After getting 33” tires last month, I was finally ready to take the Tacoma’s off-roading adventures to a slightly higher level at the 4th annual Kentucky Toyota Trail Ride down in Bowen, KY organized by the Kentucky Toyota Landcruiser Association. I was lucky enough to immediately fall into a group of Tacoma drivers who turned out to be a really cool group of people with varying levels of off-roading experience. Meeting people with these common interests who are willing to swap stories and tips is what this community is all about. Seeing new trucks each with its own unique setup is also a big part of it.
Saturday, the morning started cloudy but without the predicted downpour. Those rains came later on the trail. Our group was assigned a trail leader and after a brief conference we set out for the ride. The original road we were supposed to take was closed so we made a decision to detour over a new section of the Daniel Boone Backcountry Byway that had recently opened. After a creek crossing, we detoured around a wash out and made a brief stop for lunch and some emergency trail-side maintenance on the anchor truck. The clouds opened up as we tackled what turned out to be a deeply rutted uphill path of Kentucky clay the consistency of warm peanut butter. We had to use our winches, tow hitches, straps and cables to, one-at-a-time, pull everyone in our group of 14 assorted Toyotas up a nasty uphill turn in the “road”. It took more than an hour but felt like it all flew by in a few seconds. Once we were done, the sun was out and the skies were blue. At the top of the hill we ran into the 4Runner group who were waiting for us to finish so they could tackle the hill in the opposite direction.
After that section of the DBBB, we did a trail that we had done the night before in the dark but in the opposite direction. This was interesting and informative to see in both directions and in both light conditions. We were supposed to also do a trail called Pumpkin Hollow but the day had worn on, and we were due back at camp. There was dinner and a raffle scheduled and we didn’t want to miss that. After some good barbecue and socializing, we discussed going out for another night ride but as the night cooled, I headed back to the tent. Four days and three nights is the most camping I’ve done in years and I was wiped out.
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at off-roading, these events are a great way to do it with full support from an enthusiastic group of great people. Callie’s Lake is also a well-maintained campground with clean showers and friendly folks. It was a fantastic weekend, and I highly recommend it.