Well, I'm back, for anyone who cares... Tellico was awesome, it met and exceeded my expectations. Here are a few things I learned about the place that I think all of you should know. I found it very hard to find info about Tellico, so here's my contribution:
What Broke:
Front Driveshaft about Halfway up School Bus - we had a spare.
Short Steering arm was bent on Rock Garden - we had a spare, but we bent it back with the winch and snatch block instead of replacing it.
Muffler and tailpipe were ripped off on the bottem of slickrock - we welded it back on, then we lost it again the next day at Rock Garden and pretzled it, so we just threw it in the back of the Jeep and were a little louder for the rest of the day.
Both rocker panels were TOTALLY mangled, including the 1/8" alum. diamond plate.
Things to know:
1) You're probably better off staying in Tellico Plains, TN instead of Murphy, NC. It's alot closer.
2) You CANNOT get beer in Murphy, anywhere in the county. I'm not a raging alcoholic, but we wheeled hard all day and I wanted e nice steak and a beer - not to be had anywhere around there...
3) Depending on how you get there, the roads can be super windy (not like wind, but curvy) and quite a handful for a flat towing job. We came down US-40 on Saturday night in the rain, and I was more scared there than on the trails!
4) Your Jeep IS going to be damaged at Tellico. So don't even go if this is a concern. And I'm not talking about scratches, I'm talking major dents covering every square inch of the Jeep.
5) All of the pictures you've seen of like Guardrail and Helicopter Pad don't do justice to the steepness of the place.
6) If you plan to do all of the trails, 2 lockers, 33" VERY aggressive tires, 4" lift, T-18 are pretty much the BARE MINIMUM! However, crawling in 1st very often does not get the job done - you need wheelspeed to get up alot of the stuff...
7) Don't leave the house without a winch and on-board air.
8) Take all of the spare parts you can.
9) The trails were nice, pretty well maintained, very scenic. They're shorter than they look on the map, at least to us it seemed that way, but that's OK because they're pretty much solid obstacles.
10) The place was pretty much litter free, except for some of the big attractions. It was pretty weird actually, as Slickrock was like TOTALLY litter free, but Guardrail was a dump - REALLY bad with litter.
11) There were broken axleshafts and U-joints EVERYWHERE, which is pretty intimidating when you're standing at the bottom of Guardrail contemplating whether or not you want to die, and there's a broken Dana 44 rear axleshaft under your foot, and you've got an AMC 20 and a Dana 30...
12) Some chode with those super wide CJ-7 flares lost both of them on School Bus and just left them there. This is the type of bodywork that Tellico destroys instantly. - It would have been nice if he packed them out... There was also ALOT of broken windshield and side window glass
13) Trail 2 (Rock Garden) will eat your Jeep's tub alive.
14) Every picture you see of Tellico that looks flat is really a 45 degree angle.
15) The place is TOTALLY different in the rain.
16) The soil erosion on trails like School Bus is unbelieveable. Some parts of the trail have eroded down 10-12 feet underground. Don't ever send Al Gore out there, he'd freak. Actually, I'm not much into this erosion either, but I think a place like Tellico is what's needed to keep this from happening everywhere.
17) You need MAJOR gas tank protection. We all thought mine was ridiculous overkill, but it took about 400 MAJOR hits with the full weight of the Jeep. I highly recommend 1/4" steel...
18) Safety First should be a big concern. Whoever it is that runs the place really does not care whether you go out there and die... They pretty much take the approach that "You're an adult, take care of yourself." We were there during the week and were THE ONLY vehicle in the whole place. If we would have rolled and both been hurt, it may have been several days before someone came along. We pretty much gave each obstacle 2 or 3 decent shots, and then got the winch. We did not have a CB or a phone, and that was probably a mistake - I'd take both next time.
I'm happy to answer any other questions people have - I think it's a "MUST DO" for anyone on this board who's serious about off roading. Tellico has the obstacles you've been searching for if you live on the East Coast. - Chuck
Chuck Hadley
