August 1, 2005    The Official Newsletter of the New Mexico 4-Wheelers    www.nm4w.org

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This month’s meeting was held at the lovely home of our hosts, Leon and Marcia Duggar.  This year the weather was absolutely beautiful and there were no coats or sweaters pulled out and no one sat in the garage.

Members Present:  One or more family members in attendance – Baca, Brady, Bontly, Capener, Coe, Crowley, Duggar, Greven, Kelso, Lavy, Meier, Miller, Ohnesorg, Rector, Tanner, Thompson, Whiston (Sr.), Whiston (Jr.), and Wolf.

Guest Present:  Ron Hyman – Samurai.

President Leon promptly started the meeting at 6:31 pm.  He immediately put a motion on the floor to dispense with the reading of the minutes of the June meeting, and someone got to second it before the very diligent Wolfie and Brady got to say that were against the motion.  But, the rest of us prevailed and the motion went through and the minutes were not read (which was really good as I did not have them with me and was busy typing the minutes for the current meeting). 

Vice President – Jeff Rector:  Fines levied for this past month:

Marcia, for denting her door while trying to get back up the Big Hill on Cedro Peak – but it was unfortunate that no one was on that side to tell her that she was into the tree – (but she did admit after the meeting that she does like the character that it adds to her XJ).

Jeff had the nerve to fine his wife (me) for not knowing how to drive her own Jeep.  I didn’t have it in 4-low and didn’t realize it.  The engine kept on dying on me.  He had to drive my Jeep to figure that out for me (I just can’t understand why that’s finable – it’s a fun Jeep to drive). 

Leon suggested Glenn be fined for coyote baiting – bringing his cats to the Jemez.  Leon only knew that Glenn brought the cats because of the gay cat picture in last month’s Trail Tails.

Rich (another one of our outstanding members that thinks its better in a Bronco) suggested Leon be fined for giving Broncos a bad reputation for hauling port-a-lets.  Rich said that he now has people asking him when he’s going to equip his Bronco with one.

Secretary – Susan Miller: $1,460.41 balance.  Dues are due 8/1/05 and delinquent on 9/1/05.  On 1 Sep 05, if you are not on the “paid-up” list, you will be dropped from the newsletter and web site mailing lists, and you must re-earn 5 points and be voted in as a new member again (which could be really risky for some us). 

Historian – Rich Capener:  Did not have anything to report, except for the fact that he was actually in attendance at a meeting.

Trip Chairman – Jason Lavy:  Cedro Peak was recently run and led by Glenn Bontly.  Glenn reported that he reported everything in his article in last month’s Trail Tails.

I (Lauri) led a 4^th of July run to the Salida/Buena Vista area of Colorado.  Jeff spoke about the trip, since I was typing meeting minutes.  Since we did not have either Chinaman’s Gulch or Mt. Antero on the GPS, and we left our books and maps at home, Glenn was nice enough to lead us on both trails.  We stayed at the Gunsmoke Truck Stop on Friday night, which made camping “different”; the sound of semi’s all night is just wrong when you’re camping.

It was at this time that Glenn presented Jeff with a bumper sticker – “HONK IF PARTS FALL OFF” because at the meeting spot for Cedro Peak, Jeff shared with him that his fender had fallen off that morning while he was giving it a once over before we left the house for the trail ride.  Jeff likes it; it will put it on his Jeep. 

There was a Jemez Run with the Tanners, Wolfs, and Capeners recently.  I’m sorry that I don’t know any more about it, I think that I decided to take a short nap and rest up for the rest of the meeting.

I will be leading La Ventana on Saturday, July 16th.  Meet at the Conoco at 550 and 528 at 9 am.  Bring lots of water and an umbrella or something in case you’d like to have some shade during a break.

Jason will lead Hopewell Lake, July 30-31.  He will have maps.  It is west of Tres Piedres.  Easy trail – there could be harder stuff, but he’s not sure.  Jason will put directions on web site.

Marcia is going to Ouray, Colorado next weekend; will be all easy trails.  Her friend wants to take her new Pathfinder there.

Mt. Blanca run will be cancelled for its normal weekend after Labor Day.  National Public Lands Day at Gordy’s Hill will be on that day and we need a really good club turn out.  Work day is schedule for Sep 10^th and we get to play on the 11^th.  Easy & moderate trails need to get tracks on them.  All types of off-road enthusiasts and clubs are expected to be there.  Jeff’s sign will be erected – we now have cement and Wolfie will bring a post hole digger.  Anybody that wants to do Mt. Blanca is encouraged to lead it, but will need to pick another weekend.  This also conflicts with the September meeting.  Several options were discussed:  a) hold it at the camping area at the Gordy's Hill event,  b) talk to Chuck to see if his Silverton trip is really to start on Sept 17^th, or if it would be okay to have the meeting then and the people going to Silverton would come the next day. 

Wolfie will lead a run in Jemez on July 23^rd.  It will be an easy run.  Meet at Conoco at 550/528 at 9am.  Someone of us were discussing that it would be nice to go ahead and camp that night, but I did not hear where there could be an alternate meeting place for those camping or needing to drop off camping gear (or estates). 

Environmental -- Bob Norton: Was absent.

Program Chairman – Jerry Marx:  Was absent, but Leon filled in for him – he then remembered to get the tickets out the garage and yes, Marcia did make him keep them in the garage.  Hats & t-shirts for sale (in the garage).  Pat Brady sold tickets for us during the meeting.  Mary Thompson won the 50/50 raffle.  She just needs to win a “few” more raffles and she’ll have her new Rubicon paid off in no time at all. 

Secretary – Lauri filled in for Don.  I brought my new lap top computer, just in case.  And it worked out pretty good typing up the notes, rather than writing them out. 

Old Business:  Paul had letters from Auges  - $50 discount for parts & merchandise for people that worked 4X4 101.  Delay on new member’s package due to Chuck’s illness.

New Business:  Wolfie attended Summer Quarterly in Hot Springs, AR at the Super Lift Off-Road Park.  The weather was good for it being on the “east coast”.  The humidity was low, shady trails – not as bad as he thought it would be.  The trails were not long, so they could run 1 or 2 in the morning, come back for lunch and go out and run a few more in the afternoon.  Only 2 mud holes and they may have been man made.  Only 30 registrants, but they did have a quorum.  Which is really amazing, since even at the Chile Challenge, we have a hard time with this and there are 10 times the registrants?  The raffle had a lot of stuff.  We missed out on not buying tickets when Leon had them.  The Little Rock club will host the ’06 Spring Quarterly.  NM4W volunteered to host ’06 Summer Quarterly.  Mark asked for a volunteer to head this up, but no one took the bait.

I’m not sure when it was announced, but I thought that this would be a good place to put it in the minutes.  With Chuck’s approval, Paul announced that his cancer has returned and that he is fighting it.  We all want Chuck to know that the whole club has him in their thoughts, and prayers will be for him to be able to fight the good fight.  We all want you back Chuck.

Vote for 4-wheeler of the year was mentioned.  Wolfie nominated the Rectors.  Pat said that the procedure is that the vote is taken at the July meeting and then announced when the award is given at the August meeting.

Leon read over names of nominees for officers:
            President:  Mark Werkmeister
            Vice President:  Jeff Rector
            Treasurer:  Paul Thompson
            Secretary:  Lauri Rector
            Environmental:  Bob Norton
            Historian:  Laurye Tanner
            Program Chairman:  Leon Duggar
            Trip Chairman – Jason Lavy
All were voted in by acclimation.

Big thanks to the Duggars for hosting the meeting and having good weather this time. 

Meeting was adjourned at 7:22 PM.

Ryan Eklund is excused from the August 20th NM4W meeting—it’s his wedding day!  According to Ryan, “I’m pretty sure Betsy has plans for me that evening and would be all upset if I ditched her for a 4WD meeting.”  He and Betsy Leitch will be married at the UNM Alumni Chapel after four years of courtship.  Betsy starts grad school at UNM the following Monday, so a honeymoon trip may be postponed until December.

Ryan joined NM4W two years ago after hearing about the club from Jim Werkmeister and Brandon Roby.  They’re all avid bicyclists and met at Albuquerque Bicycle Center where Ryan and Brandon worked, and Jim shopped.  At the time, the three multitasked at bicycling and four-wheeling, but currently only Ryan is involved with four-wheeling.

Cycling (mountain and road) still remains a favorite sport of Ryan’s.  After enduring a fairly bad spill, he gave up competition, and now cycles only for recreation.  A favorite road bike trip starts from his Tramway/Copper home, joins Route 66, climbs to Sandia Crest and ends ~40 miles later back at home (yes, he pedals the bike and doesn’t drive the Toyota)!  On the mountain bike, he likes to play in the Sandia Mountain foothills.

Born and raised in Albuquerque, four-wheeling became an interest when Ryan was a student at Manzano High School and often admired his neighbor’s 4WD vehicle.  Ryan bought his white 1994 Toyota pickup seven years ago from his uncle who’d purchased it new and bone stock. Known to hold dollars tightly, his uncle wanted the cheapest thing available, thus, no A/C, radio, or other “frou-frou” items.

Uncle shakes his head at the many modifications Ryan has made: half doors, dual transfer cases, fuel injection, suspension lift, and lockers. Ryan did all the work himself, including installing the gears and fabricating lots of pieces (such as fuel injection harnesses).  The ‘Yota isn’t quite done, although the 37” tires will remain else the truck won’t fit in the garage.

Ryan got his do-it-yourself attitude from his father and grandfather, both of whom made and fixed everything themselves.  Sometimes they make projects harder than necessary, but “part of the fun is building things” Ryan notes.  His job as a Service Technician (aka Mechanic) at Karl Malone Toyota would seem to help his Toyota projects, but Ryan fixed up his rig before he even started working there.  A four-year employee at Karl Malone, Ryan started as a service writer but prefers working in the shop and away from the public.

Ryan has passed six of the eight courses required to be ASE Master Certified.  He looks forward to finishing the courses and also becoming eligible to work on Toyota’s hybrid vehicle line (that requires five years service).  Another goal is to finish his last year of business courses at UNM.

Betsy works at the UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research, and will soon begin her Masters Degree in Accounting.  A Roswell native, Betsy enjoys camping and four-wheeling, although she “prefers to walk through the hairy stuff.”

Ryan’s favorite trail is Mt. Blanca, which he’s done three times.  Each time he got further up the mountain in his Toyota.  On Trip #1, he parked at Jaws 1 and hiked the rest.  On Trip #2, he almost got to Lake Como.  And on Trip #3, he and the Toyota reached the end of the Mt. Blanca 4WD trail.

His least favorite trail has been Dona Ana Mountain “Hard” in Las Cruces.  Ryan explains, “I really don’t like that off-camber-on-the-side-of-a-mountain stuff, especially in my tippy old ‘Yota.” Some trails he hopes to drive in the future are the Rubicon for the scenery, and several trails in Colorado: Power House Road, Carnage Canyon, and Chinaman’s Gulch.

Ryan enjoys the NM4W group because everyone shares their favorite trails and it avails the “big deals” like the Chile Challenge, as well as local, easy runs.  He likes that four‑wheeling lends itself to combinations with other activities such as fishing, hiking, and of course cycling.

Congratulations, Ryan and Betsy, we wish you all the best and hope to see you at the September 10th meeting--when the wedding excuse won’t fly.

Just in case you missed it in the minutes above, please pay your dues for the 2005/2006 Club FY to the new Treasurer, Paul Thompson, not later than 31 Aug 05.  The amount for most members is $30.  We have a couple of associate members who live out of town (i.e., Santa Fe or further away), but for the remaining 99% of the membership, your dues are $30.  Make checks payable to NM4W (cash okay too, but I’m pretty sure Paul doesn’t take credit cards).  You can pay your dues at a trail ride, club meeting, or mail it to P.O. Box 90154; Albuquerque, NM 87199-0154.

This was pretty much a last minute thing.  Jeff and I wanted to go 4-wheeling; we just didn’t want to do it by ourselves.  And, no, we weren’t scared of those awkward silent moments.  We just feel that we don’t know our way around all that well yet and may not be able to find our way out of a paper bag. 

So, at lunch at the Cedro Peak run, we asked if anyone had plans to go 4-wheeling and if we could tag along.  Well, we couldn’t just get that lucky.  But, several people thought that it would be a good idea to go up to Salida/Buena Vista, and maybe I could put something together.  So, Jeff looked at his books on Colorado trails, which he found didn’t have Chinaman’s Gulch, but we did know it started near Carnage Canyon and I had that on my GPS.  And then decided that Mt. Antero or Tin Cup would be the other trail we would run.  On Monday morning, Jeff put in a request for a vacation day for the Friday before the trip, but I found out that a team member at work already was going to be out that day and I couldn’t take the day off.  At lunch on the same day, I found that I couldn’t find any available camping on the internet.  Everything was all booked up.  So my efforts for leading our 1^st over-night trip were quickly turning sour on me. 

With only a week to go, I finally asked Glenn to post on the web-site that the meeting spot would be at a truck stop near Chinaman’s Gulch and to put down directions to it.  I did not know the name of it.  Glenn found the name of it and called, and they said we could spend the night there.  We had a few people show interest, but no one would commit. 

We pulled into the truck stop at 11:00 on Friday night.  Glenn was already there and actually waited up for us.  The only thing eventful about our trip was that, just about the time that we got to Poncha Springs, we realized we left our Colorado trail books at home.

The truck stop was a “lovely” space to camp.  There was at least one semi running all night long.  The parking lot was well lit, which caused us to park at the very back of the lot.  This made the all night bathroom about a 100 mile hike.  But, we weren’t at work, we weren’t at home doing chores, the mountains were beautiful, and the temps were very close to perfect – so life was good. 

(The truck stop is located right next door to the “Twin Peaks Liquor Store”, whose slogan is (and I’m not making this up) “liquor between the peaks”.  I thought that was pretty clever of them.       -ed.)

On Saturday, we ran Chinaman’s Gulch.  Glenn offered to lead us.  Things started out good until Jeff realized he could see a trail of something leaking on the trail.  He could see it in his rear view mirror, but not in the front, so he pulled over.  He then realized that it was ahead of him, so it could be Glenn’s Jeep marking its spot (Jeeps don’t leak, they mark their spot!!!!).  But after Glenn bent down and thoroughly checked his rig, we could see that it was ahead of his Jeep too.  So, we were good to go and continue the trail ride.  We had to take the short cut, because the scenic part goes onto private land and that part of the trail has now been closed off.  Jeff and Glenn had a lot of fun playing on some of the obstacles.  I was able to get some very good pictures of them.  Glenn had me get some photos of him as well – I think he’s tired of looking at so many pictures of Jeff. 

At lunch we stopped near the mines.  The trail to the mines has been closed to Jeeps, but is still open to bike, ATVs, and hikers.  A “Friends of the Four-Mile Area” came up the trail as we were getting out of our rigs.  We had a very nice conversation with him.  This group doesn’t support any one sport – their main focus is to try to keep everyone happy and keep as many trails open as possible.  What a novel idea; of all of us working together!!!

We had fun watching a Wrangler and a Toyota Truck get over the next obstacle.  Then they had fun watching us.  Glenn made it look very easy, even if he did go up on the easiest spot – the Toyota had to work really hard at it.  Jeff also struggled, but no rocks were moved and no highways were built for him to get up. 

After we got done with the trail, we stopped at the KOA to see if they had any camp sites.  I got my Value Kard out and was ready – but no such luck; they had “no room at the Inn” for Glenn and our estate.  So, we went back to “camp” and I got the number for Mt. Princeton RV Park.  Yeah!!!!  They had 2 pull through sites – right next to each other!!!  They had to rearrange some reservations, but didn’t physically move any other campers.  We had water, electric, cable, and telephone hooks-ups available.  New bathrooms with showers were about 30 feet away.  We were camping now!  We were all tired, so we chose to go out to dinner and call it an early evening with no camp fire. 

The next day was just as beautiful as the day before.  We started out for Mt. Antero by 9:15; fueled up and headed out.  The San Isabel National Forest was busy on this day.  A lot of people were out to enjoy the long holiday weekend.  We met several people coming down the mountain as we were heading up – was the trail open we wondered???

One of the people on the way down was Mark Werkmeister.  He told us that there was a snow bank near the top and if we hurry, we can help shovel.  So on we went, off to Baldwin Lake (oh no, would we be too late to help shovel?).  The trail to the lake is closed to all but hikers.  But, we went farther on up the trail and we could look down on the lake, while getting snowed on – yes, you get snowed on every time in Colorado.  Then we headed back to the turn for Mt Antero where you cross what is know as Baldwin Creek.  We stopped and had lunch before crossing the creek.  Other than a lot of people coming down, we went up the mountain just fine.  The views were breathtaking (well a little nauseous if you suffer any from altitude sickness), the wild flowers were blooming, and everything was so green (well some white spots). 

We finally made it to the snow bank, but to our disappointment (no, really); they had already cleared the trail.  Once we passed through it, it really started feeling like winter out there, but it was OK, it’s suppose to at those altitudes (we topped out around 13,000 feet).  When we were getting near the top, we came across a vehicle parked in the middle of the road.  The people said that there was another snow bank near the top and we may not be able to get through.  We decided that we loop back around and head on back down the mountain, we had gone high enough. 

Since it was so early in the afternoon, we all agreed we needed a little more before heading back to camp.  So, we made the stop in St Elmo so that I could feed the Chipmunks.  This is something that you need to do if you have never done it before.  We then went on and took a look around at the Mary Murphy Mine.  This type of activity is not near as much fun when Chuck isn’t there giving a documentary on what we are looking at. 

Back at camp, we decided to have a pot-luck.  Glenn decided that he would donate his brats and we decided to donate our beans.  It was a very good meal.  And we know that because some other camper’s dog got loose and came and visited us, and it liked everything we fed it. 

South Central Colorado is a very beautiful part of the country.  It is also very cool this time of year.  It was really good to go there again.  I want to thank Glenn for all of his help and encouragement!!!  It was a “fantabulous” weekend!

The day started out as hot as I was afraid it would be.  But, it really was a nice ride there; nice to be out in the fresh air.  With the rain the night before and the bright sunshine, the colors were beautiful. 

We had about 15 vehicles, including my beloved gunner – Jeff.  Practically every other vehicle in the group was a Rubicon.  Phil & Carol Kennicot, in their less than new Rubi; Chet & Courtney Markham in a Rubi; Laurye & Carlos Tanner in a TJ; Jeff Woodward and co-pilot Joe Jacobson in his Jimmy with a new Ethan locker; Frank & Donna Whiston in their TJ; Clint Hobart (guest) in his Blazer; Phil Rodacy (guest) was in his Rubi; Justin Simenson in his Rubi; Wolfie; Frank G., Beth & Kimberly Whiston in their Unlimited; Paul Thompson, breaking in Mary’s new Rubi; and Cliff, Jeannie & Bret Meier, and Erwin & Jeannie Greven who are both in Wranglers now (I think they must now understand the Jeep thing).

I had my driver meeting promptly at 9 am, before we left the Conoco.  Then we were soon on our way for the 48 mile ride to La Ventana. 

Last year when I lead this trail, it was very green from the heavier than normal spring snows and rain.  Well, this year, it was just plain over grown.  Lots of stuff was growing up in the middle of the trail.  There were also a lot of rocks in the trail too.  But it was all good….until I came upon a big (as relative to my tires) boulder taking up about ½ the trail.  This would have been a nice challenge, except that it was just after the last switchback to the top of the mesa.  And it was on the wrong side of the trail – it was going to cause me (well everyone else too – but I was only concerned about myself at that moment) to go to the outside of the trail, with the driver’s side looking right over the drop off.  Wolfie was behind me.  He got out and immediately determined I could make it – no problem.  He was nice enough to spot me, as well as Frank G., but I didn’t listen too well – I just couldn’t keep from turning my wheel towards the inside of the trail.  But luckily, my right rear fender flare didn’t get too scratched up from rubbing on the rock. 

As I continued on to the top of the mesa, someone got on the CB and said that they didn’t see Jeff behind them anymore.  As I got to the top of the trail and could see that everyone was making real good progress at getting around the boulder that was the size of a Hummer, I got on the CB to see if anyone had seen Jeff yet.  And when the reply came back that they hadn’t, I got worried.  So I told everyone we were going to stop until I could find out what my gunner was up to.  Finally Jeff got on the CB and said that his Jeep wouldn’t stay running and he was working on it.  Cliff and Erwin went back to see if they could help.  I moved everyone up a little farther on the trail where, luckily, I found a lot of Junipers.  Good for a 10-100, but not a lot of help with the shade.  Sure wish Rich had his Bronco there.  (Okay, sorry, that was just a cheap shot by the editor, who wasn’t even on the ride, but was reminiscing about a La Ventana ride a few years ago when Rich’s Bronco broke down and we all waited for his Dad to come rescue him and we were using the Bronco to shade us from the hot sun and Camille commented that at least the Bronco “was good for something”.  Remember that, Rich?  –ed).  Finally Jeff got it running and they all joined up with us again. 

Next on the trail was to make the turn off to go out to the overlook.  This should not have been a problem with me having a GPS.  But, my tracks were not there on this trail.  I can’t read the way point #’s on the screen with my contacts in, and with everything all over grown, I missed the turn off.  I realized this as we got to the part of the trail where we start going back down off of the mesa.  And, then I missed the turn off again.  But thanks to Frank G., I only had two other vehicles that had to u-turn with me.  Frank recognized the spot where I had said “Uh-Oh” the 1^st time I went by.  Don’t worry, the Sheriff witnessed both of them. 

I made it to the overlook – even with the trail being very hard to find at times.  I was surprised that after waiting for Jeff to make his trail repairs and my 2 u-turns, we were able to make it there by 12:30.  Some people were still able to find a little shade.  The breeze was blowing very nice up there and it wasn’t too unbearable.  And Laurye showed up with her spray bottle/fan doohickey that she brought with her – she was very nice to share. 

We then headed back on the trail and had a very nice ride down the mesa and over to the waterfall area.  Jeff went ahead to see of the gate was locked.  It’s a good thing, because we goofed on our pre-run the week before.  We just went out to check gates to be sure we could get onto the trail.  But, when we went to check the last gate on the trail, we went way too far and passed the trail when it comes out onto the road we were on.  So, we were able to do a loop run after all. 

The waterfall was a whole other experience.  When I’m trail leader, you’re risking a lot just following my vehicle on the trail.  It’s another thing to follow me when I’m on foot.  I will take the hardest, most difficult way through the woods each and every time.  I’ll be darned if everyone didn’t follow me like lemmings.  I stepped in mud clear up to my calf and was lucky to bring my shoe out with my foot.  And two steps after that, I fell through some dead branches and fell into a branch.  Poor Frank Whiston had a dead limb break on him as he tried to step on it.  He did a good save though.  All of the young boys and the young-at-heart boys just had to climb the waterfall.  Unfortunately, we did not see that three of them went on beyond the falls and went for a hike.  We realized this after we got back to our vehicles and Jeff Woodward said that his co-pilot was nowhere around.  The temperature difference was about 20 degrees.  But, we were just too hot & tired to walk back to the falls and sit there and wait where it was cooler.  We had fun standing around and talking (we seem to be really good at that) for about 30 minutes. 

We finally got back on the trail and tried to enjoy just being out and riding for the last leg.  Jeff suggested that we go about 40 mph like he did when he went to check on the gate – he said that it would be more fun that way.  No way, it’s a long way down to the creek and I think it would have just been a lot of puckering, not fun.  So after a slower & safer speed, we made it to the end of the trail and aired up and called it a day.

Mark Werkmeister sent an e-mail to the club members on or around the 14^th giving us the information on the awards ceremony.  He was not going to make it and needed someone to fill in for him and accept the award for our club.  We had no plans, except for the usual chores that we are constantly looking for excuses to get out of doing.  And what better excuse than to meet some of the people that have also been helping out at Gordy’s Hill, and use it with something different than a 4X4 vehicle.  I was also tempted by the shade of the Cottonwood grove. 

The NM4W’s were assigned to bring Chips and Dips for the pot-luck.  Since we had just bought the makings for Guacamole, we knew it was destiny for us to go in Mark’s place.  The home of Wes Willis was very nice.  The back yard was huge and had lots of Cottonwoods as promised, and grass too!!!  Wes had taken Nick and Jimmy for a bike ride that morning at Gordy’s.  They looked to be very tired, but all were very friendly.  Wes’ wife, Becky, had invited her brother and his wife over to help and share in the food. 

Jake and his friend, from NM Tech 4-Wheelers, brought there assigned plates, napkins and silverware.  And the drinks showed up, as well as the deserts.  Mike Bilbo had maps with him of Gordy’s Hill.  One from many months ago and one that is fairly recent.  There have been a lot of trails mapped in that period.  All of the different groups were standing around the maps and looking at the trails they had been on, and many stories were told and shared by all.  It was nice to have different recreationists standing around together, enjoying hearing about the others’ fun while using the area. 

After we were done eating and just too stuffed to move, Mike began handing out the awards.  1^st award was to Gordy and then Wes.  Next was NM4W.  Then I was busy with my camera and all the rest of the awards were presented.  But Mike wasn’t done.  He had a Public Lands book for each group, each with a hand written note signed by Kathleen Clarke.

I do apologize for not making better notes for the names of the groups and the people that were in attendance.  On top of that, I lost the pictures that I took!  I now know that I have to save the pictures that I download to the computer. 

Eleven hearty souls showed up at the Conoco on a bright sunny Saturday to join me for a leisurely and scenic drive to the southern end of the Jemez Mountains.  Phil & Carol Kennicott in their Rubicon, Justin Simenson in his Rubicon, Nancy Crowley and Rod Martin in her CJ-5, Jeff and Lauri Rector in their respective Jeeps, Pat & Sue Brady in her Mazda LE (Ladies Edition) pickup, Carlos Tanner in his TJ and a guest, Nick Lowrie in his Sahara TJ, and me in my Jeepster.  Nine vehicles in all were ready for a fun day of driving through the cool woods.  We headed out at 9:10 AM and went straight to the turn off to Peggy Mesa to drop off Nancy’s truck and trailer along FR 376.  From there we headed to the turn to Holiday Mesa.  Well, kind of anyway.  Yours truly missed the turn, but Pat Brady caught it and we got turned around.  That helped me get that fine that Sheriff Rector was so anxiously awaiting to asses after me broadcasting a picture from last week’s run of his Jeep leaking gasoline onto the ground that I so thoughtfully decided to broadcast over the e-mail to all members!  Oh well, can’t win them all!

We headed up to Holiday Mesa, with no problems whatsoever.  The brush is a little over grown these days, but we were all too lazy to get out and trim it.  Maybe next time.  We stopped at the top and rested a little.  Some have never gone this way before and were really impressed with this climb.  It provides spectacular views of the valley southwest of Holiday Mesa.

From there, we headed north (actually northwest) towards Cebollita Mesa, through some beautiful meadow areas that provided much color and contrast.  We had traveled by some Indian Ruins several times, and one in particular caught our “expert ruins locator’s” attention (Sue Brady).  Sue volunteered with the BLM for five years with a seasoned Archaeologist and got to be pretty good at locating ruins.  It was near lunch time anyway, so we stopped to have a look around.

After an hour-long lunch, we all decided to go.  Well, most everyone.  Sue said we just got there and we needed to spend at least half a day to see this ruin.  Unfortunately, we wanted to get to Virgin Mesa next.  Sue gave in and away we went just in time to have a couple of lightning cracks hit about 3 feet from us (at least it seemed that way!).  Within three minutes, the heavy rain and hail started.  I hadn’t seen this kind of storm in quite a while.  It rained pretty heavily, but we kept going, driving through what looked like rivers and snow!  It was actually accumulations of hail.  Wow!  Jeff and Lauri had their typical open top Jeeps and they were getting a little wet.  They never complained though, until much later when we finally drove out of the rain.  That’s when Lauri started getting cold.  I loaned her my rain coat and along with her heater, she was fine.

We made it to the turn off to Virgin Mesa thanks to Phil’s trusty GPS and maps.  This road had large puddles of what looked like snow!  Some were 8” deep!  The rain was doing some good and we had NO DUST!  The weather had cooled the air substantially and we were all starting to think about Albuquerque and the hot weather we would eventually return to.  Bummer!

I had never been to Virgin Mesa before, so this was all new to me.  We saw remnants of last year’s fire.  The trees were devastated, but the grass and flowers had returned and it was very colorful.  We traveled south over the mesa on FR 607.  We eventually turned onto FR 609 and checked out another set of ruins.  These were almost as large as the Giant Footprint ruins on Holiday Mesa.  After spending a half hour there (yes, Susie wanted to stay longer again, but popular opinion was leaning towards home and food!).  It was 3:30 PM and we turned around for the way out.  We had to check out a side route that was scenic and would join up with FR 607 later.  One wrong turn (No fine! This was an exploratory run!) caused Phil to loose a tire somehow.  We all jumped in quickly to change his tire and got going again.  We eventually made it back to the north end of FR 376 at about 5:30 PM.  After airing up our tires and sending Nancy back down FR 376 towards her truck and trailer, we headed to SR 126 and south on SR 4.  It was a great run with fun people and I believe everyone enjoyed themselves.  I wish to thank those that attended.  See you next time!  We missed you Tom.

You probably noticed that Lauri Rector wrote most of this month’s newsletter.  In addition to the meeting minutes from the July meeting, she contributed 3 other articles.  Thanks, Lauri!

Aluminum Cans: Our club saves and recycles aluminum cans.  Money from the sale of cans goes into our club treasury.  Please bring your crushed aluminum cans to each meeting, and somebody will take them to the recycling center.

To Our Guests: If you attend a club meeting or event and provide us with your e-mail address, you will be added to our guest e-mail list, and will receive monthly notifications of when the Trail Tales newsletter is posted on our Club web site.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the New Mexico 4-Wheelers, please contact one of our officers for membership requirements, or visit our web site at www.nm4w.org/join-the-club.htm.

Trail Tales on the Web Site: In a continuing effort help save natural resources and to control costs, you are encouraged to read the Trail Tales newsletter on the Club Web Site in lieu of receiving a hard copy in the mail.  Around the first of each month, the current issue of Trail Tales is posted at www.nm4w.org/newsletters.htm and an e-mail notification is sent to all club members.  In addition, a minimum of 2 years of back issues of our newsletter is also available on the web site.  So if you want to help “save some trees”, please send an e-mail to TrailTales@nm4w.org stating that you do not need to receive the hard copy of the newsletter.  Thanks for your participation in this program.

Submission Due Date: The Trail Tales is published on the first of each month.  Submissions for each issue must be received by the Editor not later than the 25^th of the prior month.  Submissions can be sent to TrailTales@nm4w.org, or Trail Tales, 21 Rattlesnake Ridge, Tijeras, NM 87059.

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Trail Tales
21 Rattlesnake Ridge
Tijeras, NM 87059-7440

TrailTales@nm4w.org