Royal Blue/Tackett Creek Hoosier Ride

 Saturday, September 25, 2021

Yes, it was a great week in the Tennessee Mountains. This is just one of many classic shots of our trip. Chris Langley drove this one out himself, no winch needed. These Langleys all seem to thrive on excitement. More stories follow.

Another great ride thru the Tennessee Hills with some of the finest Hoosiers you will ever meet.   Lots of cool pictures and stories coming soon.

NOTE... I MUST SAY OUR STAY HERE AT STINKING CREEK CAMPGROUND HAS BEEN DELIGHTFUL. THE OWNERS (KEITH AND CHRISTINA) ARE THE BEST. THEY DID EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO MAKE OUR STAY FUN.

THANK YOU..... 

Nothing real exciting today,  just a casual ride of about 12 miles. If they only knew what I have in store for them this week they might pack up and leave. But I ain't telling.

Everybody was eager to take a short easy ride on arrival day just to make sure they had their equipment up to the challenge that lays ahead.

Sunday, September 26, 2021

Somebody said I was cooking breakfast this morning so here I am...up at 5:30 getting the fire ready for the Big Skillet Bacon and Egg cook off. 

Denise, Rocky, Tom and Dana......Look how clean they are. Well, I am about to change that.

First stop today.... A neat little waterfall with a swimming hole....but a little too chilly this morning for a mountain dip. Just a photo op.

A shot from the Elk Viewing Tower on top off a mountain..👀..wrong time of day for us to see any Elk though. But we know they are here, we saw the signs...💩.  It was about a 3/4 mile hike up here from where we have to leave the buggies.   Needless to say, not everybody made the trip.  👀

                                                     Break Time

Finishing up today's ride....time to wash the mud off before returning to camp.

Notice Rocky and Denise try to spray me as they leave the creek..

                   Back to camp early for dinner...Got a bigger day tomorrow. 

                      White Bean Chicken Chili night...Always plenty to eat around this bunch.

Monday, September 27, 2021

Well, they liked my Bacon and Eggs so well yesterday,  they said I should do it again....so this morning it's fried potatoes with onions, Kentucky homestyle sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs in the Big Skillet. 

Found this on our way over to the "Eternal Flame"...Jason said someone stole it and drove off over the mountain. ????

                  Stopped for another photo op at this rock ledge...and a pee break.

   Several beautiful mountain creeks to cross on the way....being the leader I get to see the clear water before any buggies cross and stir it up.

    Well we found the Eternal Flame....and yes it is a bit underwhelming but someone before us had set up these 13 American Flags in Honor of our Awesome Military that lost their lives recently. It was a pleasant surprise. God Bless these Families.

                      

      Our first major challenge today is this big washout across the trail...pictures do not do it 

      justice. This ravine directly behind the Four Wheeler is about 10 feet deep.He is trying to 

     come up the trail after making it thru the washout. I have video of several more trying to 

     get across but having trouble loading them now. Maybe later.

Jason told us about a trail leaving the Eternal Flame that we might like. But he didn't say what it was like....and in true Hoosier form everybody said "Let's Go"......well it's a black trail....

A bit of a problem for several of the 4 wheelers and a few of the side x sides....

Same wash out but seems Tom and Dana True have it all figured out...no problem for a pro

     After getting all the buggies thru that little episode Jason said it's time for a good old 

     Country Store Bologna Sandwich...

     And what a sandwich it is......Dana said it was awesome and the lady's recipe should 

     be marketed world wide.......Don't know how many the store owner made. Good stuff.

              Can it get any better than this....Bologna and Ice Cream

               

                 With our bellies full we take off for our next challenge....And guess who

                  slides off into a bottomless rut. Had to be winched out and find another

                  way around for the rest of the gang.

                             But at least me and my Buddy Bradley made it to the

                             overlook...Not sure about the rest of the gang...

                                Just Kidding...nobody gets left behind.

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

      Tom, Sally and Rocky...Brothers and their Sister.....all Super Hoosiers

           We are up early and ready for a big, big day. Heading over to the Tackett

            Creek area. This will be almost a 100 mile day.

    Everybody is glad to get a little break in the action....It's a long ride over to Tackett Creek.

                                   I warned um'....

On our way to the Cabin we happened by the Slate Rock Hillclimb.... A good example of how not to climb the hill.

Our guys ...

Shawn and Chris blasted up without any problem....But I don't have that video yet...

sorry guys.

      We made it to The Mountain Cabin.......do you think she is happy to be here.

      Her and Shawn were great "folks"...and in one Awesome RZR. They were our 

      "Tailgunners" because they were the only ones with a two way radio like mine.

About 35 miles later we all arrived at the Mountain Cabin. Story goes, it was built not that long ago as a mountain retreat by a couple up North. Wife passed away when they went back North and the husband never returned but still owns the property. So I was told by a local that I met here who was repairing the roof. They were camped here and trying to take care of it.

                  Next Stop............Sand Cave Waterfall.......are you ready?

Next stop is the highlight of today's ride "in my humble opinion".....probably the hardest trek we will do all week but well worth the effort. Not many will even try to get to this spot. But my team were determined.

                                          The "Sand Cave Waterfall"

An amazing natural wonder of these Tennessee Mountains. A rough ride to get here and then an uphill trek on foot. Only for the hearty of trail riders.

The cameras were clicking as everyone walked around in deep red sand trying to get that perfect angle. Pictures just don't do this place justice.

It's even another trek to get up under the ledge to take pictures below.....looks like Shawn ran off without his navigator....She finally gave up and went another way. This rock is slick and the sand is deep.

At the bottom of the water fall is a small sand pit. And Tom is trying to get Dana under that cold water to cool her off.  And cameras are still clicking.

After literally dragging these guy and gals away from the Waterfall we headed over to our next stop. The Overlook....and it is awe inspiring. A Kodak moment for sure. Some of our Fakebook posts will have videos from up here.

At the edge of the bluff.....trying to set up a phone to get a camera shot of the whole group.

Hopefully, no one will step back.....It would be their last step.

Fun was had by all.....Notice we pick up trash along the way.....NO, the cans silly. 

If you find this picture on our Fakebook page....click on it. It's funny with sound.

I will try to get videos loaded later so check back...So much to do, so little time.

                    Hope you enjoyed the pictures and stories....

                   This is a Work in Progress....

 

Royal Blue 2021

Thursday Night on the Mountain

 And this is what happens when "The Alabama Gang" goes out on their own.

Jimmy and I didn't get there until Friday so off they go without us and search out the most exciting rut in all of Royal Blue..Thanks for the picture though.

But it looks like Karen has everything under control.........

.Just get back in the buggy "Repo" and I will pull you out.

Late evening Friday ride

So we are off to see if we can find "Repo" a deeper rut to waller in.

Well, you can see what happened...it got dark so we just stopped and talked about it. 

Saturday's ride to Tackett Creek (a long Day)

Let's go Boys and Girls....we got places to go, people to see, things to do.

Hey, does anybody know where Tackett Creek is?

Hey Kelly ...let me see that map. I'll show you the way.

We are almost there guys but the traffic is getting bad....it must be a Holiday.

                                    same video twice....oops

This is for all our #Ridgie buddies that like to climb rocks......Tennessee style

Our boy tried it from a little different angle...he said anybody can do it the easy way.

He didn't succeed, see picture below. I have a video but can't seem to get it to load.

GO TO www.youtube.com and search Jerry Chafton to watch this video

And here is one of our group that rolled DOWN the Slate Rock......but not on his wheels.

Flipped this one, lots of damage...note roll cage, left rear axle broke, left rear trailing arm bent,  left lower control arm bent, etc, 

So what do we do now, we are 33 miles from camp. Well, you strap a wench on it and pull it up on it's side and go to work.

Jimmy and Repo are accessing the damage....Jimmy scratches his head and says ( I think we are going to need some parts ) then some friendly Tennessee boys brought over a bag of tools and a spare axle. They added another wench to the buggie, pulled out a slide hammer and yanked that broken axle out, installed the spare, twisted the trailing arm with the second wench.....and 2 hours later we were back on the trail...and they would not take any money.

That's the way we roll down here in the South.

And while all these repairs are going on our good buddy Johnathon Demmin goes exploring the neighborhood and finds three huge culverts. So he goes in one end and walks thru the water to the other end. Boys will be boys. 

Johnathon drove down from Lockport, New York just to ride with us this weekend.

And the traffic is getting heavier and heavier as the day wears on....so much for the Slate Rock delay. We got to get going if we are going to make it to the Sand Cave and the Old Cabin.

We finally made it to the Sand Cave, now for the hike over to it. This is the most awesome site we have found so far. Indescribable.....Huge overhang with deep red sand under it.....waterfall from the ledge and lush greenery everywhere.....But you better like technical, rough ass riding if you want to find this place.

Jimmy and Martin trying to find an easy way down to the water fall drop.  Big crowd today, in fact there were so many buggies we got log jammed and had a hard time getting back thru the one way trails. This is a "Must See" place if you come to Tackett Creek.

Johnathon said " I ain't never seen anything like this....it's like going to the beach in the mountains. Bright skies blocked out some of the water fall in the picture...we were up under the overhanging ledge looking out.

So it's on to the Overlook and a beautiful day for it.

 All these folks are part of our Alabama, Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky, Gang of many.

Great shot of Jimmy and Johnathon from the Overlook,,.standing about 3 feet from about a thousand foot drop.

Now for a very rare shot.......a selfie.

Wow....how about this shot that just came in on my phone from Johnathon.....great pic dude..

Thanks for remembering....

All lined up at the overlook before we head out to find the Tackett Cabin......

Guess we found the old cabin.....so did the rest of the side x side community. Great view from the back porch of this old place.

On my last trip over here it was not a Holiday weekend and there was only one older couple here. They were staying in the cabin and he was doing some repairs to the roof. He told us the owner was up North ( I don't remember the state ) but he had told people they could camp here as long as they didn't damage the house. He owns the land and built the cabin but moved back to his home state when his wife got sick and he never returned. That was his story and I tend to believe it.

We ate lunch on the back porch, talked with the couple and moved on down the trail.....

But today it was so dang crowded I had to park in the shed by the barn,,,,Actually, I just thought it made for a Kodak moment.

All lined up for a Photo Shoot again.....

Jimmy looking from the front porch.

Guess I didn't get a back porch shot.

This is the whole "Alabama gang" as I call 'em....everyone except Johnathon and he was the camera man.....great job Johnathon...Thank you.

Sunday's Ride to the Eternal Flame and the Widowmaker

Making our way over to the Flame we stopped along this beautiful rock formation for a break.

Karen is grabbing a refreshment of some kind.....??...you be the judge.

Sally just couldn't resist taking pictures of this neat formation too. Sally and Ed were sort of new to this form of entertainment but they were troopers, Some of our trail adventures were extremely difficult. I was amazed at how well Ed handled the technical stuff.

I took one for the team....climbed up under the overhanging rock to get this neat shot...

Yeah....that's right.....I'm the oldest one in the bunch.

Got back down in time to clean my windshield....I get all the dust being in the back but Jimmy and I have the pro series radios so he leads and I do clean up in case someone has a problem with the terrain. Only dust today is on the gravel roads, plenty wet in the woods.

    Kelly, Repo, Jimmy, Martin and Barbara giving Johnathon a hard time I think....They all         enjoyed picking on the kid from New York...

        Looks like Jimmy is preaching to the choir but only one is listening........lets go guys.

               On our way to the Eternal Flame and Martin showed up a short cut thru the creek.

                    Ya' gotta love these Tennessee creeks. Skinny Dippin' anybody?

Here we go again,,,,made it to the Flame but so did everybody else..... biggest crowd of riders

I have ever seen over in these hills. This sport has become huge,  guess we should have invested in Polaris and Can-Am long ago.

      Just a bunch of good ol' boys and girls standing around watching a fire that burns 24-7 but it ain't about the Destination, it's all about the Journey.

The creek crossing were a little longer than usual....Heavy rains over here this past week..

  Final trek for the day....to see if we can get to the top of the "Widow Maker", an extremely difficult trail and only for the fool hearted...guess that's us but the girls all bailed and said no thanks.....we'll just watch.

   Well, we made it within about 50 feet of the crest and the trail became log jammed with buggies that couldn't get down the other side.....which is actually the Widow Maker side.

It was too late in the day to take a chance on getting stuck and not getting back down so we headed back to camp.....actually I heard Jack calling me.

       One mistake and you roll off the mountain.....the green bag on the back is a "Pack it In-Pack it Out" trash bag....We do best to keep the trails clean.

    We saw this big Elk on our way back off the mountain....saw some wild pigs today too but   I didn't get a picture in time,,,Thanks to Karen that I got this picture..