Meeting up Tom met us promptly at the AlbertsonGÇÖs in Mountain View at 7:30 am. The day was already looking good, a little foggy but it was sure to lift. We followed Tom to Saratoga where we met up with Rich on the freeway. We arrived at the school house in Hollister at 9:15. Here is where we met up with Andy, and Kyle. After airing down and chatting for a bit we were ready to head over to the obstacle course. Here we met up with Ed. After leaving the obstacle course I invited John, someone we met that day to come with us.
Attendees: (sorry I donGÇÖt know everyoneGÇÖs last name) Ed Lorenzen (ED4) Tom Vella (ED4) Kyle Richard Beard (ED4) James and Sasha Wilson Andy and his brother in law
Obstacle course
This is where the fun begins. James and Ed went through the frame twister with no issue. Almost everyone ran the course coming up to the squeeze rock, but only two people had the courage to run through squeeze rock. Kyle was first and ran it with few backups. Tom ran it shortly after and did an excellent job. A few scratches on one of his rock guards were the only damage.
The Gulch
James decided it would be best if we ran an GÇ£easyGÇ¥ trail called the Gulch, Not to be mistaken for the GÇ£VGÇ¥/GÇ¥JungleGÇ¥. Kyle and Andy decided they liked the way their jeeps drove on the highways so they decided to skip this part of the trip. They were nice enough to spot us and help clean up the trail.
I hear Tom radio, I am stuck in a bad way. So I pull of the side of the trail, grab my shovel and start walking towards Tom. My wife witnessed Richard with both front tires in the air as we were walking down towards Tom. Richard brushed it off but I can imagine how scary it was in the cab.
About halfway up the trail Tom fell into a huge hole. John being behind him winched him backwards until he was unstuck. Kyle, Andy, and Ed decided it would be best if Tom backed out of his situation. I thought this was impossible without a roll over. Thankfully I was wrong and Tom was able to back up and land with all 4 tires pointing down to the earth. After this James spotted Tom through this difficult section and the rest of the trail was GÇ£uneventfulGÇ¥.
Lunch
The group decided to have lunch on top of the hill in the Park. I decided with my keen sense of direction to lead the group to the top of the hill. Well I got us lost. We did however have lunch in a nice group of trees by the GÇ£VGÇ¥ trail. After enjoying lunch and swapping tales we heard a boom and crunch and lots of smoke. Inside the trail was a late model Toyota with brand new rebuilt axles on its side. They drug the vehicle backwards and seemed to have the situation under control.
Trash pickup
On the trail we found a battery, taco bell wrappers, beer bottles, vehicle parts, etc. But the biggest find was a cooler lid with the persons address on it. We turned in this trash and lid to the ranger station and they said they would look into it. They actually meant it; they tracked down Ed to get the battery from him. Thank you, Ed for being willing to haul most of the trash out. It was nice to know that they are actually going to pursue this issue. We need to keep our trails clean not only for our enjoyment but to keep them open.
A great day and a great end to the weekend
This was a wonderful and enjoyable trip and the weather couldnGÇÖt have been better.
Thank you.
My wife did video tape most of the trip. We plan on putting this on CD this weekend.