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Just a heads up to everyone that the dates for the VA Rally (aka: Graves Mountain MV Trailrides and Rally) are August 30-Sept 4, 2012.
Same basic plan as last year, just with a LOT of new trails over on Doubletop and Graves Mountains (Steve's crew has been super busy cutting new ones for us, and in generating a GPS/photo map of the area with all the trails for us to use).

The nice thing is that we get to use all the Lodge facilities for the rally, and there are a lot of things for families to do so if folks don't want to OD on the green vehicles or trailrides, they don't have to, they can hike, hang out at the pool, tour the nearby wineries/antique shops/historic sites, shop, horseback ride (extra fee), etc...

We also will be having truck games on Saturday afternoon (so that folks have something to do while the pig is cooking).

Trails run from very mild to a tad wild so you can choose the level of difficulty that you want to run. We'll also be doing some convoys on the local county/state roads (mixed paved and gravel), low water fords, etc...

Hope to see a bunch of you in late August,

Registration and other info is located on the event website at http://www.gravesmountaintrailrides.com/

THANKS CGARBEE, Keeping us posted is great...I ALWAYS like to know about these events.thanks again, VT

I misunderstood you VT....I thought the rally was in Vermont, not VA. My bad. Now THAT sounds like a good time!!

regards,
bob

Bob,
It is confusing! There is also a Rally in Vermont. Must be a V-state thing!
Tim

I plan on being there - been there past 3 years and it's pretty awesome! Lots of well-maintained trails, plenty of other stuff to do for the family, great camping area and good people. IF you have a military vehicle, or a vintage 4x4, this is a great event, gotta give it a shot, folks.

I was asked about vehicle size vs trail size...

We have some trails that you can take a five ton on (I have taken my XM813 on a couple...), we have some that are limited to a pickup (I think that you could get a Unimog down them though...just have not tried one yet...).

Only issue that we have on the trails as far as truck size is that a couple of them have tight turns (which we can't fix easily since we have a rock outcrop on one side and a steep drop off on the other).

Some of the trails we are using were used in WWII to train drivers before they shipped out to Europe since the terrain was said to mimic that of the mountains that they expected them to have to drive upon... Folks remember them taking CCKWs up on the ridges at night...

It's not a wide open place like Haspin or Rousch Creek, we are either on State Roads (can handle most anything), orchard/logging/forest roads on the farm (some steep, some pretty flat, but most can be negotiated by a 2.5 or 5 ton truck with a few limited to a 1.5 ton truck or smaller) with a few purpose cut jeep/horse trails that are limited to 5/4 ton or smaller pickups/jeeps...

I had my XM708 (the M37 dumptruck) last year and thought that it was the perfect size for everything that we drove upon... Especially with the top off to enhance the views...

Sounds like a great place, please remember to post up some pictures of the event so those of us that aren't able to attend can enjoy.

Bert

Just thought that I would point out that I have learned from Gary's trip meter from a recent mapping trip at Graves that we have 29 miles of trail including the Blakely Ridge and Hoover Camp routes ready for folks to use...

That's not including the local roads that we also get to drive upon... (some paved, some gravel, all twisty...).

Don't forget to send those registration forms in so that I can ensure that we have enough BBQ and other eats...



PS: I told Gordon Maney that I would write (or get somebody with better writing skills) to submit an article to the Power Wagon Advertiser...

Although t-shirts will be on sale at the event (go to the website at http://www.gravesmountaintrailrides.com/ to see the artwork), Chuck will sell them to anyone...even if you can't make the rally...

Speaking of which, you still have time to make plans to attend.
The rally/trailrides start on August 30 (early arrivals)...

Just a reminder that the dates for the VA Rally (aka: Graves Mountain MV Trailrides and Rally) are August 30-Sept 4, 2012. That’s NEXT WEEK!

Same basic plan as last year, just with a LOT of new trails over on Doubletop and Graves Mountains (29 miles of trails on the mountains themselves with a lot of county roads-paved and unpaved available for use as well).

The nice thing is that we get to use all the Lodge facilities for the rally, and there are a lot of things for families to do in the area so if folks don't want to OD on the green vehicles or trailrides, they don't have to, they can hike, hang out at the pool, tour the nearby wineries/antique shops/historic sites, shop, horseback ride (extra fee), etc...

We also will be having truck games on Saturday afternoon (so that folks have something to do while the pig is cooking).

Trails run from very mild to a tad wild so you can choose the level of difficulty that you want to run. We'll also be doing some convoys on the local county/state roads (mixed paved and gravel), low water fords, etc...

Hope to see a bunch of you in late August,

It’s too late to mail in the registration, but you send it by email, or call…

Registration and other info (including the t-shirt artwork) is located on the event website at http://www.gravesmountaintrailrides.com/

REMEMBER: If your M37 (or varient) isn't on the road or otherwise ready for the trails...
It doesn't have to be a Military Vehicle...we like historic vehicles of all kinds... Especially Dodges

It starts this week! Graves Mountain Rally (aka VA Rally) ... in beautiful Syria, VA (22743) starts on Thursday and runs through Labor Day...
More info about the event may be found at http://www.gravesmountaintrailrides.com/ ...

If you can't come for the entire event, drop on by for a day or two...

Too far away Please make sure to post some pictures for us working stiffs.

Bert