Just got back from the first Official MADCityXOC outing at Hayward/Seeley/Cable in the Chequamegon National Forest and boy are my arms tired! I want to start by saying everyone was great. Best bunch of guys and gals around. The KOA Hayward WI was the best also. If anyone is going to that area I would definitely recommend it. They bent over backwards for us. Nobody was arrested (not that anyone misbehaved), one ding from a jack and several small branch scraps. But that was all. Two stuck trucks, a mud hole two ATV's got stuck in the day before. And one hill climb that bested all but the locked Liberty (good job Tom and Fern). What a great weekend. We could not have asked for a nicer day on Saturday. Found some great trails, then found even better ones later in the afternoon but never got out of the SE quadrant of Cable, just SE of Telemark Ski Resort. We will be doing this again in the fall so keep checking back. Pictures should be posted soon and we now have stickers for sale for the club for a nominal $3.00 each which covers the cost of making them. If anyone is interested e-mail me below. See you on the trails again soon!

Max - I am glad to hear the trip went well, I hope you will be able to post some pics, I would love to see some stuck trucks........I hope my schedule allows me to participate this Fall.

Maximus,

Thanks for organizing a GREAT TRIP. It was a blast and I learned a lot. Sorry I couldn't stay later on Sunday with you guys, sounds like I missed a great day. However, I hit a few good ATV trails in Webb Lake, WI - West of Hayward. One logging road was very challenging and off camber, so I backed off. I think it would be fun if I had someone to pull me off the stumps!

Keep us posted for this fall.

Yup, it was a great weekend! Matt didn't get in jail, and Boomhouer finally got his Taco stuck. It was great to place faces with everyone I have met on this board. Chris please thank Lee for giving Devon a ride on the logs in his jeep. Devon wants a jeep now. Be there this fall, going to do more "crawlin" trails we did saturday night.
Gator

thanks but it was all gators urging that we did this. Thanks Dan, great place. the web site server was down earlier but it looks back up I'll post some tonight. Hey Dan where the hell were you guys going when I saw ya. hehe I'll tell Lee he put you into debt too. Matt, I'm glad Holly held in there, the stumps had us all on edge, bu-dump-ba, (literaly). Sunday rocked as did Saturday evening. I will have to do a night run next time. It will be a must to go back. I think I am gonna do some scouting north of Cable and maybe get some new areas.

Pics are up 4 pages of them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gator, is Boomhouer OK. Did the storms affect him at all?

Great time guys! The longer we stayed, the better trails we found. It's like I've always said, people make the event not the vehicle. At least now we know where to go for some of the tougher trails. Thanks Dan and Chris for being the navigators, a thankless job.
Tom

It was no problem sharing the info with a great bunch of guys and gals Thank Chris for doing the solo scouting for trails on friday. Like Tom said the people make the trip worth it.

Chris, we took a wrong turn when you saw us, my fault. We got to Eau Clarie and we got a call from Boomhouer and Steven's parents. One of the twisters touched down 3 blocks from Boomhouer's place. Everyone is AOK. Just knocked out power. To top that off, I got a call 3:00am that my sister-inlaws house burned down, everyone's AOK. That is the important part. It was a bad sunday night for us, but still a great weekend. If we go this Fall bringing the whole family.

Dan! Geez! I'm glad everyone's ok! Sorry to hear about that.

I really had a great time, thanks for setting it up. It was great meeting all of you, and finally getting out to wheel for the first time in over a year. I have some pictures up at Ofoto HERE . I made up a fake email and password so you don't have to join. Just enter xterra@hotmail.com, and the password is password . You'll have to skip through a few old wheeling photos, I think Hayward starts at #24.

Did anyone see this sign in Hayward? I never noticed it before, but its awesome. Whats even better is that the sign behind the addresses is for a tombstone maker!


Anyway, Tom and Matt, and anyone else in Minnesota, if you ever want to go wheeling here, just let me know. I'm ready to go to Spider Lake or Gilbert anytime (I don't really plan ahead), or hell even back to Hayward.

-Tim

Gator, glad to here everyone is OK, sorry about the house. Must a been Karma that day, Lee drove all the way home slow with the trailer, pulled in the drive and checked his rig, check out these pics. TC great pics.

Oh crap! What happened? Lost a rear hub? or axle? That stinks.

Gator, thanks for letting everyone know about Hayward. It was a great trip, and far better than I was expecting. Like I had said when I first heard abou the trip, I thought it would be flat without much challenge like in MN near the St. Croix.

Tim, there is a trail near Wabasha (Snake River, I think) that I'd like to check out sometime. It looked too challenging for just me last fall, but if there were some other guys going I'd like to check it out. I'm not sure if you need to get permission for that one either, but it's supposed to be a state trail.

Matt, that sounds great. There were always a lot of trails I wanted to go on, but I was by myself so I didn't risk it. I've looked at this site to get an idea of what the trails are like, and I honestly don't see anything there that our Xterras couldn't handle (without steprails and swaybars). Well maybe there are a few tough spots, but I've seen stock Xs do a lot of tough stuff.

I guess I'm getting new tires pretty soon, cause my front ones were sliding a lot in the rain this week, so I'll have the urge to try them out once I get them. If you ever want to go, just let me know. I'll let you know if I'm planning on going anywhere too.

-Tim

"Holy Frying Grease Batman"!!! I have to say Lee is the man if he nursed that home. Chris when is that military open house, I think My family and I will join ya on that.
BTW, Steve, Eric, Devon and I drove up to Ashland Sunday. You get north of Cable it gets more remote and a little flatter. There are many trails streaming off of Hwy 63. We didn't hit any trails due to time not allowing. Also finding more trails elsewhere in Wisconsin. I'll keep ya guys posted.
Gator

TC what is the pipline trail? we should do that one weekend.

Also the military open house is sometime at the end of July.

Lee and I will be heading to Black River State Forest Friday the 23rd ish.

The Pipeline is in NW Wisconsin I believe. It has a lot of everything (mud, rocks, etc.) I think I can find a link to some pictures. I'd really like to go there sometime. I'm not a big fan of mud, but at least my next set of tires will be MTs.

What's the military open house?

-Tim

Edited to add:

Ok, I found some links for you. Here's a description:

Nicolet NF, near Lakewood, WI
The trails are many and varied, from a pleasant drive through the woods, to hill climbs, rocks, stream crossings and the famous "Pipeline Trail". This being Wisconsin, mud is to be expected.

And here are some links for you:
www.chicagolandroverclub.com
www.2bigbroncos.com

Keep me posted on stuff and for you MN boys,remember I'm in the twin cities to. I need to take you guys up to Gilbert or Spider Lake.
You will not be bored!
Tom

Is Spider Lake in the Foot Hills State forest? I have next weekend off and waas thinking about drive up there to check it out. Maybe going to the new OHV park on the iron range too.

Hey, I posted a land use issue that I think anyone who wheels in MN might be interested in. Heard it on MPR last night.... Check out the land use issue forum.

I wish I were back in the Chequamegon Forest.

The DNR has info on both sites. You can also get directions and see pics at mnjeeps.com. I have plans for this weekend,but keep me in mind for later travels. I'm always looking for someone to go out with.
Tom

The pipeline trail would be cool to do. A co-worker of mine told me they have closed it to trucks due to erosion??, but ATVs are still running it?? No matter what I hear, still worth looking into. Nicolet NF is near there like Tim said. I know the Milwaukee Land Rover Club has done Xcursions in Nicolet NF.
I am interested in the Trail that Tim talked about from Hayward to Hurley. Would be cool to camp on the trail while treking it.
Gator

I have the tracks for the last trip. I will post them on my web site under xcursions shortly. still figuring out the software, it's kinda clucky.

gator, the waypoints would not work with my magellan. I found GPS TrackMaker. We drove
194.77 miles

Chris,
The waypoint software is pretty good for older GPSs, and it's free. May be time for me to update my GPS, lost signal while we out there. Man, that is a lot of miles.
Gator

BAD NEWS! check land use forum.