Tellico Pics

Well, Tellico is the best offroading I've ever done- both of my trips. The trails up there are nothing like Gwinnett County. Rocks and water crossings are definitely more fun than mud and ruts like Flat Rock has. On our June 2005 trip, we got to see the Xtreme 4x4 crew from Spike TV and watch a few upcoming episodes before they were even edited. They had a couple of cool Jeeps they had built up with them- the "AJ" aluminum Jeep and the yellow "Cheap Jeep." The second time I went, my friend Matt and I went up for a day in July of 2006. Here's just a few of the pictures I took over the two weekends.

Trip 1 (June 2005)

We saw this cool S-10 cab on a huge frame and huge tires at the start of the trail system. You know I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture of an S-10!

The group of about 6 vehicles that we went with- I was the only non-Jeep.

There were some insane XJs up there at Tellico. On the left is Tony's beautiful orange XJ with a custom rear end and the right one is just one we saw at the trail head. It was on about 37s or 38s and looked like it could take on Lower 2 with no problem.

Me starting up trail 4- the pics below are trail 4.

Donny climbing a few rocks close to the start of the trails

Me again stopped at some small obstacles for a picture.

Andrew Hargrove and his dad drove their awesome CJ-5 at Tellico. The old Jeep is a 5 speed. Andrew, despite not having his full license and being only 15, showed that he was an excellent driver.

Pics below are trail 5.

This is my favorite picture from the whole weekend- you can see just how steep the mountains are above where my truck is. That is how steep the ledges are right beside the edges of the trails- one incorrect tire placement and you're rolling down about a 400 foot drop with an angle of 70 degrees or more.

The end of trail 5 has a small, easy creek crossing. These are just a few pics of some of the group crossing the creek. Above is Hargrove in his CJ-5.

Me in the creek with Donny spotting on the side.

After the trails, my truck was fairly dirty. Here's a pic after the ride.

We headed over to Lower 2 to watch a few rigs climb the incredibly large rocks. We saw that our friends from STS Offroad had broken a few parts on their "All Terrain Monster", or ATM, and were fixing it on the side of the trail. We stayed and helped them repair a little bit and took some pictures, too.

L: Look at the flex on that buggy!
R: A few heavily modified Jeeps heading up the trails.

That rig had some insane flex, too.

I put my truck up the 30 degree RTI ramp that STS brought. Scored a 290 out of 1000, but what can I expect from a stock suspension- heh.

The rock pile up at Crawford's campground was fun to watch. People with all different types of vehicles attempted to crawl and show off on the rocks.

There was a Toyota Tacoma club there that weekend and there were some pretty cool rigs running around. I've always wanted a Toyota truck for offroading.

This guy's Taco was probably one of the closest to stock in the club, but he didn't let that stop him. I believe he had 33s and of course, the essential rocker guards.

He got a little hung up and had to take the strap from the other Taco w/ no bed that you saw above. He conquered a lot of the obstacle though.

This Bronco was puking power steering fluid as it got nearly vertical.

Donny crawlin' on the rocks at the end of the afternoon.

Trip 2 (July 2006)
We hit up trails 4, 5, and 8 this time. We may have been on 10 for a little while, but it wasn't marked too well or on the map at all, so who knows! It was dry, hot, and extremely dusty just like last time I went in 2005. I need to go in the fall or winter next time so it will be wetter and cooler. Low creeks aren't fun to drive through- I'm wating for the snow-melt water levels next trip!

All of the pics below are from trail 4, including Fain's Ford at the end.

I thought this underneath shot was cool- reminds me of those new Toyota FJ ads.

Look at all of the air that rear tire has!

We met the two guys and a dog that were riding in this cool Suzuki Samurai. All that was done to it was a leaf/axle flip to give it lift. Stock street tires and even the low groud clearance was plenty to get the Sammy going up and down the trails! We also ran into Tony again, who was one of the rigs in our group on the first trip I made. He's got the awesome orange chopped Cherokee and he's a really cool guy. I was glad to see that he remembered me! Nice trails, nice people, and nice rigs, too... that's what makes Tellico fun.

Headin' up Fain's Ford proved difficult for both Matt and I. Check out his site (matt6_9) for some more pics of him going at it.

Turnin' on the lights as night rolls in! We were on the trails from 3PM till 1AM... just a little bit later than we had planned! I broke my exhaust while we were out at night. I posted a picture of it on the Trail Damage page along with a pic of the leaky rear diff/pinion seal.

1) Intro
2) Offroad Pics I
3) Offroad Pics II
4) Offroad Pics III
5) Offroad Pics IV
6) Offroad Pics V
7) Offroad Pics VI
8) Tellico Pics (You are here)
9) Lift/Tires Pics
10) Trail Damage
11) Friend's Trucks