previous trip
May 14th , 2006
HATFIELD McCOY TRAIL SYSTEM
WEST-VIRGINIA, USA
PINNACLE CREEK TRAIL.
It's the last (but certainly not the least) trail system we'll explore. The sun is hot
and shinning while we get ready to head out...but it all changes faster than I can write
it!! Suddenly, the rain is coming down by the bucket and then...
The rain turns into hail! We litterally get bombarded with hail for what seems like an
endless period of time (actually it's just minutes...). Ouch! It stings pretty bad on our
wet and cold hands...
While we're stopped to put on our rain suits (a little late for that...), another group
of riders pass by and tell us they saw a huge pipe further down the trail. They say it
would make a good shelter for all of us. Wait for us!!
Let's warm up with a hot coffee while we wait out the rain and hail...
Too bad we're having all this rain, this trail system is the most scenic of the whole
Hatfield-McCoy system.
Really impressive. Trailos are wide and smooth. The area is wooded but with wide open
spaces letting us enjoy splendid vistas of the surrounding mountains.
Trail no 23 and especially the portion of it that follows the river is superb.
Semi-shaded, sandy, it offers lots of nice spots where you can stop for a river-side
pic-nic or just to take a break. Sadly, the rain forbidded the taking of nice pictures,
but trust us...
Yeah !
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A huge pipe left trail side may not be a pretty sight, but it
sure is a great place to hide! |
| Bof... |
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Wind , cold, rain, hail... |
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After having left the other group of riders that took us to the pipe, we met them again
later (still in the rain) and they were in a pretty interesting situation...
One of their 3 quads had a transmission problem making it impossible to ride it or to
tow it on it's 4 wheels without damaging the tranny even more...
The thing is that we're approxiamately 10 miles from the trail head!!
Humm...A plan , a plan, we need a plan. Can you say "Brainstorming"?
Speaking of storm, it's still rainning, it's cold and nobody want's to hang out in the
woods any longer. We got to try something...
O.K. So what's the plan??
Marc suggest trying something he's seen in "Dirt Wheel" magazine.
Everybody's wondering...Is that really going to work?
Think Honda fans are laughing now? We think so!
Technical tid-bit: The Scrambler is an all wheel drive type 4X4 meaning that the front
wheels only engage when necessary. That's what made that towing style possible. It would
have been impossible to tow a full time 4X4 (such as this Honda) in the same manner
without disconnecting the front driveline.
Still laughing, guys??
Well, we're all set. Let's give it a try. We take off , slowly but surely heading for
the trail head.
We made it! The guys were sceptical at first but, after awhile, they felt so confident
with the set-up that they decided to continue riding that way the 5 or 6 miles of paved
road from the trail head to their campground!
Needless to say, Walter and both his friends were quite happy with the outcome...
Well, this concludes our little jaunt in West-Virginia. W.V. was very interesting
although very different from what we expected. The return trip (about 20 hrs driving) went
smoothly, without any problems.
We now know our equipment is functionnal. The only thing left to do now is to clean it
all out and get it ready for the next trip...
 A
good rope and some friends to lift the quad and you're all set! |
 towing |
to see all the
tricks and infos
click here |
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