Wheelin' for Hope

Wheelin' For Hope at the Oak Ridge Estate in Virginia.  I arrived Friday morning to get a layout of what was going on and the location for set up of the Quadratec tent and display.  We ended up setting the tent up right beside registration.  I was super excited to be at this event for a few reasons but first was the ability to return to a place that I haven't been for 15 years.  Last time that I had been on this property was 2001.  I remember it from my camp Jeep days and had very fond memories of the trails and location.  There was always the beauty of the location deep in my memories but I wanted to see if it was just fond Jeep memories or was it truly what I remembered.   Registration went well with over 100 vehicle coming through Friday night.  This wasn't your typical off road event that is primarily JKs.  This was a welcoming mix of CJ, YJ, Tj, Lj, Xj, Full size, Toyota, Nissan, stock, modified, and of course a few JKs.  Vehicles came and went as the sun went down and registration closed.

Starting at 6:30am Saturday morning registration opened and people were starting to stage in the trail lines.  The excitement started to flow as the drivers meeting neared.  I wanted to get out on these beautiful trails.  After the drivers meeting the trails trickled out.  There are 35-45 miles of trails at the resort.  They loop around and some back track on themselves for ease of flow.  We started out going over to the v notch area.  This was a nice drop into an off camber limb that led to a nice down hill section.  We continued looping through different trails the entire day.  Now this isn't your normal off road park style of trails.  These are something to experience.  Not overly extreme but a nice area full of fun challenging trails.  There are some areas for the big guys to play with muddy rock ledges with climbs 3-5 foot tall.  What I really enjoyed was the quality of the trails.  They were fun and non stressful with multiple challenges.  There were areas where you needed lockers, some momentum, or some spotting, or all of the above.  There was no major chances of major carnage just fun off roading that I have been missing.  Things to tackle were hills, off camber, creek crossings, more hills, tight trails, rock, trees, oh did I mentions hills and trees, and some small dirt road sections.  Some of the obstacles are very scenic looking with challenges.  Cj5 hill has a stream 50 foot wide and at least 2 foot deep then you have to climb a rock hill to get out of the stream.  If you pick the right line you can make it out easily.  As I found out, an inch left or right makes a huge difference.  We stayed out on the trails till after 5:00pm because of the weather forecast for Sunday.  Saturday night there was also a dinner and a raffle. 
Come Sunday
 They had more trails to tackle but I saw the weather forecast for heavy down pours and with a 5 hour ride home I decided to skip the trail riding and start what would be a long rainy ride home.  If you ever get a chance to go ride these trails I highly recommend it.  It is what off roading is about.  They are just fun technical trails with views and things you wont get to drive through at many other places.  The staff from Wheeling for Hope and Chris Boucher are great people and know their way around well.  These trails should be on your list to experience.  I want to go back already.  It was just that much fun.

We wheel in honor and memory of our loved ones who have battled cancer, and invite our friends and neighbors from across the US to join us at Wheelin’ for Hope!-Wheelin' For Hope