Another great event at Paragon

Rob

Rob

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Mar 11, 2005
Location
Sanford, NC
Hats off to the Baltimore Four Wheelers. Even with the snafu's that occur, it was a fun event. We forgot our camera this year, and probably couldn't have taken many pictures anyways as the wife and I took different trails and she alway's takes the pictures.

I started out on a red rated trail, Undertaker. Cracked my axle tube where my wrap bar brackets are welded to. Nice half inch hole in it. Last obsitacle and Harper was one of the few that didn't pull cable. Susan did great in her XJ, except where she decided to pull down a tree with her hi lift. Need to relocate that. She also pulled her exhaust out of the muffler. Anyone know how to fix the gutters on an XJ so we can re-mount her roof rack? Minus the hi lift this time.

Friday night we welded up my tube for Sat, it held up for about a half day on Drumstick and and started leaking again, so I decided the jeep was done until I could get the axle out and do the repair proper, or replace the housing.

Sunday I rode with Susan on Whompum, great trail, her little tires had to work hard but she made it.

The tow rig did out standing. This was by far the best drive up I've ever had, even towing 3 times the weight. It was nice to be able to maintain speed in the mountains.
 
Was a fun time, My brother was along for the ride. We ran wompum the first day, wanted to start out easy to see if any issues developed with the jeep. We had some carb problems, had to bag the 2nd half the day to fix what turned out to be a regulator problem. (need a bit more than .5 psi) Day 2 we ran vally of the dogs and M trail. Both wee fun. Pics dont really do M trail justice.. Jeep worked very well have more flex than expected and all in all don't plan to change much except fix some oil leaks and get a new regulator.

I have a bunch more pics that i will upload when i get home next week.
 

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That looks like a lot of fun. I am hoping to get up there in October for a weekend. How long of a drive is it?
 
Takes me right at 10 hours, with stops and such. Little quicker thru DC and Baltimore but I hate towing through there.
 
Rob said:
I could get the axle out and do the repair proper, or replace the housing.
Click to expand...

Aren't 8.8s great? :flipoff2:
 
Jeep looks good Yager ! Nice job. Harper's looks good sitting on 36s.

JB
 
Yag - Rob was saying your heep did really well.. without so much as as shakedown run!!! Hats off to ya for that... Reports are those rear leaves were perfect...flexy and controlled the wrap?

For the first time, I guess I'll say that Rob *can* weld.. enough to rip an axle tube, at any rate! :D (How thick are the tubes on a 8.8?)

Looking forward to more pics...
 
Rich said:
(How thick are the tubes on a 8.8?)
Click to expand...

3/16"

I'd plate it at the perches and truss it while you have it out. Otherwise, you'll be doing it all over again soon.
 
Rob said:
Takes me right at 10 hours, with stops and such. Little quicker thru DC and Baltimore but I hate towing through there.
Click to expand...

I don't go through DC. I took I85 to I95 to US 17 to I66 to I81. 8 hours. That's from Creedmoor, NC. Going right around 65 mph all the way.
 
You could always go 301, too.

I make the drive through DC pretty frequently. SE/SW Freeway to NY Ave to the BW Parkway is fastest, but you probably can't run that trailer on the parkway. ;)
 
Holy crap.... no wonder it takes you 10 hrs. It probably takes you 5hrs just to get to Roanoke. :flipoff2:
 
Nah, Roanoke is about 3. I've been the way John goes, still takes me 10 hours and I have to go way east. We just like this way better.
 
ya the alcans rocked !! NO wheel hop and very minimal wrap. THe front on the other hand will need some work, the font settled about an 1" as expected, ill slip in another leaf and do a mil wrap on the back side and see how that works...

Thanks rich ! Ya I was very happy over all... First day things looked doom/gloom.... shounting "we need 2 more minutes" as were pulling the rear bowl off the carb. to the horror of EFI ppl... We were chasing our tails on the regulator prob. but once that was solved things got better.... Retighten some belts, tightened some brake lines and a steering hose... Was definitly expecting more issues...

FWIW: I've done a speed course to hazleton, 7 hours, up I85,I95,both beltways, to Rt83 to Harrisburg, to Hazleton... When you leave at 6pm i usually miss all the belt way traffic..

Oh ya i forgot about my trailer tire incident. I have verified that a lawn/garden cart valve stem will work in a trailer rim :) I came out of a restroom at a restarea, and heard a whistling noise, figured it was a big truck bleeding off air, but it just didnt sound right, so i did a walk around and sure enough... cut valve stem.... UGGGG and double uggg... normally i carry all this stuff, oppps. not this trip... at 10 psi and dropping... it would not have lasted much longer on the road... Oh ya I forgot my trailer spare :) tripple UGGG... I had the jeep tires with the same size stem, but that would have required taking down a H1 rim.. or the lawn cart i was taking up to my dad... Luckily i had my tire plyers, bead buster and i push it in (still mounted) and was able to get the new one in, and reseat it with a strap and my $30 12v handy air/light combo :flipoff2: total of 1.5 hours later i was rolling again.... Ill have a spare for the ride home (im still in NY) and some stems just in case...
 
Looks like a lot of fun....so, would you suggest going for the Memorial Day trip or finding another "less busy" weekend to go? Paragon is on my 18 month radar, so I am gonna be up there 'soon', if nothing else I think I am going to start planning on going with the gang next year for the Memorial Day trip!!!

(Or...should I find another weekend and organize a run up there with whomever wants to go?)

Sam Hinton
 
Write up by Craig Scibetta

Paragon Adventure Park – Memorial Day Weekend 2005

Well here’s my account of this past weekend up at Paragon. I left for Paragon Thursday morning and caught up to Greg Mattern and son Reese outside Frederick MD and decided to caravan together from there. Taking our time we arrived at the campground around 4:30 to find the Sitze family and my dad who came down from Syracuse already there. We spent the next couple of hours setting up camp and watching Susan Sitze explain to Greg how to setup his new 10 person tent! After camp was setup we had our vehicles inspected and then spent almost an hour trying to figure out who was going to run what trails. That night was spent around the campfire anticipating the next days ride.

Friday
We all headed out to Paragon around 8 for trail line up and the mandatory driver meeting. Greg M, John H, and Rob S. all decided to go on a red trail (the hardest they offer) called Undertaker while Susan and I decided on a Blue 2 trail called Rabbit Run. Early on in our run we came across a rocky steep downhill that required running down the far right side of the trail. On Susan’s decent a small tree got wedged between the Hi-lift jack and the roof rack it was mounted to causing some trim damage above the passenger doors. Later on there was another tight spot where you had to pivot around a large tree while avoiding a large rock, most everyone made it through without incident. One large CJ (I think) got off the desired line and blew a tire off the bead, a winch line from both the guy in front and behind held him in place while he re-seated the tire which made for good lunchtime entertainment. The rest off the day was pretty uneventful as we moved onto a few other trails including Headless Horsemen which was a steady long rock garden. My dad had a blast as I relinquished the driver seat to him for the majority of the day and I don’t think he could stop smiling. Susan did a great job of working her Cherokee through the trails, there was probably a dozen times I got out of my jeep thinking she needed help only to watch her drive off as I approached her vehicle . We got back to camp around 5 and caught up with the guys to see how there day went. Rob was no where to be found as he had tore open his rear axle tube and was working to get it re-welded. From what I gathered the trail was pretty difficult with John coming away with bragging rights for not having to pull cable on the last and most difficult obstacle and I heard he throw in a nice wheelie for show.

Saturday
Everybody decided to run the same trail called Valley of the Dogs which was rated a Black 2. The Yager brothers who had came in late on Thursday night and ran the Whompum Trail Friday also joined the rest of us (Greg, Rob, John, and I) while Susan decided to relax around camp. The guides had never run this trail before so it took a few minutes for them to figure out where it actually was, which as it turned out had a pretty steep ascent/decent hill at the entrance which tested your break over angle. After the hill there was a short rocky section that was pretty uneventful until right at the end where somehow my driver side rear tire picked up a good size rock and wedged it between the frame rail and the tire. At first it seemed the tire would have to come off but I was able to slowly back up and have a few guys kick the rock loose. So with this trail being so short we headed off to a few other Black trails to run in the afternoon, unfortunately for Rob his rear axle began leaking again so he was forced to park the jeep. The afternoon trails we ended up on consisted of some really fun rocky climbs that made small loops off the main access road. Around 2:30 the good weather finally turned on us and the rain came just as we began playing at the entrance of the M-Trail so we decided to call it a day and head to camp. That evening was the included dinner back at the campsite we all were staying at followed by a nice size raffle. Mike Y. won a Hi-lift in the raffle and I won $100 gift certificate from Quadratec for having driven my trail vehicle the longest distance without towing.

Sunday
Greg & Reese, John, Mike & Eric, and I all decided to run the M-trail which we ended on the day before for a half day and then roll out. Rob sat shotgun with Susan and they ran the Whompum trail. I’m not sure what happened to Mike and Eric but they turned around and headed back to camp on the way to the trail line up. I really enjoyed the M-Trail as it was one of those days where my jeep was just working well and went everywhere I pointed it. Basically the M-trail is a big uphill rocky play area with multiple lines so there were always a few vehicles trying to make various climbs. On one side there is a rather large ledge to climb that John and Mike had done the day before but for some reason I was the only one to make it this day (Rubi Power!!). We spent a few hours working our way to the top of the rocky section and at the top we saw that one of Greg’s rims was missing a big chunk of itself right along the lip (not sure how that tire was still holding air). It was about 12:30 so we decided to call it a day to head back to camp to pack up and start heading home. When we hit the campground and started airing up Greg found that he had cracked another rim which was losing air, so he had wheeled with those rims for years and in a matter of a few hours had destroyed two of them. We left the campground around 2:45 and Rob & Susan still were not back yet, evidently there group decided to run a second trail so they got back later then expected. Greg & Reese and I stayed together on the trip back and stopped in Fredericksburg VA around 8:30 and then got up and rolled into town around noon on Monday.

Overall it was another very fun trip and aside from one downpour Saturday afternoon the weather turned out to be pretty nice. I know it’s a long drive from here but if you can make it up there I would recommend it as it has something for everyone.

Craig Scibetta

FYI Susan and I got off the trail Sunday at 3 PM, packed up and on the road by 4, stopped South of Winchester, VA and got home around 3 PM Monday.
 
SHINTON said:
Looks like a lot of fun....so, would you suggest going for the Memorial Day trip or finding another "less busy" weekend to go? Paragon is on my 18 month radar, so I am gonna be up there 'soon', if nothing else I think I am going to start planning on going with the gang next year for the Memorial Day trip!!!

(Or...should I find another weekend and organize a run up there with whomever wants to go?)

Sam Hinton
Click to expand...

I tell ya Sam it's an age old debate.

I saw some definite plus sides to the organized ride. 1) Experienced guides/spotters. I'm normally not big on spotters but some parts of these trails pretty much required them unless you knew the line. 2) Catered meal on Saturday night. The food was good. 3) Seeing all the different rigs. The bigger the group, the more variety and chance to see "neat" rigs. 4) The raffle was fun. I didn't win squat but that's ok.

Downsides were typical. Hurry up and wait. 8AM mandatory drivers meeting was the claim. Actual departure for trail rides was 9:30AM. Since the goal was to have everyone out of the park by 4:30pm, trail rides were short. We quit around 2:30 on Friday and Saturday. Trail guides didn't communicate at all via CB to let you know what was coming up, why the group was stopping, etc.

I'd consider the Baltimore 4 wheelers thing again. I'd also consider a private run.
 
Also, I know a lot of the local club members, so getting a private run together, with some experienced guides would be no problem. I just like their event, and so does the family, so we always attend.
 
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