MCJ @ Hotsprings, NC March 2012

#1
Well, this Awesome trip started off similar to our last one… waking up early on a Friday morning to hit the road! Andrea, Weston and I met Tripp, Conner, Larry, and Burgundy at Hardees in Newberry around 8am Friday morning. While eating breakfast we realized we forgot to put the memory card in the camera, so a quick trip to CVS got us another one. We headed out of Newberry around 9am and met up with Greg at the First Rest Stop in NC. That made our convoy 4 jeeps and a KLR 650. We made our way north on 26 and got to Erwin around 12. We were all a little hungry and we noticed there was a sign near the interstate for a “choo choo café”… So we decided to give it a whirl. It was a furniture store turned Sandwich shop, but the food was pretty good and they had Free Punch… How can you go wrong!! We also met Dale and Kent in their 2012 JK here where they joined us for lunch and then hopped in the convoy over to Horse Creek.

We reached the Horse Creek Trail head and aired down.
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Horse Creek turned out to be a pretty fun trail with some ledges, lots of rocks, a few creek crossings and a great view at the top.
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Along the way we got out to stop for a break and to take some pictures and Larry managed to sheer the front output off his RC transfercase… way to start the weekend Larry… haha. A few of the rocky sections gave me some trouble towing the trailer because it was so wet, but with the front locked in I was able to drag the trailer over them. We all had a bit of fun at the end of the trail by the lookout on the ledges that were there, somehow I didn’t get any pics of it but I know there were some taken.
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After everyone reached the lookout we went out to take in the view. We had some snacks at the top and read the memorials to a kid that died last year on the outlook.
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We then headed back down the trail, some of us faster than others, I think Larry was practicing for KOH 2013 from the comments I have heard. The weather was still looking good as we returned down to the trailhead but that began to change as we hit the road. Somehow when we got started again Weston on the KLR took a wrong turn that led him down a cool dirt road and he thought we had left him so he followed his GPS back to Hotsprings via some pretty crazy backroads. We made our way back to camp after grabbing some fuel at a local station.

As We pulled back into camp the Lightning had started and it was looking gloomy. By the time I got out of the jeep it seemed like a hurricane was coming so we all agreed we would cook sat night and head to town for dinner that night. We had dinner at the Iron Horse Station Restaurant, which again didn’t disappoint. We sat and chatted for a while and waited on the rain to slow down before we headed back to camp to enjoy the campfire.
 
#2
Saturday Morning we woke to clear skies and warm weather, with the river right next to camp it was a great spring morning in the mountains for sure!! Don’t know if anyone got any pics of it, but we made a Hashbrown, sausage, egg, and cheese casserole in the camp ovens.
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While chatting over breakfast we decided our first stop would be Paint Rock. The trail we were planning to run opens March 15, but we were unsure if the gate would be open, but the Overlook is always open so we decided to start there. At first when you pull up to Paint Rock it looks like a really cool rock wall on the side of the river, but then you find out we are going to the TOP, it’s a slippery little hiking trail with some steep climbs but the view at the end is well worth the struggle. The top yields views of the river and the surrounding valley. You can also work your way down the ridge and climb some of the taller rocks as well.
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#3
When we got our fill of the overlook we headed up paint creek to check out the two waterfalls along the road.
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After the waterfalls we had a long climb up the gravel road to the trail all in hopes that our trail gate would be open… well IT WAS!! So some of the group unhooked swaybars and Weston aired down on the KLR and we motored on up the trail. The first bit of the trail is old logging road and pretty uneventful other than some small mud puddles and some off camber hills. Then we get to some steeper hills with deep ruts and mud and that’s where the trail really gets fun. I was the first to climb up then the group followed, I wish I had gotten a picture of Weston on the KLR knee deep as he bogged his way through the mud at the bottom of the hill then gassed it up thehill like a boss. The two open rigs needed a slight tug to get up the hill, but the JK and other locked rigs were able to crawl up it with little wheel spin.
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#4
Those last pictures in the previous post were of a little puddle before the big momma that really turned our fun up a notch thanks to Cole. After we come through that little puddle, we turn a small corner to find this...
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Most of the group went around, but Cole decided to give it a go, he tiptoed in a few times..
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and then when we though he was going around, he goes all greenwood mudbog on us and.... it shuts off
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Time to pull the plugs and dry out the intake manifold with shop rags
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#5
I didnt get any pics of the revival under Coles Hood, but I know Stacy and some others did. The rest of the trail was steep and rocky with some slippery rocks. Greg, Larry and I ended up helping Weston mustle the KLR up some of the climbs. We came to a field where we had turned around last fall and we stopped for lunch. It was around 2:30 if I remember right. We had lunch and decided we would push on towards the fire tower. There was some mud, tight turns, and rocky climbs along the trail and we eventually came out on a forest service road that leads to the fire tower.
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Boy what a view, it was 360* views of TN and NC. If it had been a bit clearer I feel like I could have seen my house from there...

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#6
I want to thank everyone who came for making it a GREAT trip. I had an AWESOME time!!! I know there are thousands more pictures yall took so post them up. We had great weather with a little rain thrown in for good measure but it was AWESOME!. Thanks again guys!!!

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#9
Brooks, both the pictures i've seen of you and andrea at the tower, one of you is looking at the right camera and the others look at another


looks like a cool place though
 
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