Superbowl 4x4

The drive down to Hollister Saturday morning was a sort of misty fog, reminding us of some winters past, where others were not jealous of our California weather. - boy doesn't that sound like the start to some novel you snuggle up in bed with? Oh well, this isn't the type of group for that, so let's get to the grind. I was driving down to Hollister however, and it so happened to be a Saturday as well. There were patches of morning fog that was making it interesting. I left my house around 8, but had to run some errands (included picking up lunch and getting gas). On the way down, I stopped by Starbucks in Gilroy (for the record, there's a Starbucks off of 152 East, on the right hand side just past the Shell station there). By the way, there used to be a great little café in there, had great biscuits and gravy (that also had chunks of bacon in it). Anyways, as I was leaving, I saw Ellen driving in, apparently, there's also a Peet's in that area.

As I made the turn off 101 towards Hollister, I took a look at the time, and though I was going to be quite late. By the time I got to the top of the old obstacle course. Jim and the others were already there standing and chatting around. Chuck was under his vehicle doing some fix with the linkages. As I arrived, so did, Denny, then Ellen, then Connie.

Jim pulled together a quick driver's meeting to layout what was planned for the day. Most of us (me) was excited to drive the "wife's" Jeep again. I wasn't quite sure if my skills were back to par, which in some cases may be a good thing. I've always thought that this was a sport where being over confident gets you introuble.

We went into the old obstacle course, where there were others already playing around. The "field" was quite muddy (oh what fun - I hate mud). We did a small loop, I was heading for the Frame twister, as the group followed, but then noticed that there was some big Toyota, already playing in there (as it turned out, he wasn't playing, he was stuck - seemed kinda odd, considering it looked like he had a 6" lift with 35"+ tires - probably needs to take the clinic to match the driver's skills to the capabilities of the vehicle).

I then made a turn towards the Stair Steps. The mud had made it quite slippery, and my 32's with reduced knobs weren't much help. I did make it up by trying a couple of different lines. There were a few that then followed up this. I forgot to mention that there was quite a hole that was dug out at the bottom of the steps.

Once we were done playing there, it was off to the new Obstacle course. Most of us hadn't seen this before, so I was pretty excited to check it out. There were some whoops (I'll call it that), that allowed you to check your approach/departure/breakover angles. Next came a log climb, a descent with some rocks, and a mini rock garden. There was quite a few safe obstacles here, that we could probably use for the Clinic - we probably should consider putting this as part of the trail run.

Sat and talked at the end for a little bit - we were more or less ahead of schedule - so from there, we went to the ravine, where I watched a stock YJ be abused. Anyways, we got the great posing shots as usual with almost everyone attempting it (others were kind to let everyone who wanted to play do it, while the rest of us took shots or guided).

Next came the trek towards the rock quarry, where we once again played around and tested some of our skills some more at climbing steeper rocks and at points saw nothing but blue skies. Eventually we got tired and wanted to head down to lunch. At this point, Mike C.'s Rubi had some starting issues, where we had to try to jump it a couple of times before it was resessitated (I'm not sure if I spelled that right, I'll have to check with my other brain, but she's is still in bed this morning). Anyways, with the help of 4 of us, we got that thing started and headed back down to the top of the old O'course where we had lunch.

A plan was then hatched to do some trail riding. We went through some trails (I don't remember the names), but we did get to one point where it was steep and muddy. Ellen radio'd back and said that you might need lockers, this more or less stopped some of the others, but this didn't stop our YJ owner from trying. He was slipping and sliding all over, looking like a fish out of water. I drove through, made it to the top with the others, as we then came back down for the end of the ride.

It was a good day of playing around and getting re-aquainted with my Rig.

Thanks to Jim O. for putting this together and thanks to all those who showed up:

Book Keeping: Weather: Sunny, cool, slight breeze Trail Conditions: Some Mud, some hard packed dirt Who was there: (see list below) Name of trip: Superbowl4x4 The dates: 1/31/2009 The details: (see details above) Anyone do anything crazy to deserve a cowbell? Yes, but he's not in the club

(Tom this list is for you:) Denny Barb Connie W. JD Ellen Chuck & Linda Jim & Monica Gary * Mike C. Ed Lau.

www.flickr.com

Hollister Hills

I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to Jim, Monica, and Michael for a very nice time out at Hollister. It seemed like we actually did a lot in a very short time. The new “O” coarse is a very nice addition to the Park. I am very happy that I did not suggest going on Sunday instead of Saturday. A lot of people were there thinking that possibly mud would be in abundance. There was some mud, but we all tip toed around to avoid it. Both of the Jeeps behaved themselves so I did not have to rescue them. Some head scratching and a little rock repositioning in the new “OC” helped me get over the well positioned rocks. I think these were the ones that Ron Frey got hung up on also. No damage and a good time had by all. I know we just did not try hard enough, right Jim Hodges??? Looking forward to the meeting on Tuesday. Thanks Monica for joining us for this event Darell

Stuckathon

Wow! Lots of detailed trip reports being submitted. I had a great time too.

I met up with Jim/Cherokee, Ellen(+Mike)/YJ, CJ/CJ7, Pete/TJ & Ron(?)/ Yellow Unlimited at Coyote Golf Course exit. I don’t know my way around Hollister Hills yet, so I really like that we can meet up near the Golf Course. Ok, I admit it.. I like the part about convoying down the 101 also.

Others joined us inside HH. I always enjoy looking at the different vehicles, seeing how things are set up and gathering/comparing data.

Jim did a nice job of laying out the items to be used and going over the day’s objectives. Once aired down, things got rolling and then some things got stuck! Eureka!

I’m still learning about proper tire placement and haven’t really piled any rocks myself. So I was hanging out where Ellen was directing & performing unstucks! Using Jim’s solutions sure does look easier & safer than moving rocks around.

So many great details, photos & videos were submitted in the different trip reports! I think I’ve reread and viewed them numerous times all this week!

I’ll close by saying that I really thought Jim’s Stuckathon was a success, and I hope to see the event repeated in the future!

Oh and Ellen,,, was that a Porche Boxster you caught up with on the windy road to 156 on the way out?

Great fun! Thanks Jim & attendees! Connie

Stuckathon

Finally finished my Trip Report. I didn’t use any pictures this time, I tried something a bit different. Decided to test out my new and CHEAP $150 HD video camera. Its pretty junky, but it has no moving parts, so it’ll work well for the dust. I really had a great time, and look forward to our next outing/meeting.

-CJ

LINK TO TRIP REPORT

P.S. I’ll attempt to copy and paste the code. It probably won’t work.

Stuckathon

Hi all, Here is my trip report…

My first offroading trip since moving to California was the Esprit de Four Stuckathon organized by Jim our fearless trail boss. The location was Hollister Hills offroad park just south or San Jose… I can’t believe there is a state park allotted just to offroading – California rocks!

Our mission, believe it or not, was to get stuck – not just stuck but really stuck. Unlike the trails I’m familiar with back in Ontario Canada, there isn’t a lot of mud or pre Cambrian bead rock. What there is here however, is a lot of dry and loose dirt – read sand and dust – and rocks. Sure the rocks look small in pictures but in person nothing in my experience matches them – except for maybe very very short sections of the Outhouse trail near Minden.

After a year of settling into California, I can now start fitting Jeeping back into my life. I was finally able to meet up with an awesome club - Esprit de Four also known as ED4. Dreams of riding the Rubicon trail are finally coming closer to reality. For me, this Stuckathon was the perfect opportunity to try my chops at typical California trail conditions without the fear of catastrophic failure – or worse the dreaded Cow Bell award. As Ellen and CJ can attest to, both in separate instances, I would have definitely been in the running for the award. Thanks for getting me out of my messes!!

My first and most documented stuck was a few minutes into the day after I followed Ellen through a “tame” rock garden. I have several excuses for the stuck but I’m not gonna bore anyone with them. The benefits of the stuck are fold:

1) One, it showed me why people of the Jeep Forum told me they didn’t want me on any Rubicon trip with them – 31s, no lockers, and no California wheeling experience makes for an interesting mix. Not following an experienced California driver’s line also helps increase the chance of a good stuck.

2) Two, the stuck showed us how well Jim’s Stuckathon toolkit works on a “smaller” less equipped Jeep. Every bit of Jim’s kit came in handy getting me unstuck. Ellen describes the benefit of the various bit in her write-up so I won’t go into detail. However, I’d like to add that I did see a use for the floor mat. Since I’m open front and rear, my first stuck was quite interesting to watch. I had two wheels off the ground – one in the front and one in the back. There wasn’t much weight on the bridging board in the front – in fact there was about a one inch gap between the board and the wheel. I slipped the floor mat in the gap and watched the floor mat provide just enough grip as I climbed back out of the stuck. In a sense, the floor mat acted like a parking brake might in the rear - it limited the slip. That said, most of the credit can be given to Ellen and all the work she did on the passenger side to get me unstuck.

My second stuck was more of an extreme off camber situation. I slipped into a runoff ditch and my driver side came inches away from holding up the weight of my jeep. Everyone was starting to break for lunch. I was trying to figure how to get out of the ditch without ending up on my driver side when CJ saw me. He confirmed my main extraction option and I started backing out slowly while turning the wheel into the left bank of the ditch. Again, another incident that came really close to being Cow Bell worthy.

This was an awesome intro to the club and to wheeling in Cali. Thanks for organizing the event Jim! And thanks to everyone for a great day in Hollister!

Thanks, Pete

Stuckathon

Hey, I tried to get stuck! I very nearly did. But, I took one look at the rocks Ron got stuck on and decided that I’d like to be able to drive home, and well, they were taller than my doorsill! So, I got hung up on something slightly smaller. Things I liked: Portability: I could carry a couple of boards and a bag, and that was enough to get two of the stucks unstuck. No sharp edges: I didn’t need gloves like I usually do with rocks. Even the liner coated ones were OK. No broken fingernails: I almost always have a rock slip out of my hands and take off a nail. Bridging gaps: Instead of having to build a causeway (filling in a gap with rocks) I could bridge it with a board. Most of the spans were at most 1.5 tire “patches” long, so the boards took the weight nicely.

Creative placement: the end of the board could be wedged under a ridge in the rocks and was very secure - see Mike’s photos. Also, there was one place we wedged a little board across a gap in a rock by supporting it from the side with another board! It was very secure. The Welcome Mat: while it didn’t work really well in the dust or on rock, I can see it being very useful in snow, sand or mud where it can sink into a firmer substrate. We did use it for traction on a rock, and it went flying.

Bags of blocks: worked great. Had a tendency to roll under the tire and have to be moved back into position for the rear tires. They worked better with a board.

The new O-Course has some tire placement rocks, some easy rocks, harder rocks, still harder rocks and then the totally impossible rocks that Ron got stuck on. He had 3 tires in the air!

I had a great time, and I hope I didn’t scare Mike too badly! Ellen

Stuckathon

I had a great day getting stuck and enjoying the time spent with friends. It all started with everyone gathering at the 101 and Coyote Golf Course Dr exit. There was Jim in his Cherokee, Ellen in her Wrangler and one other TJ (sorry, bad with names!) when I got there about 9am. Altogether, I think we ended up with about 10 rigs. Brian, Or with his Dad, Yuval, black Cherokee (sorry about the name again), myself, CJ and his friend, Chris in Cj’s CJ (LOL), and I can’t remember the others. We got down to HH around 10 or so and aired down at the area just above the obstical course. Jim showed us his recovery gear that he wanted to try out during the day. Very capable items that I thought were great ideas. After the short pre drive meeting, we headed for the obstacle course and played around. 3 of us proceeded to get stuck (yeah!) and we got the opportunity to try out the recovery gear. I was stuck in the rock garden and the recovery items didn’t work for my stuck, but they were effective to say the least for the driver in the maroon TJ that needed help in the ravine. We had fun trying different methods of recovery, but at some time, we made the decision to get the strap out and pull me free from the rocks. I picked another line after discussing it with Jim and Cj and gave it another try. Success! Thanks guys for all your help.

We played around in the OC for another hour or so and had a blast. From there, we headed toward truck hill. On the way, wegot a big surprise. HH has built another OC just before truck hill and we had to try it out. I think we all agreed that was fun and they had done a great job with the course. Yes, some of us (me included) proceeded to get stuck, again, LOL. It was all a lot of fun and we enjoyed trying different ways of removal on the Jeep.

From the upper OC, we headed just over to truck hill and the big ravine. While most drove through the ravine and tried out their suspensions, I decided to go up the hill. I had made it up in the Spring during the first ED4 get together and wanted to do it again. Man, was it loose this time. I stopped about halfway up, back up a tad and picked a different line. The tires kept grabbing and up I went.

It was fun to watch everyone in the ravine and see what the vehicles do. It was about 1pm or so and we all were pretty hungury, so out came the sandwiches, drinks and such. CJ, you had some great chocolate chip cookies! Thanks pal.

From here, Ellen led us to the rock quarry to do some more playing around. I think Jim was having way too much fun, as his rear driveshaft gave up and we had to remove it, so he could get home with the front wheel drive. Everyone jumped into help and it didn’t seem like too long that we had him moving again. The group decided that some had had enough and we split up, with CJ, OR, Yuval and me heading up to the lookout at the top of Fremontia. We met a couple of guys up there and told them about ED4, as they were interested in possibly joining the club. It was getting late and we decided to head back home. All in all, a great day on the trails and I got to spend some time with friends. Oh yeah, I got the $50, also! I suggested that it go to the club and the group thought that was a good idea. Thanks ED4 for another fun trip. Ron

Stuckathon

Since my Jeep is down I was a passenger with Ellen - thanks Ellen. We started out at the obstacle course and had some good stucks, giving the oppertunity to try out Jim’s various devices to replace using rocks. On the way to the ravine we checked out the new obstacle course which provided a stuck giving the oppertunity to test out a new winch. Arrived at the ravine and played a little bit and then had lunch.

Proceeded on to the quarry and played for awhile until news came over the radio that Jim had dropped a drive line. Turned out to be the rear drive line which was removed and some of us decided it was a good time to call it a day and made sure Jim made it out running on just the front drive line.

Being that many times you would not want to try harder lines for fear of getting stuck and holding the run up, the idea of having a day where the whole intent was to try harder lines and get stuck - and trying devices other than stacking rocks - was excellent and I really hope there is a repeat of the this event.

Here are a few photos:

Clicky

Hollister Hills

Sunday, April 20, 2008It was a fine day at Hollister Hills SVRA. Everyone was on time. It wasn’t too cold, too hot or too windy. No one broke anything. Ron made it up Truck Hill: Twice! Ava drove all the way up the ravine, through the frame twister and up the Stairstep. Daniel drove the Volkswagen bus up the Stairstep. He wanted to do the ravine, but the guides chickened out. Maybe Kelly can guide him next time. Jim got stuck just enough to provide a nice recovery demonstration. And Brian demonstrated that the mud pit wasn’t that deep. Yes, he drove through. 3 times. Yuck! Some of us stopped for dinner in San Juan Batista at Dona Esters for some Mexican food.

Most of the trails look pretty good on the south side. Darell, Kathy, Mike & Dede ran the trails on the north side.

Attending: Ava & Dennis Ron Daniel (VW Synchro 4WD Van) CJ Connie (Emerald Green CJ at the last clinic) Brian & Brandon (nephew) Mike & Susie (golden retriever) Dede & Mike Kathy & Darell Jim & his co-drivers John, Hope, Shane & Brenna Ruiz! Tom Ellen Hope I didn’t miss anyone…

See you next meeting, Ellen

Meet'n Greet & Hollister

Dan’s combined trip report and hearsay from Saturday’s April 19 Meet &Greet, and Sunday’s HHSVRA trip April 20, 2008.

All week before the April 19/20 weekend I had been putting everything back together in my ‘87 VW Syncro Vanagon (also known as a VW Type-2 T3 Syncro Transporter) to get it ready for the field. In between field runs I have a habit of rebuilding parts of the truck that were working just fine before-hand, and adding contraptions that I may actually use someday if I can just stop taking the truck apart. Actually this last month I had the electrical system torn-up with the entire fuse block out just to document some previous wiring additions that I had done last year. Also I needed to get the rock guard back under the engine as there is only 12in. of clearance down there.

Saturday morning was an eye-opener, there were a LOT of Jeeps in the 4 Wheel Parts parking lot and they all seemed to belong to the folks from my new club!! Okay, I have seen Jeeps before, usually in my rear view mirror on a trail, har har… Actually the vehicles that I see out on the trails are mostly standard non-modded CJ’s and sometimes a Dodge Colt that had been set ablaze and filled with shotgun holes. (I used to off-road in the Angeles Forest in L.A. where you never know what you will find) I spent Saturday talking with the club members and looking at their rigs. I was very impressed with the quality and shear amount of work being put into these rigs, I am a design engineer for work and hobby so it is always interesting for me to get a look at the design and workmanship of a vehicle. I spent a little time in the parking lot bolting on some beefier drive shaft guards that I had just finished welding up for my Syncro “QUADRO”.

And on to Sunday. It was a great day for a ride. I got down to the Coyote Creek at 9am and found the Jeeps, the crew, the dogs, and yes the No Parking sign. We don’t need to heed no stink’n “No Parking” sign. We hung out for a while, played with the dogs then headed out for the hills. When we got to the day-camping area next to the obstacle course we stopped to bleed-down the tires and here is my first lesson needing to be learned. The standard Syncro uses 185/80-14 tires, yes 14″ wheels, after much discussion with various Syncro groups, I had installed 15″ steel wheels with 215/75-15 BFG All Terrain T/A’s and they run great on all types of terrain, I run them nominally at 50 PSI and as I don’t do much rock crawling I do not air them down. The GVWR of the Syncro is 5,512 Lbs. The off road tire usage chart that I checked showed 15 PSI for this size tire, don’t know, I thought that would be a bit low so I went the day at 25 PSI. The ride and stability was good but I need to learn a bit more about terrain and tire pressure. For the first run of the day we rode to the top of Hector Heights, always a nice ride with lots of varying terrain. For this trip to Hollister Hills, I recorded all the runs with my GPS to save the track info to compare with satellite images on a mapping program. Until recently, none of the on-line satellite map servers had much photo resolution in the area of the HHSVRA. Now you can see most all of the trails that are open to the sky and I wanted to compare where we had been. For those interested, Hector Heights coordinates are N36 44.675 W121 25.154 and it shows up well on Google Maps. After some lunch we headed back down and stopped by the ravine and Truck Hill for some rig tests. Here is another lesson I need to learn, should I be trying to straddle that ravine? The Syncro has a wheelbase of 96″, a track of 64″, a tire diameter of 28″, and can run a lot of trails but I need a little more help in deciding if my rig is capable of that ravine. I do know that I would not try to cross the ravine like Jim did but maybe a clean run up or down would work. I was pretty impressed by Ron’s run up and down Truck Hill but I’m not going to do that. We then went over to the obstacle course for some fun. I did do the stair step three times, after each run I had to find the loose objects that went flying around my trucks cab and tie them down better. Some of the crew were trying to get me to run the mud pit. I have in the past but my excuse this time is that I had just finished adding the pretty drive shaft rock guards, and the on-board air system is down there without its guard and cover and I still needed to use it at the end of the day, so there. Looks like fun was had by all and I will be back in May for the Safety Clinic for some lessons, to discuss tactics, and get some questions answered.

Out,

Dan

Boys Battalion

Hollister Hills, Boy’s Battalion weekend, September 9, 2007, by Brian McMinn I joined up on Sunday morning since school commitments prevented me from coming out for the Boy’s Battalion on Saturday. Everyone who stayed over was provided the opportunity to preride some of the new trails on the other side of La Cienega. One of the park rangers met up with us at 9:30 a.m. to lead us on the trails. Falling in behind were Sherry (CJ7), Richard (from Napa) (M38A1), Ed (Toyota PU), Tom (CJ7), Jim (ZJ), myself (TJ), Mike & Dede (Early Bronco), and Ole (CJ7) bringing up the rear.

The trails were cut in wide enough to accommodate the variety of the vehicles in the group. Many of the routes traversed the sides of steep slopes which required staying on the trail for continued enjoyment of life. The group had to stop from time to time to trim branches here or there. The ranger was driving a Rhino that was well suited to the trails made narrow by brush.

The outing amounted to about 3 hours of trail riding on a warm sunny day in Hollister Hills. The heat eventually got to Dede, the lack of power steering gave Richard a workout, and Ole had a bee encounter. The trails made for a good Sunday drive with few challenges and plenty of opportunities for custom pin striping. Everyone returned to the campsite to pack up and have leftover tri-tip sandwiches before hitting the road.

Brian.

Hollister Hills Tree Planting

Volunteers: I really don’t think I can add much to Ed Lorenzen’s e-mail of April 22, only that I wish to personally THANK the following people:* Ron Heath; * Ole Stortroen; * Rich Martin; * Darell Kroeker; * Ed Lorenzen; * Ray Mendes and Aaron Mendes; * Christopher Thordarson; * Ellen Layendecker; and * David Grubman and his two daughters (sorry, David, I didn’t get your daughter’s names).

I think our group of volunteers are getting realllllly good at this planting thing. We were able to plant the 21 Elderberry bushes in about 1-1/2 hours, or less time. These bushes were planted on the Hudner side of the park (that’s the newest part of the park ). After the planting, Patty Forbes treated us to some Lemon bars and Banana (nut less) bread. They were both delicious. We were also treated to a short tour of Hudner. Can’t wait for the Hudner side of the park to be open. Any day of 4-wheeling is a good day. Thanks you all so much for your help. Sincerely, Sherry Stortroen

Hollister Hills Tree Planting

ED4 Members	Friends of ED4
Ole & Sherry	David Grubman & Daughters
Ed & Chris	Rich
Ray & Son	&nbps;
Ellen	&nbps;
Ron	&nbps;
Darell	&nbps;

I’m going to start off with the good stuff and end with the with the normal. For those that did not show up this weekend you missed out on a “Special Treat”

We got to go explore the trails in the new area of the park! To our surprise after lunch Jeff had one of the guys who help set up the new trails take us for a private tour of the trails. We took 5 rigs making the run. Before we started the run Ole asked everyone to air down, remain in 4wd at all times and to take it real easy on the trails. Riding shotgun with Ole was the guy that was in with the development of the trails. Ole really needed him because the trails were covered in grass in many areas. Ron Ron ran shotgun with Ellen, Sherry went in Rich’s whit Jeep, Ray had his son and I had my oldest son Chris with me (Ed). We toured the new area for about 2-1/2 hours. The trails were mostly narrow and I’m guessing that they will be one way trails because there is little to no room to pass. The views were great as we wound through the trees and stopped and some of the peaks. There are two family campsites in the new area that looks to be a pretty private tent camp area. One of the sites already had a vault toilet in place. I believe we were the FIRST group of general 4 wheelers to be allowed to drive these trail! When this side of the park opens to the public it will be very nice.

See good things can happen during troubled times!

Now to start from the beginning. Since we were not allowed to enter Area 5 until 6am Saturday Chris and I left Modesto about 9pm Friday night with Ray following us in his new motorhome. We arrived in downtown Hollister at about 11pm and pulled our motorhome into the high school parking lot for the night. There was plenty of room for our rigs and we did not even get a knock on the door at 3am with the police asking us to move! We got up at 6:30 and were at Area 5 by 7am. Oly & Sherry beat us in.

Everyone met up at the park office at 9am to get our instruction from Patty and off to the new area we went. The area Patty wanted the Elderberry trees planted was about one mile in from the new parking area. The planing of the trees was just like trips before. Dig hole, pound posts, plant tree and put up baby fence. We all worked as a team and it took us about 1-1/2 hours to get all 20 trees planted. Patty baked banana bread and lemon treats for us to snake on as she gave us our two free day passes to the park. After we were all done snaking Patty gave us our first treat of the new park! David it was to bad you went back with Jeff to the parking area………….. Patty lead us out and the trails we were on were pretty wide because she was driving on of the parks big flat bed truck. We all followed and the she stopped. Since I was the first rig behind her she came up to me and said to take this trail to the left and lead the group up to one of the new camping areas. Ole & Darell stayed with Patty and I did not hesitate on leading the group on the new trail. At the top we all got out of the rigs and took in the view. When looking west you get a birds side view of the park we know along with the GP race track area. We could have stayed up there long but I had to remind everyone that Oly & Darell were waiting for us at the bottom so we all climbed back into our rigs and headed down.

As the day ended Oly, Sherry and I joined the members of Diablo 4Wheelers at there campfire. We had some very good campfire talk but it was hard not telling them the whole story on what we did after planing the trees.

Since it rained most of Saturday night we just pack things up Sunday morning and headed home early.

A special thanks to all that showed up this weekend!

Hollister Hills Tree Planting

Hollister Hills Tree Planting

Esprit de Four Volunteers and Volunteer guests: I wish to extend a big “Thank you” to those who took time out of their weekend to help plant 50 trees at Hollister Hills SVRA on Saturday, February 3rd. We had 18 volunteers and two young people. What a day, we started out by meeting Patty Forbes at the park at 9 a.m. By 9:20 we had the trees, tools and other supplies loaded up and heading out to the area where Patty wanted the trees planted. After a short demonstration, everything just came together. I know that sounds “corny”, but it’s true. Everyone found a job, worked hard, and we were able to get all 50 trees planted, 9:30 a.m. to 12:15 and we were done!!!. What a great bunch of volunteers, a Big “THANK YOU” to: * Ellen Layendecker; * Mike and Navi Phorn; * Ole Stortroen; * Chuck Rippen; * Jay Lohr; * Tom Vella; * Richard Beard; * Dennis Holler; * Ava Moore; * Steve Bartolomei, with Ashley and Collin; * Ron Heath; * Ed Lorenzen; * Dirk Martin; * Darell Kroeker; and Darell’s friend’s Lynn Warkentin and J.R. Atchison. Darell please extend a “Thank you” to your two friends (non-club members) who helped with the planting. Wow, GREAT job all. Sincerely, Sherry Stortroen (P.S. If I misspelled anyone’s name, please excuse me. )

Hollister Hills

Hello, Well… This was my first run with the club. When I started out from home, it was foggy and bleak and I was wondering if that was an omen! By the time I got to Cienega road, the sun had come out and it was looking like it was going to be a glorious day.

I was the last to get to the school house where Ellen, Susi, Richard and Carol were waiting. After a couple of minutes to air down and lock the hubs, we were off. Having a primarily stock rig, I was concerned that it would limit the trails we would take and perhaps not challenge the others in the group. Boy was I surprised when I got to the left turn on the downhill Chaparral hill. (Did I mention it went downhill? I mean really downhill!!!!) There was a bit of pucker factor involved in making that left turn — the rear of the truck was sliding about and thanks to Richard’s guiding and coaching, I made it without a scratch.

Ellen then led us all the way up to the top of Hector Heights for a lunch break and the great view! We then went down to the Quarry for a little fun, then to the obstacle course. Ending the day at the ravine for a lesson in how to rely on your friends when you need help. Richard put on an amazing run up Truck hill. Then the sand pit to watch Jim climb out in an amazing display.

I had a great time! Great people, great day. I learned more about my vehicle’s abilities, lack of abilities, and what other’s vehicles are capable of.

By the way, Darrell, under tha cheap Earl Scheib silver paint is a red 4Runner.

Thanks for a great day! Dennis

Hollister Hills

Hi All Another good day was had by all that attended the Hollister Aug 26th run.

Kathy and I arrived at the school house just a hair past 9:00 am in true ED4 tradition. Actually I had to drop off some signs to a customer in Hollister that morning. Ellen and Jim H. were there and waiting for the others to show. I went and off loaded the Bronco at Sycamore Creek camp area. At about 9:35 Ellen along with Susi, Richad and Carol, and Dennis started heading up Hidden Valley trail. Jim, Kathy and I caught up with them up by the top of the hill. Ellen scouted the Chaparel trail going down and decided it was a little tough for some of the newbies. Dennis was already on his way down and did OK anyway. Jim, Susi and kathy and I headed down to meet up at five fingers area. I played around there on one of the big trees that has been down there for some time. I posed with the driver front on top of the 30″+ tree. Susi thought that was cool. I coaxed her over to give her Jeep ago at it. She did not think she should try it. After a few minutes I got her to not only try it, but to actually get up on top of the tree. I snapped a couple of pictures and had her get out and look to see how her suspension was working. She was amazed!. We all followed Ellen up McCray up to Bonanza Gulch trail and somehow ended up taking another trail, which was a shotcut back to McCray. Ellen then lead us up to Hector Height, where we had lunch. We received a call from another person as to our whereabouts, it was Dirk and his brother Craig, they came up and joined us for lunch. As we headed back down, it was decided to take Fremantia Road back to the Quarry. Another call came over the CB, where are you? It was Bill Farley at the other end. Bill was down in the “O” Course. He said he would wait for us there. Some time spent in the O Course area and off to the ravines at Truck Hill. I had to entertain the tropps by putting the Bronco within a degree or two of being on the side. Superior spotting and help with the strap and Dirk, Kathy, Tinker and I were once again back upright and continued up the ravine. Jim went up the ravine with Dirk, Richard and Carol following. This time I was doing the spotting and nobody had a problem. Richard and Carol then entertained us with their trek up Truck Hill in their Exterra. Richard did a very nice job of conquering the trail. We then headed over to the sand pit and watched Jim come close to a back flip. After several attempt, he was able to get to the top with out damage. It was now 3:30 and time for a soda at Sycamore, talk a little about the day and head back home.

It was nice to finally meet Susi in person. Susi has been doing a lot of work to her Jeep. Susi is from Monterey and said that she had a great time with us. We enjoyed having her there also.

Dennis has been at a couple of club meetings and also attended one of our clinics at which time he broke a timing chain and had to be towed out. He said that he had still enjoyed the clinic. Dennis drives a 87 Toyota 4Runner. I am a little courious because I can see some of the original red paint showing from under the silever that it is now, humm, I think there is another red 4Runner in the group. Did they only come in Red? Dennis is from Newark and enjoys the outdoors.

I was a great time to get to know some of the newbies and I only hope that they joins on other outings and meeting.

By the way NOBODY broke anything!!! Darell

Boys Battalion

Boys Battalion

Hollister Hills SVRA. The day started out by an informative discussion from Patty Forbes, Resource Ecologist for the part.

We had 22 volunteers/drivers which consisted of Esprit de Fourmembers and friends. This year there were 18 passengers from the Boys Battalion #3124 from the Modesto Area.

Patty supplied us with litter bags and can catchers, and we split into three groups in order to cver the entire park. Our group picked up quite a bit of litter and other debris, but the park was considerably cleaner than it has been in past years. The trash that could be recycled was separated from the other debris fro the parks disposal.

After our park clean-up, we were treated to the BBQ tri-tip prepared by members of the Boys Battalion, and the volunteer drivers supplied the various potluck dishes. The food was good and plentiful. I don’t believe anyone left the table hungry.

Our weekend camping arrangements were a little tentative due to a conflict on the park’s calendar. The camping arrangements were worked out by park staff member, Jeff Gaffney, Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and we were allowed to use the GP (Grand Prix) track area. I have to admit that I was upset when I found out that we would not be allowed to use Area 5 for camping, ut the GP area worked well.

The weekend was both fun and productive thanks to all the volunteers, and members of the Boys Battalion. Also thanks to a rant from the CA4WDC Conservation & Education Foundation.

Respectfully Submitted, Sherry Stortroen

Boys Battalion

http://www.espritdefour.com/trips/BoysBat_0506_Ed.pdf