A few years ago Cherie and I told our good friend Kathryn that she should go get herself a Jeep. She had bounced around the country for her job since college and while she had a few relationships one thing she was missing was finding that special someone. One day it had clicked with me that Cherie and I hang out with the type of people she wanted to meet every weekend we go off road. Down to earth people with an adventurous spirit and not afraid to get their hands dirty.
Fast forward to this past winter and Kathryn and her boyfriend Justin, who she met in the local Jeep club, and some other Jeeping friends from Indiana were planning a trip to Windrock Park in Tennessee and they invited us to join them. Cherie and I weren’t sure if we should do it, but when Justin emphasized that this would be a really special trip for Kathryn and Justin we realized we needed to make it happen.
Windrock Park deserves to get a little recognition here. We’d heard of the park thanks to the annual WENT Windrock event held each year there for Nissan enthusiasts, but hadn’t made it down there yet. The park is the largest OHV park in the country boasting over 72,000 acres of recreational space. Trails for all levels and type of off roader criss cross the mountainside. It draws people in from all over the country. The result is a bustling tourism industry in a part of the country that otherwise may struggle to attract tourists. A spectacular example of what an OHV friendly area can mean to the local and regional economy.
The whole group had decided to get a single Bed and Breakfast and split it. So our first night we rolled in just after the convoy from Indiana arrived. We only knew Kathryn and Justin but by the end of the weekend we had half a dozen new friends!
Day 1
Thursday morning we woke up, enjoyed a homemade breakfast by the owner of our B&B, and headed off to the park office to get our passes. After getting our passes, airing down, and getting a few group shots, we were off. Doug, in his Jeep Rubacca, lead the group through several of the tougher trails the park had to offer including the infamous Trail 15.
The entire trail was far worse than any of the videos online indicated, with much deeper muddier ravines in the first part of the trail. The rock stair steps at the end of the trail were also much different than videos we found, with steps 2-3ft tall. While the Jeeps in our group, all on 35-37in tires, found a line on the edge of the end section, Cherie and I opted to take a challenging bypass instead.
After poking around a little more Doug led us to a rock outcropping that we wanted to get to specifically, Panther Rock.
See, Doug was in on the surprise and knew that would be the perfect location for Kathryn and Justin’s special moment. Panther Rock is a boulder that is broken off the mountain and from it you get a panoramic view of the valley below. Justin and Kathryn got their Jeep out onto the rock. When Kathryn wasn’t looking Justin placed a ring box on the winch and then called Kathryn over for some help. You can see in the highlight video above she clearly was very surprised! She said YES!
Day 2
While the first day would be hard to beat Day 2 ended up being pretty memorable as well. While on Day 1 we tried some of the most difficult trails in the park Doug listened to my concerns, us being less lifted and on 33’s and not having trailered our vehicle down, and so for Day 2 we picked slightly easier trails.
Trail 32 ended up being the highlight of the day. The trail was just great. It was a really long trail with regular difficult challenges but nothing that was insurmountable. The trail had everything from rock steps to spots that would fully flex anyone out. You had to pick your lines constantly and carefully. Then we had a problem.
We got to the first spot that I thought we’d have trouble with. After looking at the main trail with very rutted up tracks and the clearly almost never used bypass I decided to give the main trail a try. I feared that we just wouldn’t have the diff clearance but we didn’t really have many other options since the path was set down with tall banks on each side. I did something I never do which was try to get some speed coming into the rutted out section. About half way through it I heard a loud pop as I ground to a stop.
It took us a while to winch past that with the imprint in the mud behind us clearly indicating the rear of the Xterra was resting primarily on the rear diff skid. At first we thought we had just blown a front driver half axle. No problem, we had a spare! But when we went to take it out we realized that the output shaft on the diff itself had some play in it. We decided to just remove the half axle, which was broken as well, but that I would limp off the trail functionally in 2WD.
Next we realized what lie ahead. The part I got stuck on was the smaller of two long steep clay rutted paths. However there was a better bypass for the 2nd part. It would take the next two hours for us to get the Xterra to the top of the next hill. First we took the bypass, then we had to take down some small dead trees, then a few running starts with the rear locker engaged got me halfway up the bypass. It would take the winch to get me up the last little bit. Then Justin in the LJ helped pull me another quarter of the way up, eventually getting both of us stuck and needing Doug to winch us the rest of the way to the top.
At that point we decided to scout the rest of the trail in the LJ and found we were near the end, with no major obstacles ahead. That was welcome news because the prospect of retracing our steps doing the entire trail the other direction in 2WD did not sound appealing.
Thirty minutes and two quick tow strap tugs later and we got to the other end of the trail. That’s when we saw the signage for the trail that said ATV’s only. Oops! It was a shame too because it was a great trail in a full sized vehicle. The logging at the entrance though must have included the tree with the sign on it because none of us saw a sign with a number or vehicle limitations.
Justin, Kathryn, Cherie and I would head back to the house to try and resolve the diff issues with the rest of the group hitting another trail before heading back themselves. We ended up putting the half axle back in and taking it for a test drive in 4WD. Although nothing seemed wrong we decided by the end of breakfast on Day 3 that it might be best to leave it at the house and remove both front half axles before our long drive home.
Day 3
With the Xterra out for the day I hopped into the LJ with Justin. Cherie and Kathryn would bounce back and forth between Jackie and Tiffany’s Jeeps for the day. Saturday was much cooler and it rained or snowed for a good portion of the day. As we climbed the mountain that day it got noticeably cooler and the snow really set in. Not what any of us expected in Tennessee in April!
If you ever want to have a relaxing day off road I suggest going as a passenger in a vehicle you don’t own. You have almost not a care in the world! You also have no idea where you’re going. So I have no idea which trails we hit. But whatever they were they were awesome. But there were also a few spots I was glad I wasn’t trying to get the Xterra through. You needed more lift and 35’s. The pictures never do it justice of course but you can tell in the gallery below the terrain was challenging.
Saturday night we pulled both half axles. Since we had one of the 3 vehicles that was in good enough shape to get people to dinner we hastily finished, not torquing the lug nuts, and got loaded up and rushed out to dinner.
Days 4 and 5
A travel day home when you have no noteworthy planned stops shouldn’t be noteworthy. Unfortunately that’s not how the day went. While on I-81, about 6 hours into our 8 hour drive, the vehicle started to vibrate. We were going at highway speeds and I thought it was obvious we needed to pull over at the next exit to check things out.
Within half a mile the shaking got much worse, it was clear we wouldn’t make it to the next exit. We pulled over on the shoulder. At first I thought we had loose lug nuts on the front passenger wheel. As Cherie got into the back of the vehicle to get the tools to remedy this I realized it was much worse. Five of the 6 lugs had sheared off, leaving 4 lugs with lugnuts resting in the holes in the wheel, 1 missing, and 1 barely holding the wheel on. I hate to think what would have happened had our lucky lugnut as we now call it not held the wheel on while we were traveling 80 mph down the highway.
But we were in luck. We were two miles from the US-33 exit. A major exit for Harrisonburg with a Nissan dealer, a Hilton brand hotel, and restaurants and a Target all within walking distance of one another. It took a little while to get a tow truck but we were able to get from the Nissan where we dropped the car off and hit a Target on the way to the hotel which we booked on points. Dinner at O’Charley’s was a good end to a surprise stop in Harrisonburg.
Monday morning Nissan called to tell us they could replace the wheel bearing which would include new studs, and they had the part and could get us on our way sometime shortly after lunch. Cherie’s folks, Linn and Sid, drove over the mountain from Charlottesville and met us for lunch. They also took the opportunity to give Cherie a few birthday gifts, an unexpected surprise! After lunch with them, and $458.19 at Nissan, we were back on the road.
Sometimes the trip doesn’t go as planned. But that’s how memories are made. So it was a rough weekend for the Xterra, but we were so happy to be a part of Kathryn and Justin’s memorable weekend. We wish you guys a lifetime of happiness and broken parts on the trails!
