We had a discussion a while ago on here about Potts Mountain and whether or not the Humvee would fit.  The answer is... I still don't know.

Our discussions here made me certain I wouldn't try without a brushguard.  By shear luck, a Hummer H1 owner in Roanoke (where I am) was getting rid of his brushguard, and it was exactly what I wanted.  So a week after installing it I went out with a group.

2 mostly stock-ish Wranglers.  1 Montero with bigger tires and a rear locker.  And me.  They were good guys, eager to help, but not yelling orders all the time.



It was probably the first time I've just gone and done something fun for myself in 2 years.

We started on the "Lower" side, I guess.  I don't know how far we made it up, but the first big rock section going downhill was a big problem for the other guys.  The Montero in front high centered immediately on a rock to start it, and when we got it off we turned around and went back.  I think I could have made it, but nobody else could have gone with me.  We ended up eating lunch and then going back to the "Upper" side and attacking from that way.  It was much more stressful for me due to width of the trail, but I always made it.  At 6 PM we had only made it 2.5 miles onto the trail, and we decided to turn around and go back before it got dark.  I was never too wide, although I had to fold mirrors in immediately.  It was not uncommon to reach points like the below picture where I'd have an inch of clearance on both ends and might end up rubbing trees:



There were a few moments where a rock would push me towards a tree.  In those times the brushguard probably saved my hood, and then I had to back off and put more tire on the rock to stay away from the tree.  I barely had enough clearance to completely straddle the rock.  

We were late to get out to the trail, and due to how light duty the vehicles out with me were, I was nervous about trying obstacles that weren't easy recoveries.  The first one I tried was this mud pit with the log at the end.  Due to tree placement, I ended up not being able to hit it at as much of an angle as I would have liked to, and this resulted in me sliding to the point that the wheels squared up with the log and essentially high centered.  So I was stuck.  But rocking back and forth eventually got me unstuck.



Another time I couldn't go further was when I tried another rock obstacle.  One of the Jeep guys said he could do it, and when I said that I doubt he could due to ground clearance, he brushed it off because wheelbase.  Which ended up being a term I kept using like a meme from that point forward.  "Because wheelbase!"  He didn't even get his front tires up on the obstacle.  So I decided to show him up, right?  The first obstacle wasn't a problem except for tree clearance, but I couldn't get the front left tire up and over the next obstacle due to poor traction from all of the rain we had.  So I just backed down the first obstacle.  I got further than he did, though!  



All in all, it was a blast.  The three of them were constantly picking lines to dodge rocks with no concern for the trees.  I was picking lines to dodge trees with no concern for the rocks.  The Humvee truly did great.  I was fully prepared for it to be a complete dog and for them to ride circles around me.  But all I needed to have was spatial awareness, smooth control, and an understanding of gearing and brake throttle modulation.  It really is an amazing vehicle, in my opinion.  While it sucked being the one that would be very hard to recover if I got stuck... it did give the other guys peace of mind that if they got stuck, they wouldn't be for long with a Humvee behind them.

Damn good group of guys, and this trail is awesome.  I hope to do it all someday.  If the trees increase in diameter by 1/2" per year, I think I have 4 years before I won't be able to fit any more.

Looks like fun!  Brave with 1" clearance.

If a real hummer fits then my Bronco will.

I won't be able to get over that tree next to the mud puddle though.

I'm hoping to do Potts Mountain later this year. Did you see any decent places to camp along the trail?

That tree next to the mud puddle is one that you can go around.  The place where the Montero got stuck is one of the harder things we saw.  I have no doubt the Humvee could have made it except for how narrow it was.  One of the advantages of the Jeeps was definitely that you could actually pick a line, the Humvee doesn't really allow that.

According to the maps, I think we traversed about 75% of the trail.  Supposedly, right in the middle is a field and campsite which we never came across, but the maps show it's there.  I saw a few fire rings as if you could camp in other places as well.

Everyone told me the Humvee wouldn't fit.  And it might not, since I didn't do the whole trail...

It was really nice to have the brushguard as an easy to see marker for where my corners were.  Some trees were leaning in and still a problem contacting the soft top, and there's plenty of bark missing from scraping trees with the troop benches in the rear.

Do it!!!  






...Damn I miss my Bronco.  

Been looking for some easy to moderate trails to take a Renegade up and down. Would love to have an option to overnight camp in a park somewhere. Potts Mountain might not be the spot for that or is it?

Alhambra Rd in Amherst county is a dirt road that even cars can go over, it's very easy. It's inside the GWNF and there are a few great spots to camp, most of them are right next to a small creek with trout in it. The picture I posted has an approximate address for the site my friends and I go to most often. It's the last site before you get to some cabins at the base of a switchback. It's fairly large however, the 2 before it are smaller.

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It's quiet but it's also about 30 minutes by car to phone range. Don't forget to pack critter (2 and 4 legged) repellent.

Shoe Creek trail is right down the road from Where that campsite is. It used to be a fairly tough trail but the forest service did a lot of work to it and it's easier now. I didn't even shift my Bronco in to 4x4 last time I went up it. It only goes half the distance it used to because dumbasses were going off the trail and trespassing on some private property so the land owner put up a fence that cut the trail in half. You wouldn't be able to go much farther than the 3rd water crossing.

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