I think it is safe to say that this years BBQ was several times better than last year. I don't want anyone involved with last years BBQ to take offense - the weather, the caterer, and the last minute loss of Nor-Hatch were unavoidable issues which made BBQ2K less than what it could have been. The BOD took all of last years issues and member input into consideration while planning for this year, and most of the members comments I heard were favorable. The food was great (and hot), the trails were close, and the weather was forty degrees warmer for having it in August. Special thanks go out to food coordinator Steve Ballou and everyone who donated raffle prizes. Rick Boiros recommended a great campground, which will also be the meeting spot for next year to cut down on driving time.

The Meet Spot
The weekend started for me at the meeting spot about 8:45. I pulled in with the Belchertown contingent - Bill Barnes, Carl Merrick, Jason Carter, and President Hatch. Rigs began rolling in right after us and didn't stop for the next hour. Our best guess is that by the time we pulled out NE4WI had over 50 vehicles on the trails. Rick took a small group out from the campground, Steve Ballou took another small group over to Florida Road early on, and Bill Barnes took a group to a new trail in the area. The remaining 30 or so at the meeting spot were split into two groups to keep the numbers down. Splitting the groups led to briefing additional trail leaders and coordinating the groups, which resulted in the 10am start time. Big thanks to Bob Ackerly, who volunteered to lead the second group with nothing but a few vague maps and some advice (shouted by 5 people at once). The smaller groups helped to lessen trail congestion and impact on the area, and I think we did a good job of making 50 rigs disappear into the woods. Most members didn't waste the extra time at the meet spot - the new club T-shirts were selling well, and all of the sweatshirts sold out before we finally rolled at 9:50.

Old Florida Road
My group pulled out last, headed for Old Florida Road, the Ice Cream Trail, and Tunnel Road in that order. We passed Rick's group on the way to the trailhead and were on to the first obstacle by 10:30. I popped over and pulled up far enough for everyone to fit and walked back to spot anyone that needed help. Most of the group gathered around to watch each driver make their way up the rock. The smaller Zuks and CJ's were able to take the far right line, which would tilt the windshield or rollbar into the rock wall. The wider Wranglers and pristine 7's would also grind their tubs along the wall. Most of us made it over, with a few pulling cable due to off-camber carb problems. Since the group seemed to enjoy watching everyone tackle the obstacle I figured we'd stop and watch for the rest of the day.

The next obstacle was the rock garden section. Locked rigs could go to the far right, open or less built would have to farther and farther left until they simply drove around the obstacle. Glen Loud had his Zuk on what must have been the balance point, but made it without flopping on the side. Having a spotter made this one much easier, provided you listened to the spotter. John Foster was just rolling his YJ over obstacles like they weren't even there (not much of a show). Mark Murphy was making short work of them as well, but his open-diffed friend Doug kept making the mistake of following Mark's lines in his '98 TJ. It wasn't working.

Most of us had our lunch while watching the antics at the big step in the middle of the trail. Once again, locked rigs to the right, open to the left. The longer wheelbase rigs had the clear advantage here - the older 5's were having problems. We all made it without much carnage, but not before a few cables were run. Low air pressure was key here and those running more than 10-12 PSI had issues. The rest of the ride was mostly uneventful with the occasional wait to re-group. We had one or two obstacles on the way out to the waterhole, but the excitement didn't start until we got there.

The Water Hole
As some of you know the waterhole is no longer as deep as it used to be - only hub deep in most instances. The previously deep right side of the hole was to be avoided - most attempts to cross that side met with a very wet failure, a wet and muddy winch hookup, and wet and muddy damage to vehicle electrical and driveline components. Submerging the motor was not unheard of. This year the water on that side was only a few inches deep, but the underlying mud was bottomless. We all met at waters edge, the group was briefed on which side was which - left flat, solid bottom, right side I've never seen anyone make it. I pulled across on the left and made my way back in time to see Randy Bouchard's Zuk plunging into the deep mud. After a few attempts and a tug backwards he made his way across on the sane side. I figured that once the others saw how bad it was that would be it and we'd head over to Tunnel Road. Not a chance.

One by one the others tried the deep side. The only difference in these high rpm runs were who sunk the deepest. There is a Jeep sized hole right in the middle of the hole. Every attempt ended when the rig hit the hole and sank to the floorboards. Pat Geenwood gave us his best impression of a `Yellow Submarine', burying his '59 to the door thresholds. Some rigs had to be pulled out in reverse by two other vehicles. Needless to say, it was a mudfest. Joe Inferrera gave it the best try, taking a few lines before going to the left. John Foster decided to give it a shot and dropped in at full throttle. What happened as a result was his entire fan assembly came loose and shot into the mud hole. On the way out it hit the radiator and sprung a leak.

In order to get John's YJ out to the road before we collectively ran out of coolant I took everyone through the mud out to the road. By the time I walked back to check on things, John had waded into the mudhole in waist deep slop and found his missing but bent fan. I caught a ride out in CJ 1, the president's Jeep. By the time we emerged from the trail there were a few people checking out broken Jeeps. Doug's TJ broke the front ring gear in his Dana 30, and John had no cooling system left. Murphy stayed behind with the wounded and made sure they got back to camp and trailers.

Tunnel Road
By now the group was anxious to get moving again and we headed over to Tunnel Road. One by one we crossed the bridge and the tracks and plunged into the dark forest. The beginning is pretty mild - I didn't shift into 4wd until the trail turned up away from the tracks by the first set of rocks. The tree canopy is so thick that it seemed much later in the day than it was. We snaked our way around the trail and up the hill without incident. We were making good time and had few opportunities to see any rockclimbing. We eventually passed the reservoir, shifted into 2wd and pulled up to the intersection to regroup and see if the group wanted to go up to the overlook. We agreed that we had time before the BBQ to tackle the last (and best) part of the trail. Glen Loud decided to bail with a broken hub assembly as we pulled off of the road and up towards the summit. There are a few good rock climbs but I wanted to make sure we got back in time, so we just kept rolling once over them. The smaller group was faster anyway, and when we were almost to the top we ran into Bill Barnes's group coming down. We pulled to the side to let his 9 rigs by before we made the summit and parked. We took ten minutes to enjoy the view and take a few pictures before heading down to air up, reconnect, and put up our windshields for the ride back.

The BBQ
I hardly had time to register at the campground and put up my tent before we got called over for dinner. The food was fantastic, and it was really great seeing everyone at dinner. Some faces I hadn't seen since the Trail Challenge last year. Rhonda Pratte spoke briefly on the future of our sport in New England and current initiatives before Scott began raffling of the prizes. After the raffle the crowd began to break up, eventually leaving a few of us to watch the keg. Steve Ballou had `Last Call' four times that I can remember, re-tapping the keg each time. After a while even the die hards made their way to campfires and sleeping bags. The Murphy camp was pulling pieces of shrapnel out of a Dana 30, while next door the Plymouth contingent kept the fire going while listening to Bill tell dirty jokes.

Sunday/Old Florida Road Part II
We had expected to wake to cloudy skies and rain, but instead got a beautiful sunny day. By the time I got back from the shower I had breakfast waiting, most members were breaking camp, and the Lambert's dog Hero had a line of children chasing her to play. We broke camp and hurried over to the meeting spot to find that Bill had taken about 8 vehicles over to Old Florida. Rick took a group out to parts unknown, so I went to catch Bill's group with Murphy and one other Jeep.

We caught up to the first group immediately - they were at the first obstacle trying to fix the radiator on a Bronco that had exploded. Hot antifreeze was still dripping from the trees when we pulled up. We eventually got him moving again, but he wisely opted to turn back and head into Adams for assistance. Once we got moving the day followed the same pattern as the day before, only Bill wasn't waiting for anyone. We finally stopped at the lunch rock to have a bite and watch the runners of the cross-country race pass by. Eventually we headed out towards the water hole and planned to be on the road home soon.

The Bypass
Between the hours of 5PM Saturday and 1 PM Sunday some A-hole decided to winch down the rocks we had placed during the trail cleanup to block the waterhole bypass. We blocked the bypass because it is on DEM land and is illegal to use. Our concern is that DEM will use this violation as an excuse to condemn the trail and close it down. We sought to block this access to prevent this from happening. There is no need to use the bypass as the water is now very shallow. The rocks had been pulled down so that most rigs could easily pass over them. I was livid as were those who had worked hard during the cleanup to keep this trail open. I certainly hope that it wasn't a NE4WI member that did this because they wouldn't be long to this club. If I ever see anyone using that bypass I'm personally sending their plate number and picture to DEM.

We started out trying to re-stack the rocks that were moved but wound up adding a few giant boulders to the pile. We spent a few hours working on the bypass much to the dismay of our passengers. Bill's YJ provided the winch, and with a few tow straps, chains, and snatch blocks managed to move about 8 tons of rock. In the process Bill burned out a battery terminal and his winch cable was trashed, but we got the job done.

I had a great group on Saturday and hope everyone enjoyed the trail. Next year the meeting spot will be at the campground and this should solve the few complaints we did have. If anyone has any further suggestions please forward them to the BOD and we'll see what we can do about them.