IM A HORSE - Definitely not a build.

[cynicalrider]

At least the motorcycle riding pants will keep that receiver hitch from breaking your leg too awfully bad. In all seriousness, great thread.

Ironically I actually never notice it's there. I def expected to smash my shins on it a bunch though.

Took my son to do some trails down in Virginia for his first multi day offroad camping trip. They all were trails I have done before a couple times in the Tacoma so I wasn't super concerned about difficulty.

The first trail we did was Bald Mtn trail (also known as Big Levels) and we did that solo because our friends were coming past midnight that night. The trail was easy but still fun.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

I decided to try an optional line that i've done in the Tacoma before.

Tacoma:

IMG_0806 by Michael Halat, on Flickr
IMG_0809 by Michael Halat, on Flickr

But this was several years ago at this point.

And how the Bronco ended up.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Easy fix with a high lift but I was stressed about trying to get to camp before dark to make my son some dinner.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

Thankfully we got to camp before dark and no one was at the spot I hoped to snag.

Untitled by Michael Halat, on Flickr

After he went to bed I enjoyed a nice smoke with a great view.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

The next day we started exiting the trail only to have my buddys LBJ bolts back out on the trail. Thankfully they didn't get lost and nothing got damaged.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

I was curious on what would be ideal pressure on these tires on 17's and it looks like 16-18 or so seems to be the sweet spot. I need to go down to 10-12 psi on my Tacoma with 315/75r16's to get the same sidewall flex.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

From there we went to the next area we would explore and camp at. This is a trail up to Flagpole knob and is the hardest way to get there. On the way we saw these guys with a flat and they asked if we had OBA. So I helped them swap the tube and we aired them up to seat the bead. Felt good to help out fellow riders.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

We actually never made it all the way up to FPK because we found a cool campsite I've never used before. The views at the fire were gorgeous so figured might as well make camp there especially since we were losing light.

My son was really into helping stack the rocks to build up the fire pit.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

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[cynicalrider]

The next day we did a big loop that took us through a bunch of water crossings and up some dirt switch backs.

Breakfast views:

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Lunch spot:

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Some of the many creek and stream crossings:

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Caught a gorgeous sunset back at camp. We camped the same spot again so we didn't have to tear down/setup again.

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

by MJH Creations, on Flickr

And the final air up for the trip:

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Untitled by MJH Creations, on Flickr

Key takeaways from the trip:

I need more storage/better organized storage. For only myself, my son and my dog we were packed to the gills.

The toilet/double duty bags got SO MUCH more use than I usually did because when a kids gotta poop you gotta setup fast/can't go dig a cat hole in every location.

The Bronco is as capable as I hoped it would be out of the box and the suspension was awesome flying on the hairpins, but I def have less ground clearance on the Bronco compared to my Tacoma on the same size tires.

My son is a little badass and enjoyed the whole trip. It even got down to like 34* the last night. Stoked to do more trips like this with him in the future.

 

[cynicalrider]

Some videos:

 

[redone17]

Awesome! I’m headed down to SC from NY leaving Sunday. What’s the second trail with the water crossings?

I was planning on checking out parts SCAR (SC Adventure Route). But, have some time to explore in either direction.

I found Back of the Dragon - which sounds like a fun drive. But, in interested in more off-road. Guess I should dig into onX a bit.

 

[MyDogGoldie]

wow,
that fire ring with the view,
Bagel Sandwich

Priorities Correct!

 

[cynicalrider]

Awesome! I’m headed down to SC from NY leaving Sunday. What’s the second trail with the water crossings?

I was planning on checking out parts SCAR (SC Adventure Route). But, have some time to explore in either direction.

I found Back of the Dragon - which sounds like a fun drive. But, in interested in more off-road. Guess I should dig into onX a bit.

So a lot of these trails are part of the Shenandoah and Allegheny overland loop which is a fun loop to do with some MAJOR water crossings. But the road with this one is here:

38.55908, -79.27612

 

[redone17]

Awesome! Thanks. Staying in Dayton tomorrow night. Planning some exploration for Monday on our way down to Columbia.

 

[cynicalrider]

Awesome! Thanks. Staying in Dayton tomorrow night. Planning some exploration for Monday on our way down to Columbia.

Dayton, VA? If so there is the most fun way up to FPK a stones throw from there. It's called Union Springs Road. That's where that shelf obstacle was.

 

[redone17]

Dayton, VA? If so there is the most fun way up to FPK a stones throw from there. It's called Union Springs Road. That's where that shelf obstacle was.

Awesome. That sounds great. I’d be interested in a day trip loop and would like to get back on the interstate by early afternoon (we are about 6 hours from our final destination).

I’ll let you know what we discover.

 

[redone17]

Only got to do Reddish Knob to Braley Pond because we were headed south. But; it was a nice drive and put some ideas in my head to visit the forest for some family summer trips and do some deeper exploring on both sides of the valley. Such a beautiful part of the country I’ve never explored. Thanks for the leads.

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