Dictum Ridge at George Washington National Forest
with the Off Camber Crawlers
March 25, 2006

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Lucas abandoning the Jeep 10 miles from Harrisonburg due to a busted driveshaft a little snow on the ground on FR72 the other dog with us that day the group taking a breather at Cline's Hacking Budweiser chilling out in the Jeep lunch break on Dictum Ridge the heavy snowfall we encountered for a few minutes just a poser shot as the Jeep was parked so we could take a walk down to the rock. I liked the way the snow was sticking to my light covers. poser shot shot of the scenery, although the pictures never do it justice poser shot showing the hill at first we thought this was the rock and that it had been bulldozed over Cline coming down the group parked as we checked out the rock parked about 100 feet above the rock parked above Dictum Rock. I swear the rocks were bigger than they look above the rock yet another above the rock the Blazer coming down the bypass TJ on the bypass. this bypass is actually one of the better obstacles in the forest, although it doesn't compare with the big rocks 20 feet from there a little further down at the bottom the group crossing Dry Run to wash off a little mud

This was a great day to be out and I was happy to finally be on another OCC ride. It was made even better when Cline showed up to give me a face that I recognized.

The plan was to run Second Mountain but once I heard the thoughts on running Dictum, I started pushing for it every time it came up. I had been wanting to run it since I got the Jeep and was really psyched for it. Now, I am sure that Lucas already had a plan in place of what we were going to do, but I wanted to get my two cents in.

We didn't even make it to Harrisonburg before we had trouble. Poor Lucas lost the driveshaft in his CJ on 81 just about 10 miles out of town. He ended up parking it on the side of the highway and right seating for the rest of the day.

As it turns out, we ended up running Dictum instead of Second Mountain and I couldn't have been happier with the decision. The trail is more like what Second Mountain used to be before they bulldozed it and the hopes of some big rock at the end made it even better. Along the way we were even treated with a few snowflakes.

When we reached a small pile of rocks, I was greatly dissapointed. The thought was that the forest service had bulldozed down the pile, which made perfect sense with all the roll overs that happen here.

As a few of the group members wandered down to check for the presence of a gate, I heard some great news. It seems that we were mistaken and the real rock was still intact and just a few hundred feet down the trail. This made my day and I was thrilled that I would finally be able to run the legendary Dictum Rock.

With the thoughts of all the damage that has happened here, I chose a harder line through it. My reasoning was that, should I flop, I would flop into a rock pile and not tumble down the mountain. It worked and, with Lucas spotting me, I made it down without issue.

Now, I have run harder stuff at Rausch Creek and Crozet, but there is nothing like it in the forest here. When you add all the hype and carnage stories to it, it was amazing. So, thank you Lucas, and the rest of the group for making this happen for me. This is just another thing checked off of my wish list.

Afterwards, we ran over to splash around in Dry Run for a few minutes and then headed home. Ed and Ed were kind enough to help Lucas get his CJ home, so these guys deserve a few beers the next time I see them.



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