NOAS 2009 Members Only Riverrock Run

The Nissan Offroad Association of the Southeast held its annual members only run at River Rock near Millidgeville, AL on February 5th.In attendance were… 

Houdini /Matt and Newton– Red 1st Gen SAS’d Frontier 
Mr Plow – Silver 2nd Gen Frontier 
Super6Turbo4 – Black Pathfinder 
Yotah8tr/Mrs Kamel – Bluish SAS’d Hardbody 
Sudsquatch/and father– White 2nd Gen Frontier 
Irishsaint/and family – Grey 2nd Gen Frontier / Blue Mitsubishi Raider 
Gtcompscientist – Black Titan 
Perna/and Jesibell – Blue 1st Gen Frontier 
Frontier4x4Jed – White Titan 
Luv2ski35 – Nissan Quest 
RedX – Honda Element 
Ricardo/and family and dogs – Silver Xterra

The first group of Matt towing Houdini's monster frontier and Mr. Plow arrived Thursday just after sundown and set up camp. Other travelers including Matt (Super6Turbo4) and Mr and Mrs Kamel slowly trickled in as everyone chatted around the campfire. The weather throughout the weekend was mild and sunny during the day, but very chilly at night.

Everyone woke on Friday eager to start running trails. Some enjoyed the play area near camp; then the four rigs set out toward the end of previous years’ rally course. The first obstacle was an uphill, off camber ditch with a large dirt wall on the right side. It was easily conquered by Houdini and Yotah6tr. Jon (Mr. Plow) had a little difficulty making his way up, but eventually made it only suffering a dent to the front fender. Matt’s attempt was by far the most spectacular. His rear tire went into the ditch causing the front drivers tire to wheel stand about 4-5 feet off the ground. His sliders prevented to truck from completely laying over into the dirt wall. We continued to a large downhill with two lanes. Near the bottom Yoth8tr’s front driver tire came off the bead, but was eventually changed to the spare. The rest came down with little incident. The group returned to camp to find Irishsaint and family had arrived, so we stopped for lunch. Afterwards, the now five rigs ventured to another trail with Irish in his Raider. The first hill had three lanes, the far right being the most challenging with large rock obstacles at the top. Houdini, and Yotah8tr again showed how it’s done with little effort. Irish thrashed the little Raider up the hill impressing all, but eventually got hung up on a large rock. A quick tug from Jon freed him, and next it was Matt who took a similiar line as the Raider and rallied his way up. Jon with less ground clearance opted for the middle line which was less imposing and made it up fine. Finally the group reached another large hill climb again with three "lanes" some taking the moderate middle line and others taking the bypass. A short muddy trail back to camp finished the day. All had dinner while the remaining attendees arrived.

Saturday, started with many rigs attempting a three path downhill climb towards a creek near camp with massive boulder obstacles at the bottom. As usual, Houdini and Yotah8tr walked up and down the area with ease. Matt and the Pathy tried a line but got mired in mud and needed a quick winch from Mr Plow's “tow truck.” Irish and the Raider with its impressive indestructibility made it all the way to the bottom but eventually found himself teetering on a large boulder. Some pushing help from a few volunteers freed him. Ricardo made it down the hill in his Xterra with Boggers, but on the trip back up his rear drive shaft failed. Matt and Jon took a bypass and continued down the creek and were eventually followed by the Titans. Both Titans made it to the creek crossing and eventually (with the help of a well placed spare tire) made it through. Matt and Jon continued on the trail as the rest set off to the three path hills done the day prior. The trail that Matt and Jon stayed on had a few interesting obstacles including a very steep muddy downhill drop which Matt drove down with ease. The two eventually caught up with the rest of the group attempting to make the far left line which was peppered with large boulders. The line was such an extreme climb that none made it. Jon attempted the middle moderate line only to have his exhaust get crushed from a rock. A saws all made quick work of it and he again took the bypass. Suddsquatch attempted the line as well but had difficulty making it up the steep hill with dirt walls on either side. Jon busted out the winch again and got him to the top. At that point the group decided to quit for lunch.

After lunch Houdini and Yotah8tr decided to take on “the rat hole” an uphill rock garden with a large ledge at the top lined with timbers. Yotah8tr made the first attempt, but with the wet slick rocks and mud he eventually was stopped. While trying to back up around a large fallen tree his rear tire came off the bead. Next, Houdini made his run. With skillful precision and spotting he picked his way through the rocks. At one point he was highly off camber saved from flopping by his rear bumper sliders. He eventually recovered with only a dent to the rear fender. The exit of the area was extremely difficult as the timbers that lined the exit had been undercut from previous wheelers. Brian got the front tires up but the driveshaft was now sitting on the timbers. A quick pull from Jon's winch, and he was out. Meanwhile, Matt tried the muddy bypass with his pathy only to have the trail push him into the wall taking out his driver’s mirror. Satisfied with a busy day of wheeling and pleanty of carnage, everyone had dinner and rested around the camp fire. The raffle was held with most everyone winning something including shirts designed by RedX, a fine portable air compressor, and beanie hats provided by Mike (Manass)

Although the turnout was limited it was a fun weekend of wheeling with a good group of people, and some well put together machines. Great examples of teamwork, helping each other out, and rock crawling prowess were shown throughout the event. A big thanks to the owners of the River Rock park for providing such a superb wheeling spot, and to everyone who helped make this run possible. NOAS looks forward to its next run at Coal Creek, and to next year, when we get to tear it up at River Rock once again.