October 1, 2006    The Official Newsletter of the New Mexico 4-Wheelers    www.nm4w.org

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Meeting was held at the home of Jason and Sara Lavy.  Lauri Rector called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM sharp.

Guests:  Greg Brown, Brian Hawthorne (Blue Ribbon Coalition), David Lacour, Kenneth Gaw.

Members Present:  Paul & Eveliina Baca, Glenn Bontly, Paul Caskey, Keith Chapin, Mike Coe, Heath Hislop, Tom Hurt, Ed & Lyn Kausche, Jason & Sara Lavy, Jerry & Barbara Marx, Bob Norton, Dan Pritchard, Jeff & Lauri Rector, Mike Robertson & Kathy Wolf, Justin Simenson & Rebecca, Carlos & Laurye Tanner, Paul & Mary Thompson, Craig & Mary Turpin, Frank R. & Donna Whiston, Frank G. & Beth Whiston, Joan Wolf. 

Secretary’s Report – Beth Whiston:   Everybody accepted the minutes as printed in the newsletter.

Treasurer’s Report – Paul Thompson:   $5,579.15.  We have SW dues to pay soon (about $1,000). 

Vice President’s Report – Mark Wolf:  Joan was representing the V.P.; Mark was on a hunting trip.  There were no fines.  Laurye Tanner objected.  She had fines:  First the leader (Frank G.) at the Caldera left part of the group on the highway.  The Tanner’s were lost (in a sea of vehicles).  Then, two people, (Paul and Chuck) snuck in line and then did not even wave!  Those are Laurye’s personal fines.  Frank G. said she should be fined for taking a truck on a Jeep run!  I think Laurye may have actually agreed with that?  

Scott Thompson has requested to join as an Associate member.  He lives in Chandler, AZ.  Paul Thompson says that he does have a pretty cool Jeep.  There was a motion to vote him in.  All were in favor.  Welcome Scott Thompson! 

Trip Chairman’s Report – Frank Whiston:  Valles Caldera was quite an experience.  The loop was closed down and made an in and out.  There was two-way traffic on a one-way road.  It was hard to stay together, but they tried.  It was beautiful country.  After the Caldera experience, a small number of people wheeled over Cat Mesa and came out at Ponderosa. 

There was the Zuni Mountain run over Labor Day weekend.  The group was made up of 9 vehicles on the first day and 8 on the second.  It was very beautiful after all the rain; there were many wildflowers.  It was definitely an area that Frank G. plans to go back to.

On the weekend of September 23^rd Mark Werkmeister will be organizing a trip to Gordy’s Hill. 

September 29 - October 1 is the annual Red River trip.  Tom Hurt pointed out that the Goose Lake trail is under construction.  He may plan on doing other trails around town.  So there may not be any fishing.  He will send an e-mail out with more details before leaving ABQ.

September 28 – October 1 is the Fall Quarterly at the Y.O. Ranch in Texas Hill Country.  

October 6 and 7 Mark Wolf will be leading a Caballo Lake trip. 

Needles District Canyonlands trip (October 3 – 8) has been cancelled due to conflicts.  If anybody is interested in this trip maybe we can do again in the Spring.  Contact Frank G. Whiston if you have even a slight interest. 

October 13 is the October Balloon/Wheeling event.  Mary Turpin reported that there are fewer pilots and crew coming down from Canada.  She would like to open it up to other crews.  She does not really know how many drivers are needed yet.  She had talked about wheeling in the Jemez; people have expressed concerns about the time of day that this would start.  So it is not much of an option.  Maybe do the Rio Puerco again?

New Runs:  Sunday, September 17, Tom Hurt is going out to Glorieta Mesa.  He does not know what it will be like.  He’s taking the Suburban.  Nobody had any information to offer about the roads.

Lauri Rector is going to McMillan Canyon and Church Canyon on October 1^st (postponed as of this publication date).  She will plan on meeting anybody interested at the Conoco on 528/550 at 9:00am.  She is planning on getting these trails GPS logged; they are not on the Forest map. 

Director Environmental Affairs Report – Mark Werkmeister:   Not present.

Lauri informed the group that the travel management meetings for SF forest are done.  They have not heard anything about extending the deadline.  There is a strong possibility that we will get more time.

Mark had the mapping party at his house.  It was very productive.  The group made a list of about 20 trails.  12 – 15 trails were on the map.  People were assigned trails to go GPS. 

Brian Hawthorne, with BlueRibbon Coalition, introduced himself and spoke to the group.  Brian is the Public Lands Director for BlueRibbon Coalition.  He explained a little about the organization; it is a national umbrella OHV group.  Brian shared a little about himself and how he became a part of BlueRibbon Coalition; he wrote a fundraising letter and was asked to get a Utah umbrella group started.  He pointed out that NM has the most acreage that is going under planning.  Right now as we are all aware there is legislation planning taking place in Las Cruces that will affect the Chile Challenge.  Brian is in town working with the State association on the planning.  If you have any questions at all about the planning you can call BlueRibbon.  More information about the organization can be found at www.blueribbon.org

Program Chairman’s Report – Jerry Marx:  Jerry will allow a few more weeks for input on shirt orders.  Send it to him in e-mail.  He is selling raffle tickets for the 50/50.  $1.00 a piece or 6/$5.00.  You will receive an extra ticket if wearing a NM4W article. 

Frank R. Whiston asked about ordering hooded zip-up sweatshirts.  Jerry said it is possible, but there has to be a given number of people interested to place an order.  He needs to make sure we can sell that style.  E-mail Jerry at program-chairman@nm4w.org if you are interested in this! 

Historian’s Report – Laurye Tanner:  Laurye has received one CD.  She is not getting any pictures or e-mails!  Please send pictures!!  

Web Master & Editor’s Report – Glenn Bontly:  We have a website and a newsletter. 

Old Business:  Glenn Bontly was voted NM4Wheeler of the year.  He was presented with a beautiful plaque.  Congratulations Glenn!

Christmas community service:  Please e-mail suggestions to Jerry Marx.  Paul Thompson said we have about $800 to contribute (he said he pulled that figure out of the air).  Paul Thompson also pointed out that we are overdue a donation to the Heights Cumberland Church where we meet for our winter meetings.

Are there any volunteers for the Christmas party???  If you are interested in hosting the party please volunteer by November. 

New Business:  Mary Thompson and Joan Wolf will head a summer meeting committee.  They plan to organize a summer club meeting at Carolino open space and make an afternoon/evening out of it.  Carolino open space has covered tables, horseshoe, and volleyball available.  Sounds like fun!  The cost is $200 ($75 of this is a damage deposit that will be returned).  There was a motion to vote to use this money. All were in favor.  The committee will let us know which month this will take place.

Mike Coe asked if anybody had heard about the swap meet in Belen.  Route 66 Rodders is the sponsor of this swap meet.  Mike Coe will look into it and give details at the next meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30.  Thank you Sara and Jason for hosting! 

Winner of the 50/50 drawing:  $123.00 was collected.  Heath Hislop (you know…The Cheesecake Guy) won $61.00!

Another month has gone by again?  Time seems to fly when you’re having fun, and even when you’re not.  Between working and trying to get some things done around the house, it’s hard to find time to just go out and play, how sad is that.  And add in time to help out the club and the sport of off-roading, and a month goes by in just a blink.

This month I would like to thank all of the club members who have stepped up and volunteered to help out with either the club or the sport or both.  We have a very viable club with a lot going on.  This is due to our club members and their willingness to give up some free time and help in some form or fashion.  This is what makes us such a strong and growing club.  You all help to make my position much easier.  I’m very proud to say that I’m a member of this club, as well as its President for the next year.  Thanks to all of you!!!

For those of you new to the club or those of you who are just cruising our web site; we have slide shows of our runs on the Internet.  The new web site address for the club pictures:

http://www1.snapfish.com/home/t_=30021019

If you do not want to personally register with Snapfish, you can use nm4wphotos@earthlink.net as your login, and jeepers as your password.

For those who are taking pictures on our trips, please e-mail me at lauryetanner@earthlink.net, or give me a CD of the pictures you have taken.  Please let me know the name of the event and who took the pictures.  Remember to save your originals.

Considering how much country they’ve already seen (Erwin has been to 50 states, Jeannie to 47), the Grevens still appreciate the many new, fascinating places they’ve discovered with NM4W.  Says Erwin, “The club is a good bunch of people who have a lot of fun and come up with neat trips.”  Some of their favorite “new” places to date: Canyon de Chelley, Caballo Lake, and Silverton.

Erwin learned about NM4W through a Google search three years ago.  He and Cliff Meier had Trackers and wanted to four-wheel in areas close to Albuquerque.  However, four-wheeling isn’t new to either Erwin or Jeannie.  Erwin’s first 4WD vehicle was a 4-cylinder 1961 International Scout.  Later, he drove a 1968 Jeepster, but sold it when it started costing too much (hey, Erwin, will you explain this concept to my husband?).  After the 2005 Chile Challenge, they decided the Trackers weren’t up to Las Cruces-type rockcrawling.  So Erwin and Cliff both got Jeeps.

Jeannie has enjoyed four-wheeling since her first Jeep run with relatives in Elsinore, CA.  She was 10 years old and thought four-wheeling was the coolest thing imaginable.  As a young adult, Jeannie learned about operating a 4WD vehicle during a summer job with the BLM in northern New Mexico.  As low person on the totem pole, she got the last vehicle in the parking lot—an International Travel All.  She headed out alone on her first day—and got stuck.  She figured out how to winch, put in a deadman, and get the beast back to the yard (it was either that or tell the boss what happened).  Jeannie still likes the challenge of using a 4WD vehicle to reach the backcountry.

The Grevens met in Minneapolis, but were literally born continents apart; Jeannie in San Bernardino, CA, and Erwin in Holland.  Erwin’s father was in the Dutch Merchant Marine, a career that took the family to New Zealand and other places.  After his seafaring days, Erwin’s father settled the family in Minneapolis where his brothers lived.  Erwin attended high school in Minneapolis and then studied automotive repair and sheet metal at a tech school.  He lived in Catalina, AZ (north of Tucson) and Plains, MT, then returned to Minneapolis. Erwin and Jeannie met at a dance in 1989 and married the next year.

Jeannie’s route to Minneapolis was via Humboldt State College in Arcata, CA. Always an animal lover and outdoor enthusiast, she earned her B.S. in Wildlife Management at Humboldt.  She worked several years for the Army Corps of Engineers in St. Paul, MN, and then transferred to U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  Jeannie has written EIS (Environmental Impact Statements) for flood control projects, operated the federal aid program (funded by the taxes collected from gun sales and fishing equipment), and planned new wildlife refuges.

Currently, Jeannie is the Assistant Refuge Supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Regional office covering New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Texas.  That office oversees 44 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Refuges, including six in New Mexico.  Her specific tasks are to coordinate permits, policy, and compatibility of refuges with various governmental requirements. Even though she’s more deskbound these days, Jeannie has visited most of the New Mexico refuges (Bosque del Apache, Sevellita, Bitter Lake, Las Vegas, Maxwell, and San Andres) and many Texas refuges.

Erwin has always been a hands-on guy.  He worked in sheet metal, auto repair, and drove a Chevron tanker truck.  He used to own CARS, a Cedar Crest automotive repair shop.  Then he worked for many years with Snap-On Tools and more recently with Cornwell Tools.  Due to the slower economy, Cornwell Tools combined routes and eliminated Erwin’s route.  While between jobs, he’s catching up on projects at their house and two-acre property in Sandia Park.

Their two horses, Honcho and Buck, also keep Erwin busy.  Both Jeannie and Erwin, along with Cliff Meier, belong to the Back Country Horsemans group.  They maintain trails in the wilderness areas in the Pecos and Manzanos, and regularly do work projects.  Erwin and Cliff also serve as Torrance County Reserve Deputies (they do everything in law enforcement except write tickets).  They often work the Balloon Fiesta atop their horses.

For relaxation, Jeannie likes to garden and watch movies.  She’s very knowledgeable about birds, flowers, and nature in general.  At the Labor Day 2006 trip to the Zuni Mountains, Jeannie identified the big white bird we saw at Bluewater Lake as a white pelican and seemed to know something about every rock on the ground.  Jeannie and Erwin enjoy the time spent out of the Jeep as much as the windshield time.  On the Zuni Mountain trip, they loved tromping around Diener, a ghost town, and Sawyer, an old logging camp with part of a trestle still visible.  The Grevens are fascinated (and knowledgeable) about the history, flora, and fauna of the West.

Their ’98 TJ has been getting them to the backcountry for the past year.  Erwin found the TJ at Quality Jeep and says it was “junked up”, but had a Dana 44 and was clean underneath.  He’s put in a 3½” lift, sway bar disconnects, front and rear bumpers, winch, and tire carrier combo.  He’s thinking about lockers and roll bar reinforcement.

Erwin and Jeannie have done the Moab Easter Jeep Safari the past five years and always find the trails awesome.  To them, the crowds are exciting and it’s fun when the Moab residents/visitors line the streets and wave as the Jeeps head for the trails.  This year, the Fins & Things trail rated as Erwin and Jeannie’s favorite.  Two California trails they want to tackle are the Rubicon and the Mojave Road (an old stagecoach line, also of historic military significance).

Passionate about travel, the Grevens have toured Hong Kong, Ireland, Europe, and New Zealand.  They also make time to visit family: Erwin’s two grown sons and baby granddaughter in Minneapolis, his father in Arizona, and Jeannie’s mother and sister in northern California.

Erwin and Jeannie have traveled to new places thanks to NM4W.  And thanks to them, we’ve learned to appreciate some neat stuff outside the Jeeps.

There have been several items of note this past month.  Most of them have been communicated via email, but here is a quick rehash for those of you who haven’t been around:

Santa Fe National Forest Travel Management Plan:

First of all, a big THANK YOU to all the club members who showed up for the “map marking party” at my house!  Great work by all involved!  We got a lot done and laid the foundation for more work in the coming months.

The kick-off meetings have wrapped up and the TMP team received overwhelming feedback that more time for user input was needed.  Team Lead, Rob Potts, notified me that the deadline for user input will be extended to January 15^th.  There should be a formal press release out shortly.  There are two points to be made about this extension.  First, we have been given a great opportunity because we asked for it, now let’s not waste it.  Let’s ensure that ALL of the trail/routes/roads that we want to be considered are identified on the maps.  This includes any NEW opportunities that provide additional range of difficulty, create better loops, access interesting areas, etc.  Let’s get the information to the FS as soon as possible and not wait until January to turn our routes in to them.  Secondly, this extension will not come without a “cost” in the form of some other piece of the process either being shortened or run concurrently with the user input.  The Forest Service’s final date hasn’t moved so if we have more time to provide input, something else had to change to accommodate it.  Again, let’s make sure we don’t waste it.  Don’t wait for the last minute to get out and explore/map and don’t wait for the snow to fly!  Oh!  One more thing.  Make sure you give the Forest Service, especially the Travel Management Team, a big THANK YOU via a letter or the next time you see them.  Let them know how much we appreciate the extension and the opportunity to work with them.

The next step in the process, while we are gathering our data, will be a series of workshop meetings to start discussing what type of opportunities we need on the Forest.  I will see to it that the club gets plenty of notice and background information/material to ensure we are successful in representing and articulating our needs.

Trackways Monument:

The proposed national monument north of Las Cruces has taken many twists and turns.  Fred Huff has been invited to go to Washington DC this week to testify before the Senate committee that is considering this legislation.  We believe that it is losing steam and will ultimately be killed.  You can help kill it by contacting Senator Domenici’s and Senator Bingaman’s offices and letting them know that you do not support making the area a national monument.

I was also able to attend a meeting in Las Cruces to discuss the possibility of a comprehensive land use bill for the public lands of Dona Ana County.  The meeting was sponsored by the City of Las Cruces at the request of Senator Domenici’s office.  They are interested in wider public input before they draft the bill.  The bill would include the Wilderness Study Areas there and could also include the area proposed for the trackways.  It was a very positive meeting, and the motorized recreationsists in attendance (LCFWDC, SWFWDA, FMCA Four Wheelers, and NMOHVA) provided lots of compelling information to the City about appropriate designations for the areas.  We will all continue to participate in this effort.

That is enough for you to chew on for now.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

I wanted to lead a run to the Jemez to GPS a trail that I have driven a couple of times over the last few years and enjoy very much.  I put out a call to the membership and was awarded with eleven vehicles and several people to go with me on Saturday, August 26th.  This included several guests, thanks mostly to Phil Rodacy.  Those in attendance were Phil Rodacy and his friend Jim Fulkerson in his TJ, Craig & Mary Turpin and girls in their Rubicon, Kathy Wolf & Mike Robertson in his Discovery, Bob Telepak in his XJ, Justin Simenson & Rebecca “Becca” Tafoya in his Rubicon, Paul Caskey and friend in his YJ, Jeff & Lauri Rector in her YJ, Jordan Sousa in his TJ, and me in my Jeepster.  Other guests were Kristin Konnick and her Father Paul in her KJ, and Mark Smith & friend Jim Bohlken in Mark’s 02 WJ.

We started at our usual place in Rio Rancho and headed out at 9:00 AM.  We stopped at the parking spot after the Gilman tunnels and aired our tires down.  I wanted to run the Holiday/Stable Mesa area and headed to the turn-off across the Rio Guadalupe.  We crossed the river and headed up the mountain to the mesa.  I had promised Mary Turpin I would show her the Giant Foot Print Indian Ruins for her soon-to-be visitors from Canada during the balloon fiesta.  So that became our first destination.  While we were there, we had lunch and everyone got to look around.  We then headed northwest to the Stable Mesa area where I wanted to show Bob Telepak the other ruins that Tom Hurt and I had visited some years earlier.  I thought the road had been purposefully closed by someone cutting down trees, but others had created a trail around all the cut trees and we decided to follow it.  We looked around those ruins a while and then headed for Schoolhouse Mesa to get back to FR 376.  I only took two wrong turns the whole day and felt good about that.  We finally got down off the Mesa and headed south along the river to cross again.  Part way through we were momentarily detained by a tree that had to be cut and cleared from the trail so we could get through.  There had been several that required clearing that day due to all the rain which loosened the soil and caused the tree to fall.

We didn’t get back to the tunnels to air up until 6:00 PM, but it was a good day and now the track is recorded for future use.  I wanted to share with you something that is starting to appear more and more.  Bob Telepak had his GPS tied into a laptop computer, with an LCD screen to track this entire trail realtime.  It plotted the trail on a topo map directly as we went along.  That is using available technology to assist us with our sport in a very positive way.  Thanks to all that attended.  This trail will be submitted to the US Forest Service for their ongoing Travel Management Plan as Bob’s topo map indicated most of it was not on the map.  All we did was follow existing forest service routes all day long.  That should convince you of the importance of getting out and mapping trails.

We went to the Jemez yesterday (23 Sep) to record some more GPS waypoints and discovered that FR 376 has been closed due to a rockslide in the vicinity of the tunnels.  The road is closed right at the FS boundary on the south end, so FR 653 is not accessible to bypass the tunnels either.  The closure sign stated that a .25 mile radius around the tunnels is off limits to foot traffic as well due to instability of the canyon walls.  The area will remain closed for an indefinite time period.  We ended up going around through Jemez Springs and accessing FR 376 from NM 126.  Once we reached Porter, there was another sign stating that the road was closed 6 miles ahead.  There was a trace of snow above 8,000 ft.  Most of the aspen trees were still green.  The next couple of weekends will probably be good for the fall colors.

The Zuni Mountains is an area that has been a long time favorite of mine.  Years ago, my dad and I, along with a whole list of others, would frequent the area to ride motorcycles.  At least fifteen years passed by since we stopped going out to the Zuni’s.  I stared thinking of going back to re-discover the area where so many memories had been made.  Then, I decided to get it on the calendar and invite the club to join us to explore the area.  I had originally planned the trip earlier in the summer, but the forest was closed due to the high fire danger.  We finally did it this past Labor Day weekend and we all had a great time.

We had a very nice-sized group.  Those who attended include Mark and Joan Wolf, Cliff and Jeanne Meier, Paul and Mary Thompson, Erwin and Jeannie Greven, Jerry and Mary Moran (Saturday), Chuck and Ethel May Peeples, and Rance and Elizabeth Cochrane (Guests).  We also had Beth’s parents Pat and John with us, so we brought both the Ranger and the Jeep along to have seats for everyone.

Saturday we hit the trail at 9 AM.  The roughest trail that we would encounter is the road around Bluewater Lake.  As we set out, Chuck made radio contact with us as to meet us on the other side of the lake where he and Ethel May have a cabin.  After a short stretch of blacktop and meeting up with the Peeples, we took FR 178 to the old town site of Diener.  In the 1930’s, an open-pit copper mine was developed in this area.  Very little of the old mill site remains.  From Diener, we traveled along FR 504 and took an offshoot to the top of Mt. Sedgwick.  At an elevation of 9,256 feet, we enjoyed 360-degree views, as well as an interesting quartz formation.  From there, we took FR 504 down to FR 480 and headed east.  It was getting close to lunch time, so I began to look for a side road to get away from the well maintained FR 480.  I found one, but ran into numerous hunting camps, so we proceeded along until we reached the top of the mesa for a lunch spot.  As we ate lunch, I was queried by several people “where does this road go?” or “have you been here before?”  I answered I am not sure and no, I have not been here before.  After all, this is an “exploration run” (i.e., a trail ride whereby the leader doesn’t want to get fined as a result of making U-turns or otherwise getting lost!—ed.)  After lunch, we continued along and came across a few deer in the woods.  The road continued to the south until it terminated into an east-west road at a closed gate.  I opened the gate and made a left to head east until we came along another road that led off to the right heading south.  Then we broke out into a meadow among the remains of a few cabins.  Continuing on, the road finally came out along FR 50 near Cold Springs.  Then we took FR 50 to FR 49 and drove around the Cinder Pit and old lava flows.  After that, we went along the ridge towards Quartz Hill, and dropped into Bonita Canyon where there were brilliant patches of yellow flowers.  Once we got back to FR 49, it was getting late and we decided that it would be much quicker to take it into Grants and take the highway back to camp.  After all, it was pot-luck night!  I think that is the main reason that Wolfie decided to join us.

Sunday we took the same route to meet up with the Peeples.  We turned off of FR 178 and headed west this time and followed the trail which parallels Bluewater Creek all the way to the old town site of Sawyer.  Sawyer was the main logging camp from 1909 to 1921.  About 200 people, including 60 children, lived at Sawyer.  There was a general store, a schoolhouse, a boarding house, homes, and Navajo Hogan’s in Sawyer.  Many of the buildings were hauled away when the main logging camp was moved to Bluewater Lake.  From Sawyer, we took FR 50 to FR 482 and found a lunch spot at an old windmill and train car.  After lunch, FR 482 lead us to the southern edge of the Zuni Mountains.  We crossed the Continental Divide at the “Big Notch” for a view across the valley looking at El Morro National Monument.  Then we took well-maintained roads back to Bluewater State park.  We all gathered for Peanuts, Chips, Salsa, Guacamole, and Quiche that afternoon.  We also shared a campfire each night.  What a great trip spent with good friends.  We WILL do it again for sure!

On the Zuni Mountain trip, I had shut off the Jeepster on the run and when I started it back up, it backfired.  Now that is not all bad, except that a certain fellow was walking by and had just cleared the rear fender when the “shot” went off.  It caused that fellow to dance a jig and instantly yell out “Alright, I’ll marry your daughter!”  Poor Chuck will never be the same.  (The really bad part was that I laughed uncontrollably for six hours.)

Glenn Bontly was chosen by his peers as the 2006 Four Wheeler of the Year and was presented a plaque at the September 16 meeting.  Glenn, a club member for seven years, was also named Four Wheeler of the Year in 2002.

Glenn has been Trail Tales editor and nm4w.org webmaster extraordinaire for many years.  His report at the meetings is short and sweet “We have a newsletter and a website.”  He’s too modest to say that both are informative, fun, and great communication tools.  The website is often the outside world’s introduction to NM4W and it makes a great first impression based on the number of people it draws to meetings.

Besides producing the newsletter and keeping the website current, Glenn attends almost every meeting and many runs.  He’s always willing to share Jeep modification tips and four-wheeling techniques to new members.

Glenn has never met a Wal-Mart he doesn’t like, and someday might make good on his threat to set up camp at the Eubank Wal-Mart with awning extended, lawn chair, grill, etc.  For some reason, it’s easy to visualize.

Congratulations, Glenn, and thanks for being a major cog with NM4W.  Glenn’s name will be added to the list of past winners:

2005 Lauri and Jeff Rector
2004 Chuck Peeples
2003 Leon Duggar
2002 Glenn Bontly
2001 Pat Brady
2000 Mark Wolf
1999 Mark Wolf
1998 Bob Telepak
1997 Charlie Wilson
1996 Mark Werkmeister

Which tires do you really need?  This is such a good question that I have actually witnessed, on several occasions, grown, intelligent men having a 45 minute conversation on tires.  Then they will take a break to talk about how long they have been talking about tires and then start the conversation back up again for another 30 minutes. 

You should ask yourself a couple of questions when deciding which tire is going to be best for you most of the time.  Number 1; what do you want to do when you take your rig off the pavement?  Number 2; what kind of ride and noise level will you tolerate when you drive your rig on the pavement?  You could have more questions (such as wear and lasting power) but these should be strong considerations.  The more correct you are with the answers, the happier you should be with tires that you purchase. 

If you mainly drive your rig on the street and don’t plan to do much more than take occasional trips down forest-service roads, then you should consider less aggressive, street-tread-style tires.  Tires with less aggressive tread patterns wear longer and run quieter and smoother on pavement than an all-terrain or mud-terrain tire.  However, an all-terrain tire with a more aggressive tread will give you more traction on the trail while still maintaining a fairly good ride and noise level on pavement.  A mud-terrain tread will more often be a rougher ride and louder on pavement than an all-terrain tread – and will be progressively worse the more aggressive the tread pattern becomes.  The more tread on the pavement, the better the tire wear and the longer they will last.  Also, the tire compound will affect the tire wear and how long the tire will last. 

The question for dedicated trail use of your rig is traction and whether you need the traction performance in mud, sand, snow, or on the rocks; or a combination thereof.  Your priority for ride quality and road noise is pretty low.  Also, tread life may not be as important to you as sidewall-puncture resistance.  For a daily driver and wheeling in soft sand or soil, or slickrock, an all-terrain could be your best choice.  The wider tread will give you added floatation in the loose stuff and the added rubber you’ll have on the ground will give you top-notch traction on sandstone and granite slabs.  Finally, all-terrain tires are generally better for packed snow and ice than mud-terrain tires.  This is because the large-tread blocks of a mud tire tend to hydroplane on the icy stuff because the higher ground pressure of their overall footprint causes the ice to melt under the tire; and the general lack of siping on mud-terrain tread sections means there’s no place for the resultant water to go.  However, in deep snow, all-terrain tires will pack up just as they do in mud.  Mud tires, on the other hand, are great in deep mud and unpacked snow, as with a bit of wheel speed, the tread will clean itself out quickly.  In addition, mud tires have proven themselves superior in jagged rocks, where their aggressive tread can find something to grab onto.  A good soft-compound mud-terrain tire also will work very well on sandstone and granite slabs, but hard-tread compounds can cause a mud tire to slip on rock almost like it was on ice.

There is also the specialty ice-and-snow tire.  These tires use special construction and tread compounds that dissipate the water layer between the tire and the ice.  This vastly improves the handling and stopping ability of these tires in frozen lands.  These tires are very soft and flexible, with lots of siping, so that water is forced out of the tread quickly to aid in traction.  Special ice-and-snow tires are recommended for seasonal use only, as they tend wear quickly. 

There has been a trend among four-wheelers to have two sets of tires, one for street and one for trail.  These are the folks who want the best tires for the conditions.

Members/guests:  The Caballo area trail run this year is scheduled for 7 – 8 Oct.  It is usually a moderate-hard trail.  However, with all of the rains this year and the fact that the trail goes through more than one canyon bottom (ie…river bed), you can expect the trail to be on the hard side for sure.  Therefore, I WOULD NOT recommend stock vehicles or vehicles without a limited slip or locker on this run this year.  If you have questions or concerns, please let me know and I will answer them directly.

We will meet at our usual place, the Caballo Lake River Campground (that’s the River Campground, NOT the Lake Campground).  You can get there by taking exit 59 from I-25 about 12 miles south of Truth or Consequences.  Make sure to fill up in T or C, as there are no fuel stations close to the campground.  We will leave the campground on Saturday morning at 8:00 AM promptly – RAIN or SHINE!!  That way we can get back to the campground to have a cookout.  If there is enough interest, we can potluck it.  Thanks!  I await your response.

Wolfie

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, 11404 Oceola Rd SE, Albuquerque, NM 87123.

Please see the Events Schedule Page

Trail Tales
11404 Oceola Rd SE
Albuquerque, NM 87123

TrailTales@nm4w.org