DOTS And Hikelopnik! Appalachian Edition!

"Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available" (whoistheleader2)
11/01/2020 at 13:04 • Filed to: Dots, Hikelopnik

Yesterday I spent around 5 hours in an old Honda minivan and around an hour in an old Honda SUV in completely unrelated Halloween shenanigans. I also briefly drove a beat up 4Runner with a smashed sunroof. But we’ll get to that.

I’ll try to put these in roughly chronologica l order. There’s some good DOTS sprinkled in if that’s all you’re here for so feel free to scroll past the stunning natural beauty for the amusing mostly American beaters.

First up, a slammed Advance Design Chevy pickup from the 4os. it had a wonderful patina with the name of a shop stenciled on the side in weather beaten letters. Beautiful.

The car ride there was uneventful but I’ll still tell you about it. I woke up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday (ouch) to be able to get to Rabin Bald Mountain right on the Georgia-North Carolina border for a nice morning hike. Unfortunately, the recent tropical storm had turned the trail into a creek but we still hiked it. This is the trailhead.

First we stopped at a scenic overlook with a beautiful view of a misty Appalachian valley but sadly my photos were crap. It was quite cold the morning of the hike, hovering at around 60 degrees.

At the top of the mountain was this tower that afforded a fantastic view over the mountains. With the fall colors and a blanket of leaves on the ground, the fall atmosphere was stunning.

I loved how you could see blankets of mist covering the valleys with the mountain peaks rolling endlessly to the horizon.

The weather beaten boards of the overlook tower were covered in the names of past visitors carved into them by pocket knives. One such carving was a little surprising.

Ralph was here. Unsafe at any elevation, I’m sure.

On the way back, the car spotting got a good bit more interesting. But first. . .

An interesting antique water tower outside a disused train station for the trainlopnik crowd.

Some interesting old military trucks repurposed in an odd and amusing way. is there literally any advantage to putting a box truck upfit on thirsty and slow old AM General military surplus auction specials? I just don’t get it. And there’s tons of them. What the heck?

This Blazer sure is Xtreme, isn’t it?

Interesting old convertible Cadillac Dev ille. I love the blue with the fall colors surrounding it. So picturesque.

It was a very good day, all things considered. That was probably the earliest I’ve gone to bed on a Saturday in a while though. Man, waking up so early took a lot out of me. I love the contrast between the big city where I am living and the rural Appalachians though. I wish I could have been driving because there were some really fun looking twisty sections.

DISCUSSION (4)

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/01/2020 at 13:19

I’d guess the box trucks on those old chassis are for use to rugged or remote locations. An old duce and half is probably the cheapest way there is to a rugged, 6X6 medium duty truck for off-road work, so long as you’re concerned about fast or fuel efficient.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com
11/01/2020 at 13:29

Even in very rural areas even the most minor of dead end one lane roads are paved and the hit to maneuverability would make these significantly less adept at dealing with hilly mountainous terrain. I cannot think of a single reason you would want an offroad box truck around there. All the industries are along the main roads by the train tracks anywhere.

Some people have gravel or dirt driveways from the paved roads but you wouldn’t be taking a 6x6 down those.

superdave847 > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
11/01/2020 at 14:02

Beautiful photo

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > superdave847
11/01/2020 at 14:07

Thank you. It’s hard to take a bad photo in such natural splendor.