We set up several tarps tied to Ace's Easy-Up and ran my heater.  The heater didn't keep us warm, but at least it took some of the dampness out of the air. 

Then we really started drinking.  The drink of the day was some sort of power drink mixed with watermelon vodka.  As more rigs showed, we drank more, Southern hospitality I guess.  Todd passed out around 9:30.  Billy and I had to guide him to his tent.  I turned off his FJ since he was playing tunes using its stereo.  I crashed around 10:30 and got to sleep in my wet sleeping bag.

 

Around 1:30 AM, Ace starts yelling Wakey, Wakey.  Man, it was 1:30!  Around 2:15, it becomes a duet with Ace yelling Wakey, Wakey and a chorus of others yelling SHUT THE $#&! UP.  Around 3 AM, Todd gave up and started partying with Ace just to keep him quiet so the rest of us could get some sleep.  This slowed Ace down to where he would only shout Wakey, Wakey about twice each hour.  I got up around 7.  It was hard to sleep with the yelling and wet bag. 

 

It turned out to be a nice day.  No rain and blue skies.  I made some coffee as we wait for the rigs to arrive from the Shell station.  We ended up with about 30 rigs. Here is the "wakey, wakey" man giving the drivers' briefing

Ted led our group of 10 to Dictum Ridge.  Ace took the other group to Second Mountain.  Todd was feeling no pain after hours of trying to keep Ace quiet, so he rode shotgun in the Trooper.  It was nice to have company.  We got to the base of the ridge with no trouble.  Then the fun began. 

Jason was up first in his Beater.  After several attempts he ended up with a bent driveshaft and winched himself up.

Seeing that, those of us with IFS knew that we had no chance to get up that way.  So we tried the bypass.  First, Chris tried the bypass with Donna's FJ. He got most of the way up but hung on a rock.  After several attempts, during which he created large ruts, he gave up. 

I tried with the trooper.  I got to about the same spot where Chris did but when my rear tires fell into the ruts and I couldn't get any further with just the front locked. 

When I backed down, we noticed a small sign saying the bypass was closed.  So that was the last attempt and we blocked the trail with the Trooper. 

Ted radioed down that the gate was open and told us that when the gate is open, so is the trail.  So we headed back up and blew past the locals.  After that, the run up Second Mountain was fairly uneventful.  There weren't many rocks, although we did find some mud.

We met up with the 3 other rigs at the top of the hill and had lunch.  I started to munch on my trail mix, when Chris and Donna put out a nice spread including roast beef.  Thanks!  

 

After lunch, we headed back down and went over to Dry River where the mud smelled just as bad as last year.  I led for a while and took the group up the river.  The river was shallow and the water was very clear until one point where the water turned green.  Based upon my boating experience, I decided that meant the water was deep.  So I went over to the right bank and drove over a fallen tree to avoid it.  Then I found a dry spot to take these photos of the group.

The trailing rigs must have seen my detour because they all avoided the deep spot; all that is except for Joe.  Notice his wet clothes and the water mark on his rig.

When he drove right through the green spot, the water went over his steering wheel.  He just had tube doors, so he was completely soaked.  Luckily, it was a nice day.  More luckily, he had a snorkel so the rig kept running.  It would have been no fun at all for someone (clearly none of us with any sense) to have to go into that cold deep water to hook up a recovery strap.  We laughed so hard that none of us took a photo of him hugging his snorkel, the snorkel that he was thinking of selling only minutes before. 

Ted then led for a while and we hit more mud until we found these short climbs.  Joe asked "what climbs" as he ran the steeper one backwards!

 

The climb on the left was easy, although I remember not being able to do it last year when I was running completely stock with 29" street tires and two open difs.

 

However, with just the front locked, I would loose traction on the steeper climb.  When the weight shifted back, the Trooper would get stuck once either rear wheel hit a rut.

The other rigs didn't have any trouble.  So maybe I should have tried running it backwards? Or maybe I need a rear locker!

Then, we tried a scenic road that looked like it would take us back near the meadow.  However, we were stopped by some downed trees.  We thought about trying to clear a path, but it was getting late and we didn't know what else was ahead.  So we made the prudent decision and backtracked to Rt33 over by Dry River.
 

 
 

As we headed back to camp, someone mentioned pizza on the radio. That sounded good, so after we returned to camp around 5 PM, a bunch of us got cleaned up, changed and went to WV for pizza.  The pizza was great, the place was warm and dry, and it was nice to be able to use a real toilet. 

 

When we returned to camp, it was more drinking.  Fortunately, Ace lost his voice, so it was a "quiet" evening.  Two couples announced that they just got engaged, one  the night before.  The women were showing off their rings, so it was lots of hugs, and lots of toasts.  I can't remember when I crashed; probably around 10 or 11; but I do remember Ace yelling again.  So what else is new?