not finding it I was just going to drive a bit with someone walking and listening to try and figure it out. After I ate a sandwich my brain must have started working again, I popped off the plastic center cap on my wheel and...

...the goldish colored center cap on my hub had come off and was rolling around in the plastic cap. A little tap with a hammer, and a sigh of relief, all fixed up.:ebiggrin:

 

[carljwnc]

Had a bit of a play in a 'flex test spot', Larry's Taco does not really have all that much lift, but he's done it right and articulation is very good.

Jami in the same spot, I took the pic just a couple of seconds too soon, his front wheel ended up being about two feet in the air.

Me having a go, I kinda' took the easy way.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCd0_FOLxgs"]YouTube - ‪Untitled‬‏[/ame]

Adams turn.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM-RIW6-ZxY"]YouTube - ‪Untitled‬‏[/ame]

End of the trail.The next three miles was on a gravel road SOOOO dusty there were time I almost had to stop till I could see again...

...A few more pics and video coming soon...

 

[mr turbo]

Looks like you all had a great day out wheeling :ebiggrin:
There's some great tracks you did there. They look quite technical indeed :iconwink:
That hill/exit at the 2nd creek crossing looks like a beauty, especially with that large rock sitting & embeded in the middle of the track

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[mr turbo]

Just before we stopped for lunch, I got this awful metallic rattling sound coming from my front end, I was sure I'd broken something.
......... After I ate a sandwich my brain must have started working again, I popped off the plastic center cap on my wheel and......the goldish colored center cap on my hub had come off and was rolling around in the plastic cap. A little tap with a hammer, and a sigh of relief, all fixed up.:ebiggrin:

Glad to hear that it was nothing serious & a quick 'n' easy fix

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[carljwnc]

Glad to hear that it was nothing serious & a quick 'n' easy fix

It had me goin' there for a while, it started after I, again, had to bounce myself up a rock. I knew we were stopping soon, so as we were driving I was shaking the steering wheel, changing gears, switching in and out of 4wd...nothing changed the sound.

Anyway taking a break from the report today, but might as well ask the question...Anyone know how to rotate a video 90deg??? Some dumba** figured out how to mount the camera in-car. Knowing it is possible to rotate video 180deg, I figured I could probably do 90 too. I hesitate to post videos because it will make your neck hurt trying to watch them.

 

[dirtyRU]

Looks like an awesome time Carl, love the Fj's! Maybe in a year or two when we get rid of the wifes car & i don't get my 90's model landcruiser, then i'll be on the search for a good fj

 

[dirtyRU]

..and i love the old Studebaker! In highschool i had a 1949 Studebaker pickup i wanted to restore, (bought it for $400, so you can imagine the shape it was in.) but when you're 16 with a job paying $5.15 an hour, it's not very feasible & ended up selling it :lol:

 

[Subaru_dude]

Yeah so sorry I didn't make it... my nephews car had to be finished (installed "new" transmission) because it was getting towed if it wasn't moved from where it was sitting. Also had to take care of my sisters Subaru (coolant temp sensor, needed a tune-up too) and haven't had access to the internet for a while. Sorry you guys had to wait around... neither my sister nor my nephew have the internet at their houses.

 

[carljwnc]

..and i love the old Studebaker! In highschool i had a 1949 Studebaker pickup i wanted to restore, (bought it for $400, so you can imagine the shape it was in.) but when you're 16 with a job paying $5.15 an hour, it's not very feasible & ended up selling it :lol:

Guy up the street has a hot rodded Studebaker pickup, it is sweet!!!:ebiggrin:

Yeah so sorry I didn't make it... my nephews car had to be finished (installed "new" transmission) because it was getting towed if it wasn't moved from where it was sitting. Also had to take care of my sisters Subaru (coolant temp sensor, needed a tune-up too) and haven't had access to the internet for a while. Sorry you guys had to wait around... neither my sister nor my nephew have the internet at their houses.

Good to hear from you, and glad everything is alright. We were also waiting around on our trip leader for a while, so no worries. Like I said above, it was quite a bit rougher than I expected, and I'm not sure how the Subie would have done in some places. Do you have an auto or MT??? I'm pretty sure an auto or low range would have been a must have. Anyway, we'll get it together some time.

 

[carljwnc]

In case you missed it, I did update my reserved spot above ^^^^

I also figured out that you can rotate videos 90deg on youtube.:ebiggrin: Ends up looking rather strange, and you lose some quality, but better than trying to look at them sideways. Going to work today, but I'll be actually finishing up this report tomorrow.

 

[carljwnc]

Videos courtesy of Doug and Renee. Thanks folks!!!:ebiggrin:

Doug dubbed this "Initiation Creek", the locker equipped folks didn't have nearly as difficult a time as I did...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKmuWoDnHKA&feature=feedu"]YouTube - ‪Richland Road - Creek Crossing Carl.wmv‬‏[/ame]

I posted Doug's crossing earlier, but here's Jami's.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3ywM2uWlBk&feature=player_profilepage"]YouTube - ‪Richland Road - Creek Crossing Jami.MP4‬‏[/ame]

More rocks.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQiLZpODTAI&feature=player_profilepage"]YouTube - ‪Richland Road Hill Climb Doug Carl Jami‬‏[/ame]

Another, and much easier, creek crossing.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwlnvfB6EWY&feature=player_profilepage"]YouTube - ‪Richland Road High Creek Bank‬‏[/ame]

Hill climbing.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1g-RAQSty4&feature=player_profilepage"]YouTube - ‪Richland Road - Momentum Carl.MP4‬‏[/ame]

Even the FJ's had a little difficulty here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9DfljhIuw&feature=player_profilepage

 

[mr turbo]

Thats a wicked yet sweet creek crossing carljwnc

I can see why you guys called it "Initiation Creek" :iconwink:

Looks like your heart was really pumping too :ebiggrin:

Well done mate, very well done

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[carljwnc]

Thats a wicked yet sweet creek crossing carljwnc

I can see why you guys called it "Initiation Creek" :iconwink:

Looks like your heart was really pumping too :ebiggrin:

Well done mate, very well done

Regards
Mr Turbo

I think everyone watching was more worried than I was. I must say, thoughts of rolling crossed my mind, but I think I was more focused on just getting through it.

...in the mean time, Youtube is about to make me pull my hair out!!!Don't know how it's coming through on the other end, but I get the nice video screen on all the videos (with several tries on most of them), but the last one I can only get a link to show up. Trying to finish up here...

 

[carljwnc]

Richland Rd. is pretty much this most of the way.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsH2lMmjbMs"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. 6-4-11‬‏[/ame]

You can hear my mysterious rattle/clank that I thought was my front end falling apart in this one.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVd3gz85urE"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. 6-4-11‬‏[/ame]

"It's much more fun to ride...:iconwink:"

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIy6IRZZknA"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. 6-4-11‬‏[/ame]

I didn't do this little run up the creek, but it was fun to watch...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj0c90UAJ8o"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. 6-4-11‬‏[/ame]

...and some more.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFQ_-fVLM2w"]YouTube - ‪Richland Rd. 6-4-11‬‏[/ame]

 

[carljwnc]

Parting shots, some of the guy's were going to eat at this restaurant, I just stopped to say good-bye, treated to some more classic car goodness...in hot rod form this time.

My fave.:biggrin:

Sweet end to a great day!!!

 

[mr turbo]

Looks like your heart was really pumping too :ebiggrin:

I think everyone watching was more worried than I was. I must say, thoughts of rolling crossed my mind, but I think I was more focused on just getting through it.

I must say that rolling it also crossed my mind

I can see & hear what you mean by that annoying rattle & clanking. It really did sound like something major, thats for sure Thankfully though, as you said, it was a nothing serious Just a tiny tap & it was fixed :biggrin:

Those hot rods you saw at the end of the trip, as you guys parted for the trip home are fantastic
The black ones are nice, but I think I like the red one the most :ebiggrin:

Regards
Mr Turbo

 

[carljwnc]

Those hot rods you saw at the end of the trip, as you guys parted for the trip home are fantastic
The black ones are nice, but I think I like the red one the most :ebiggrin:

That was only a small sampling, there were about 20 of them there. Some of them were rolling out as we left, some serious V-8 rumble going on.

 

[Subaru_dude]

I'll PM you my number Carl being that I'm never on that way when you come to Gatlinburg maybe me and my friends can show you some spots. I think my touring wagon could handle that stuff, but not the Outback. Not without low range at least...