Little Jim’s trip report for the 2008 Summer Camp Out I got up to Horse Gulch early Wednesday afternoon, and, after expressing my difference of opinion, was convinced to comply with Ed’s vision of the parking master plan that he had in his head. As it turned out, this was a very prudent decision. Contrary to my initial impression, the spot I ended up in worked out much better for me than the one I thought I wanted.
Thursday was a great trip. We headed out of camp for the Deer Valley trail head right on time. Ed is trying his best to rid us of the “Esprit de Late” mentality. It was a really fun run - I only got stuck twice. The first time I had picked the perfect line, but just missed it by a couple of inches. The second time I had to choose between the lesser of two evils. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong evil.
Other interesting aspects of the Deer Valley trip for me were 1) I stalled in the middle of the second water crossing (the water was the highest I have seen it since I’ve been with the club), but, after an initial panic attack, managed to restart the engine and proceed, and then 2) I popped a bead when I hit a rock a little too wrong and a little too hard. Thank god for CO2. The bead was easily reseated, and we were on our way in less than 5 minutes.
Friday we did Slick Rock the reverse direction of what we normally run it. We did it the direction where the Stair step comes first instead of last. This was very interesting because, in this direction, the hardest obstacle is the ledge between the trail head and the stair step - not the stair step it self. I think the only causality this trip was a popped bead for someone going down the stair step. No problem - a little CO2 at 200 psi and problem fixed.
As it turned out for me, going down the stair step by pass was much more difficult than if I had chosen to go straight down the stair step. Just goes to show that one trail can be two different trails depending on the direction you go.
Yet again, on this run I got stuck twice and needed a little rock piling to proceed - Thank you, Jason for the excellent spotting and for all of you who contributed to the rock piling effort. I seem to get by with a “Lot of help from my friends”
Friday night was a lot of fun. With parts and pieces supplied from several different attendees we ended up with a projector, power for the projector, a projection screen, powered speakers (including power), and a really fun movie (Whoever said drive in movies were dead didn’t even consider camp-out movies?).
Saturday was the Newbie run, led by Ira. We did Coral hollow first then Slick rock. Again, I needed a “little (lot of) help from my friends to make it up the stair step.
All in all a very fun weekend. There is no way to express on paper what a fantastic job Ed did in organizing this event. And there is no way to properly thank Ed for all his efforts in rescuing broken vehicles. Let it just be said that his efforts were way, way above and beyond the call of duty. I feel extremely fortunate that Ed has chosen our club to be a part of.
Jim