TELLICO 2007?!?!

I'd love to make a trip to Tellico in the summer. Anybody up for a trip? Or are there any planned?

There was some talk of a spring run. Let's post up in the wheelin' section and see what we can get going.

Were or what is Tellico?

Tellico is a public offroad park in NC its really hardcore stuff (well what I saw was). Camping at crawfords is fun and I had a blast and would love to go with my rig this time. If i go I want to run the hard stuff.

Sounds pretty cool... I will see if the wife wants to make the trip. If she can't make it I will cash in a "Kitchen Pass" and try to go solo!

Hey Nester,

Who's gonna haul your junk down to NC? I hear you like to have a few beers and sleep alot on the way down.

I'm definitely up for a trip to Tellico. Wouldn't mind another shot at Guardrial. You all thinking summer or spring? Since it is a big trip, let's choose a date.

lets go for summer because work will have slowed down enough to put together a 3 or 4 day weekend, will have the 35's and other goodies on the jeep by then. And the most important factor is that it will be dry down there making most the obsticals a little easier. What do you all think about sometime in august? I would say july but the jeep jamboree is in july.

Spring or Summer...either way I will be going! ...and like Nester, I too enjoy a good beer(or two) and plenty of nap time! Do you all camp out there or do you stay in a hotel? I need room service no matter where I stay!

I'm getting all excited for this!! I don't care when...i just want to go. August will be hot as all hell though? Late Aug/Early September? Work is slow in the summer for me too so anytime in the summer is cool for me. Although each month that passes gives me more time/money to finish up the things i wanna get done on the jeep before i go.

Everybody knows, the sooner we all decide when it will be a good time to go the better it will be. We can be a caravan the whole way down. If we do decide to go in the summer time, this will give me time to finish up on some of my TJ projects, too.

Let's look at mid August. Maybe 2nd week? I might actualy be working in Late August/September which would keep me from a long weekend.

sounds good to me.

Bobbi if I have to I will drive my Junk down there and wheel and drive back home. Hopefully I will find my new van soon and a deal on a trailer so I don't have to. I'm cool with whenever you guys figure out when to go. My only issue is that the trails that Bobbi and I want to run are not a walk in the park. Alot of the trails in Tellico are serious stuff and its not like wheeling at Paragon or Rausch. Tellico from what I have seen and wheeled with Bill is Hardcore stuff. When I went we had 5 rigs and all of them where serious rigs with 35 plus tires and lockers. There needs to be guide lines to what rigs go on this run. I don't want to leave people out. Please understand that the trails can get ugly and trying on each person. Imagine spending all day on stair step at rausch going up hill. That is what alot of Tellico is like depending on what the weather was like before we get there. I had a blast on my trip and can't wait to go again. Camping at Crawfords is great cause they have everything we need and you can drive the rigs to the trails from the camp. Its a 12 hour ride to Tellico and 2 or more hours of the trip is heavy hill terrain. I think that we should keep this post going to see how many people we have that want to go. Just understand that if you don't have 35's or better and lockers you will be working hard to get your rig around. Scratches and dents will happen.

I went to Tellico the week after Nester & Bill. Rode with some hard core wheelers. Friend of mine had a YJ on 33s and another had an XJ on 33s (Of course it was called the S**T Rocket and he had no regard for body damage) The big obstacles, Guard Rail and Hellicopter Pad have bypasses. And there is always a winch. Which got me up Upper Two.

There are a few trail closings and changes for the season.

Subject: Tellico Closure Order
Just to keep you informed - the new order for Tellico has been signed by the Forest Supervisor, effective January 30, 2007.
We will be implementing the seasonal trail closures on Lower Trail 2,
Trail 7, Trail 9, and Trail 10 as soon as possible. We will also be
installing the camping restriction signs along Trails 1 & 5 as soon as possible. This work will probably begin next week, weather permitting.
The new order prohibits the following acts:
1. Camping in the Allen Gap and State Line trailhead parking areas -
(and yes this does include staying inside a totally enclosed RV parked there).
2. Roadside camping on Trail # 1 and Trail # 5, except in those areas designated by posted sign.
3. Possession or use of a motorized vehicle on the lower section of
Trail 2, or on Trails 7,9, and 10 from January 1 through March 31 on an annual basis.
If you could get this information out on your web site I would
appreciate it and also notify your membership so we can begin spreading the word around.
If you have any questions etc. please feel free to call me anytime.
Thanks.
Bill Champion
Supervisory Forester
Tusquitee Ranger District
Phone: 828-837-5152 ext. 109
Fax: 828-837-8510

I do agree with Nester though, you need to be prepared for it. Definitely have to be built.

It sounds like Tellico is and will be allot of fun... Yet, I do not want to be an anchor on the trail rides. I just finished on installing JKS Track Bars (Front and Rear); my extra armor plating is coming today... I just do not have lockers. I would like to get some and have them installed, until then I am open.
If you all go on trails the guarantee carnage, I will take the bypass. If there is no bypass, I will take pictures and video.

Hopefully, you'll be locked by then. It would suck to drive 12 hours to shoot video. But, as I said earlier, there is always the winch.

Thats the problem with Tellico most of the wash outs are so deep that you can't make it to a bypass. I'm all for a good sized group going and having a long weekend of wheeling. Large groups of more than 8 rigs will take lots of time to work thru the trails. I think that we should figure who all wants the go and then we can have a meeting at one of the club runs or we can all go out to dinner and see who wants to take there rigs and who wants to go to ride. It works better if every driver has a good spotter that can help pull winch lines and stack rocks. Also the drive down there is so long that alot of you that ride solo often might want someone to help drive the tow rigs down there.

It would be nice to go down when there isn't any rain. Everything was so slick and washed out that we couldn't brave the hardest trails. I would love to head down again and consider me a maybe depending on the timing and weather. By the way here is a link to the pics from last years tellico trip. These are not the hard trails.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2101463143

As far as not having rain I would think august would be best. Someone should put a poll up and everyone vote on what month they want. Then we take the top two months and everyone votes on those two for a winner. As for me Im not interested in doing the super hard trails. So we could do something like two groups. One group who likes body damage and another group who just likes the pinstripping. As for me I was going to bring my camper and jeep down on a trailer but in a pinch I could pull two jeeps down on my trailer if someone wanted to pull my camper or I could just use a tent. either way this is going to be one of those trips were me make a list of evrything that needs to be brought down and split it up between everyone so nothing is forgotten.

wgilbertpt wrote:

It would be nice to go down when there isn't any rain. Everything was so slick and washed out that we couldn't brave the hardest trails. I would love to head down again and consider me a maybe depending on the timing and weather. By the way here is a link to the pics from last years tellico trip. These are not the hard trails.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2101463143

That link is great. The pictures showed me allot. Some pictures look as if they we taken while on a jungle safari! I can see that lockers and clearance are a major qualifications for making a decision to go or not.

If there are enough for 2 groups then there could be a "pinstriping" group.

Im in.. and I dont care about pinstriping....


Nester and Bill,
Did you guys camp in tents or use the cabins? I just gave Tico my tent that I never opened to use for the raffle, so I would like to do the cabins...If we set a date then I want to reserve the cabin early..

The two group suggestion sounds like a great one if we come up with enough people. It actually might spark more interest in the trip. This would probably ensure a more enjoyable experience but it'll be great however it works out. Did i explain how excited i am yet? I have one big concern...Nester had said about the last 2 hours being very hilly and I don't know how much the poor Pathfinder is going to enjoy that. I just would hate to turn 2 hours into 3 but then again I could always just meet you there at my own pace! I don't know...it's really not that bad at towing it but how hilly is hilly?? I guess the other option would be to rent a lighter trailer.

I have enough people who want to go from other clubs that I could make a second group. So that shouldn't be a real big problem. Sides you really don't want more then five in a group anyway because of that whole getting slowed down factor.

I know B4W and Maryland Jeep club were talking about a trip. B4W would run the harder stuff, MJC would do stocker trails. If I go I would want to stay in a cabin with a few others.