Peak Putters - Rimrock (July 26-28, 2013)
Posted: Sun Jul 28, 2013 7:35 pm
Big group. Good times. I will post a play by play here tomorrow, but I wanted to start the thread so the picture takers can post up!
No mechanical carnage. Quite a bit of body damage. Great food. Great people. Wonderful time.
EDIT: The rest of the story.
First off, I took no pictures. If I had, they would have looked a lot like the ones that will be posted by Mona, Dave, Steve and others. . .
Also, I got lost twice. It had been several years since I had been there, the meds hadn't kicked in, I had bacon hangover. . .insert excuse here.
Now, with that out of the way.
The Players:
Moss' x6 (whole family, Jess' boyfriend Zack, and Parker the Jeep Dawg)
Lenzke x4
Wilcox x4 + Dawg
Tim/Friend/Dog
JKLance/Miss M
Curtis w/Bro Steve in Shotty
RoyBoy with his leaf blower
Commando Dave in the 'Manche
YJ Dave and his boy
Ed (who let in a Rat??
and. . .Drum Roll: a white YJ with a sleepy brown kid.
The Friday Night crew filtered in and where all accounted for by 10PM or so. Pretty sure that things wound down fairly early around the propane fire. There were no restrictions in the area, but we were sorely firewood limited so Tim's "white man fire was employed".
Bright and early Saturday morning, Ed, David, Dave, and "where did YOU come from" Jose rolled into camp to round out our 11 rig caravan.
Launch was only delayed by about 15 minutes. After a quick air down on the gravel and a "get lost tour" we were on the trail by 10:30 or so.
Cryin' Frank Hill was first on the short list of trails. For those keeping score, it is trail 651A. I was the first one up and, while I made it up in one shot (with a slight reposition at the top), I smooshed my rear quarter and lift gate in the process. Welcome to Rimrock, Enjoy your day!!
While CFH was undoubtedly FUN to watch, everyone made it up with very little drama. Heck, I'm pretty sure that David and Lance didn't even make any dust! Pretty sure that the two of them along with Marc get the "no drama" award for the hill. I will say that the deadfalls and lack of travel on this short trail did make it interesting, but we were a well prepared group of nearly a dozen. . .so it was big fun, but light on drama.
Then we regrouped and ran to the 641 Trail Head for the real trail trip. More later. I am multi-tasking at the office and have to prep for a meeting. I'll edit this thread as I go.
EDIT #2
After Frank's tears dried, we headed on up to the 641 (Leaning Tree) trail head with the help of Ed's superior nav skills. Ed, David, and Tim headed over to 601 (top side of Pucker Ridge/Ottertail/Otter Slide) and the other 8 folks headed up 641 knowing that we would eventually get back together for Lunch.
The gatekeeper proved to be no contest for the team. I think that there was a little rocker banging, but no cables were pulled in the making of this run report.
On up to the steep climbs and switchbacks in the tight trees. The climbs were loose. I'm sure that those with the appropriate switches, switched them ON to make it up. Us low budget guys were already locked up so we just kept even throttle pressure, made some dust and kept on truckin'.
One more wrong turn by yours truly and we got to see a few hundred yards of really cool tight trail before running back in to the other group. We then turned around and made our way back to the big bowl below the RimRock for lunch.
The whistle pigs tried to scare us off with their shrill calls and the gnats were thick until we frightened them away, but lunch in this setting at 12:45 with a group of 11 rigs was a major accomplishment. We tried to spot the resident mountain goats, but they were hiding in the shade on this perfect summer day (high 70s/low 80s and not a cloud in the sky).
After some bench wheelin', some chow, and letting the dogs stretch their legs, we climbed back in the wheelers with Ed leading up the crew and worked our way back to the trail. We decided to bypass "that one climb" right after lunch and instead wound around the trees to the obstacle formerly known as "the root". It has gotten prettttttty gnarly over the years. Even back then it claimed its fair share of body damage. Not so much on this fine day. . .everyone cleaned its clock. There may have been a short reposition by one or two. . .but no one took more than one run at it. Take THAT Rimrock!!!
On up to the end of leaning tree and on through the intersections we went. The group would gather at the crossroads to ensure unity, but other than that, we kept on Jeepin'. This section was TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT. While not everyone took damage, everyone rubbed on something. Those of us in the *ahem* bigger rigs may or may not have bent some sheetmetal and broke some plastic, but overall, we just kept on climbing up Humphrey Butte until we broke out on top with a FANTASTIC view of Mt. Ranier. Seriously people, that is what it is all about. When I crested the top (we were delayed a tiny bit by a JK squeeeeezing through a couple of stubborn posts, my bypass of this scene can be viewed in the video below), I was greeted with a view of Toby and Gavin posing for a photo in front of the mountain. It brought back memories. . .and then I realized that I was making memories at that moment with my own son by my side. Will, as always, is a GREAT spotter even when I'm not a great driver. Good times for sure, but the day was getting long in the tooth so we needed to carry on.
Down the trail we went to the intersection with Short and Dirty. This trail, while not as technically challenging as the previous sections, is a psychological THRILLER when you break out in the open on a few knife-edged hogs backs. Some great photos of this can also be seen below. The views were spectacular, but could only be enjoyed by the drivers when we stopped. One wrong move up here. . .well . . . let's just say that we all made good choices.
Onward we wheeled to the fork in the road where you can be a Chicken $h!t or keep your Short and Dirty on. . .we chose to stay the course on Short and Dirty. We really picked up the pace as the sun began to dip.
Before you know it, we were firmly on the gravel rally roads (in case those of you that were along were wondering why I hung in the back) which shortly gave way to pavement and a lakeside cruise back to camp.
Back at camp, the folks that stayed back to enjoy the camping experience greeted us with smiles. We smiled back through a layer of Rimrock Talc. . .and took to meal prep!!!
The Pork themed potluck was a raving success. There was more food that we could possibly eat and it was all good. We even had carnitas tacos for desert. Bench wheeling and lying lasted until all of 10:30PM. When I returned to my camp spot, I found Jose (who hadn't slept in 30++++ hours) playing big spoon to my tool box in the back of my Jeep.
Next morning we woke up to a much cooler day. A few of the group decided to keep on wheelin' and went up to Louie Way Gap while the rest of us whipped up a quick (3 hours) batch of man quiche. While Marc simmered that up, the ORV enforcement guy came and had a nice chat with us. Seems like there are still a few outlaws in our sport that need an education. We will continue to do our part, of course.
After the cast iron was licked clean, we remembered that we were DIRTY and that the best way to get clean is to go swimming in a mountain lake!!! So, the Moss/Lenzke/Wilcox kids, dogs, and moms headed for the swimmin' hole. GREAT TIMES THERE!! I suck at swimming so I stuck to being neck deep, but some of the group swam across to a little beach. The mom's kept tabs on us and snapped pics while the dogs did what dogs do. . .
Well, at this point, we reluctantly realized that it was time to pack up and head home. Back at camp, we were regaled with tales of conquering Louie Way, but I'll let those who actually witnessed the feat tell the tale.
All packed up, we bid farewell to another adventure and headed off for home. Along the way, we saw about a billion cops busting people heading home from the boat races. . .come on people, what do you expect?
Observations: Bobtail Jeeps continue to rule Rimrock. The big busses in the crew did well, but the narrower bodies simply are better up there when it comes to keeping sheetmetal in the right shape.
Also, my hat is off to the entire group. Not one cable was pulled to my knowledge and everyone really kept the pace (well, the whole group was a little off "Ed Pace" but we still covered a lot of ground and had a great time doing it.
Now, enjoy the observations of others and the pictures herein!!
No mechanical carnage. Quite a bit of body damage. Great food. Great people. Wonderful time.
EDIT: The rest of the story.
First off, I took no pictures. If I had, they would have looked a lot like the ones that will be posted by Mona, Dave, Steve and others. . .
Also, I got lost twice. It had been several years since I had been there, the meds hadn't kicked in, I had bacon hangover. . .insert excuse here.
Now, with that out of the way.
The Players:
Moss' x6 (whole family, Jess' boyfriend Zack, and Parker the Jeep Dawg)
Lenzke x4
Wilcox x4 + Dawg
Tim/Friend/Dog
JKLance/Miss M
Curtis w/Bro Steve in Shotty
RoyBoy with his leaf blower
Commando Dave in the 'Manche
YJ Dave and his boy
Ed (who let in a Rat??
and. . .Drum Roll: a white YJ with a sleepy brown kid.
The Friday Night crew filtered in and where all accounted for by 10PM or so. Pretty sure that things wound down fairly early around the propane fire. There were no restrictions in the area, but we were sorely firewood limited so Tim's "white man fire was employed".
Bright and early Saturday morning, Ed, David, Dave, and "where did YOU come from" Jose rolled into camp to round out our 11 rig caravan.
Launch was only delayed by about 15 minutes. After a quick air down on the gravel and a "get lost tour" we were on the trail by 10:30 or so.
Cryin' Frank Hill was first on the short list of trails. For those keeping score, it is trail 651A. I was the first one up and, while I made it up in one shot (with a slight reposition at the top), I smooshed my rear quarter and lift gate in the process. Welcome to Rimrock, Enjoy your day!!
While CFH was undoubtedly FUN to watch, everyone made it up with very little drama. Heck, I'm pretty sure that David and Lance didn't even make any dust! Pretty sure that the two of them along with Marc get the "no drama" award for the hill. I will say that the deadfalls and lack of travel on this short trail did make it interesting, but we were a well prepared group of nearly a dozen. . .so it was big fun, but light on drama.
Then we regrouped and ran to the 641 Trail Head for the real trail trip. More later. I am multi-tasking at the office and have to prep for a meeting. I'll edit this thread as I go.
EDIT #2
After Frank's tears dried, we headed on up to the 641 (Leaning Tree) trail head with the help of Ed's superior nav skills. Ed, David, and Tim headed over to 601 (top side of Pucker Ridge/Ottertail/Otter Slide) and the other 8 folks headed up 641 knowing that we would eventually get back together for Lunch.
The gatekeeper proved to be no contest for the team. I think that there was a little rocker banging, but no cables were pulled in the making of this run report.
On up to the steep climbs and switchbacks in the tight trees. The climbs were loose. I'm sure that those with the appropriate switches, switched them ON to make it up. Us low budget guys were already locked up so we just kept even throttle pressure, made some dust and kept on truckin'.
One more wrong turn by yours truly and we got to see a few hundred yards of really cool tight trail before running back in to the other group. We then turned around and made our way back to the big bowl below the RimRock for lunch.
The whistle pigs tried to scare us off with their shrill calls and the gnats were thick until we frightened them away, but lunch in this setting at 12:45 with a group of 11 rigs was a major accomplishment. We tried to spot the resident mountain goats, but they were hiding in the shade on this perfect summer day (high 70s/low 80s and not a cloud in the sky).
After some bench wheelin', some chow, and letting the dogs stretch their legs, we climbed back in the wheelers with Ed leading up the crew and worked our way back to the trail. We decided to bypass "that one climb" right after lunch and instead wound around the trees to the obstacle formerly known as "the root". It has gotten prettttttty gnarly over the years. Even back then it claimed its fair share of body damage. Not so much on this fine day. . .everyone cleaned its clock. There may have been a short reposition by one or two. . .but no one took more than one run at it. Take THAT Rimrock!!!
On up to the end of leaning tree and on through the intersections we went. The group would gather at the crossroads to ensure unity, but other than that, we kept on Jeepin'. This section was TIGHT TIGHT TIGHT. While not everyone took damage, everyone rubbed on something. Those of us in the *ahem* bigger rigs may or may not have bent some sheetmetal and broke some plastic, but overall, we just kept on climbing up Humphrey Butte until we broke out on top with a FANTASTIC view of Mt. Ranier. Seriously people, that is what it is all about. When I crested the top (we were delayed a tiny bit by a JK squeeeeezing through a couple of stubborn posts, my bypass of this scene can be viewed in the video below), I was greeted with a view of Toby and Gavin posing for a photo in front of the mountain. It brought back memories. . .and then I realized that I was making memories at that moment with my own son by my side. Will, as always, is a GREAT spotter even when I'm not a great driver. Good times for sure, but the day was getting long in the tooth so we needed to carry on.
Down the trail we went to the intersection with Short and Dirty. This trail, while not as technically challenging as the previous sections, is a psychological THRILLER when you break out in the open on a few knife-edged hogs backs. Some great photos of this can also be seen below. The views were spectacular, but could only be enjoyed by the drivers when we stopped. One wrong move up here. . .well . . . let's just say that we all made good choices.
Onward we wheeled to the fork in the road where you can be a Chicken $h!t or keep your Short and Dirty on. . .we chose to stay the course on Short and Dirty. We really picked up the pace as the sun began to dip.
Before you know it, we were firmly on the gravel rally roads (in case those of you that were along were wondering why I hung in the back) which shortly gave way to pavement and a lakeside cruise back to camp.
Back at camp, the folks that stayed back to enjoy the camping experience greeted us with smiles. We smiled back through a layer of Rimrock Talc. . .and took to meal prep!!!
The Pork themed potluck was a raving success. There was more food that we could possibly eat and it was all good. We even had carnitas tacos for desert. Bench wheeling and lying lasted until all of 10:30PM. When I returned to my camp spot, I found Jose (who hadn't slept in 30++++ hours) playing big spoon to my tool box in the back of my Jeep.
Next morning we woke up to a much cooler day. A few of the group decided to keep on wheelin' and went up to Louie Way Gap while the rest of us whipped up a quick (3 hours) batch of man quiche. While Marc simmered that up, the ORV enforcement guy came and had a nice chat with us. Seems like there are still a few outlaws in our sport that need an education. We will continue to do our part, of course.
After the cast iron was licked clean, we remembered that we were DIRTY and that the best way to get clean is to go swimming in a mountain lake!!! So, the Moss/Lenzke/Wilcox kids, dogs, and moms headed for the swimmin' hole. GREAT TIMES THERE!! I suck at swimming so I stuck to being neck deep, but some of the group swam across to a little beach. The mom's kept tabs on us and snapped pics while the dogs did what dogs do. . .
Well, at this point, we reluctantly realized that it was time to pack up and head home. Back at camp, we were regaled with tales of conquering Louie Way, but I'll let those who actually witnessed the feat tell the tale.
All packed up, we bid farewell to another adventure and headed off for home. Along the way, we saw about a billion cops busting people heading home from the boat races. . .come on people, what do you expect?
Observations: Bobtail Jeeps continue to rule Rimrock. The big busses in the crew did well, but the narrower bodies simply are better up there when it comes to keeping sheetmetal in the right shape.
Also, my hat is off to the entire group. Not one cable was pulled to my knowledge and everyone really kept the pace (well, the whole group was a little off "Ed Pace" but we still covered a lot of ground and had a great time doing it.
Now, enjoy the observations of others and the pictures herein!!