Pulp Friction: Locked up, Winchable & Ready to Roll.

Among the many wooded areas throughout New England, both currently running and run down abandoned paper mills were an important part of the economy. Historically, from both pioneer roads and later logging roads, the networks of old "trails" criss crosses hills and mountains. Many properties are privately owned and closed to public access, while other publically owned lands have also shut down access for OHV recreation. It is important to check with a local area club for organized trail runs as in some instances, specific permits or permissions can be gained for repsonsible fourwheelers. The "Beacon" area is one such area that provides great challenges mostly on old logging roads. Day 1 of the ride featured the Beacon run, while Day 2's run is now named "The Paper Trail" as it winds it's way down passing by a mill.

Jim was able to attend this run, without Mr.Ed (if you'll recall he's still recovering from the last run... at time of print) and describes what it's like as a spotter and passenger for the saga "Pulp Friction: locked up, winchable and ready to roll."

This would have been the second time that I rode this trail, except for last months mishap, so I was relegated to the right seat and spotting duties. It still was a great time and the weather was perfect. We met at a local diner/gas station and had breakfast and thought that we would hit the trail right after breakfast. Well, a little bit of miscommunication as to where the trailhead was had us driving around for the first hour until we doubled back to the gas station and asked the guy pumping gas how to get there. I knew it was only a short distance away from the diner - but we took the wrong road. It actually worked out well because New England 4 Wheelers were also doing the same trail that day and they had what looked like 20 rigs and with our 14 it would have been a log jam!

After getting onto the trail and past the first obstacle and on upto the second obstacle,it became very clear why we said that a locker and winch are necessary for this trail, along with that, tow hooks front and rear,or a similar attachment points.

The trail was fairly dry except for a few wet spots and the mud hole area. I’ll have to say that in general we had an easier time this year getting through the trail than last year. It was a little wetter last year but I think in general it was due to good spotting and a relay system we used. I know that people want to watch others go through the tough spots but when you get over 12 trucks it really slows the pace down when you have to get the guy watching to move his truck up, because he is blocking the trail. What we did was have one person guide the first 7 trucks and another person guide the last 7. It worked out really well. I hope to see this practice implemented on more of our larger runs.

This trail has some nice rock climbs mixed in with the usual twisting through the woods of the northeast. What makes some of the challenges here tough is that some of the rock climbs are at turns and mixed in with the rock is loose soil and or a little water. It makes for a good low traction combination and sometimes a little extra horsepower and luck are what get you through. We did see a number of very capable trucks/drivers have some trouble at some of the tougher spots. Even they had to pull cable. This isn’t a bad thing guys.... that is why we have the winch you know.

When we reached the top of the mountain we stopped, some people climbed the old fire tower and we all hung out for a little while before taking the fast way down the mountain.

The Paper Trail:

This was supposed to be the easier of the two days but we ran into a minor breakdown of a power steering hose that also took out a rag joint or two. After getting everything patched up and off the trail we noticed that it was almost 3pm and some people wanted to get back on the road. We split the group down into those staying and those going and found the trail and the first obstacle which is 'kind of' fun.

It really twists the trucks up as the trail is narrow and low. If you like your paint - forget coming here. The rest of the trail is good up to where it starts splitting off to the left and right and we didn’t know which way to go so we picked a route which turns out to be pretty much just an access road for the towns water supply. The only other highlights where that we had to winch a rather large tree off the trail, and the last hill climb out to the pavement. We made our way back to a gas station and aired up and started back home.

This is Wilbur without Mr.Ed, for this run, saying happy trails....

This is one of the 'lost' trail stories, lost in the demise of 4x44u.com and rescued thanks to the Way Back Machine at http://web.archive.org