Walker Valley ORV Nov 2015

The Tamers met at Walker for a late start Sunday run. It was a very crisp, cold morning at 27 degrees. Frost covered most of everything. I nominated Gary Miller in his Sami to lead the run because my CB has not been working. We motored over to the Timber Tamer Trail. We entered the lower half of the Timber Tamer Trail. The trail base was a little crisp from the overnight freeze. But decent enough. We exited the lower portion of the Timber Tamer Trail with little effort and moved toward the upper half of the trail. We hopped the rock bump and quickly found one of the recent storms blew a tree over and made the small passage rather impassable. Gary was able to work his way around with the Sami rubbing quite a bit on the passenger side. We decided not to continue up the trail as some of the larger vehicles would not fare as well. We conducted the standard Tamer turn around and made our way to the rock garden/trail near Ridge Ram.

By this time the sun was as about as high as it goes for a winter day. The crisp top layer was now a soft boogery mess. Multiple wheelers went up the trail and made light work of it, until someone decided they did not want the rear CV in their Jeep any more and removed it with post haste. They removed the driveline and limped down to the parking lot to call it a day.

The rest of the Tamers moved on to find Ridge Ram and eventually moseyed on over to Ron’s Run. Gary decided it might be a good idea to have the more stock-ish rigs go around to the top of Ron’s Run as the trail is a little different now. I agreed, not really knowing what to expect. Gary lead the others around and I was supposed to cut off at the road to Ron’s Run. I took a turn about a 1 mile too soon(Okay, I am a little rusty). Yay! Standard Tamer turn around. We caught up the Gary awaiting our return, knowing I took us the wrong way. He just shook his head and laughed.

We made it to the bottom of Ron’s Run. I had a score to settle here. The hill climb at the beginning had claimed a CV axle the last time I was here at the same time our dog, Zeke, a 12 year old German Short Hair Pointer barfed all over the back seat. Needless to say, Janessa and I called it a day right there. This time I was back with a vengeance. The hill climb was a nice mix of booger, soup, and rock. I had couple attempts before Janessa decided she would rather see what stupid looks like from the outside of the vehicle. I made a multiple full throttle attempts before the hill climb said no, all while singing Moose’s rendition of “Red Eye Run” sung to the tune of “Jingle Bells”.

“Full throttle assault – 10 or 20 times
Can’t get up the hill – Its covered up with slime
Gave it one more try – Then I heard something snap
I should have taken the road round and not this hill of crap”

I backed down and called for the “next victim”. Anthony rogered up and started moving in his YJ. A made a few attempts before we stacked a couple rocks and he throttled right up it. In no way was I having this. I decided to go back for seconds. Yep, here we go. Yay! Second gear! More skinny pedal. I fell just short of victory as I launched myself into the untouched mud and a couple large diff rocks….And I turtled myself….I took to the winch. Anthony played at the rock garden near the top of the first section. For a bit and ended up taking the winch.

So, Egg Rock on Ron’s Run is a bit different than the last time I remember. There is a bit more rock in Ron’s Run. I picked my line and went for it. Out of pure luck I made it up with little effort. We spend the next hour or so watching folks attempt the rocks. Most winched. ALL TOYOTAS IN THE GROUP MADE IT WITHOUT WINCHING (<—-Weird, capslock was stuck) and one Jeep. Jerry Marsh made it happen. Jerry drove his Jeep like a professional. Like a professional that hated his Jeep and was looking to beat it like it owed him money. Hats off to you sir.

By this time we were really looking for food. Originally I brought the grill and hotdogs for lunch but it end up becoming dinner in the dark in the Walker parking lot. But they were delicious hotdogs and I am sure we will talk of this trip again in the years to come. It feels wonderful to be back on the trails with the Tamers.

Unfortunately, I still have the Cow Bell. I’m still waiting for that Mr or Mrs. Right to take it from me. Who will be my hero?

Kurtis