Mud, Granite, and Trees
The headquarters for the Canada Superlift 4xAdventure was the South Lake Trailer Park campground, and when we arrived, it was stuffed wall to wall with 4x4s, mostly owned by folks from Ontario and Quebec. The Superlift semi, tent, and staff was on hand as they are with all the events in the series, and the crew from Sports-In-The-Rough had the dining tent and cooking facilities up and ready to go (each 4xAdventure includes five hot meals).
Each day, more than eight trail rides left the campground, and they ran the rating scale from easy to difficult. We tagged along on the Greens Mountain trail ride on both days because it was the most difficult, and we dig that sort of thing. Locals told us that this hasn't been a normal year for rainfall in Ontario, and as a result the trails have gotten substantially less challenging because many of the usual mudholes were dried up. That may be true, but we were surprised at the high level of challenge on this trail, and we think that in a normal year these trails would be very challenging indeed. In addition to huge slabs and boulders of granite that require a modified vehicle and driver experience, there are numerous off-camber hillclimbs to deal with. During our run, we only came across a couple of mudholes, and we had trouble with those because they were bottomless and gooey, yet we could see that much of the trail is normally muddy, including areas around major obstacles. This illustrated that the area has a fantastic potential for challenge when wet. All in all, there were many surprising obstacles lurking in the Ontario forest, and our group of modified vehicles often had our hands full recovering vehicles or repairing driveline damage. Awesome views often greeted our group as we topped hills that offered stunning views of the Haliburton Highlands and the scores of picturesque lakes.
Information
In addition to hard-core trail rides, the Canada Superlift 4xAdventure offers a full schedule of trailruns that include everything from moderate four-wheeling to scenic drives with little challenge. Plans are being made for the 2002 event, and more information can be obtained by contacting Sports-In-The-Rough, (866) EVENT INFO (383-6846), or visit its Web site, www.sportsintherough.com.