4th Annual Black Mountain Fall Meet , with 2-1/2 days of rain, but still VERY fun!

Oh yeah! Broken a few times and flopped once there.

 

Bill, put an addy up on the OP for those unfamiliar. Assume we camp same spot last year?

 

Here's the Putney/Harlan Co Campground: 8331 US-119, Putney, KY 40865

I'd like to make it over to Evarts side and check out their "Official Black Mountain and Harlan Co." stuff in the general store.

 

When's wheeling??

 

Weekend right before Halloween

 

Both trailheads have their own qualities... Putney to Evarts takes an hour at a slow pace.....If it was my decision where we camped....it would be Evarts. Less "park" by a slight margin.

 

Having showers down the hill without leaving the 'park' is nice, though. I've never been to Evarts, but I don't like all the talk about break-ins and sticky fingers. I'll shoot a m'fer and not even think twice.

 

Camp grounds at Evarts trail head is safe as Harlan County Campground. There's rent-a-rooms and parking in town where crime seems to show up. Not a problem at the trailhead campground. They have water too...showers and rr in park campground. Same accomodations with less traffic
Dont shoot anyone yet

 

Right. Exactly. Putney is where we camp, because not sticky fingers McGee zone and showers down the hill.

 

...Evarts is safe. We've camped there before. No one bothered a thing. No reason to be scared of sleeping in the woods instead of a gravel parking lot.

Putney is like camping in Walmart parking lot. Or mall.

Same accomodations and less people on Evarts side = better.

Dont see what being farther away from showers adds to your camping enjoyment, but if that blows your dress up....

 

May go for a short ride Thursday. Definately friday. Definately Saturday.

Saturday's ride will be for just about everyone. (Green/blue/easy red) Friday will be exploring a few of the more challenging trails. (Red) I've got that route planned for the most part.

The first 4 years have revolved around a Saturday group ride. Last year that damn near got washed off the mountain. (Rain) couldnt see much for the fog. The whole weekend was a giant clusterfuck as a result. sorta hoping year 4 more resembles years 1 or 2's weather. We even had snow by by Sunday morning. Looks to be warmer forecast this year.

Not sure where @fleckosaurus is with tee shirt pre-order. Maybe he'll jump in the conversation. Me and Brian are the only one's that have been in on this from the beginning.

 

I think you have the two sides reversed. Evarts is practically in town, putney is in the trees.

 

Not reversed.....Evarts canp ground is close to town but far less crowded and overwhelmed with traffic on weekends. Putney is like being in the pits at a race track. Both are ok. The far back end of Evarts campground ( near trailhead for trail 10) is quiet and isolated.

 

Maybe it's changed since they put that hill climb up in putney, but all the times I've been there if you take the last right before you start up the switch back trailhead, there is a camp area that is totally isolated. It is annoying when some assfuck with a rock kuncer floors it up that trailhead at 3am. That'd why I never wanted to camp out in the mountain.

I drove through evarts campground once, said fuck that, the same with that "camp ground" that used to be behind the dairy hut in the field. The kyttora guys used to love that place and I never knew why.

No matter what I'm ready to wheel and make white tail crawl my bitch finally!!

 

That upper camp ground is where we set up last year. We filled it early so no one else moved in. I'd actually like to go all the way to the far end of the park and stay at "White Tail Campground" but we dont have enough hard core campers... Apparently many cant pee behind a tree....lol

Putney side even has a paved road as far up the hill as campground #3 now. It's changing fast....

 

Crazy! That trailhead is getting pretty hardcore as well. I wouldn't mind camping out by white tail, I just don't need some dipshits with open headers flooring it all night trying to get up it while I'm transitioning between drunk and hungover.

 

Don't think anyone did the hill climb at an odd hour last year. It was about 10' and straight down behind my tent

 

Too rainy
Too drunky

 

Gonna do some research between now and next year. As it is, the "Fall Crawl" is the weekend BEFORE the TacomaWorld meet. It was mentioned by a few last year we should consider going for the Fall Crawl. The facilities are jamb packed....Imagine 400 or 500 MORE vehicles and campers. Getting a camping spot would be a logistical nightmare. May consider the weekend before Fall Crawl next year. (2 weeks earlier than we do now) Trying to beat the change in weather. When I started this, year one we had beautiful sunny weather. So it seemed like good timing. Years 2 and 3 were less than ideal. Year 2 was heavy rain on the arrival day, and just cold and slick on Saturday morning. As the day went along, we saw dust....Turned out to be a good day. Those who were there last year can tell you about monsoon rains, below freezing temps and SNOW (albeit just a dusting...) . The rain can be virtually any weekend throughout the year, but the cold/snowy stuff becomes more likely the later we go. Cold not so bad, but snow can make a drive home a little less enjoyable. I wouldn't be opposed to being on the trails in light snow, but instead, the snow was on "going home day". Just thinking this through out loud. No changes yet...May be influenced by 4 or 5 days of nice weather this year.

Looking to make this event attractive to everyone, and "the end of summer season" meet, not just the die hards.

Also, thinking about a SPRING meet at Black Mountain. Maybe April or May? I've been there 2 times in the spring. Trails are generally in rougher condition after winter and haven't been manicured during warmer months. Some thought must be given to who will be involved and degree of difficulty of the trails. If we went in the spring, would consider a "road trip" to the summit of Black Mountain. (Not actually in the ORP) The roadway to there is owned by a telecommunications company, which requires permission to access the last few miles of that road. Would need to list participants and time in advance. There are other points of interest in/around the Harlan County area. Would like to do a 3 or 4 day tour of those, with a final 2 days ride through the ORP. Any interest in that. (PLEASE don't call it Overlanding...) This would include an open invite to a couple off road clubs, with various "brands/models" of vehicles. (Land Cruiser/T4R/Lexus, and a few Jeep people)

Hope is to set date(s) for next year by Jan 1. With the possible inclusion of other groups, word needs to be out well in advance.

@fleckosaurus Especially interested in your thoughts, since you have been the only other person in this from the get-go....

 

I agree about moving it up two weeks for all the same reasons you mentioned.