By Alan Clegg
Woo hoo!
Tellico is awsome!
Jennifer and I had a great time at this past weekend’s Dixie Run.
We did trails 1>4, 4>6, 6>1. A total of 7.5 miles in about 8 hours.
Trail 4 is rated “easiest” and, for the most part is. There are, however,a number of ‘interesting’ points. There are at least 3 spots that if you take the wrong line, “bad things” will happen. “bad things” can be defined in a number of ways:
Sheet-metal damage. BAD sheet metal damage. Sharp, evil rocks.
Getting high-centered on big rocks. “what is that grinding noise”
Rolling down a big hill (some may call it a mountain) See note at bottom about “easy” trail #1
The first two spots on trail 4 are just “metal eaters” that will bash the passenger side of your vehicle. Both of these have a “left” line that is more dangerous (reason 2 & 3) than the “right” line that only suffers from reason #1. The third spot is a 2′ verticle climb on the opposite side of a stream crossing. As those of you that were at the last Uwharrie trail ride will know, I had my Hi-Lift mounted on the front bumper…
My first attempt up the wall was hindered by this grating sound as my jack was rubbed up the rock face.
My second attempt was hindered by my foot hitting the brake pedal as a group of motorcycles decided to come down the rock as I was going up. You have to “bounce” your way up this thing, and I just knew that if I hit it hard and someone else wasthere, they would be sausage.
Anyway, the third attempt was a success and I have cool pictures to back it up.
Portions of trail 6 are rated “hardest”, and if you don’t take the right line, you WILL have big trouble. There are lots of cool articulation spots on trail 6, and lots of “V” shaped obstacles to play on. It was dry the day we were up there. I think that if it were wet, even trail #4 may cause some REALLY nasty damage. The rocks that we climbed over were dry and allowed pretty good traction. If these suckers were wet (damp even), there would be a good chance of sliding directly into the can-opener like rocks, many of which already have “paint stripes”where they have peeled back paint and sheet metal.
NOTE: If you go into Tellico via the “Murphy to trail 1″ route, be very careful about traveling on trail #1. When we got to Murphy on Friday, there were a number of Jeeps at the hotel where we were staying, and I talked to a couple of the guys. They were from Kentucky, and had just driven in about 7 hours to play. Jennifer and I headed up to check in at the Dixie Run HQ (McNabb campground) and we passed these folks as they paid their dues at the Allen Gap check-in point. On our way back out, we came to a Jeep across trail #1 with tow strap connected to a tree and winch cable being reeled in. It turns out that one of the Jeeps from the hotel had come around a corner, been blinded by the sun and taken a short(30′) roll down the side of the mountain. Nobody was hurt and the vehicle left under its own power, but they ruined the hardtop and spidered the windshield. Minor body damage (right fender and a small crease on the driver side below the door). The only thing that stopped them at the”30′” level was a tree. If they had not hit it, they would have continued down another couple of hundred feet. Not fun. Go slow on the trails,even if they are just gravel paths.
-abc– Alan B. Clegg