Hoosier National Forest
Saturday, June 6 & 7, 2003 - On Friday night Tom (black '94 YJ) and I (silver 01 TJ) met up with Eric (Red '88 YJ) & Doug at the Story Inn (in Story, IN). It was a cool rainy evening but we were definitely ready for some camping, fellowship and beer that night.
We left the Story Inn around 6pm and headed back to the north end of the old county road that becomes the trail known to locals as "Combs Road." It is very important to note that in this area, the surrounding woods is National Forest and is governed as such by the US Forest Service. The actual trail we go four wheeling on is classified as a county road that travels through the National Forest. County authorities and the local Conservation Officer (CO) govern this road. If you are ever caught driving your vehicle off of the "road" into the woods the CO has the authority to arrest you and impound all possessions right there on the spot. So, my points are:
- Stay on the trail no matter what
- Tread lightly, obey normal trail rules
We immediately set out for some firewood, gathering only deadfall that was on or at the edge of the trail, and then we did a little bit of night wheeling right there at the camping area. The silty/clay-based soil was nice and slick from the rain the area had received over the course of the on going rain, so we called it quits and got the fire started back at camp. We pretty much just stayed up and shut the bull and drank copious amounts of beer until 2am and then hit the sack. In the morning we woke up downed some food, and cleaned up our "Camp Jeep." We met up with 4 other Jeeps and a '89 Bronco at the Nebo Ridge trail parking lot back towards Story, and then hit the trail.
We played hard in the fresh muck all morning and when we hit the South half of the trail the Bronco started going nuts in the mud bogs in one of the old cornfields (county property). He got stuck and when Danny (blue YJ) went to pull the Bronco out, he yanked too quick on the tow strap (instead of easing out to take up the slack) and the jerking action of the tow strap ripped the 100+ pound rear bumper off with such a force it went flying almost 50 feet and nearly took off a couple by standers heads. Fortunately nobody was hurt except the Bronco's bumper. The rest of the day was spent mudding in some ruts. Tom and I headed back towards Story around 2:30pm and stopped at the Coyote Creek Outfitters store for some good food.
Page created on 6/9/2003
Last updated on 4/9/2004