Being from southeastern KY, off-roading is something natural. Literally every household owns at least one off road vehicle. Whether it is an ATV or a jeep, where ever there’s a mountain you can bet there is a trail. When we relocated to Ashland, KY, we sold out Polaris Razor thinking there would be nowhere to ride in the “big city”. We were wrong.
Rush Off-Road park is a 7000 acre off-road dream. This park features hours of trails from easy to, “Um, no way am I going up that!” Tons of primitive camping and little cell service creates the perfect environment to unplug from our social network dependent lives. My first trip there, I knew this was a perfect place to hold a Wildlife Women event. It was then Mud and Mascara was born.
As months turned to weeks, weeks turned to days, Mud and Mascara was looking like the most successful event to date for Wildlife Women. Literally, hundreds of people had responded to the event on both Wildlife Women and Rush Off-Roads Facebook pages. T-shirts for the event sold like crazy! Spring turkey season opening distracted some. Springtime weather in Kentucky is about as predictable as a woman’s mind. The weather forcast took a drastic turn at the last minute. What was supposed to be the most perfect camping weather had turned into torrential downpours and thunderstorms. I was determined. If I was the only one there, this event would go on.
Most of us got up early that morning and hit the turkey woods. Thankfully, the turkeys were silent for me and I made it to Rush early. I picked out a perfect camping spot way back in the holler. I pitched my tent, set up the canopy, kicked up my boots and waited to see what was gonna happen. At 4 o’clock, here come the girls! We were some camping queens, y’all! Wildlife Women chapter leader Cassie can set up a pole tent quicker than lightning strikes. New comers, Sabra, Megan and Momma Dukie had been hitting the trails all day and joined us that evening. Ms. Kate rolled in from nearly 3 hours away. Melissa, Misty and Bridgette all joined the fun. As soon as we got camp set, the rain began.
It rained most of the night, stopping long enough to throw some chili in a pot, make grilled cheese and smore cones on the fire, practice turkey calls and tom struts. We talked about Wildlife Women. We talked hunting. We talked life. Kate told us her story. We laughed. There may have been some teary eyes. Kate had never met any of us. As the bedtime neared she spoke up and said, “I thought I was country until I met the Wildlife Women!” It was the perfect laugh to turn in on.
Melissa, Bridgette, Misty and I all piled in a tent and had the most epic slumber party EVER! I think the evening started with 5 air mattresses and by bedtime 1 had held air! Bridgette’s bucked her off like a green mule several times that night. I was nearly packed out of the tent by a teradactyl. (It was actually a mosquito!) And Misty spent her first night ever in a tent! Morning came fast, well, for me it did. I slept through a monsoon, all night riding and anything else that occurred. The rest of them were up and down all night.
I built a fire. Melissa percolated coffee. We gave out door prizes donated by Wicked Miss Off-Road Apparel (LOOK HER UP ON FB!) All the new girls took home something! Momma Dukie thanked us for what we had organized. She told us her story and I don’t think any of us left untouched or unchanged by her. One, she came to this event after just having knee surgery and rode an ATV like a straight up BOSS! Two, what she told us all, reassured us that Wildlife Women is a great thing and we are making a difference in people’s lives! Lastly, she is one of the strongest women I personally have ever met and an inspiration that life can only keep down if you let it.
We had a break in weather, a pre-ride picture and a quick prayer led by Misty, and we hit the trails. I had pre-rode the route a week earlier. But the storms had completely changes the integrity of some trails. Trail security wished us luck and told us to call 911 if we needed help. When I say, everyone was gone from the park because of the forecast; I mean we were the only ones on the trails. There were some perfect selfie opportunities and it wasn’t long before Cassie split the first mudhole wide open! I caught the perfect prince in one mud filled oasis. Bridgette, Melissa and I all kissed him but he still looked like a slimy frog so I threw him back where he came from! (No frogs were harmed during this event!) Bridgette was the first to need winched. Thankfully, Cassie and I are the winch queens and got her back rolling quickly.
As the planned route neared its end, there was one hill I had concerns about in my planning. The rains would have done nothing but complicate it. We rode to the base of trail 62 and there is where Mud and Mascara earned its name and we all earned our Wildlife Women mud stripes. I’d seen the hole before. I knew it’s depth. Cassie lined up. “Don’t do it!” ,I warned, “You’re gonna get stuck!” She did it! She got stuck. I tried to winch her from the front but it was like she had plowed in to the mud. The water was past my thighs! I swear I had tadpoles in my boots! Finally got her out when we winched from the back. Y’all we celebrated with a mud fight! I am talking full blown, mud flyin’, I’d whip my kids a$$ if they came in my house looking like that, mud fight! Melissa fell at least 5 times. We were waterlogged and mud bathed. I haven’t had that much fun since I was knee high to a grasshopper. So much laughing, so many memories made, and so much teamwork between 10 women who for the most part had just met less than 24 hours ago.
As the trail ended, the storms rolled in. The sky was full of black clouds moving quickly across the sky. But a post ride photo was a must. Returning to camp, we were greeted again by a torrential downpour. By the time everything was packed up and loaded, I was literally soaked to my core. The temperature had made a significant drop and my teeth were chattering. It was all so worth it. The stress of planning was erased by the smile on my face. Ya know, I’d done all this a million times. Camping, riding, building a fire…it’s been a part of my lifestyle my entire life. This time was different. I had done this without any help from my dad or my husband. It was me and my girls. I left that camp ground feeling like a million dollars. I am still so incredibly proud of Mud and Mascara. It couldn’t have been any more successful if there had been 100 people there. This is what Wildlife Women is about. It’s not about fame or fortune. It’s about friendships and proving to women (and sometimes ourselves) that we are capable of anything we put our minds to…
Blog and post by:
Chapter Leader
Erin Stump