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2004 Mid Atlantic
Rover Rally |
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What can I say, other than it was a fantastic event this year. Every
year seems to get better and better. With 400+ Land Rovers converging on
Pearl's Pond Virginia again this year, the MAR is now the largest Rover
event in North America!
This year saw some challenges as the weather was unpredictable-
hurricane after hurricane affecting the weather made for a VERY wet
event. The island that makes up a good portion of the camping areas was
not accessible and many of the usual trails were not accessible or just
near impossible to get through. Everyone made the best of it and seemed
to have a great time. The addition this year of having Bill Burke of
Camel Trophy fame come out to join us was fantastic. Many thanks to Bill
for accepting my invitation... When I posed the question in an email, I
never thought he'd come and I was pleasantly surprised! For those who
missed MAR this year, we hope to be able to get on Bill's schedule for
next year's MAR as well.
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The calm before the storm. Only a few
trucks are here the day before the event site opens. The 109 in the
foreground belongs to Mike McCaig and it's a stunning piece of
machinery. Mike is a member of the ROAV (Rover Owners Association of
Virginia) Board of Directors and he and his wife Nancy are the
originators of the MAR. They run Appalachian Overland Adventures and I
encourage you to go on a trip with them. They are two of the truly
nicest people I've ever met.
Anyway- check out their web site and schedule a trip, it's far more
affordable than you'd think and they'll make you feel like family. I'm
planning on joining up with them on an adventure as soon as time
permits. |
| OK- just as Jay was setting up his three
story condo that he still claims was a tent, Valve Dude finds a snake
skin about 20 feet from my camper. This wasn't a small snake skin
either... it was brown too. Great.
Did I mention that I kinda don't like snakes? On one of the work
weekends, we found another baby snake on the West end of the island and
it wasn't friendly...
Yuk. |
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We decide to run down to the low part of the
property and see how much the river has taken away.
Valve Dude takes a dip in the water. The lake ahead is actually the
trailhead where the most popular trails all converge. Later, you'll see
what this looks like after the water recedes. Since I know the property
well, I drove through this water up to the causeway. From the vantage
point of this picture, the causeway is around the bend to the left and
down about 100 yards. |
| This is what is supposed to be a concrete
causeway to the island.
The water is several feet over flood stage at this point and rising.
We were getting a little nervous since we drove back up in there and the
water was coming in quickly. I'm guessing the causeway is about 6 feet
below the surface. |
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This is in the same general area as the
picture above, just looking away from the river/causeway.
This area in the foreground is under about 20-25 inches of water
judging by my tyres.
This is the Hill Climb which you'll see again later after the water
recedes. This was a popular area later in the weekend. |
| Later Wednesday night we decided to check
the trail conditions. Several of us mounted up and went out about 11PM.
This picture was taken in the same area as the one above with Valve
Dude taking a dip- notice the reverse lamps on the Disco. That's a BIG
Disco too, but the water at this point has come up even farther than
when I drove through here a few hours prior.
If Valve Dude was still standing here, he'd be under water. |
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| After scoping the flood conditions, we
decide to run up the higher trails. The property at Pearl's Pond has a
lot of hills, so even if the water rises we have higher trails that
remain available. The holes in the trails were FULL of water, making it
impossible to guess the depth. The erosion from the water draining down
the trails made the ruts very bumpy on the hill climbs and seemed to
bring a lot of rocks to the surface. On any given hill climb you can go
from a muddy rut to a large slick rock to gravel/mud mix. The hills are
steep and the trails are relatively narrow, so it's a bit puckery.
We head up West Powerline trail- a trail I've run dozens of times,
especially during the work weekends when we prepared the trails. I had
even run it since I set up my camper for MAR. However, sometimes things
catch you off guard. |
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Yup- that's right! I dumped Project
Freelander on her side.
I was taking the right side of the trail and slid sideways into the
rut. As it was sliding I figured it was no big deal, just get on the gas
because it'll probably bottom out in a foot deep rut. WRONG. It was a
lot more than a foot deep!
The left rear wheel went deep in a rut and she laid down in the
middle of the hole.
I had the presence of mind to kill the engine instantly as soon as I
realized what happened. The view out the driver side window was- well,
gone... it was under water! |
| Here's after we get it back on its feet
again. Note- the windows are down. You don't want to know how much water
came in-and it wasn't exactly good smelling stuff!
They pulled me over using the Disco behind me, a pulley block hooked
to a tree off to the side- then hooked to my DAP Sliderz. The Sliderz
bent slightly downwards from the recovery, but were adjusted back in
place after I got home.
Thanks again, guys!
The headlamp and front bumper took a hard shot- breaking the headlamp
assembly, but the front fascia popped right back out.
The rear side marker is gone- torn completely off. The dent isn't too
bad considering the whole weight of the truck was on it. Doors are fine.
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After the truck was righted and started just
fine, we hooked my winch to a tree up ahead and winched up out of the
hole. The front left corner was wedged hard and winching was the only
way.
The battery died- it sat for awhile with the headlamps on so although
it started ok, the winch killed the engine by drawing more than the
battery could keep up with.
I grabbed the portable jumpstarter (never leave home without one) and
jumped it alive again. |
| After getting the truck running well and
charging the battery, I parked it and let it run for a bit while I
looked for the stuff that fell out the windows.
Another lesson learned- stow the gear properly! I hadn't anticipated
running trails Wednesday night and had lots of gear just sitting on the
rear seat.
Note the whole left side of my shirt- that's how much water I dunked
in from the driver seat!
Never did find the titanium and diamond ring... although someone
later found my corner lamp! |
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Here's the dent on the rear- hard to see,
but it looks worse when it's clean so I don't plan to clean it on
purpose.
I'll pull the interior as part of the cleanup and push out the dent
as well as I can, but there is a crease in the middle where there's a
brace on the inside- so it'll never be perfect, but who cares? |
| Here's the stinky aftermath.
The interior used to be light gray and now it's red. Note the glob of
mud on the left at the base of the window.
The door seals were impressive, as it seems that the only water that
came in did so through the window- except for the rear door. |
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Here's what I mean about stowing the gear.
Before the incident everything was nicely placed in the back. The air
compressor was ruined, as was the $700 Sony camera sitting on the seat.
The Land Rover OEM waterproof seat covers were fantastic! Not a drop
got through!
The Blaupunkt CD changer under the driver seat was remarkably
unharmed and still works.
All my MAR paperwork, volunteer coordination paperwork in that
aluminium clipboard... ruined.
Look closely and you'll see Valve Dude hanging out. |
| The front was similarly dunked, but not as
deep. Everything in the door pocket was covered in muddy water goop.
There go all my extra drive-thru straws! |
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Here's the waterline inside the rear door.
The rear door seal has always been a problem on my Freelander and it
didn't seem to stop any water from coming in. |
| Here's the rear- about $250 in medical
supplies had to be thrown away. Luckily, my EMT kit was secured in the
centre of the truck.
The Smith and Wesson flashlight charger is toast and my extra shoes,
boots, shirts and jacket were all ruined by the murky mess.
I ended up cutting the carpet out the rear storage area and drilled a
drain hole to drain the 4 inches of water. |
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Anyway, enough about my truck...
Here's Camp Freelander in our traditional spot on the property- right
behind the ROAV "shanty town" by Rally Control.
Only about half the trucks in Camp Freelander are actually
Freelanders, but I guess it's just a friendly place...
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| I didn't score the only rollover for the
event. This 109 lost his brakes and the top of a hill- and at the worst
time too. He had been shifting the transfer case and it was in neutral
at the time so he had no way to stop it.
Instead of smacking the people downhill, he stuffed it into the small
trees in an effort to stop it- resulting in a light roll onto the left
side.
In this picture, Mike Mason (LRMike) pulls the stricken 109 up the
hill while a 101FC Rover at the top of the hill pulls Mikes Disco. |
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The owner of the 109 is on the left side of
this pic.
He and Nate look on as I demonstrate to Mike Mason my special
technique for mad scratchin' on the turntables.
They humour me and pretend to be interested. |
| As the event rolls on, the river drops
significantly. Access to the trails now mean the real fun- and mud-
begin. |
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Baron Wright, another member of the ROAV
Board of Directors, wrings out his Disco.
He recently added all kinds of new goodies and was quite impressive
on the Hill Climb. He's not afraid of the loud pedal- that's for sure.
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| Here's the hole on West Powerline that
claimed my Freelander.
Without the water in it, it's apparent how deep that stupid thing
really is.
Apparently it claimed a couple Discos with rollovers during the
event. |
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Nate got stuck early on- This is the area
that was a lake just the night before.
It was so sloppy in this area that they had to hook two straps
together to get close enough to pull the Disco out. Personally, I won't
put shackles between two straps... but some people are ok with it.
Gee, that's only about 5 inches of mud... hmmm... make up a good
story, Nate.
Bill Burke watches from the background to make sure no candidates for
Darwin Awards make themselves known. |
| Here, Domke lectures Nate about how to drive
in 5 inches of mud.
"hold the throttle and let the ETC take over..."
Check out our cool shower enclosure in the background... Jay and I
had a good time building that thing. |
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The trails were soupy as it gets- this trail
was under 2 to 3 feet of water less than 24 hours before. Add a heavy
truck and you've got a lot of recoveries going on.
I overheard one person complaining about how all the Freelanders were
"all over the place" and "not having anywhere near the trouble..."
Sometimes life hands you material.
I don't remember this guy's name, but hey- nice Disco! |
| Speaking of water-
Crazy Canadians strike again! |
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One fun thing about events like this- the
shopping.
The REGALIA tent was overwhelming for some, but we had counselors on
site for dealing with those who were overcome with excitement. |
| Phil's skid plate on his DAP HD A-frame got
torn up a bit. This apparently happened on the last climb on West
Powerline.
This happens when you back up after catching something. With some
help from the Kevins from Ontario, it was straightened out and installed
once again. |
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The day Phil has lived for all his life.
Recovering a Rangie from the base of the Hill Climb. |
| One thing we pushed this year and certainly
will push even more for next year is the tech session series.
Here, Mike Mason and a rep from Dynaflex give a demonstration of
trail tools and recovery supplies.
I watched Mike and Bill Burke give demonstrations all through the
event and each time learned another new detail. |
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Speaking of Bill Burke, here he gives a
briefing to a group before hitting the trail.
This is a relatively rare picture, as Bill isn't wearing his gloves
(ok.. inside joke, kinda) |
| Hard to see here- but Bill goes for a ride
in Deeker's Freelander. Who is that at the wheel though?
That's Christine, Mrs. Deeker... Taking a break from working the kid
section of the event, she learned some new off-roading tricks on the
"woman only" trail ride and tech demo. |
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A motley crew-
George, Brian, Jay, Phil, Bill Burke, Nate, Jose and Derek
Where the hell was I? |
| Carnage. Ok, well- not carnage, but two
stuck Discos.
Tom Rowe on the left and Baron Wright on the right. |
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A common sight. Only the best self-cleaning
mud pattern tyres could get around well. Even then, it wasn't easy.
Stock tyre on a Disco- Look closely, it's not spinning- it's just
that caked on. |
| Part of the entertainment for the weekend
was an awesome pipe band.
It's not a proper event without a little British heritage in the form
of bagpipes and drums. |
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Angela and Christine entertained the kids
for the weekend- I feel so sorry for them.
Derek, would you please buy her some new jeans? Jeez... |
| As the event winds down, we all join up
under the Camp Freelander canopy for a little Scotch, beer and bullsh*t.
Swapping stories with Bill Burke about Camel Trophy and stuff like
that. Nate is so far gone he doesn't even realize he doesn't have a
glass in his hand... and the creepy eye thing. ew. |
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A major low-point to the event. After
closing down and as we were packing to leave, the tree removal "experts"
dumped a huge tree on the restored farm house.
It was completely unrelated to the event, however still a major
bummer. Luckily, the guy in the dozer wasn't injured. The dozer and the
house didn't fare too well. |
| Another successful year. Bigger and better
than the previous year, which is the goal. Now that the MAR is the
largest event in North America, the challenge is to maintain the quality
with that many attendees. We don't want it to become a Jeep Jamboree or
Camp Jeep type event- If you've ever been to one of those you'll know
what I mean.
Thanks to all the volunteers for giving your service towards the
safety, security and enjoyment of the MAR attendees- without the
volunteers, this whole event would have been a mess!
I'll work on getting Bill Burke back again next year- and I hope to
see more of you there for MAR 05! |
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