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With the help of Mike and Nancy McCaig from Appalachian Overland Avdentures as well as Mike and Cyndy Boggs, we converged upon the tiny town of Ghent, West Virginia for a unique adventure. Mixing a Bed and Breakfast weekend with wheelin' is something that probably appealed to a wider range of attendees than a hardcore camping trip. Turns out that the formula worked VERY well and the ladies appreciated the off-roading hobby more than anticipated- especially when they got a chance behind the wheel.

This is the house where our group stayed, but is only one of several houses on the compound.

This particular house had a large dining room and great room to accommodate our large group. Each bedroom was quite different and uniquely decorated.

The first day, we converged upon a gas station parking lot to meet up and gas up for a half-day of trails before we settle in at Foxwood. Although Ghent is in the middle of nowhere and people were coming from as far away as Canada (lots of Canadians!), we all made it there and met up at the predetermined time.

"Bossman" Mike McCaig in the yellow hat and "Trail Boss" Mike Boggs in the green hat by the LR3. Mike M. would run the back of the group in his uber-cool 110 while Mike B. led the way in his extremely well equipped D90.

The usual discussions about trail etiquette, spotting and radio communications went on and the usual scoping out of each other's rides and mods.

I must admit- Nate's LR3 was the first one I got a chance to crawl around on, and it's definitely a nice ride. But how are they off-road?

Unfortunately, the brush was tighter in some areas than we had hoped for and some pin striping of paint from the branches was a little more harsh than we hoped for. Hopefully nobody had any deep marks-

The only recovery of the day was one of the Freelanders loaded up the tyre tread on a climb involving lots of wet leaves and mud. All it needed was a little tug to get it going. I think all it needed was a good tyre spin to clear the tread.

The LR3 had some issues on that same climb. The traction control was confused when all four wheels equally lost traction. I'll post a video of that when I have a chance to edit it down to a reasonable size. Although most LR3's won't see many trails, the choice of Goodyear Wranglers by Land Rover was not exactly helpful.

The LR3 approach and departure angles made it a breeze to pass through this rocky creek bed v-ditch. The DII's both tapped their back ends and both were sporting aftermarket front bumpers which just barely cleared.

Relaxing on one of several comfy couches- the selection of various fine sprits comes out.

A Scotch contest erupts- comparing the 10, 12 and 15 year Glenfiddich. Sometimes you discover that you like the cheap stuff, too...  right?

8AM comes early, but not too bad considering the accommodations and comfy beds.

One of the hardest parts of multi-day off-road events is getting up early in the morning and not feeling beaten to death. Camping is fun and all, but THIS is the way to go. Waking up refreshed and having a hot shower makes all the difference.

Having breakfast on the table after a good night of sleep and a nice hot shower- priceless!

Sometimes Land Rover people are accused of being 'high brow' by owners of less sophisticated trail rigs, but maybe it's just because we see the value in quality? 

The trails were wet and sloppy in places, just as we like them.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one who looked at the other side of the creek and wondered if we'd be breaking out a winch.

Here's Deeker taking a run at it- He decided to take on the rock instead of riding up the Left side. Ballsy move, but since he had sliders he was able to avoid damage. The rock was a LOT bigger than it looked from the other side of the creek.

This rock made believers out of the people running the DAP Sliderz on their Freelanders. The Disco II sills just barely cleared and Joe's D1 didn't seem to have a problem.

Appalachian Overland tours are all inclusive- so we break for lunch and everything is provided. Hot tea, sandwiches and even a little cheesecake and champagne to top it off.

Although not visible from this angle- the entire descent is straddling a deep v-ditch. Several sections of this long descent are at the very limits of adhesion on the tyres and a slip to either side would drop into the v-ditch.

Everyone made it just fine, but you should have seen the looks on their faces. Mike McCaig has a party trick he sometimes does where he turns off and drops down the side of the hill just on this side of Nate's LR3 in this pic. It requires crossing the v-ditch, going horrible off-camber, then dropping down a ramp so steep we couldn't climb it on foot.

If you go wheelin with AOA, ask Mike if he'll try the 'hard side' in his 110. It was too risky to try it this time because the off-camber section was too slick.

Vandals!  Vandals strike my Discovery!

I think several people had something to do with this. Having recently 'gone legit' and married the lovely and talented Miss Angela just a couple weeks before the trip, now everyone on highways 64 and 81 will know as we head home.

Note the snorkel- I have to turn the head backwards and lower it as much as possible to keep it from getting snatched off by low branches. It came off once already and luckily didn't get crushed by the Discovery following me.

If you have broadband internet access, there's a set of galleries with TONS of pictures of this event posted at http://www.muddyoval.com/mosf

The weather varied widely throughout the day with light rain, light sleet and snow.

Everyone in the group had such a great attitude and sense of humour that the weather was never an issue.

As usual for this group, everyone approached it with a sense of humour and before you know it- we were back in action. I think the only reason Nate was smiling here is because this may be the justification he needs to order the UK-only mud tyres that BFG makes for the LR3 HSE. Either that or he has NO idea how much those stupid Goodyears cost to replace.

All the Rovers were parked on a side road as we all decided whether to take on another trail, while some people had decided to start their lengthy drives home.

While standing around, we heard someone gunning HARD on an engine and turned around just in time to watch a Blazer lose control while passing another car on a curve. He had it floored and it was as if the world was in slow motion as he over-corrected twice and launched through the air, clipping a fence with about three feet of clear air under the tyres.

The Blazer spun and bounced as it slid sideways, finally doing 3/4 of a roll and coming to rest on the passenger side.

The kid driving was a lucky SOB since there were multiple EMT kits and fire extinguishers on the scene in about 10 seconds after his dad's Blazer came to rest. Oil leaking onto the catalytic converters made us a bit nervous, but even worse- we couldn't get the doors open to free the trapped driver.

After the locals arrived to take over, we realized how much worse it could have been if he would have lost control just slightly earlier in the turn. He missed Mike Boggs' D90 by 20 feet and many people were standing near it.

Luckily- the kid was fine, but his father may have cause a little further trauma later on.

The whole weekend was fantastic and really set the stage for a series of events like it over the coming years. We definitely will be scheduling another Muddy Oval Spring Fling with AOA- and as usual, we will strive to improve on what already was a great event. Keep in mind that we have to try to keep the number of trucks to a reasonable, manageable amount so keep an eye on the site for when we begin taking reservations for the Second Annual MOSF.

Thanks again to everyone for coming- I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did and I hope the dents in your sills come out easily. Maybe we'll get a sponsor to offer a group buy on sliders before next year.