New Years Day - Peters Mill Run!
As in years past, CORE decided to go out on New Year’s Day to ring in the new year with a trail ride, in the spirit of doing on the first day of the year, what we want to be doing all year long!
We decided to go out to Peter’s Mill Run, a favorite of the club. A beginner friendly trail, it offers scenic views, and enough fun technical sections to be interesting, but still stock 4x4 friendly!
We met at the 7-11 at 340 W Reservoir Rd, Woodstock VA. That location, along with a few others in the area, offer the $5 day passes required to visit the Peter’s Mill Run trail. We had several new folks to the club join us for this ride, and after our driver’s meeting, purchasing passes, and final bathroom breaks, we departed for the trailhead.
Once at the trailhead, we aired our tires down, and proceeded to hit the trail. We were quite a large convoy, 14 vehicles strong!
We had a great mix of vehicles, covering Jeep, Land Rover, Toyota, Ford, and Subaru! In the spirit of the CORE club, this was definitely an All Breeds event! Once on the trail, we found it to be a bit on the wet side, from the rains the night before. The upside is that it kept the dust down!
After weaving our way up the start of the trail for a bit, we got to the first obstacle of the ride. After a tight bend, we were greeted with a steep rocky and rutted climb, with an opened up view of the valley below behind us. It was a fun climb, slippery from the rain and mud. We all made it up, with the occasional spot to help all of the vehicles up the best line.
After that, the trail stayed a bit on the rocky side, but nothing too challenging. Just the occasional check to make sure a random rock in the middle of the trail didn’t hit the underside of some of the lower slung vehicles.
Just before the halfway point, there was an optional little loop, a right detour off of the trail that went up a steep climb to a clearing, then back down a rutted path that flexed out our vehicles nicely!
After playing for a bit, we made it to the halfway point, a large clearing where we parked up and had a lunch break. It was great walking around and getting a good look at all of the vehicles! With the variety we had, it was cool seeing everyone’s setups!
After lunch, we hit the trail again. The nature of the trail changes from this point on, as we begin descending the mountain back to lower elevations. The trail becomes smoother, more dirt path than rocky, and the trees start to become green again and the forest a bit denser on both sides. This is also where we encountered most of the mud puddles on the trail. Nothing deep or challenging, but a bit of fun to splash through!
After continuing on, we made it to the end of the trail, a nice gravel lot where we could air our tires back up and chat before heading out. A few of us went back into town, and visited a local watering hole that we’ve enjoyed in the past, the Woodstock Brewhouse. After some good food and great company, we wrapped up a great start to 2024!
