This is a must do event. The people are friendly, the Trails are fun and the raffle is good. Cabin Fever takes place in the Northern Idaho town of Kellog. We booked a hotel at the Silver Valley hotel which has reasonable rates. We have actually stayed there before. Dan from the Tamers and I changed a cam positioning sensor in the back parking lot. Not a fun project on a trip but thanks to Dan we knocked it out fast. Thankfully no Engine code of death for this trip.
Emily and I showed up early on Friday April 14th so we did a little exploring. We started up the road Through Slaughterhouse Gulch past Wardner and then took a right. Then past a dirt bike area. From then on we would be driving on untracked patchy snow. After driving along for a while, we turned downhill. Unfortunately, we found two dead ends both almost right at the road. So rather than waste more time we just backtracked.
The event was having some type of get together at a local restaurant right next to the Silver Mountain Resort. I can’t say I recommend the food as both Emily and I’s burger bun was extremely dry. To their credit once we mentioned it they decided that the meal was free. I offered to pay half since we both had the tots but they said no. We hung out for a while and spoke to a few others who were attending before heading back to the hotel.
In the morning we headed to the staging area. From the looks of things it was a pretty big event. We checked in and Paul from the NITB came over to say hi and invited me to join him on the trail. I was game as long as we did not get too crazy. I think Paul said something about depends on my definition of crazy. Paul was going to be busy setting up so Emily and I headed back to the staging area. I hung with some Toyoda guys for a while until the drivers meeting. This self-lead event From what they said they had issues getting the permits. If they turned it into a self lead run then they did not need the permits.
Even though this event did not have run leaders I followed Paul to the trail.  If you are going to do this event, I would just introduce yourself to one of the locals and I am sure they will let you tag along. We aired down and a larger number of rigs joined us. We then headed up some switchbacks to a very tight left to a steep hill climb. Paul being the nice guy check to see if I was ok with this. Absolutely! I had a big smile on my face. The climb was well over 1000 Feet of elevation gain. At the top there was a nice view and most of us took some time to snap a few pics.Â
We headed down the opposite side of the hill and to another climb. We got back into the snow where 4 of us broke away. Shawn, Ken and Denise, Paul, all from the Trailblazers and I. Several times we called back to the rest of the rigs to see who was coming but as it turned out they kept getting stuck and they all turned around. We kept breaking trail. Me having the smallest tires I was happy taking up the rear. At one point I tested the snow and quickly got stuck.
At this point Shawn was breaking trail when we came to a tricky hill climb. There was some friendly egging on so Shawn started driving the right pedal through the floor boards. Over and over again until we talked him in to a winch pull. With the snow knocked down the rest of us were able to climb the hill.
At this point Ken was leading. We came up a ridge and a small hump that Ken was working on then over he went. I paid close attention to the other two rigs in front of me as they dropped over the ledge. Normally I would get out and look but not this time. There was a hump then a very steep drop. I mean this would be steep in dry dirt let alone in snow. I would say it was about a full jeep length slide before coming to another hump followed by a smaller drop. Man that was fun. I later learned it was called the wall. I can see why. I wish that I would have got video of me coming over that.
We then ran into a few other buggy type rigs. Paul was in front of me as we side hilled around them. Because the snow was pushed out with Paul going first my path was at least a Jeep width lower on the hill. This was some crazy side hilling but with the snow slushy I was not going to go that far. I tried to get back up on the ridge but I was not able to. Coming down hill and trying to get back up on the ridge I ran into deep snow which stopped me from moving forwards and I was not going to go anywhere at that point. I called Paull on the radio. Paul started trying to back up the hill but was not having much luck. So I ran out my own winch line to a tree and pulled my self forward and back onto the ridge.
On the way out we headed down Denver Creek. Dever is like a stream bed but it is really a mine run off and nothing lives in it. I should point out that much of this area is on private land and the Trailblazers have permission to use it.
We aired up and drove back to the Silver Mountain resort. The Trailblazers put on a great dinner followed by a huge raffle. As always I won something I did not need. In this case it was some cool razor stuff. I offered it to one of their club members who later bought me a drink. I did not mind winning a razor hood since the money was going to a good organization.
All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to doing it again.
Curt
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