NC Mountains Road Ride, April 25, 2015

[MtnYJ]

We have planned another Mountain Roads Ride, this time it's located near Asheville and Brevard.

Saturday, April 25, 2015
Meet by 9:30am, plan to head out on the trails at 10:00am
Start & End location: Ingles Grocery Store, 863 Brevard Road (NC 191), Asheville, NC 28806 which is near Exit 33 off of I-26/US-74
There is a traffic light at grocery store entrance to help you find your way. This will be a good starting place because they have a large parking lot, restrooms, snacks, beverages, etc and a Citgo gas station is next door.

All vehicles are welcome. We will be driving a mixture of paved and gravel roads, traveling up to 55 mph on pavement, but typically under 45. Some gravel roads are quite rough so having at least moderate clearance would be best. All Jeeps will be fine. Bring tools, fluids and others supplies as needed for your vehicle. Occasionally some of the Forest Service roads that we plan to travel will be closed for maintenance, so we may have to adjust our route. Know your vehicle’s fuel needs. The entire trip will be less than 100 miles, about half are gravel.

Your accommodations before and after the day’s events are your responsibility. For those of you traveling far or wanting to make a full weekend of this, there are several hotels near this grocery store, and places to camp a little further out of town.

Plan to spend most of daylight hours on the drive.

What to bring:
-snacks and a lunch as there are not many options for food services along our route. The grocery store at our meeting spot will be your best bet for a variety of food and other supplies on our trip
-weather-appropriate clothing
-footwear for short hikes if you choose to participate
-a camera, as we will see some beautiful scenery

Restrooms can be 2 hours drive apart, closer together as day wears on.

RSVP here so that I can get a head count. I will print driving directions for our route.
See this google map for the route as well: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zvClCDTGwN-E.kSLjcMZoxgI4

[MtnYJ]

Some of you have mentioned camping this weekend... I don't have expereince with campgrounds in the area, but I do know that the North Mills River Campground http://www.recreation.gov/camping/north-mills-river/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70774 is similar to campgrounds at Uwharrie, and you can reserve a site online. Also, free primitive camping is allowed in designated spots in the Pisgah National Forest, first come first serve.

[MtnYJ]

Thanks to everyone for joining us! We had a great time with you all.
Here are a few of my pictures:

At our starting spot


Forest Roads were mostly gravel, and the dogwood trees were blooming


Mills River




Cruising along


While we ate lunch at Pink Beds, the dogs enjoyed playing in the sun. Here's Rufus taking a break.


Lined up at Pink Beds

[MtnYJ]

Cruising along


Pretty flower... is this a trillium?


At Slickrock Falls




Hwy 215 was a curvy road


Looking Glass Waterfall, with club members standing below


Sliding Rock

[MtnYJ]

Along the Blue Ridge Parkway




Mount Pisgah







And here you go Lobie...

[Stuka]

Are those Carolina FSJ shirts you guys have on? The original ones had my old Cherokee on them, not sure if they changed or not.

Looks like you guys had fun.

[MtnYJ]

Yes, the green shirts are CFSJC shirts. I don't know the history of the logo... but it appears to be the same logo as on the older shirts.

It was a good ride overall, only one Jeep needed to be trailer-ed home. We plan to do some more trips like this at various times of the year.

[Tad]

Very nice pic's.

[fulsizjeep]

Thanks for sharing pictures, looks like a good day!

[HOOT]

Nice narration and pics as usual. Can't wait to go on a ride with you guys.Playing on and around the Parkway has been alot of fun over the last decade or so. So much to see and do and many many places to just shut it down and "WOW"...

[arlingtonslim]

Looks like fun. I just bought my first jeep. It's an 85 J20 pickup. Maybe I'll have it ready in time for next year. It's a little on the rough side. I'm in the Asheville area!

[MtnYJ]

Looks like fun. I just bought my first jeep. It's an 85 J20 pickup. Maybe I'll have it ready in time for next year. It's a little on the rough side. I'm in the Asheville area!

We are planning another trail ride at Uwharrie the weekend of Oct 23-25. We will advertise here in the "eastern" events board.

[arlingtonslim]

Looks like fun. I just bought my first jeep. It's an 85 J20 pickup. Maybe I'll have it ready in time for next year. It's a little on the rough side. I'm in the Asheville area!

We are planning another trail ride at Uwharrie the weekend of Oct 23-25. We will advertise here in the "eastern" events board.

I'll keep an eye out for events. I did pull my bed off my J20 recently to see how bad the frame was.I knew my cab was rough. Turns out the bed was the only thing holding the frame together past the rear shackles as the weight of the bumper nearly made the back of the frame fall off! I have a full drivetrain to frame swap ahead of me. I think I've found a cab that's far better than what I have, and have already bought a frame. Might be a few weeks before I'm driving....My truck has basically turned into a drivetrain donor.