Camping Vacation with a rainy day trail ride

We went for a family camping weekend with some friends. We are quite lucky to have at least 4 campgrounds in a 20 mile radius from the house.

We tried a new campground that we have never been at before... as it was so close I decided to tow out the small camper with my 96 Jeep cherokee XJ.
it ran hot when towing with the air on.. but that might be normal on XJs with a stock type...... non- mishimoto radiator.

Saturday turned out to be pretty showery and somewhat of a washout.. so the state forest and mountain ridge is only 20 miles from the campground.  There are plenty of miles of state forest roads that are not paved with no winter maintenance. They double as snowmobile trails in winter.  We decided to do some trail driving before dinner. The last trail that we took out of the forest back tobthe highway hass about a 1000' elevation change. There were no awesome scenic views but it was fun.

Would love to see more pictures, what sort of camper do you use?

Looks like fun

I love a rainy day cruising the national forest.

In reply to rustyvw :

I used to have a Coleman popup; th xj pulled that with no problems at all.

Now we have a 2015 Jayco Jayflight 154 BH.  If we go somewhere far or on the highway or mountains a lot we typically will tow it with My wife's escape.. But since we were close and the towing was jut orn rolling hills we tied the XJ.  It's okay but I Should upgrade the radiator, Rear brakes to discs or 10" drums and get better front pads.

The 2015 Jayco had some "standard options" missing that I added as well... 

- Cable Hookup for the TV

- Front scissor Jacks so That it has leveling jacks on all four corners.

- The Factory rear bumper was thin so that on the trip back from state college PA the bike rack and weight of the bikes / Spare tire started to shear the metal bumper where it was welded to the frame. I cut the bumper off and plated it with thicker metal and then welded it back on. so far so good.

Nice XJ! I've had several and will always have a soft spot for them.

JAdams said:

Nice XJ! I've had several and will always have a soft spot for them.

Thanks, Drove it to work today.. Just breaking it in at 92,000 Mi

Greg

Nice XJ. Any performance mods you did?

No Not really, - Fixed some rust and put 7 u joints in the thing.  It had terrible death wobble too - was a steering stabilizer that was merely filled with air and not much else, I put a good fox one on there at it fixed that problem Fast.

I like it ' cause it has no options - Kind of idiot proof. - No Power locks or windows.. No Rear speakers, Vinyl seats in place of upholstery  - easy to clean.

Does have Auto, AC, Radio, Skid Plates on the front Mid and Rear, and Rear suregrip Diff.

I would like to add cruise control and Rear 10" Drums or Rear Discs.Also would like to add An SYE to get rid of Highway Vibes. Maybe a mishimimoto Rad to keep it cool in the summer.

Original Coil crapped out on me 2 weeks ago - got stranded at home, Got it replaced in about an hour. Bought a New one and that seemed to wake it up a bit.

Other than that it's stock daily transport.

Greg

Kid and I both were able to work from home today as we both had snow days.

After our screen time requirements were done we packed up and headed for the elevation.

More XJ Fun on the trails - but in the winter these trails double as snowmobile trails so no salt, no gratuitous plowing, just winter bliss!

Here are some of the highlights..

It's fun driving these trails when a snow machine or dog sled team or cross country skier is in the other lane as oncoming traffic... I Wave the snow machines past when they were behind me.

We didn't even get that much snow - but up in the elevation they get more snow and of course it stays around longer.

A favorite spot to watch the sunrise looking east over the mountain ridges. Calm as can be with the downy white.

The Little one was in tow - she had a blast too.

Greg

Outstanding!

I wish we would get some snow. It's been too many years since I've had a chance to play in it. 

1/20/24:

Well it's 4 years later and working from home on what is supposed to be a snow day has its drawbacks and limitations.

We fixed that today by taking to the mountains! and my XJ with 108,000 miles on it now did not disappoint.

We live at an elevation of ~1200' and the rock we like to visit any time of the year is at an elevation of ~ 2660'All of that elevation gain is accomplished through some awesome state forest roads that are not plowed but are flat / graded and seemingly maintained with some sort of snow grooming equipment so there is snow pack on them but the are smooth and flat.

After we visited the rock I wanted to try out some other "trails" that are not maintained in the winter. They are deemed for 4wd's or snowmobiles. Located in the same state forest which is bisected by a major 6 lane interstate that winds up into the mountains from the lowlands near my place. Because of the interstate there are no public roads/trails that I know of that cross above or under the highway at elevation. So we headed out of the forest to the regular plowed and salted state routes for a few miles until we were back into the state forest again.

In the elevation there was 24" of seemingly fresh snow in the forest.  The XJ did awesome in the high snowpack and rutted trail that is called "Aukerman Road" - it's really not a road at all, it more of a heavily rutted 4wd/ Snowmobile/Mountain Bike trail but that is what it's called.

We did get stuck at one point on Aukerman road, probably where the grade was the steepest and the ruts were the worst.  We went up and down that grade maybe 4-5 times before we were able to get to the top and intersect with the more well traveled "Tunnel Road" which is a main "snowmobile road" and it also seemed to have some bit of grooming to it as well.  Our Journey o Auckerman started at 1255' and ended at 2790' over 4+ miles. It was a joyous occasion to engage the 4L section on the transfer case, which I never purposefully do meandering around in the lowlands near work and home .

We began our elevation gain at the state park:

Sharing the road with snow machines.

We got to the flatlands at the top, and someone was excited:

Time to leave the flatlands &onto the rocks!

Glamour Shots..

We got to the trailhead parking area - Maybe a 1/4 Mile hike in the snow... fantastic!

This is the rock - it looks out generally to to east - it is a fantastic view on a clear day at sunrise.

Wintertime Frolic and fun.  - Dont step to the edge of the rock. you will slide off!

This is the notification at the bottom of Aukerman Road, it is a public road through the forest.

Perfect time to use that 4L Setting that has been staring at me for 6 years!

Here is an elevation chart of the road:

We made it on stock tires, no lift and with 24" of snow. I was happy, & it was a good snow day.

In reply to slantsix :

What a beautiful pictures!!,  we did our  safari camping in Uganda's Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, Murchison falls national park, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Kibale forest national park. ours was not weekend gateway but it was 10 days selfdrive safari and it was amazing adventure as gorillas used to come closer to our ground in Rushaga, Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park, though planning was difficult we had to hire one of Uganda safari company to assist us with advise and organize for us camping tents, safari jeep and camp grounds.