We lucked out and got a beautiful sunny day for our July trip to The Beacon and Rubble Trouble this year. After a short "consultation" with a DEM ranger (he graciously reminded us there is no 4 Wheeling in the State Forests) we were off.

I lead a group consisting of: myself, Jim Lambert, Ed Boivin, Mike Sussman, Mark Murphy, Lou Kiklis, Doug Smith, Tom Dodge, Brian Seeley and Rob Costarelli first to Rubble Trouble, than onward to "The Beacon". We had a mix of CJ's, TJ's, a YJ, an FJ40 and a Scout.

Rubble trouble is a relatively short discontinued town road. New England 4 Wheelers actually discovered and developed this road for OHV use. We currently run it as a dead end, turning around near the end. The original end of the road essentially crosses someone's back yard! Turning around avoids parading a bunch of trucks passed houses and risking complaints.

We made an uneventful jaunt down the to the turn a round and checked out "Rock and a hard place"., an optional spur of the road climbing a boulder-strewn wash. Despite my best efforts at convincing some of the modifides to try it, there were no takers. Probably a good idea. I have never seen anyone attempt the climb, let alone make it. There are BIG rocks in there that were aching to high center differentials and wipe out driveshafts and steering parts!

The climb back out of the Rubble Trouble grade has a couple tricky spots that require good tire placement and some momentum. I think a couple people took the strap in spots. Mike did a great job piloting the Land Cruiser through one of the rock piles. Amazing the difference offset diffs make in certain spots! Doug Smith and Brian Seeley did a good job despite open diffs front and rear in their rigs.

We got to the bottom of The Beacon around noon time. We heard on the CB that a Jeep was broken on "the Waterfall" with a separated steering shaft. We decided to press on and have lunch there. The first rock ledge at the bottom of the trail left a few Jeeps high centered. It has gotten more eroded year after year. There were many different lines to try, so all of us made it up.

The next set of rock ledges was very dry and afforded much traction. It is still an intimidating climb and has rolled many vehicles in the past. Lou did a nice save after getting a little sideways on the top step. There is one spot where you can not go forward or backwards if you get into it. Lou found this! He opted to pull cable (Masterpull Rope specifically) after nearly going over.

We gathered at the fork to the waterfall and lined up for either the waterfall or main trail to the top. We all walked up to check out the hill, have lunch and see how Bob Ackley was doing on his trail fix. After a few attempts, he got the steering shaft of his CJ back together. Rich Morse and Karl Nawskon stayed back to 'consult' on the fix. Bob got it together and finished winching up the trail.

This was our chance to scope possible lines up the trail and decide if it was doable. There was a small crowd forming, including Andy Vega and a couple others already coming down from the top. There was much discussion over how rutted the trail was and the size of the immovable boulders exposed in the middle of it! I knew if I tried the hill, a few of the setup rigs behind me would follow. My plan worked!

One cannot overbuild for this section of trail. I have seen many driveshafts, hubs and axles break right here. I applied lots of throttle and a couple choices of gears attempting the climb. The group of spectators seemed to enjoy the show of HP and bouncing without breakage. I tried stacking a few rocks and eventually succumbed to Warn power to finish the climb. There was some good natured ribbing on this optional climb. I dubbed it a "Par 3", 3 short winch pulls!

Jim Lambert followed me in his TJ and stretched cable from about the same point I did. Rob Costarelli gave a great assault on the hill, and actually made it 1 full Jeep length further than Jim and I. The 8274's cable was soon deployed. Ed Boivin followed, only to lose a bead in the middle of the hill. No, the rushing of air was not from an ARB line! His Onboard air had him quickly back up. Again Warn power to the rescue. Mike Sussman brought up the rear of the few fools that attempted this climb. The Boggers just were not hooking up at the lower section of the climb. Mike exercised good restraint of the Chevy V-8 power and winched up one section. Over that crest he crawled the last of the hill nicely. A few of the remaining Jeeps played on the approach trail to the waterfall, then a bypass back to the where they started.

We regrouped and continued on to the top, with Bob and Karl leading the pack. At "the pinnacle" it looked drier and more filled in than the past. It was still a challenge with tire placement being critical and some scraping of the frame and undercarriage unavoidable. Mark Murphy high centered and winched over the top. Rob insisted on turning around and coming up twice! We had a great time and took lots of pics and video. Lou parked at the bottom with a bent front driveshaft, and Doug parked at the same place after not making the "skidder road" adjacent to the pinnacle. Good choices, both option of the trail here are steep and challenging.

It was nearly 6PM when we reached the top. Several people climbed the tower to take in the view. It was great showing people the trail and tower for the first time. Beacon is one of my all-time favorite trails we run. We had not catastrophic breakdowns and everyone had a chance to test their trucks and driving skills.

We hit pavement around 7:30 and aired up. Many of us shared the same sentiment of "This is what it is all about". It was and is. I can't wait to do it again. We have a great club guys and girls!

Check out the pictures in the Picture Gallery!