December 2021 Newsletter by Paul Kastle

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December 2021

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association

Glamis Veterans DayThanksgiving, 2021

What’s New Thanksgiving was great, and Christmas / New Years are just around the corner.

As remembered by Jim Kastl I left home on the morning of the 11th and headed to Glamis with the fth wheel and RS1 in tow. I found Ray and Janice set up in WASH 10, just past the restrooms, and just off the road, after experiencing huge crowds in Wash 6 for Halloween they wanted to try another place to camp. They coned off a rather large area, as they knew a lot of their Marine friends were coming for the ceremony on Saturday. Tom, Sarah, Jacob and Aubrey were there, and soon the Marines. I don’t remember all that were there, so I won’t try to mention them all, but it was great to see them there and to experience the ceremony with them. I also met Scott and his wife, Robin. Scott is a long time friend of Janice’s, dating back to their jeeping days. He recently acquired a beautiful Funco (the importance of which will be mentioned more later) after duning in a variety of vehicles, including a Yamaha YXZ side by side. He is a professor of astronomy, and it was really interesting to hear him talk about the night sky. He is very down to earth and never made any of us feel dumb with all our questions. I hope he and Robin will join us often in the future.

Wash 10 vs 6 Note that we are trying Wash 10 as a camp location, instead of Wash 6. For Thanksgiving, we felt it was a little quieter crowd and the extra drive was worth it. We are going to try Wash 10 again for the Christmas / New Years trip.

CA Nonresident OHV Pass Beginning Jan 1, 2022, California will no longer offer reciprocity for OHV registrations in states (such as Arizona) which do not recognize CA registrations. OHVs registered in these states must purchase a CA nonresident OHV sticker. See more on page 9.

Saturday morning we all followed Ray to the Flagpole for the Veterans Day Ceremony. The size of the crowd was shocking as we neared the agpole, but Ray managed to lead us to a spot very close to the stage. We were able to all park together. The ceremony is always impressive, and started with several y bys of vintage war birds. We were close enough we could hear the speakers, and I felt a

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December 2021 huge sense of thanks to all the veterans who have sacri ced so much for our country. It was very hot, probably nearly 100 degrees, and I was uncomfortable. Then I thought of how uncomfortable so many of the veterans were for months of even years while serving our country. I felt very small and sel sh thinking of my few minutes of being hot, while surrounded by hundreds of hero veterans. During the ceremony every veteran received a commemorative coin and gave their name, branch, and years of service. I remember one Marine who enlisted on September 11, 2001!

Upcoming Events • December 21-January 3: Christmas / New Years at Glamis, Wash 10. Ray and Janice will arrive rst, and others will show up on into the new year. • January 13-17, 2022: MLK Weekend at Glamis, currently Wash 10. • February 11-21: Presidents Week trip to Glamis.

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After the ceremony we followed Ray back to camp. There were several rides throughout the next two plus weeks, way too many to mention, except for a few memorable ones. We had camp res most nights, just for the ambiance early in the trip, but for comfort later as it got colder. Sunday night Hunck (whose real name I just found out is Tory) and his wife April prepared a fantastic dinner which featured his special blend of carne asada and other meats expertly prepared in his large wok-like disc, I think he calls a “discetta” or something like that. He has done so before, and it’s always one of my favorite duning meals. Thanks Tory!

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After the Marines, Tom and Sarah, and Scott and Robin left, it was just Ray, Janice, and me. Mike and Pat were not able to make the trip, as Pat has not been feeling well, and Mike has been busy caring for her. Kris and Doug weren’t there, and Jerry and Linda have been delayed in Colorado, so Don and Shirley weren’t there either. This got Ray thinking that there wouldn’t be many side by sides to ride with this trip. For a couple of years several of we buggy guys have been urging Ray to buy a buggy. About a year ago, we found that Steve Tharp was considering selling his sand rail. Most of us feel this is one of, if not THE best sand rails in the

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December 2021

club. Add in the facts that Steve and Ray are both Marines, and we really don’t want that sand rail to leave the club, it seemed a perfect match. With the prospect of few side by sides to ride with, and the fact he REALLY likes Scott’s Funco, Ray started to succumb to our pressure. After the weekend I had to head home for a few days to pick up the white trailer and the sand rail. While at home I got a text from Dawn and Jack that they would arrive Wednesday. I checked with Janice and she suggested we have them expand the circle beyond the yellow trailer as they had three big rigs joining them later. When I got back to camp they had not yet arrived, but did in a few minutes and were able to expand the circle leaving enough room for their friends. I was greeted by Ray and Janice, one of whom said, “I just bought a sand rail.” I, of course, knew it was for Ray, but still don’t remember who made the statement. I also was informed it needed to be picked up in Morongo Valley, and the buggy guys, including P.J., gured my trailer would be the most convenient to use. I love logistics and was happy to help in any way I could. So Saturday morning we hooked my trailer up to Ray’s beautiful New Ford and Ray and I headed off to Steve’s. When we arrived Steve had 4 brand new dirt tires on aluminum bead lock wheels, two narrow loading tires and wheels, a bunch of spare parts, and two seemingly band new seats sitting outside the garage. Inside the garage was THE sand rail, looking just like I remembered it from 5-7 years ago. I had feared that it might have suffered from sitting unused for so long, but honestly there were no signs of it being unused for so long, it is beautiful! Fortunately, Ray, who had NEVER seen it, and bought it based on our recommendations, was also pleased. I had forgotten that before being parked, it had developed a fuel tank leak. Steve took it to buggy night and Dean welded up the leak. Steve reinstalled the tank, connected the fuel lines and found a fuel line leak. Steve drained the tank, and was afraid of it leaking in the trailer, so never xed it. This had all been explained before Ray bought the car. So Ray bought a sand rail that wouldn’t run, sight unseen. That put some pressure on us buggy guys! When we got back to camp, John had arrived. We immediately began working on the car. We found some fuel lines were cracked, but using supplies from the yellow trailer, were able to improvise repairs. Ray had earlier expressed concern that the battery would be dead after being stored so long. In fact he planned to buy a new battery on the way back to camp. But it took so long to load all the unexpected extras, and to change to the narrow wheels to get it in my trailer, we didn’t buy a battery on the way back to camp. Steve had explained that he bought a new battery before storing the car and had kept it on a trickle charger. When it became time to start it, we were relieved that it cranked very strongly. As we cranked it, it wouldn’t re. We checked and saw it had pressure in the fuel rails, so we hoped the injectors were just gummed up from sitting so long. As I cranked it, John tapped on the injectors. We heard one cylinder re, and as John tapped on the injectors for additional cylinders, they would re. It began to run on probably 4 cylinders, and soon was running smoothly on all 8! It continued to start and run the rest of the trip with NO signs of it being stored. Although it was running, Ray was not content to depend on our improvised repairs, and rst thing Sunday morning took the lines to Sweet Maries and had new replacement

December 2021

lines made up. I feared it would be ridiculously expensive, but the price was very competitive with what would have been charged at home. It had no further fuel leaks the rest of the trip. Ray led us on a nice afternoon ride. He complained that the ride was very harsh. John reminded us that he had told Ray that he thought the car needed the suspension tuned when Steve took him for a ride several years ago. Ray and Janice had measured trailers and cars, and came to the conclusion they needed an additional trailer to get everything home. They called Barry to ask if he could pick up P.J.’s atbed and bring it to Glamis. He and Ann had planned to go to Havasu for the weekend, but agreed to tow the trailer to Glamis after Thanksgiving dinner. John offered them a bed in his trailer so they modi ed their plans and brought the trailer out Thanksgiving night. Janice’s son, Cody was coming over the weekend, so they asked him to tow the trailer with the new buggy home. Barry and Ann headed off to Havasu. Steve, Kimmie, and Elsie arrived with Steve’s reengineered mini rail. He completely redesigned the front suspension over the summer, and replaced a faulty voltage regulator. He hoped for a trouble free trip. The front end held up very well, but it seems to have a cooling problem, causing it to go into limp mode. He is still working out the bugs, but making progress. Monday and Tuesday we again went for buggy rides. I led one that was ve hours long that started in the big bowls by Comp, then to the agpole and on to the swing set and then a high speed run to Sweet Marie’s for ice cream. It was too long a ride for Ray’s second ever buggy ride. The suspension was too harsh. He and John took the road back to camp. Ray took a long nap the rest of the afternoon. Dave Huggard arrived Monday afternoon, followed by Pete towing Jeremy’s trailer and buggy. Pete is having his transmission rebuilt and upgraded, but is being slowed by supply chain issues. Rick Wright, the trans builder, has the gears, but is waiting for the ring and pinion, and I think the main shaft. Weddle told us of the problems at the sand show, and Weddle is THE supplier for Mendeola parts. So the problem is not unique to Rick Wright. Pete reported he really enjoyed the power of Jeremy’s car. Linda and Jeremy arrived around noon Wednesday, after Linda picked up Jeremy at the airport as his company sent each of their employees home for the holiday. I thought it was neat that when one employee came down with COVID, preventing him from ying home, the company ew his mom to Detroit, where they had been working, to keep the holiday special. Sounds like a great place to work. Wednesday morning, Erik Knowles and his mom, Lisa, joined dad Mark, who had arrived Monday. It was the rst time we have met Lisa, and she, like the rest of her family, is very nice, and enjoys duning. I believe she went on every ride. Erik led a fast ride to the big bowls by Comp. A strong wind came up, and it made it very hard for me to keep up. I couldn’t bring myself to commit to crossing ridges obscured by blowing sand. For the rst time in a long time, I was clearly out of my league! No one else seemed to have problems. I blamed it on being the oldest one on the ride. Then I realized Dave Huggard beats me by a year or two, and he had no problem. I fear I’m just losing it. At one point on the ride Erik lost his helmet fresh air

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December 2021

hose. Using his GPS, John retraced our steps and we had all but given up when Erik found his hose. The ride took its toll on Ray, whose car still needed to have the suspension tuned. Most of us headed back to camp, but Mark with Lisa, Erik, and Randy kept duning. Also Wednesday, Nancy arrived for the holiday. Much later, around 10:00 P.M. the younger Kastles arrived. P.J. reported the drive was not bad, despite it being Thanksgiving Eve. Thanksgiving day we went for a short, seemingly trouble-free buggy ride. We returned to camp in plenty of time to set up for the big dinner. Sarah came up with the idea of setting up an eating area in the wind shadow of Pete’s motor home, and setting up the food in the Ricketts’ trailer, which was parked parallel to Pete’s motor home. Earlier the wind was blowing pretty hard, and most of us feared we wouldn’t be able to eat together again, but it calmed down and for the rst time in three years we were able to eat together, and eat we did! I always enjoy our Thanksgiving dinners, but this one was exceptional. There was plenty of great tasting food of all types, including rolls which we often seem to run short of. After the feast we had a very well-attended camp re. Erik and Mark are both engineers, and have a pretty good knowledge of shocks and suspension. They offered to take a look at Ray’s suspension. They, along with John found the settings were all over the place. Apparently the suspension had never been dialed in. They made several adjustments, and Ray reports the car is riding better. There were more rides each day, and most were uneventful. One exception was I think Friday afternoon when most of us were getting ready for a late afternoon ride to the hill. Jack’s Can Am came into camp with Randy driving it. He reported that earlier David’s YXZ had lost a tie rod near hill three, and Randy drove out to offer assistance. Near hill 3, Randy’s transmission broke, so he borrowed Jack’s Can Am to get help. The plans changed from a ride to the hill to a rescue mission. John led us to hill 3 and the broken side by sides. We found Randy’s RZR rst, and John hooked up to it and towed it to the base of hill 3. P.J. hooked up to the YXZ, who’s front tires were pointing in opposite directions, and got stuck in the soft sand trying to pull it out. I started to hook onto P.J., but about this time John returned. I gured John would have a MUCH better chance of towing P.J. and David out, so I got out of the way. Sure enough, John and P.J. were able to tow the YXZ to hill 3. John hooked back on to Randy, and P.J. was still hooked to David, so off to camp we went. It was getting pretty dark, and there is a dune between hill 3 and wash 10, so you have to make a right turn

December 2021

away from camp when you’re about a mile from wash 10. We did very well until about a mile from camp, where we didn’t make a sharp enough right turn, and P.J. and David got stuck in the soft sand. John’s strap broke and he unhooked from Randy, and went back to hook onto P.J. and David. I hooked onto Randy and towed him to where in the interim Ray had gotten stuck with a broken axle while looking for the best way to at ground. I should have pulled Randy further, but carelessly stopped with him still going up a dune. John and P.J. worked together to tow David back to camp. They got him to a at spot .2 miles from camp, and hurriedly unhooked to get back to Ray, Randy and me. I tried to pull Randy up the dune and got stuck. John hooked up to me and was unable to free me. We managed to unhook Randy from me and P.J came to help me when we heard a loud clunk, and his car stopped running. We had no idea what happened until someone saw P.J.’s jack on the ground behind his car. In hurrying to help, he had lost the nut that holds the jack to the car, and the jack fell off the car, tearing two wires from the computer. The clunk was the car hitting the jack. P.J. then reached for his phone to use as a light, and discovered his phone was missing! John freed my car, and we looked for P.J.’s phone, but to no avail. John remembered that he had a spare axle that years ago was used to get the then Steve’s car back to camp. He gured that replacing Ray’s axle would be the best way to get his car back, so off he went towing Randy to camp, being led by Tom Ricketts with P.J riding with Tom. While waiting for John and P.J. to return with the axle, Ray looked at P.J.’s car and found the broken wires. While towing Randy back into camp, John’s car began to overheat! So John got in Ray’s side by side, and wanting to help, Steve got in his RZR and Randy rode with John and they all came back out. Back in the dunes, Tom helped Randy install the axle on Ray’s car. P.J., Steve, and John worked on reconnecting the wires, and got the car running. The replacement axle had a narrower ange than the original axle so Randy and Tom scrounged some washers to ll in the gap. We pushed Ray’s car out of the hole that broke the axle and were all able to make it back to camp. In camp, P.J. thought that he may have lost his phone where they dropped David off, and had that spot marked on his GPS, so he headed off to look for his phone. In about 10 minutes he returned with a triumphant smile, as he found the phone just under the surface of the sand! Before turning in Friday night, P.J. lled the turkey fryer pots, and we set up the tables and burners for the omelet boil. Saturday morning we had our rst omelets of the season. I was pleased we had so many participants, as I hadn’t done a very good job of publicizing it. The wide variety of ingredients, and Janice and Linda’s combined efforts buttering and toasting the large number of biscuits left over from Thanksgiving, made for a successful breakfast. Saturday afternoon several of us went for a reasonably fast, seemingly trouble free, ride to the swing set. While taking a break Tom noticed that I had broken a piece of threaded rod that serves as a rear shock mount. Then Jeremy noticed a crack over half way around an upright by the other shock. I really need to do more than ll the gas and check the oil between rides! John had a bolt for the shock, and almost half the tube was intact, so we made a much slower ride back to camp. In camp the rst thing I did was weld up the crack, and P.J. replaced the threaded rod. Sunday morning Dave Huggard, John, P.J., Jeremy with Pete as passenger, and I went for a ride that went as far as Hill 4. We were moving along as fast as the very rutted sand would allow, having a good time before

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December 2021

P.J. had to head for home, when Dave called out, “We’ve got a problem back here.” Jeremy had lost his left front wheel and tire. It turns out he had broken his spindle. We looked at it, and John gured out that the spindles we use could possibly work on Jeremy’s car. John and I both carry a spare set of spindles in our trailers, so P.J., John, and I went back to camp and brought back our spares. John’s was a better t, so we attached it to the car. The front end alignment would have disgusted Bob Keirns, but what the heck, we’re only in sand, so we made it back to camp. The spindle is still on Jeremy’s car as Pete searches for a new one (which he was able to get at KarTek, and even got them powder coated the same color). P.J., Melissa, and the kids nished up loading and headed for home, as Nancy did earlier. The Hagens, Dave Huggard, John and Anna, Ray and Janice, and I were able to stay Sunday night. Everyone of us enjoyed the camp re and the company for a long time. Linda was to take Jeremy to the airport Monday morning, so they were the rst to retire. When I awoke Monday, Dave, and Linda and Jeremy had already left. The rest of us nished loading up, and I towed the yellow trailer and my buggy box to storage. I was then able to hook up the fth wheel and RS1 and was headed home by 10:45. I understand the rest were also able to leave shortly thereafter. Well, the 2021-2022 Glamis season is underway. It’s off to a good start, and the search for a new wash to call home has begun. I was very pleased to be away from Wash 6, and feel the crowd at Wash 10 is more mellow with probably a higher percentage of them being there to dune rather than party. Ray and Janice will continue to search for an even better wash. Check the website or Facebook for the current wash before leaving for Christmas/New Years and beyond. Remember the traditional Spaghetti potluck New Year’s Eve. I think it’s safe to say it will be Wash 10 or beyond, but CHECK FIRST! LET’S GO DUNIN! -Jim Kastle

Havasu Poker Run By Mike Bacon Saturday December 11th was the annual Desert Bash Poker Run in Lake Havasu. Pat and I were signed up along with Doug & Kris, Dave & Donette, and Jeff & Lavon. Pat was unable to go due to her recent medical issues so I went solo with the others. We went to the event location Friday night to attend the driver’s meeting and it was very cold and windy, but the sunset was nice.

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December 2021

Saturday morning started early at 5:45 am with a very cold ride to Donette & Dave’s house where they had prepared breakfast burritos to fortify us for the coming day. We then left their house at 6:30 am to drive down to the event area at the Standard Wash BLM area. It was a very cold trip down Hwy 95! When we arrived we found nothing had been set up, but we found the start line area and lined up. We were the rst ones there.

At 8 am the run started and we were the rst ones on the course. I lead the group out and promptly lost the course within the rst 100 yards! I gured out my mistake though and off we went. The course was very rough, a LOT of washboard in all the washes, and the hard dirt areas were very rocky. We stopped after a while and let a large group go by, there were probably 75 UTV’s behind us! We arrived at the rst checkpoint, got our draws and some snacks, and headed on.

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December 2021

Checkpoint 2 had Santa talking and taking pictures with all the kids, and some adults, plus some snacks and giveaways. We got our draws and moved on. Checkpoint 3 had some great nachos, and they had actually brought two porta potties out on a trailer for anyone who needed them after the chili cheese nachos! Checkpoint 3 was also our lunch stop, so we spent about half an hour eating our lunch and visiting among ourselves before heading on.

Checkpoint 4 was in a big wash, decorated for Christmas, and a corn hole setup where you could win a T shirt by scoring a corn hole! We got our draws and headed for the nish. Checkpoint 5 was back at the beginning. We arrived back about 2 pm, checked in, and got our nal draw. No one in our group had anything promising on poker hands so we climbed back in the cars and headed for home, tired, dirty, and shaken, but not stirred! It was a very long, rough, and cold ride and we had a good time. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

CA Nonresident OHV Sticker Since many states have stopped o ering reciprocity with California by recognizing California OHV registration stickers in those states, starting January 1, 2022 the state of California will be requiring nonresident OHV permits for vehicles that are registered in states which do not honor California OHV registrations. This means that vehicles that are registered in states such as Arizona will need a nonresident permit to be used in California, including at Glamis. These permits are $30 each, and are available online at: https:// secure.cloudwisesolutions.com/app/products.html Once you add express shipping and a convenience fee the cost is over $40, but in my recent experience the shipping was fast and I received the sticker in just a few days. It will be interesting to see if Rangers are enforcing this requirement on January 1st, but in general I believe it is best to avoid giving them probable cause for a stop. -P.J

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December 2021

The Lighting Of Cupcake Mountain Words & Photos by Mike Bacon For Lake Havasu residents and visitors Cupcake Mountain has long been a feature of the area. In 1986 a group from the Leaping Lizards Tribe decided to climb Cupcake, and to let their families know they made it they lit a couple of road ares when they got to the top. When they came back down they were surprised how many people actually saw the signal so they decided to make it an annual tradition. Every year after, until 2011, they would climb the hill and lite ares to signal they made it.

(Cupcake Mountain as seen during the day.)

They stopped the tradition after 2011 due to the increase in trash and environmental damage caused by th

hikers on the trail and the top of the mountain. With 2021 being the 50 anniversary of the London Bridge the Leaping Lizards decided to renew the tradition, at least one more time, by lighting up the top of Cupcake Mountain.

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On Saturday October 30 the crew made the trek to the top and started by lighting one are at 8:30PM. That one are was signi cant as it had been found in the garage of one of the original members of the rst lighting party after he passed earlier this year. By 9:00PM they had 15 stations, with a total of 324 ares burning to light up the top of the mountain, and it could be seen for miles.

At this point they have not determined if the tradition will continue or not. I guess we’ll all nd out next October.

This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Mike Bacon for sending in articles, and as always encourage everyone else to share what they have been up to. Personally I have been pretty busy lately, and it looks like that will only increase over the next few months, but I will do what I can to have a newsletter every month during the riding season. I’ll need help though, and the newsletter is what you make it, so send your contributions for future newsletters to me at pkastle@msn.com and we will publish them along with a calendar of events each month. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall.

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