MEB Bronco Shootout - Uwharrie, NC April 21-23, 2006

[nhopman]

MEB Bronco Shootout #2

Where: Uwharrie National Forest, Near Troy, NC

When: April 21-23, 2006

Activities Planned:

Friday: For those arriving Thursday evening or early Friday we can get together and ride the trails during the day, until 4-5PM then possibly have a night trail ride if there is enough interest or just relax and socialize at the camp for those arriving in the evening.

Saturday: Trail rides starting at 8:00 and ending around 4-5 PM Dinner at the Rifle Range. At Uwharrie, there is a public firing range with a 200 yd rifle range and a pistol range. We will meet at the range between 4-5 pm and will be there until it closes (approx 7:30-8:00). We will also have a burger and dog cookout at the range while participants test thier skills on the rifle or pistol range. There is no fee to use the range and it is open :30 min after sun up and closes :30 before sun down, but like I said, it is public and we'll just have to fill in if there are a lot of people there. After dinner and range activities, we can go out on a night ride.

Sunday morning: Trail ride for those that want to.

The trails at Uwharrie aren’t too bad and there are go-a rounds for the difficult obstacles on most of the trails. We will have guides for each group. The trails are marked fairly well and are easy to navigate, so anyone with some wheeling experience should not have any difficulty leading a group. There are easy trails and difficult trails. The easy trails are suitable for mostly stock vehicles. The moderate trails are for a vehicle with some lift and at least 31” tires, there will be a few areas where difficult sections will be challenging, but they have go-a rounds if desired. The Difficult trails are suited for rigs with at least 1 locker and a minimum 33” tire, again, there are harder sections that would require 2 lockers and 35” tires or bigger, but there are easier sections for those not equipped to take the hardest lines.

Trail Information:

Total trail length: 16 miles
Open Season: April 1st to December 15th
Fees: $5.00 per-day per vehicle and OHV or a season pass for $30.00 per person.
OHV Passes can be purchased at the Donnie Mullinix Store and Eldorado Outpost – Hwy 109, Uwharrie
Swift Island BP and Uwharrie Sportsman – Hwy 24/27 and River Road
PJ’s Store - Hwy 109, Troy, NC
Uwharrie National Forest, District Office - 789 Hwy 24/27 East, Troy, NC 27371, PH: 910-576-6391

Narrative from their website: The off-highway vehicle trail system in the Uwharrie offers a variety of topography and scenery. All trails are designated for all off-highway vehicles, except for a small portion of the Dickey Bell Trail located west of SR 6584 FS roads can be used as trail connectors, but all vehicles operating on the road system must be “street legal” meaning that the vehicles are fully licensed, inspected and registered. Persons violating these regulations will be fined according to the law.

Camping Information:

Arrowhead Campground has 50 sites for Tent/RV camping. Each site has a table, grill, lamp post and camping pad. The campground has 6 spigots located around the campground for drinking water. A bathhouse with flush toilets, hot showers, and laundry sink is available. There is a family restroom located at the front of the bathhouse if privacy is desired. A 0.75-mile paved bicycle/walking path loops around the campground.

Fee and Site Information: 50 camp sites located on two loops.
Sites 3,27,& 29 are double in size. 33 Sites with electrical hookups: $15.00 per night. Doubles: $ 30.00
17 sites with no hookups: $12.00 per night. Doubles $ 24.00 per night. Site numbers 6 & 22 are Campground Host sites.
A single site can hold 2-3 tents so you can share the site with someone to reduce the cost.

To make reservations call 877-444-6777 (toll free); TDD 877-833-6777; or visit the website at www.reserveUSA.com.
More information about and trail maps of Uwharrie and other camp sites available in the forest, is available on their website at: http://www.cs.unca.edu/nfsnc/recrea...arrie/index.htm

Hotels in the area

Uwharrie Motel
943 2427 W.
Troy, NC 27371
910-572-3701

Days Inn
531 E Main St
Biscoe, NC 27209
910-428-2525
about 7 mi from Troy

 

[blazinchuck]

Thanks...I've passed this on to my group. I plan on being there! ;D

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

There was a great turnout last spring. Sure to be another good one this year. I will be there!

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

Bump...

Anyone else?

Nick how are you recovering from your surgery? I'm having a septoplasty the 28th of this month. Doc says I should be as good as new in about a week or two, just in time for the trip.

 

[raleigh_bronco]

Sorry I missed this post last week. I plan on being there to wheel and camp Saturday. I had a great time meeting a bunch of good guys last year and look forward to this event. I guess we have hit the big time now since dinner is provided.

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

Good deal! I'm hoping for just enough rain before hand to keep down the dust. Too much rain could make things interesting.

 

[nhopman]

Bump...

Anyone else?

Nick how are you recovering from your surgery I'm having a septoplasty the 28th of this month. Doc says I should be as good as new in about a week or two, just in time for the trip.

Recovering fine, everything looks good, unfortunately I won't be able to ride the trials during the event :'( . Doc wants me to wait til mid May before I go wheeling. But I will be there in the mornings to get the groups together and headed in the right direction, and will be able to set things up at the range and dinner for Saturday. I may try to sneak off to the trails to take some pictures. I am not going to bring my Bronco, it would be too tempting having it there, and I don't want to go through the surgery again if I don't have to. I will bring a travel trailer instead Arrowhead campground site #21. I haven't heard from many people, only about 6-7 for sure, but I think we'll have a good turnout. Hopefully I can count on having some of you who have been out there before to act as trailguides.

I think this is going to be a fun event. And a great warmup for the 40th at Carlisle and Paragon. I plan on wheeling as often as I can while I'm up there to try to make up for not being able to hit the trails this April.

If you are planning on coming please post here with numbers, so I'll have a good idea of the amount of food to bring for Saturday.

Nick

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

Update...I had my snoot worked on last week. I was out of it for a couple of days there. I finally felt up to working on my rig today. So I finished up the C4 swap and made a test drive. The tranny seems to be doing fine and my neighbor really likes to watch me powerbrake the Irok's in front of his house. My buddies went down to Uwharrie for opening weekend Sat. and reported it was dusty as usuall. He said the Dutch John parking area was full around 10 am and there was a bit of traffic on the trails, mostly quads. The crowds should die of in the up coming weeks, but I here that the Suzuki Samuri bunch has a ride planned for the same weekend as the shootout.

 

[nhopman]

I found out a couple of days ago that they are temporarily closing the range until a trail can be relocated. I have been on the phone with the ranger trying to convince her to give us permission to use the range for the afternoon and evening, but they are unflexible.

So, we won't be able to shoot at the national forest range. I do have access to a range that is about 40 miles away that I can use if enough people want to, but figured it would be too far just for a couple of hours of use. Please post on this thread if you really want to get to a shooting range.

What I'm thinking is that we can get together around 4:00 or so somewhere for our cookout and some socializing before returning to the trails for an evening ride. I will try to figure out where a good meeting place will be and will send out maps and times in the next few days.

Even without the shooting portion, I suspect we'll still have fun. Hope to see you there.

Nick

 

[ncsubronc]

maybe by the time this rolls around next year i'll have my bronc ready to make it down! i haven't been to Uwharrie in a couple of years, hope you guys enjoy!

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

Any particular place to meet up at Sat morning?

 

[My69Pony]

I just picked up on this thread and would love to attend the event. Unfortunately I am sitting in the middle of the desert at Baghdad International Airport. Last July I moved to the area with the US Air Force. I’ve been looking for a place to do a bit of 4-wheeling, but have not had much luck. I have heard of Uwharrie but have yet to make it out that way. I am currently working on my ’69 soft top, but have a ways to go. I leave my currant deployment sometime in late September or early October, so maybe I’ll have the time to prepare for next year. I take it that this is an annual event? I would love to hear from any other Bronco owners in the Fayetteville/Hope Mills area.

B.P.

 

[nhopman]

Well, its a less than a week away and here are the final details.

We will meet at the big parking lot in the middle of the trail system off of Dutch John Rd. (533) between 8:00 - 9:00 am (see Map). Trail rides will depart from there. There is one big group that will be there and several smaller groups, so the trails may be a little crowded, but hopefully won't be too bad.

Because of the recent temporary closure of the firing range, unfortunately there won't be a shootout at the shootout %) But we will still have the cookout on Saturday. We will meet at the Badin Lake Cove Boat ramp which is just down the road form the campground entrance. There is a picnic area and parking. We will start cooking around 4:00 and will be there for a few hours as groups arrive. The burgers, dogs and fixins are provided by the Mid-Atlantic Early Broncos. I'll also have soft drinks available. After the cookout, we can socialize there or back at the campground, or if you like you can hit the trails at night for a different challenge.

The talk on a local forum is that the Rangers are cracking down on trail passes and rules violations, so don't forget to get a trail pass before you get there.

We look forward to meeting you all there.

Nick

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

From what I can gather from the traffic on a few other sites, it looks like it may be a bit crowded. I've got a buddy that is going to let me borrow his trailer so that I can hual my rig this trip. I may just unload at the Outpost to try to keep some congestion down. Or either try to leave out real early to beat the crowd. Anyhow I'm excited and ready to see everyone again.

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

I borrowed a trailer to tote my rig with this weekend. The forcast is looking a little damp. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=troy%2C+NC Guess that means I'll leave the top on. A small shower in Uwharrie can make some of the easy trails interesting. I'm there rain or shine!!!

 

[raleigh_bronco]

Bucket,

I just spoke to my parents in GSO. They said a really bad storm in Atlanta is working its way towards us. Weather.com predicts heavy t-storms in Troy on Sat. I also understand the zukis and land cruisers are gonna be on the trails so it could add up to be a long/miserable/fun trip. I'm still on the fence right now. What's your eta?

 

[fastback]

Is this something we need to sign up for or just show up. I live in
Asheboro and have to work saturday, but if I get to leave in time and the weather does not turn ugly I may just drive down for a while.

 

[BUCKETOBOLTS]

I plan on leaving out around 7am in the morning. I'm going to haul my rig this trip. It ussually takes about 45min to an hr to drive my rig from Rockwell. If it is raining in the morning I'm just going to take my time. I read the weather statement that said there will most likely be a few fast moving storms blowing thru then probably letting up for most of the day. Then maybe another round in the afternoon. It looks like most of the severe stuff is going to be west of here. If it does rain maybe I won't have to fight for a parking place.

A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL ALLOW SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS EVENING...AND COULD BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT. SEVERE STORMS MAY ALSO DEVELOP ACROSS GEORGIA THIS EVENING AND MOVE INTO UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA AND PRODUCE A THREAT OF LARGE HAIL. LATER TONIGHT... A LARGE COMPLEX OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL APPROACH THE AREA AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. ALTHOUGH THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE WEAKENING AS IT APPROACHES THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA... THERE WILL STILL BE A POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER IN THE FORM OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL... ESPECIALLY ACROSS FAR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA... AND WESTERN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.

PERHAPS THE BIGGER THREAT WITH THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. CURRENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. THIS MAY PRODUCE A THREAT OF ISOLATED FLOODING OR FLASH FLOODING IN THESE AREAS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION...AND IT IS POSSIBLE A FLOOD WATCH MAY BE ISSUED FOR A PORTION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS LATER TONIGHT

 

[HigginsHorse]

So did anyone go? Where are the pics?

 

[blazinchuck]

I went and the weather kinda stunk. 1st time for me with all the trails wet. It was pretty hard on Daniel...slick as owl sh*t...LOL. I saw about a dozen broncos, but not at the same time. I think I was the 1st to break-front axle shaft/wheel bearing. Then another one on another bronco 3o mins. later. I'll post some of the pics I have,Chuck

I did meet alot of super nice bronco owners-they really are BETTER PEOPLE!
just acouple of name(no last names-sorry)Nick,Gary,Carl,AAron,Mosley,Yvon,Matt,Brian,Hank,Jeff,Skip,Charles,and a few others that I didn't get to meet.