"The first time I ever went to Windrock, it was the first jamboree they had in October [Trailfest]," Russell said. "There was about 2000 of us camped in a field around a three-mile curve. The wind the first night blew so hard that I would wake up with the side of the tent pressed up against my nose. ... The highest it got was 35. We stayed there from Thursday to Sunday. The lowest it got was 15."
"When I got home, my wife asked, 'You didn't shower for four days?' I told her, 'I didn't sweat for four days!'"
One of the unique charity events MTORA holds is in memory of club member Joyce Heck, who passed away unexpectedly last year at 53. They collected money throughout the year to honor Heck. "For the fund, we keep a bucket at the meeting, and everybody throws in," Bailey said. The local social services helped them pick out a needy family, and the club bought them gifts and a meal with that money.
"Joyce lived at the foot of this mountain," Russell said. "In a good respect, she was a true mountain woman. She worked in the coal mines, she worked on farms. ... She would give you the shirt off her back."
| Place visited: | Stone Mountain near Rose Hill, Virginia |
| Club: | Mountain Trails Off-Road Association, www.mountaintrails.us, Steve Bailey, Club President, 276/346-3135; stbailey@lee-co.net |
| Riding season: | Year-round |
| Maps recommended: | Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) topographical maps of the Stone and Little Black Mountain region available from U.S. Geological Survey. You will need Rose Hill, Hubbard Springs, Ben Hur, Pennington Gap and Keokee quadrangles. Purchase them at http://store.usgs.gov |
| Area information: | Virginia Tourism Corp, 800/847-4882, www.virginia.org |
| Permits/licenses required: | No sound restrictions; no state permit required; ATVs over 50cc and purchased as new on or after July 1, 2006 are required to be titled; all ATV riders must wear helmets; no passengers are permitted on an ATV at any time, unless the ATV is designed to be operated with a passenger. |
| Critters: | Turkeys, deer, elk, bobcats, rattlesnakes, raccoons, skunks, pos-sum, beaver, wild horses at St. Charles, the occasional goat |
| While you are there: | Fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, horseback riding, fiddlin’ |
| Road-trip CD: | Alison Krauss and Union Station’s “So Long So Wrong” |
| Best local beer: | Yuengling Premium |
| Digs: | Convenient Inn in Pennington Gap, Virginia, 276/546-5350, http://convenientinn1.tripod.com/index.html |
| Good eats: | Pizza Plus in Rose Hill, Virginia |
| Useful links: | www.fs.fed.us/r8/gwj/recreation/ohv/ |
| QUALITY OF RIDING | 8.7 |
| The trails are rocky, hilly and not formally maintained or marked; Appalachian Mountain scenery is gorgeous. |
| LOCALE | 8.2 |
| Western Virginia is remote and beautiful; lodging and dining options are limited at best. |
| CITIZENSHIP | 8.9 |
| This club gathered 117 members in just over a year—bonus points for fast growth. |
| PERSONALITY | 9.7 |
| You’ll meet billy goats, pastors, sheriffs and the postmaster, all with stories—this crew has personality by the coal-bucket load. |
| OVERALL RATING | 8.9 |
| A fun group that covers more than 100 miles in a day; one of the club officers put 2300 miles on his quad in just a few months. |
MTORA club president Steve...
MTORA club president Steve Bailey crosses a stream in the the Stone Mountain area.
Bailey is retired and logs...
Bailey is retired and logs a lot of miles riding his Polaris 500. He says, "I have a 2007, and it's got almost 2300 miles on it already."
Club vice president Dusty...
Club vice president Dusty Bailey on White Rocks lookout. His Bombardier DS650 is one of the club's few sport quads.