Newsletter1115 by Paul Kastle

The Rooster

November 2015

THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association

Whats New The sand season has begun! Read about trips to Flagstaff and Dumont in this issue to get you ready for Halloween at Glamis.

The Cinders: Sept 25-29 by Jim Kastle! I met Don and Shirley, Bill and Sue, and Walt in a parking lot in Kingman. We carvaned through Flagstaff and up to the Cinders with no problems. We are arrived at the Cinders and while looking

A Fast Start We started the season just like we ended the last one, with some great fast riding at Dumont. Read more about our mid-October trip on page 4.

YXZ Anyone? In the last month there has been a lot of talk about the new Yamaha side by side, but so far nobody in the group has one. Many of us wonder who will be the first?

for a campsite I found that despite looking like asphalt, the Cinders were pretty soft and not suitable for 2 Wheel drives, so we turned around and in doing so Don got the motorhome stuck in in a roadside ditch. We unhooked my truck from the fifth wheel and were able to pull him out without much effort. Walt and scoped out the place out and found a pretty nice camping spot as the photo shows. We quickly set up camp and stayed in camp for the evening. We enjoyed a potluck dinner featuring a great beef stew

The Rooster

November 2015

Upcoming Events • October 23-25: Mona Bacon Memorial Spook Run • October 30-November 1st: Halloween at Glamis • November 20-30th: Thanksgiving at Glamis, Wash 6. We’ll have the traditional pot luck Thanksgiving dinner. • December 25-January 4th: Christmas / New Years at Glamis, Wash 6.

November, 2015 S

December, 2015 S

from Sue, and a great salad from Shirley, topped off by a coconut cream pie from Marie Calendar's. It was cool enough the campfire felt great. We got up Saturday morning and went for a ride in the Cinders OHV area itself. We noticed lots of whoops on the trails. We figured that the cinders themselves were too heavy to get blown by the wind so there is no natural clearing of the whoops. The scenery was beautiful, as the trails wind through pine trees much like Coral Pink. We climbed a large Cinder hill and the cinders were loose enough it required four-wheel-drive and quite a bit of effort to get to the top. The view from the top was worth it however. We continued riding on the trails and took a break in the Pines and then returned to camp. I took the truck into Flagstaff in search of an OHV area map. We figured riding outside the OHV area itself might result in smoother trails. While I was gone, Bill took the RZR and traveled along the main road that we enter the area on, and went further into the OHV area itself. I could not find an OHV area map anywhere, as the forest ranger station was closed on Saturday. When I got back we took all four RZRs on a ride similar to Bill's into the area surrounding the OHV area. The trails again reminded those of us who've been to Coral Pink of Coral Pink. Saturday night we all went to Golden Corral in Flagstaff which was only 10 miles from camp. Sunday morning we took a different direction and headed across an open area on to some trails south of the Cinders. We ended up two hours later along I 40 and the small town of Winona, Bill radios that Don and Shirley's 1000 RZR which he and Sue borrowed for this ride had broken with loud clunk. Fortunately it turned out to be a belt and Don does carry a spare. So in 30 minutes or less Bill and Don had the belt changed. We stopped at a gas station in Winona and had microwave sandwiches or hotdogs for lunch. If I had realized how long we were going to be gone and how far from camp we would be I would've planned ahead and we would've gone to the Twin Arrows casino which is less than 10 miles from Winona. I'm pretty sure we will do that sometime in the future. We took advantage of being in Arizona and took an asphalt road halfway back to camp. We then turned off and followed our tracks through the forest and the OHV area back to camp. As we arrived in camp I saw a Ranger truck driving around and I flagged him down and asked him for a map. He was happy to give us a very detailed off-road map of the area. As I write this we've not yet followed the map but I'm sure we will do so later today, which is still Sunday. Sunday afternoon we didn't go for a ride. We had a potluck 2

The Rooster

November 2015

dinner which featured potatoes and corn from Bill and Sue and beans from Shirley. Later around the fire we had ice cream. Monday morning Troy, Don and Shirley's grandson, who lives in Flagstaff, brought his 14 month old daughter, Taryn to camp. She entertained us all as she played with Buttons. She is very active, and Troy put her car seat in Shirley's RZR and we all went for a ride. Taryn seemed to enjoy the ride, once we started moving. We rode for close to an hour including a break under some pines. At one point Shirley and I saw six deer run across our path. This was the only wildlife other than squirrels we saw the entire trip. Back in camp, Bill asked Troy about a restaurant Guy Fierri had visited on a Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives episode. Troy knows it well, so we decided to meet there for dinner. Troy took Taryn back home for her early afternoon nap and Walt, Bill and Sue, and I went for a ride through the OHV area and around its perimeter. At one point I decided to follow the GPS arrow to camp and we ended up on some very rough trails that dead ended at a closed area. We retraced our steps and ended up on a road we had used on Saturday. We followed it back to camp. All six of us and Troy, Taryn, and Troy's wife, Shannon went to Salsa Brava, exactly 10 miles from camp. It was great. It featured a salsa bar with a variety of excellent home made salsa organized in ascending order of heat. The entrĂŠes were large and tasted wonderful. Taryn again entertained us at dinner. Back in camp we had our last campfire of the trip and planned for an 8 AM departure. Monday morning we departed the campground at 7:45 and except for a flat tire on Don's trailer, which we quickly took care of, we had an uneventful drive back home. Everyone had a good time and all of us plan to go back in the future. The temperature during the day was in the high 70s and possibly low 80s for a short period of time, while the nighttime temperatures dipped into the low 40s. The camping area was beautiful with no crowds at all on this first weekend of fall. We saw only four other camps in our area the whole weekend. The closest other camp had to be close to 100 yards from us. The riding in the OHV area was not the best due to all the whoops. But the many trails adjoining the OHV are legal to ride on and were generally quite smooth. We rode just a small fraction of the trails, leaving many to explore in the future. We talked a little bit about future dates and thought that it might be a good idea to combine another Cinders trip with our annual Havasu outing next summer. The temperature in Flagstaff should be close to 30 degrees cooler than those in Havasu. I hope that we will be able to go back before then, possibly in the early spring, before Jerry and Linda return to Colorado for the summer. As beautiful as the area is, I don't think it would be much fun to camp during the late fall or winter. It would be just too cold. 3

The Rooster

November 2015

Dumont October 15-19th by Jim Kastle Barry and John arranged to take Friday and Monday off, so I got to Dumont around 4:00 PM Thursday and set up in the new spot picked by Steve Sturm last May, just to the left of the main road on the flats after crossing the river and climbing the hill. It’s a great place to camp, and it amazes me that I went to Dumont for 30 years and always parked close to a finger in what is often very soft sand. Steve Porter can testify to that, having spent a full day digging out his motor home a few years ago. John arrived around sunset, followed a little later by Barry. We had a campfire and moved several times from the fire to Barry’s awning as rain showers came and went. The temperature was pleasant. It rained quite a bit Thursday night. Friday morning we awoke to rain, but after an hour or so it let up enough for us to go for a ride. There were a surprising number of camps for a non holiday Friday, but few others in the dunes. We had 3 of our usual high speed Dumont rides, fit between rain showers. On two of those, one of John’s brand new CV boots came off, interrupting the rides to allow him to clean the CV and reinstall the boot. Having just spent the money for new chromoly axles and high quality CV’s, John was annoyed, but kept working on the car between rain showers. Friday evening P.J. arrived, followed by Ray and Janice. We had another campfire that was accompanied by a few sprinkles. Marie Calendar provided a coconut crème pie. Saturday morning Joe, a long time friend of John (in fact I believe he was the one who first introduced John to duning) arrived with a new-to-him Yamaha Banshee. One of Barry’s long time friends, Greg, his wife Trina, and their two sons arrived also. Ray and Janice were ready to ride before the rest of us so they set off by themselves, keeping in touch with us with the radios. Just as we were ready to start the second half of the ride, Janice radioed that they found a rolled RZR, with an injured driver. We set of to find them. Janice found a high spot with cell service and called 911. When Ray got to the accident, he found the RZR on its side, with the driver’s arm caught under the cage, with a compound fracture of the left forearm. Ray found a group of hill racers and got them to help right the RZR. They got the victim into Ray’s RZR and Ray took him to his camp. We had a slight radio communication problem, and for a while we didn’t know where Ray and the victim were, but soon reconnected and found they were camped within a quarter mile of us. We stopped by our camp and Joe picked up his medical bag. I didn’t know, but Joe is a trained first responder, who is active in a volunteer rescue group. Joe immediately administered first aide and bandaged and splinted the bloody compound fracture. The victim’s wife was able to call 911 and answered 4

The Rooster

November 2015

what seemed like a hundred questions. We provided her with GPS coordinates, but the dispatcher wanted a restroom number! We provided that and gave the dispatcher a description of Barry’s and P.J.’s cars and sent them to the top of the ramp. While waiting, we found the victim was Don Wells, 65 years old, who was born in Riverside, graduated from North High in Riverside. He and his wife now reside in Las Vegas. We further found out he was riding with a group, with Don being the last in line, when he climbed a dune and rolled, trapping his arm. The rest of the group didn’t notice, or stop! Imagine being trapped in an overturned RZR with a compound fracture and NO ONE around to help! I would have panicked big time! The car riding ahead of Don eventually noticed he was missing and turned around to find him. It was the occupants of this car who flagged down Ray and Janice. It wasn’t until we were waiting for the paramedics that the rest of the ride returned to camp. It seems they had no idea where Don was or what had happened! This reminds me of how much I love IEOR. After only about 30 minutes the Baker Fire Department arrived with three vehicles. A utility truck followed P.J. to their camp. The paramedic took over Don’s care. Having done our good deed and not wanting to be in the way, we returned to our camp and went for another ride. We had two or three good rides. On the first one Joe realized it had been a long time since he rode a quad, and the fast pace and a few extra pounds added in the intervening years (Joe is a big boy) were taking their toll. He decided to return to camp. The RZR’s had some trouble with the fast pace, so our three heroes returned to camp while the four buggies continued riding. On one ride John lost two CV boots, causing him significant distress! But realizing his distress was nothing like Don’s earlier in the day, John counted his blessings. Back in camp he again cleaned the CV’s. I lent him two “Bates” boots that I bought last year as part of a spare CV axle kit I assembled for the inevitable U-joint axle failure on my car. Fortunately, the Bates boots seemed to work better and John placed an order for six of them! Greg and his two sons rode with Barry, and Greg’s wife rode with P.J. on the Saturday rides. Joshua, Joe’s 8 year old son rode with John on one ride, where coincidentally Joshua became car sick, as did one of Greg’s sons in Barry’s car. Joshua is a trooper, and rode most of the rest of the rides in Ray’s RZR. I think he still had some motion sickness, but fought it off. Greg’s son decided he had enough and was through riding for the trip. Saturday night’s campfire was highlighted by Ray and Janice’s Dutch oven apple cherry cobbler, served with ice cream. Absolutely one of the top five desserts I’ve EVER had! Barry’s “angry balls” (no not THOSE balls), Angry Orchard with a shot of Fireball, 5

The Rooster

November 2015 added to the enjoyment. We also enjoyed watching the videos that John, Barry, and P.J. had captured during the day’s riding as we projected them on the side of the trailer. Sunday morning Greg and his family left, and the rest of us went riding. The RZR’s set off on their own, again keeping in contact via radio. The buggy ride was again fast and mostly uneventful except for a tie rod bolt breaking on P.J.’s car, resulting in a dune fix and a slow ride back to camp. P.J. won’t dune again until 2016 due to the impending birth of he and Melissa’s son, Marshall, due in early December. As has become a tradition, when P.J. left for home John, Barry, and I followed him to the Mad

Greek in Baker for lunch. Back in camp we went for a sunset ride, expertly led by John, and were joined at a break by the RZR’s. We returned to camp after dark and were treated to Dutch oven brownies served with S’more ice cream. While certainly great, they came in second to the apple cherry cobbler, as would almost every other dessert, ever! Monday morning we went for one last ride, expertly led by Barry, the first time he has led since redoing his car. We hated to do so, but had to return to camp and pack up. We always enjoy Dumont, and this trip had the potential problem of rain, but we weren’t affected too much by it. The excitement of Saturday morning reminded us of how important it is to have a responsible group to ride with. Thinking of the accident reminds me that Janice found that Don is a friend of her cousin. Don reported he had surgery Saturday evening and went home from the hospital Monday night. He greatly appreciated our help, well actually the help of Ray, Janice and Joe. If Dumont sounds fun to you, we’ll be going back in late April or early May. This trip, along with the planned Cinders trip will extend our duning season at least a month after Easter. I’m looking forward to a great 2015-2016 dune season. Let’s go Dunin’!

The Rooster

November 2015

We will try for a unique course this year covering many areas we have never been to before. It will be fun and challenging! Prizes will be awarded to the best, and worst poker hands, as well as many others! We have many unique, interesting prizes! We are going back to awarded prizes, however prize donations are very welcome! Saturday night will be a pot-luck Hot Dog Wheenie Roast. Hot Dogs and Buns will be supplied. Please bring your favorite side dishes to share! Salton City Golf Course is located approximately 1 mile west of Hwy 86 off the Borrego Salton Seaway/ Hwy S-22. From Hwy 86 turn west on to Borrego Salton Seaway/S-22 at the AM-PM Truck Stop. Go approximately 1 mile to Sunrise Drive and turn Left. Follow Sunrise Drive 1/2 mile to the end and turn right on Saundra St. Follow Saundra St. 1/4 mile to Desiree St and turn Right. Go 100 yards on Desiree St to Laura St and turn Left. Follow Laura St down the hill about 1/4 mile to the end. At the turn continue going straight up on to the dirt. Camp will be straight ahead about 50 yards, next to the trees. For you GPS freaks, the coordinates are: 33 15.942’ N—115 59.371’ W. People will start arriving on Friday morning. Hope to see you there! Any questions please call Mike Bacon at 951-315-7351.

The Rooster

November 2015

CTUC Trail Maps In his travels online, Mike Bacon found a nice resource for trail maps of California. The California Trail Users Coalition has put together a nice series of trail maps, and they are available for $3 each on the friends of Jawbone website at: www.jawbone.org, then click Trail Maps under Maps & Apps then choose CTUC Maps. "

The image above shows the diﬀerent areas that are available. While the Imperial Sand Dunes edition has not yet been produced, there are a number of other maps that cover diﬀerent areas of the state. There are eleven maps in print with as many as four more in the works. CTUC maps are unique in that they are not complete inventories of routes. Instead they are travel guides to the area with selected routes shown. The reverse of the maps feature Discovery Points, emergency and information contacts, and rules and regulations for recreating in the area.

This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle and Mike Bacon for writing articles. I will be relying on other club members to provide all the content for the beginning of the season, so please share your pictures and write some stories for the newsletter. We all enjoy reading about the trips, especially if we don’t get to be there. Have a great start of the season, and I look forward to seeing your articles and pictures in the months to come. -Paul, Melissa, and Allie.