The Renegade 4WD Club (Atlanta, GA) held a New Year's Day ride to the Rich Mountain trail just north of Ellijay, Georgia. This trail is normally a very easy trail. A factory-stock Cherokee can make the entire trail without any problems. This time, we went hoping for snow and were not disappointed.
The Ellijay area had only 2 to 4 inches of snow and the streets were clear, but when we got on the trail, we saw closer to 6 inches of snow, with a thick base of ice on many sections of the trail. There were a couple of long hill climbs that called for lots of engine rpm to climb icy sections of trail that extended for hundreds of feet. If you didn't make it all the way to the top, your only reasonable choice was to back all the down to the bottom of the hill and get a longer and faster running start. Lockers turned out to be a very useful addition to gain traction needed to drive on the snow and ice.
A picture of the whole group at the beginning of the trail. The snow isn't
very deep yet at this point, which is continuously exposed to the sun and wind.
From left to right, vehicles belong to Karen Hare (YJ), Sam Houston (TJ),
Harold Etheridge (early Jeep), Steve O'Neal (Bronco II), Tim Bramble (CJ7), and
Eric Munson (Toyota pickup).
Three vehicles coming up a small hill. This hill didn't have any ice under the
snow. The first Jeep is a brand new TJ, owned by Sam Houston. It's stock except
for a winch on the front. The second Jeep is an old restored military Jeep by
Harold Ethridge. The Bronco II (on the very right) belongs to Steve
O'Neal. There are virtually no Bronco II parts remaining on it.
A close-up of the above picture, with the two vehicles waiting in line while
we are waiting behind another group in front of our group.
A beautiful picture through the snowy trees of the rear of our group.
Thanks for visiting!
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