I got off work early on Friday afternoon and headed home to get my gear and pack the Jeep. A short stop to deliver some flowers to the wife at her work on the way out of town, (that is how the pro’s do it) and I was headed to Evans Creek ORV park. I arrived at Evans to find GaryTJ and Lori, Rock and Genie, Teri and Scott, John and Gina, The Robinson Crew, and Guest Rudi and his family. Lo and Behold I forgot my NW Forest pass at home so I drove back down to Buckley to get a new one. On the way back to camp, I ran into Mike and Clarie and played the Pied Piper as they followed me to camp. We got there and wondered why Dirtball’s Jeep was there but no motor home? Turns out Lori was driving it out on Thursday evening when the transmission gave out. Quite an evening into the day for Mark and Lori getting that situation taken care of. But as the True Tamers that they are, they arrived ready to go sleep (I mean wheel) and get ready for Saturday’s antics. Somewhere in there, returning member Scott in his Green YJ and his girlfriend Rachel with her super shiny yellow TJ arrived.
Saturday Morning was rather Lazy as more and more Tamers streamed into Camp. Tom and Penny, Jess and Christina and Doug with his family slowly arrived. Folks set up camp and got ready to head out on the trails simultaneously. Finally we amassed in a group to head out right on (Tamer) time. John led the group and we headed out towards the Trail. We started up the 198(?) and right off the bat started having issues. GaryTJ’s front Detroit decided to turn itself into a limited slip at best so he wanted to head back to camp and get that fixed. We also learned that we had a newbie in our midst. Rachel in her TJ was fairly new to the sport of four wheeling. Scott S. took the reins of my TJ and I rode with Rachel in hers just to give her advice. (NOTE: I like the new people because they actually trust and listen to me. Scary huh?) Anywho, we tackled the first big hill and passed up Gary who was turned around ready to head back to camp. At the second turn, we promptly got lost from the main group because Scott got a little happy driving my Jeep. We had about a 10 minute discussion over the CB’s as to who went where and what was who and who was what and we were on our way. Caught up with the group, we followed each other lazily through the woods. Some of the ladies in the group were having a rather lively discussion as to what berries were what along the side of the trail, as I helped my self to all but the little red ones.
Eventually we came to a little rock ledge that you had to drop off of. I watched rather carefully as Scott drove my Jeep down it, and then Rachel asked me what line she should take. I told her and she slowly crept to the edge. I grabbed my pop for a refreshing sip before the “slow” descent and all hell broke loose. Rachel was pushing the brake so hard that her foot slipped off and hit the gas, accelerating us to about mach 2.5 down the ledge. Much to her credit, she did keep her wheels pointed toward the correct side of the road, for if she didn’t we would have gone off the edge and it wouldn’t have been pretty. I calmed both of us down, and heard on the CB “Can someone grab my bumper!!!” I trotted back to the same obstacle to see Rudi’s Jeep so tippy its rear tire was about 4 feet off the ground. I could have literally pushed his rig over onto its side with my pinky finger. (Don’t tell his wife). I hopped on his rear bumper and rode his Jeep down the ledge and we were on our way. Somewhere in the fray, Scott’s t-case started leaking so we headed back to camp.
We got back to camp, had a mid afternoon “snack” and got Scott’s T-case disassembled. We figured out that he was missing a snap ring on the front output shaft bearing. He headed back to Renton to get it and we watched as Gary TJ wrapped up the fix on his front axle. Dan and Julie with their Kids arrived and we cleared a spot for them to set up camp. As is becoming a tradition for the Labor Day fun, Dan-O’s Jeep once again arrived on the trailer in non wheel-able condition. Tom and Rock helped with the repairs while the rest of us relaxed and enjoyed the afternoon. Dinner was served and enjoyed as we sat around the campfire exchanging stories. I organized a game of hide and seek with the kids and quickly realized two things, I am terrible at hiding, and too big to catch a quick kid who can dart through the campsite. Scott arrived after dark and we got his Jeep back together and ready for a new day.
Sunday morning: breakfast served and yet more Tamers Arrive. Rick and Carol, as well as Mary (Auto M), arrive along with Suzuki Tom. The big day with the big group we follow GaryTJ and Mike up the 311. What a difference it makes when there is actually dirt on the ground and not snow. Penny had a tire issue at one of the AWESOME Mt. Rainier vistas, but other than that, it was a rather uneventful day until GaryTJ had a fuel pump die. Half the group trailed on to the log pile and half of us stayed behind to help Gary fix his junk. The rangers showed up as Gary was taking his fuel pump out, they wanted to offer assistance, but all they had was a truck full of water with a fire pump. As much as we tried begging, pleading, and attempted bribing, they wouldn’t hose Gary down. Once he was fixed we headed on to the log pile so I could show everyone how to climb logs with their Jeeps. After a few attempts from Gary and Dirt, I showed everyone how to really get stuck and earned myself a tow fee in the process. After getting everyone off the log pile and on to “flat” ground, we headed back to camp for lunch. Rick, Mary and Tom had to leave and as Dan-O had succeeded in fixing his rig while we were out, we quickly regrouped and headed back out to run some more trails. A rather uneventful foray into the woods, we returned a few hours later and feasted on Spaghetti Prepared for us by the Lori’s with assistance from Rudi’s wife and Dirtball who stirred the sauce with his “finger”.
After dinner, we headed out on the night run in hot pursuit of Mike R and Dirtball. We finally found the real Jeep trails; the tight, twisty switchbacks that make wheeling at Evans fun. We slowly crept up the hill and found a neat overlook of Carbonado. All you can see is the lights of the little town in the distance. We wheeled until about half past midnight, and finally got off the trail. We heard Dan-O over the CB say “We have a little situation here”. Turns out, Shelly had a branch snap back and hit her square in the eyeball. The way was cleared and Dan-O rushed (safely) back to camp and piled the family into the truck to head out to the hospital. (Shelly is OKAY, after her appointment, the Dr. said she broke a blood vessel and will be okay). After getting Dan-O on his way, the rest of us headed for bed.
Monday we broke camp and slowly headed for home. An awesome weekend wheeling with an awesome group of people. This club really makes life worth living.
Until next time, Karl “The Official Timber Tamers Whipping Boy”
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