Mason/Brookline
July 29th, 2000

Write up by Dave Beattie:
Yankee Toys Club Run
Brookline, NH

Photos by Chris Pals and Carol Gonsalves

  Just when we thought there were no surprises left on the famous Mason/Brookline powerline, along comes a run like Saturday’s.  What a ride! 

  As always, the best part of the day was seeing old friends and making new ones.  Yankee Toys was represented by Randy Elkin, Chris Pals, Carol Gonsalves, Cory Ashe, Charlie “Chu” Horn, and me (Dave Beattie.)  Surprise number one was having Roger Carrano and his guest Sue join us from NY.  Hey, NBC don’t need no stinking satellites this weekend!  Then Don “my plans fell through” Chisholm showed up in his street truck, eager to ride shotgun in Randy’s 40.  Finally, our group grew again when two pals of Cory’s, Nate Gagne and Norris Knowles, showed up with their Jeeps.  That gave us three Jeeps (Norris’ being a sprung-over monster on a Scrambler frame), two FJ40s, two FJ62s and one FJ60.  Meeting at Ladd’s Store on Rt. 13 worked out well for getting supplies and keeping our arrival at the trail a lot more subdued.  This should be policy for all future runs.

  The sunshine of Boston was a distant memory as we gazed at the growing storm clouds.  The ample recent rain ensured that we would find water and mud, but enough is enough!  Amazingly, the most rain we ever got was a little sprinkle.  Thank you, Cruiser Gods.

  We hit the trail and started up the first hill, and it did not disappoint.  I swear that every time I run this trail, it gets harder rather than easier.  I guess that is what heavy usage will do.  There were a few impressive holes and loose boulders to navigate, and by the time I got to the top, Chu was already in trouble.  I thought that he was going to give us a reason to put the “Jeep Recovery Unit” stickers on our trucks, but he managed to explain his way out of it.  It seems that he had not yet regeared his front diff to match his rear axles swap, so he was sporting a full 1.5 difference in his gearing!  He was trying to run the trail in 2wd.  We could spot him around some of his troubles, but was forced to use 4wd sometimes.  He spent a good part of the day hopping out, locking up, getting through, hopping out, unlocking…you get the picture.  You can be certain that his pal Monique, who was riding shotgun, never lifted a finger, so as to make sure he paid the price.  Right on, Monique. 

  The blueberries were out in full force, so waiting at the top of the hill for the group was just fine with the folks at the front.  Cory had some problems staying in 4-low, so he and Chu made a fine pair.  We continued on to the first big mud hole.  All the prudent YT types took the far right go-around, but Norris was not to be denied.  He flew through the nastiest part like he was auditioning for “Mud Action II,” and his buddy Dave riding shotgun was painted brown on his right side. 

  He and Chu took the left side of the next hill while most of us took the right.  We met at the top to consider the small but tricky rock falls.  Hey, look…raspberries!  I was eager to stall at this point.  All I could remember was getting very stuck last year on the right side (good line, Randy!), so I went left.  It turned out to be quite a ride, with only a small bonk on the receiver hitch.  Chris followed, more or less, and met with even more success.  But Cory wouldn’t listen to our sage advice, nor did he want a spotter, so I took off to run the right fork of the next section, a rocky but not too deep stretch of water.  Needless to say, by the time I walked back, he had managed to go so far right as to actually leave the trail completely!  Truly inspirational!  Well, he rationalized this excursion by calling it a learning experience, and pledged to replant as many trees as he drove over.  The good news was that he was able to just keep on truckin’ and plop back down on the other side.  A fine recovery.  All the other descents were smooth, if a little puckery.  Norris (the mud puppy) ran the next stretch by taking the left fork through the deep water and Randy decided to follow.  “How deep did you say it is.”  Never follow a sprung-over truck, Randy. 

  We finally reached the big mud hole, and we found the approach rockier and harder than ever.  No one was feeling very ambitious about running the deep part, especially not Norris.  He was busy being towed backwards up the hill by Roger so that he could get a rolling start for his motor…his starter had not fared well in the previous crossing.  By the time we all assembled at the top of the knoll that looks over the hole, he also was losing power steering fluid at an alarming rate. 

  We met a local fellow named Gary who was a friend of Wilson’s from Bay State Rovers.  He has all his kids packed into the back of his D-90, and they were out for a little solo run in their “backyard.”  I asked him if he knew about a long water crossing (the one that Jacques and I stumbled on years ago), and he told that he had just come by it and that it was deeper than he had ever seen it.  That was enough to get us interested!  He told us how to run it and then return to the trail.  We were off, with me in the lead.  I remembered it being nice and firm, but with enough length to make you wonder about getting across.  That’s just the way we found it this time, and in I went.  Well it was up over the side rails and the doors, but still ok…then there was another drop and the water was right to the hood!  Yikes…going first is not always a good thing.  But the wagon pulled through, with an awesome bow wave breaking on the far shore.  It was a breathtaking crossing, with lots of wet feet from drain-hole-waterspouts and waterfalls over the door sills, but everyone made it across.  It was nice woods road back to the powerlines…"hey, where does that road go to…."

  Like any good Brookline run, we were faced with quarry time.  Much to our surprise, Norris and Nate, two locals who had run these trails before, had never been into the quarry.  Well, that just whipped us up even more, so off we went.  Norris was the first to try it, but as soon as he got a bit vertical, his power steering fluid shot out like a geyser.  He smartly backed out and yielded to the next truck.  It was Randy’s turn, and he had to cross the bathtub at the bottom first.  That just made for wet and slippery tires for the first climb.  Talk about a handicap.  He carefully picked his way up, as if he had done it before…oh wait, he has!  There was only one scary moment of serious tilting.  Roger was next, and Sue held on for dear life.  He made the bottom look easy, but had to do a 30-point turn at the midway point.  How ‘bout that power steering?  Another truck up.  Chris flew solo, while Carol secretly called his insurance agent on the cell phone to update his policy.  Randy did a great job spotting him up and getting that little wheel lift that only a wagon can do on the steps.  Talk about making it look easy.  Just don’t stare too much at his severe case of sewing machine leg when he got out at the top.  Finally, it was Nate’s turn, and he proved that throttle jockeys can get up the quarry too.  He may have set a speed record. 

  We noticed that there was a new trail cut on the right side of the quarry;  it starts with a steep climb and then goes around in a big circle, arriving at the top of the steps.  Chu didn’t need to be told twice to try it, though he did need a few frustrated runs at the steep part before locking up.  I liked his line and followed it, but I needed a reset partway up due to my longer wheelbase.  He spotted me up, and Cory followed.  The curse of no 4 low got him right in the middle of the climb and he could just not stay in long enough to get out.  Always the optimist, he exclaimed that this was a great chance to test his newly acquired winch.  Well, it worked just great and he got himself in a spot to finish it with no assistance.  A few tries and he was up. 

  The other nice thing about this new little trail is that it provides access to the quarry steps from a spot on the right, about one third of the way up.  Never one to miss an opportunity, Randy drove down from the rim to this access spot with no small amount of anxiety.  Could it be done?  Getting in was not too hard, but getting up onto the steps was a bit of a problem.  He foolishly allowed me to spot him, but I managed to find the line that made it possible.  Soon he was back on the rim with a big old mile on his face.  This is going to be a great new run for the adventurous…a radical line., much steeper, bigger steps, higher reading on the in-cab puckerometer, and (best of all), new and different.  "Paging Air-Brookline passengers Fox, Wilson, Nevison, Jennings, Rosenburger, and Flesher…Please report to the quarry, and bring some towels to wipe up the drool on your steering wheels."

  After lunch on the rim, we hit the woods road for the long bypass of the swamp.  The rain started to spit as we got to the base of Three Fingers.  Hmmmm.  I was antsy, so I just blasted up the far right, only to find that what was once pretty easy was now pretty gnarly.  Roger and Randy were scouting out the worst of the middle section when I walked up.  This trail is really ever changing…the middle of the climb was just a huge mess.  But Roger likes it that way, so off he went to fetch his rig.  Even with his lockers and super-low gearing, he had a hard time with the watermelon sized rocks that wouldn’t stay put.  But he made it through and arrived at the famous rock/hole at the top.  Well, no one had time to even focus their camera before he blew by, taking a novel line that involved climbing high right, sliding on his belly all the way down to the hole on the far left like a turtle, and just crawling out.  “Could you go back and do that again?”  Randy made it look a bit easier, mostly because Roger had slapped the big boulders into place.  Randy’s line over the rock/hole was a lot more direct, but equally effective.  Strange…the easy has become hard and the hard easy. 

  While nobody was looking, Carol was spotting Chris up the left side.  Suddenly, they were just parked next to us!  He should listen more often, as she kept him out of trouble.  At this point, Nate discovered that his steering box bracket has lost its bolts, so he was feeling a little more conservative.  It was time to get him out of there…but not before he strapped Cory up the hard spot on the right side trail.  He is printing up some "Cruiser Recovery Unit" stickers as I write this!

  We followed the powerline to a road crossing.  Gary in the Rover had mentioned that going east here would take us to the pond and to North Mason Rd., just like going out from the base of Three Fingers.  However, Norris encouraged us to continue on to the big clearing in order to go out to the west, which was new for the rest of us.  This is the same place where the exit to the east is blocked.  Moreover, it is a spot where you can see all sorts of great trail up ahead, calling your name and telling you to blow off another few hours.  Randy started to lobby the delegates for running another stretch, but the thought of burgers at Jeff house was too great.  We headed out.  It was a great ride, nice and mellow, but still worthy of 4wd. 

  When we found hard top, Norris split for home.  But we knew it was a long ways to a gas station, so we decided to air up with the three onboard units in the group.  Well, Chu made us forget all about his 2wd fiasco when he fired up his York/airtank combo.  Randy had to watch with a heavy heart while Chu aired up three trucks in the time it took Randy to do just his own!  There were a lot of heads under the hood to see that setup.  A quick trip brought us back to Ladd’s Store in order to drop Don at his truck and to buy provisions for the club cookout in Stow, MA.  We still had a lot of miles to cover.

  What a great day of wheeling and companionship.  It also showed that there are a lot more trails to learn up there, and more to enjoy on the parts we have already run.  Who’s ready to go explore?