Welcome New Members!
(And kinda new members)
Mike Jr., & Catherine A. drive a 1983 Jeep. They also live in Paso with their three sons.
Anthony & Leah C. of San Luis Obispo drive a Jeep. Anthony's brother,
Jim C., is also new to the club!
Susan S. of Atascadero, who drives a 1989 Isuzu Trooper.
Kelly W. of San Luis Obispo joined the club recently and will be joining us on runs in his Jeep.
James & AvaNette Z. last, but certainly not least, are of Atascadero who join us with their 1969 Bronco.
Many new members joined due to club activities like the vehicle show with RTI and Colony Days. We look forward to seeing them on the trail!
If you missed Fright Night...
Basically, it was a blast! The Small Brainers went up early and drove up Miller Jeep Trail in the afternoon. Ray flew his Jeep (why is this no longer surprising?), Randy P. earned his wings, then the group stopped in Hungry Valley or thereabouts for gas and last pit stop before running back around to meet the Pt. Magu runners for another try at the hill.
During the "real" run, there were lots of jokes and fun no one wants to tell about 'cause it'll ruin the surprise for those who go next year! Just think Halloween and you may get a hint of what they might be talking about. It had snowed and the moon was out full, so it was brilliant white (like driving in the desert with a full moon, Randy P. said). It was also warmer that night than it had been during the day (but still cold enough).
Mike A. dented his brand-new TJ and its oil pan. ("It was too long anyway," was all he had to say.) Otherwise, the club got off pretty much Scott free.
A new dent in the sheet metal actually straightened out a few other dents.
Seriously I thought I was going to slide on that one, It WAS dumb. I thought there would be no FUBAR this month, then Brian calls for nominations and I seen Randy's hand go up .... NO00000!
What the heck am I yapping about? Well for all of you who weren't at the meeting and/or use anything less than a small refrigerator as a wheel chock I'll tell you.
After our glorious (gosh I really didn't think this would get out) work party run a couple of weeks ago we finished up the day doing Los Chisas trail. Stopping on end of the trail (where it joins the top of very steep and windy Black Mt. Rd.) at the turnout to unlock our hubs, I left my engine running and the fans on to cool down.
We walked back to the trail to talk to some kids who were going up, when after about 5 minutes some one yelled "Mark your jeeps rolling".
Looking in disbelief my Jeep climbs up onto the pavement and starts heading down the road! In shock I and Mike A. Jr. start running. I got to tell you I didn't think we would catch her, she was moving almost as fast as us running down hill. It was moving. When we got close I realized the only hope was to turn it into the Mountain. I yelled at Mike, he was on the left "Grab the wheel and turn it into the hill". I thought if he jumps in and it doesn't stop they'll both go over. Well he yanked on the wheel and as soon as she started for the Mt. I realized she'd roll. Someone yelled "Get out of the way "I dove to the right as the jeep tried to climb the hill with its left front then came over on 2 wheels. She pivoted just for a second before going all the way over when Mike jumped on the back and back down she came. I came around the front, dove in and slammed the brake with Both feet. --
GOOD NIGHT!! In those brief few moments I saw the last trip when my kids were still small and rode in the back seat, all the sunsets Margaret and I have watched through that pitted windshield, remembered all the midnight oil burnt getting ready for the next trip---AND SHE WAS GOING TO ROLL OFF THE MOUNTAIN.
Well I've been thinking about getting rid of the jeep and taking an easier route to camp but when I thought I was going to lose it- well it won't happen this month.
I'll never know why, when the jeep started rolling it didn't simply go off the cliff instead of climbing up onto the road, why when it did it paused when it hit the hill or that Mike was able to get up on the back. If she'd of rolled it would have gone all the way and rolled off the cliff, if it hadn't of hit the hill it wouldn't have made the next turn
Well the point of this isn't to share the moment but to say when I get out of the jeep I religiously set the brake, point her up hill and put it in gear. Well cause I had left it running she wasn't in gear, when the brake let go the only reason I guess she's not a mangled ball of sheet metal at the bottom of Black Mt. is maybe cause it was pointed up hill. At any rate Always set the brake, Put it in gear and point it to the path of most resistance. (Chock those wheels if she could slide, or if you leave the engine running)
Also the other point was to say, cause I didn't have the wits at the time, thanks to Mike -whose actions probably saved my rig. Thanks Mike!
I did win the FUBAR, I'm lucky to have a jeep to hang it from! Oh and the price went up a thousand bucks. I know there's a few of you like me, who need to replace those E-brakes DO IT! I know I don't EVER want to chase my jeep down a mountain again!
Mark B. (Safety First)
What role will you play in the club?
So what does this mean? Well, it means dues are now due, as Brian put it, and that members should be thinking about what role they'd like to play in the club in 1996.
Officer roles, like other volunteer positions in the club, are not limited to long-time members. It is open to any active, current member.
Ask Will. He's not an officer yet, but on his first club run, he volunteered to be the trailboss and did an excellent job.
The more people who are involved, the more fun the club will be.
Consider running for any office including:
President - steers club, runs meetings
Vice-President - covers for Pres
Treasurer - monitors financials
Secretary - keeps minutes, etc.
Membership - seeks new members, new member programs
Land-use liaison - voice of club on land-use issues; attends land-use meetings
Social - plans parties
Newsletter - notifies members of events through mailings
Ways & Means - raises money for the club
Promotions - sells club hats, shirts, etc.
CA4WDC Liaison - club rep for state assoc.
Brian opened the meeting at 7:04 PM. Tom reported that we have
a happy $bank balance and was even happier when Brian told us that we
have more happy$ to deposit from the Colony Days. that was
from the corn dog booth less $30 taken out for the raffle prize
donated to the Point Magu 4 wheelers' Fright Nite. Ken S.
and his wife, Chris were guests at our meeting to in
to invite us to participate in fund raising activities for Campfire
at Camp Natoma. He would like to have us familiarize ourselves
with the facility, and after some discussion of conflicting dates,
we decided to go make this our day run for November 9.
WAYS AND MEANS: Sharon reported that we made happy$ on the corn dog booth at Colony days. Jennell reported that we would definitely do this again as it only took a few people and a little time and we had fun. Randy P. reported that the membership display of THE RAMP and a couple of vehicles brought in a new member .
MEMBERSHIP: Other than our new member, Jim C., Mark had no report.
EVENTS: Dave reminded us that our local after-meeting local run would be Camp Natoma on Saturday. Leave from the Templeton Livestock Market at 9:00 Saturday. go early if you want breakfast. He'd like to check Pine Mountain on Sunday, so if you're interested, call him. Christmas parade Friday the 6th in San Luis. Line up at 6 p.m. There is only one Santa, no alcohol, no throwing things Tentatively we have 12 planning to attend. We had a day run to Rock Front Ranch planned for November 15, and we added the Leaping Lizard Enduro on the 16th for those who want to make it an overnight and support the Central Coast Motorcycle Association with a checkpoint at Ballinger. Last year, five of us ran a tie-breaker checkpoint and had a hoppin' good time. (hoppin' because it was cold and we were busy).
LAND USE: Randy reported that although the CCORE meeting was canceled, there will be one on November 21 at the women's center in Arroyo Grande at 7:00 PM. Don Tremmel, the Recreation Officer for Pine Mountain USFS district will speak on the Enterprise Forest Pilot Program. We also will have Mike Berman as our off road ranger for another 9 months, and he will have 2 assistants out there enforcing closures as a result of fire restoration. The Sate OHV Commission is writing it's grant request for a couple of years in advance in January. The membership voted to have Randy write a letter to that commission which will document and support our use of local trails.
SOCIAL: Brian reported that to secure the hall for the Christmas Party he had to make candy for the Lions club all day Saturday. Sharon reported that we're having a full Mexican dinner, a progressive gift exchange, maybe a hat contest and ornament contest. Hors d'hoeuvres at 6:30, dinner at 7:00. Bring a donation of canned goods and/or a child's gift to donate to the lions community service drive.
NEWSLETTER: Jennifer is now Jennifer B. (not P. and has a new computer with e-mail, neat graphics and has had lots of great input which she appreciates.
SAFETY: Randy has safety checklists for anyone who wants one.
PROMOTION: Kathy is putting in a T-shirt order this week so the shirts should be here by the Christmas party.
FRIGHT NITE 10/25/96: Davie was sick and Dave passed the trail boss position to Brian. Again Fright Nite was great run. It's one of our tougher trails, and this year it snowed, making in even more interesting. We did the trail Saturday, with an interesting Jeep Flying demonstration from Ray at THE WALL, got to base camp just in time to get gas and a burger and start the trail again about 7:00 Saturday night. Randy stopped to talk to some motorcyclists on the trail coming in who indicated that perhaps those who would tackle such a feat have small brains. Thus we became the SLO COUNTY SMALL BRAIN TRUST. There was some discussion of Mike Sr.'s first TJ dent and the number of miles he spun off his right rear tire on the V-rock. There was extensive discussion of how great the snow looked on the moonlit hills . That really got to Tom and Dave who couldn't go. Those who did go were: Brian & Jennell, Mike & Anne, Ray & Darlene & Whitney, Jim & Cindy, Randy & Kathy and Mark & Margaret. We met Todd V. there and Aaron C. & Brian L. came but ended up in the group behind us. The main group got back to camp somewhere around 1:30 AM. It was not a difficult decision the next day to dispense with the third running of the trail that the die-hards in years past did.
CLEAR CREEK: Kyle and Randy & Kathy took a day trip up past King City to Clear Creek on Saturday, November 2. There is great run potential up there. Lots of space, commanding views and a natural area on San Benito Mountain. It was a beautiful day and Kyle found the hard place that he couldn't find the last time he was there. Several agreed that April would be a good tome for a run up there. Several are planning toward the Molina Ghost Run in March which is a State Association event in the same area.
LOPEZ DAY RUN: Ray led the October Day Run to Upper Lopez. Attending were Ray & Darlene & Whitney, Randy B. Don & Rhonda, Mike & Cathy & boys, Mike & Anne, and Randy & Kathy. Randy B pulled off the road to allow a sport utility vehicle pass, and had to be helped back on the road a little bit.The bulky...no, the bulk of the members stopped at Bernardo's for ice cream!
COLONY DAYS NIGHT RUN: After a long day at the corn dog booth, Brian led a group over Los Chi-chis and it was cold, but fun.
VOLUNTEER WORKDAY: Mark became the trail boss, and Ray reported that they had a good time in spite of a slow start. They helped the Forest Service guys build the table to replace the burned one on Pine Mountain. Our team also planted a sing at the top of the stairsteps which describes the difficult terrain ahead. The ground was very hard, but many hands make short work. Several members took the short cut down the stairsteps to go home. The others took pictures of the small brainers and took the long way home! KJ Silverman sent us a thank-you certificate from the Forest Service.
REGULAR OLD BUSINESS: Jenni reported on a letter that she wrote to our legislator about the new Smog 2 law and read his response to the club. An appeal has been rejected, but they say they are still trying. Jenni also brought in a list of 16 things the IRS will be looking for if and when we achieve non-profit status.
BY-LAWSRandy read the pending by-laws change, and after short discussion the By-law change was passed. In short, it makes dues payable "on or before the date of the January general meeting". Nominations for election of officers will be at the December and January meetings and the elections will be in January. Written proxy votes will be accepted at the January Meeting.
FOR THE GOOD OF THE CLUB: Brian promptly announced that DUES ARE DUE! Brian asked that we all be thinking about people you might like to nominate for club offices and he appropriately read the duties of the officers, board members and committee chairpersons.
MICS.Sharon pointed out that our January meeting will be on New Years Day, which might not be very well attended. There was a short discussion and it was decided that a decision would be made and the date would appear in the newsletter. Mark asked if we'd like to buy a $30 color cartridge so he can print the new membership cards in color. Ken S., our guest who presented the Camp Natoma community service project, offered to provide a color printer cartridge through his business, TERMINAL TECH. Sharon has 6 Cub Scouts who are looking for merit badge projects in community service and conservation. We have a number of opportunities for them.
Respectfully submitted, Kathleen P., Secretary
submitted by Mark B.
This weekend was actually a scheduled work party day by the forest Service and included projects thruout the area. Many volunteers arrived to assist. Most of the projects were to replace/ repair damage due to the fire. These individuals all showed up ready to help. It was good to see so many people just there to assist. Projects ranged from repair work to guzzlers, cleanup at different sites to replacing piping and signs. After a brief orientation by district ranger KJ Silverman, leaders for the different work parties outlined their planned objectives. Volunteers signed on to the project of their choice and went out to have a productive day.
Well as all the volunteers and rangers left to attack their task, we turned to ours. Our planned objective was to replace the table and erect new sign.
Ahhh first the table- this is a 6X8 table, in kit form. (We were prepared to haul it up--- well sort of)
Second the SIGN. This was a 4'x5' diamond plate with 3" x10' pipe legs, (also in kit form)
Third the truck to haul it and all the supplies-- Randy B.'s Mini p/u. Hmmm with much deliberation and convincing Ranger Mike we could do it, it was decided we could get both the table and sign unassembled in the truck. But first we had to build the table, drilling all the holes then disassemble it. Well 2 hours 2 rangers and six 4-wheelers later we finally got the table built, unbuilt & the sign loaded, distributing the tools and supplies amongst the jeeps. We hit the trail at 11:00.
Ranger Mike had to check out another site and we were to meet at the top-o-Pine. As it was getting late we went up to the old table site. Mike showed up shortly. The table is now located just beyond where it used to be. We had an enjoyable lunch at our new table and then proceeded to the Steps.
This sign is HUGE! Basically it's a warning and suggests turning around unless you're properly equipped. Two 36" (approx.) holes were dug. We had no shortage of digging bars. The sign was assembled, dropped into the holes & cement was poured. This took about an hour. It was also discussed about putting another sign at the top where the trail used to end. It was felt that most people who needed to turn around probably should up there. A good deal of fun was had erecting the sign and Ranger Mike even enjoyed the merriment as THE SIGN was put up. After some pictures and such our days "work" was done.
At any rate before us were the steps, just too much temptation. Some decided to go back & around, the rest of us down &, meet up at Los Chisas to traverse it before the sun went down.
Well against my better judgment it was decided I'd be "followed" down since I'd been nominated trail boss (also against my better judgment). After a quick walk down to see what I'd committed to I went back, got in the jeep and drove down.Understand I picked my line, and got down before any one had a chance to watch, guide, ridicule or otherwise give me time to think better of it. The steps were very loose, covered in silt, quite slippery. At any rate we all got down without mishap, Ranger Mike shaking his head in disbelief. After congratulating each other and checking out new scratches, dents and enjoying the moment we headed toward Los Chisas
Some were already late (its now 4:30) and headed home via Los Chisas. The rest waited for the crew coming around and then we all enjoyed Los Chisas. (A table at the Rock outcropping sure would be nice). We hit Black Mtn. Rd and watched the sunset. All in all quite an enjoyable day. Members participating included Mike G., Ray M., Mike A., Mike A. Jr., Randy B., Jim & Cindy B., & Mark B. Led by Ranger Mike Burman. Thanks to all for a great day on Our adopted trail! Special THANKS to Ranger Mike Burman who coordinated our efforts.
What's in store for 1997…only the members can answer that. Consider running for office!
SLO 4-Wheelers offer help; learn a thing or two at
Esprit de Four safety clinic
Submitted by Kathy P.
Every year, in May and September, members of the Esprit de Four 4-wheel drive club travel from their homes in San Jose to Hollister Hills State Vehicle Recreation Area with truckloads of flags, cones, clipboards, and a slide projector. Of course, all this comes along in addition to the regular compliment of tow straps, winches, high lift jacks and good spare tires, all of which are used to put on a 4-wheel drive safety clinic.
Although referred to as a "safety clinic", it's really much more than that. Essentially, the Esprit de Four holds a 4WD and sport utility driving school which covers not only the safety aspects of four wheeling, but also teaches basic and some more advanced 4WD driving techniques. They use the 4WD playground, which was developed at Hollister through a cooperative effort of the State Parks and the State Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs, to provide a hands on, closely monitored 4WD learning experience on hills, rocks, in dirt, and mud [when available]. They charge a modest, but sensible fee of $40 which not only covers their expenses, but provides some working capital for their non-profit club. In addition to that, it provides the much needed community service of teaching 4WD enthusiasts, be they seasoned or green, the right thing to do while enjoying their favorite pastime. They introduce the Tread Lightly program and encourage "Pack it In / Pack it Out policies, and they demonstrate how proper gears and careful driving techniques can minimize impact, thereby maintaining a good public image and keeping trails open.
On September 28, Friday after work, Randy and I and Brian and Jennell headed north. They were in their 2WD pickup and we trailered the jeep. We were changing a flat on the back road out of King City when Mark caught up with us in his VW camper van. After all, we were going up there to learn how to put on a safety clinic, and pickups and vans make easy camp setup and cozy sleeping quarters. Henry arrived early Saturday morning and we all reported to registration.
Jason Green, a member of both Esprit de Four and SLO 4-Wheelers met us and told us to report to Carol for our work assignments. Carol was the Safety Chairperson for the State Association a number of years ago, and in that capacity, she was asked to develop this program. Over the years it, as all good programs do, evolved into something better than the original concept, as the directors responded to a changing and expanding need.
Carol is an organizer. I think she's an accountant or something, which was evident in the neat stacks of registration blanks, sheets of gummed labels, and clipboards. I don't know how she did it, but she even got the participants to line up in one nice wide column. Right away she handed Brian and Jennell several stacks of felt flags, each stack a different color. They determined the number of entrants and proceeded out to the front lines to attach a flag to each antenna. This is no small task as many of the vehicles had retractable antennas. They were able to keep people who came together in the same group by assigning them the same flag color, and they found that most many of the retractable antenna vehicles also had roof racks to tie flags too
This seems like a good place to talk about SUVs. I heard that 60% of new vehicles sold today are Sport Utility Vehicles. Now that translates into a whole bunch of people out there who have a brand new four wheeler and might not even know how to shift it into 4 wheel drive. Many others are men who seem to have a good rapport with their wives until she is behind the wheel of his $45,000 vehicle. And there's a new breed of outdoorswoman out there, guys. Some of them even know about lockers and gear ratios. Are you getting the gist? What a lot of these people are bringing to this clinic is a shortage of experience and confidence which is very effectively remedied by a day of guidance and hands on experience.
Back to the clinic ... Randy was handed a safety checklist and a clipboard (can you tell I was really impressed by the clipboards) and accompanied a student to his vehicle. If there was something on the list, but not on the vehicle, he was to explain the importance of that item. Back at the registration booth, the registrant if pre registered had a gummed label with most of the needed info on it to put on a registration form. He was checked in by one person, safety checked by another, and asked to sign a waiver by a third. That way, nothing was overlooked. Overall, the registration booth appeared to be a little confusing, but because of a simple, but efficient system everything worked well.
Saturday was our learning day, so after registration was finished and the participants began their slide show, we went to class. Carol had about 50 handouts, which included samples of every registration form they use, fliers for advertising, maps to clinics, Cal 4 Wheel's camping code of ethics, the In-field Instructor's Guide to the California 2WD safety Program, and finally a booklet entitled "HOW TO PUT ON A 4WD SAFETY CLINIC". We went over all this material, and when we got done nobody had any questions.
Next we were treated to the same slide show that the participants see. It was put together by the club with pictures they had taken, and charts and graphs they got from various places. It was really well presented in that four different people did the presentation, each one having different but good techniques, so it made it more interesting.