URE6!
The annual URE fall event has come and gone. This event is hosted by the Old North State Land Rover Society. Located at the Group Camp in the Uwharrie National Forest, this is the large fall event for Land Rover owners.
First the weather. The weather for this event was fantastic. We arrived early Thursday morning and the day was warm and sunny - at night, cool. It did rain some Thrusday night - just enough to keep the dust down and the trails a bit slick. Friday was the same with the exception of a couple of breif sprinkles here and there. Friday night it rained while we slept and the rain was spotty until about noon on Saturday. After that, the weather was much cooler and sunny. I know that the weather man made it seem like Friday and Saturday woudl be a wash out (never trust a weather forecast) but that was far from the truth. The weather made trail conditions perfect.
This year the event was a bit different. In fact it was free. No registration tent, etc. You show up, setup camp, and visit/ride with those at camp. When I arrived on Thursday, member Bill M. was already setup (in fact he arrived Wednesday evening). I setup camp and enjoyed the silence. Once we ate lunch, we hit the trails. We opted for an easy trail ride since I was still unsure of my steering issue (which I am glad to say did not show its ugly face all weekend). We rode Falls Dam backwards. The trail was not dry but it was not wet either. Enough mud and moisture to make the trail different. When we got back to camp, Ric, Carol, and Roo were all setup making a small compound. As it was getting near dark, we cooked dinner and sat around enjoying the ambience.
On Friday, the South Carolina crew (Jay, Brett, etc) and Fred, along with myself and Ric hit the trails. We did Dickey Bell backwards and Rocky Mnt backwards. The trails were slick from the past nights rain which made the trails quite interesting again. The trails did not have that gooey snotty mud but enough to keep you on your toes. We got back to camp and Ric, Carol, and myself decided to do a little gold panning. We did not find anything but had fun trying. Back at camp we ate dinner and then headed out for a night ride. This time we did Wolf Den, Slabpile, Sawmill, and Rocky Mnt. The only real excitement came when Wil went thru that mud hole on Sawmill. He scratched a bit of paint and broke a mirror but no real damage. That mud hole is realy beginning to claim a lot of Land Rover parts.
When we got back to camp, the one thing we noticed is that it was not very crowded. On Thursday, I bet you could only count about 10 trucks total. Friday night did not have that many more. Maybe 15 or so. On Saturday, many folks left to meet at the Outpost. More CROC members had shown up and many opted to head out that morning. I was waiting on my family to arrive before I headed out. They arrived at lunch so we ate and hit the trails. Wil, Bill, me, and Ric did Wolf Den, Slabpile, Rocky Mnt, Dickey Bell, and Falls Dam backward. When we got on Falls Dam, the trail was blocked with about 30 jeeps coming in all directions. We talked to one person and they said that they had been stopped for over an hour. Since it was getting close to dinner, we opted to turn around and head back.
Once back at camp, we talked with everyone and waited for dinner. Around 5pm, we all headed to the big fire ring and ate Bojangles. After that, was the raflle and auction. The raffle was a big hit (as always) but there was also a special raffle. They had a Super Winch 8500 to raffle off. You bought $10 tickets. We did not win but enough money was raised so they can do it again next year. Everyone walked away with hats, t-shirts, etc. And of course, there was the notorious Box of Socks which is a HUGE hit at URE.
Everyone cleaned up and headed to their camps for a night ride.