While waiting for the official run report I will add my own voice to the narrative. I drove up Saturday morning, bypassing the caravanners, because I knew I would have to set up my camp (including my funky tent.)
11 rigs headed out at about 9:45 along the familiar route. As opposed to the same run last year there were very few sledders, but it would have been nice if someone had groomed recently… everyone was getting their kidneys realigned curtsey of the whoop-dee-doos. Judging from Rob (Lud) in front of me, it was harder on the short wheel base guys.
All day long we seemed to break into 2, sometimes three groups, with the lead group making good time, even though breaking trail, and waiting for the rear group to catch up. Sometimes those of us taking the more leisurely pace caught up just in time to see the grill be put away and smell hotdogs on somebody’s breath.
Here DJ (Sillyputty) is trying to get through a side hill section that I had made more interesting by my passing. In front of him in his CJ is Don who also commented on my destroying the perfectly good trail the lead group had put down. (But, hey, I did not get stuck.)...
At the point where you cross the ridge to Darland Mountain, Roy decided he would take the route where even snowmobiles fear to tread. (TJDave will remember the spot; it is where we spent most of the day on the FYBR while everyone else was breaking their stuff.)
Here DJ takes the route onto the ridge that actually involves a bit of a road, as opposed to the route Roy, David, Curtis, and maybe Rob, chose. It involved a bit of digging (he brought good diggers) and a bit of direction from ‘Do as I Say, Not as I Do’ José (more on that later.)
As a thank you to José for all his help, DJ winches him up the last bit of hill that is a challenge getting up on Darland Mountain. In defense of José and me, who both had to use cable to get to the top, I think the hotdog eaters at the top had been pissing down the hill to make it icier for us than it had been for them. (Yeah, I’m talking about you Tim, why you gotta’ be a hater.)
While we were regrouping, some went off to play and summit the mountain while some of us were discussing their stock derivatives and when we were going to short sell when we heard across the CB radios, “STOP, STOP, STOP.â€
