The Rooster
April 2017
THE ROOSTER A monthly update from the Inland Empire Offroad Association
What’s New We‘ve had some warm weather but there’s still time for more dune fun this season. The Easter trip starts April 6th, and we have a Dumont trip planned for May 5th.
Easter at Glamis We are planning a long trip to Glamis starting over a week before Easter, on April 6-17th.
New Toys Mike Bacon picked up another blue RZR, this one a 2016 from the same guy he bought his 2015 from. The 2015 is now AJ’s, and AJ’s old 1000 is now Ray’s. Ray’s 900 is now for sale if anyone else wants to get in on this RZR shift…
Anza March 9-14, 2017 By Jim Kastle
Mike arrived at the Salton Sea Golf Course late Wednesday evening, and Kris and Doug arrived Thursday, along with son David and his wife, April. A.J. and his girlfriend, LaMeah arrived Friday morning. I arrived Friday around noon, and and Dana, Junior, Dylan, and Daniel arrived later that afternoon. We all had dinner at the Alamo restaurant, a local family run Mexican restaurant that has become a favorite, which has excellent food, despite an unappealing exterior. I'm pretty sure the earlier arrivals had dinner there at least once before I arrived. We took lots of rides, usually two short ones per day with a couple of longer, one per day, rides. Saturday morning A.J. and LaMeah had to leave. Kris babysat Daniel, and Dana drove the 900. We covered a lot of ground, but I'm not familiar enough with the area to recall the details. We got back for lunch, then I took the truck to explore the area, and the RZR ride went through "Pooch Canyon," one of the more notable features of the area. Sunday morning, Dana, Junior, and Daniel left, but Dylan stayed behind with Kris and Doug, as his spring break was the following week. Doug and I drove our 900's and Mike and Kris, with Dylan as passenger drove the 1000's (oh by the way, Mike has a new-to-him blue 1000, A.J. has Mike's old blue one, and Ray bought A.J.'s white one, but wasn't able to make this trip.) We
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The Rooster
April 2017
Upcoming Events • April 6-17, 2017: Easter week (and more) at Glamis, Wash 6. (Easter Sunday is April 16) • May 4-7th: Dumont Weekend. We have had some amazing Dumont trips over the last few years, and this one should be great as well. Come out for a fast ending to the regular dune season.
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took what turned out to be my all-time favorite Anza RZR ride. We went to the Ocotillo Wells Ranger Station, which features a very nice Discovery Center, flush toilets, and coin operated showers. We then went to the Blu Inn, a restaurant and RV park I have read about several times, but had no idea where it was. It is about 4 miles east of the Ocotillo Wells Ranger Station on 78. We had a great lunch, and I would go back. We then visited an area called Little People, where visitors have used rocks to build human likenesses. As we fired up to leave, my RZR stumbled and died. It seemed to be having some sort of electrical issue. We wiggled a few wires, and it fired up and made it back to camp within only one significant stumble, but no further ride stoppages. After retiring to the A/C for a while I tightened a few cables and the RZR seemed fine. We returned to the Alamo for another great dinner. At the campfire a guy drove up and said that he got his truck stuck in the mud, had walked to the local Jack in the Box, got a ride back with an employee, but couldn't find his truck, and asked for help. We told him we'd look for it on our ride in the morning, and Mike got his phone number. Doug and Mike were wondering where there was enough mud to trap a truck. They are so familiar with the area they narrowed the possible location to one of two areas less than a mile from camp. Curiosity got the better of them, and they took Mike's RZR and found the truck right where they expected it. Mike texted him the location of the truck. He appreciated the help, and said he'd be back in the morning. On our Monday morning ride we went by the truck, and it didn't seem to be stuck very bad. We continued south to another area I hadn't been to, near highways 86 and 78. My RZR worked fine, so I was convinced it must have been a loose wire. On the back we checked and the stuck truck was gone. In camp I decided to take some trash to the dumpsters, and to glean some firewood. When I neared camp, the RZR again stumbled, just like yesterday. I managed to get it back to camp, but as I write this, I haven't tried working on it. Later I cleaned the ground connection at the frame and it seems OK. After dinner Mike led Doug with Dylan, and me on a rare night RZR ride. The full moon came up part way through the ride and it was beautiful. My RZR seemed fine. At the campfire Mike talked to Janice and she and Ray plan to go to Glamis 2
The Rooster
April 2017
Wednesday. Tuesday we packed up before going on a ride. Chris and Doug along with Dylan left for home first. Then Mike headed to Glamis. I took the time to shower and clean up a bit before heading to Glamis. On the way I used the free RV dump and water at the Arco in Salton City and stopped at Walmart in Brawley for some needed supplies.
Glamis After Anza, March 14-18, 2017 I arrived at wash six around 1 o'clock and found Mike already set up in the usual spot. I set up the fifth wheel and Mike helped me go get the other two trailers. It was hot enough that we spent afternoon in the air conditioned trailers. It felt so good to be clean after washing off all the dust from Anza I didn't feel like working or going for a ride. Instead Mike and I headed off to dinner at Yuma's Texas Roadhouse. I made my usual stops for fuel and Firehouse Subs. Back in camp we had a campfire. Wednesday I had planned to do some work on the sandrail. Despite the beautiful, but hot, weather I did spend the day working on the sandrail with Mike's help in preparation for the Easter trip. I ran the AC all day. The only ride was a quick RZR run to the dumpsters, and to glean some firewood. We had a campfire highlighted by Janice's texts regarding her and Ray's progress towards leaving for Glamis. We retired for the night shortly after hearing they were on the way. Thursday morning I saw Ray and Janice had arrived overnight. It wasn't long until Ray was out getting ready for the maiden ride on his new 1000. We went for the first of our two-a-day rides. Ray reported the 1000 was nice, but a lot noisier than his 900. That reminded me Doug had said the same thing about his 1000 vs his 900. We returned to the comfort of the AC, and waited for it to cool off before taking a late afternoon, turned early evening, ride. Mike did a great job of leading all of the rides and they were all 3
The Rooster
April 2017
perfectly paced for a combined 900 and 1000 ride. We noticed there were more camps than we expected. The day ended with a campfire. Friday was pretty much a repeat of Thursday, with two rides with time the air conditioning between the rides. We again noticed the wash was more crowded than any of us expected. The day ended with a campfire. Saturday started just like Thursday and Friday with a morning ride, this time down towards hill five. Some of you old-timers may remember when we felt hill five was cursed, as every time we went in the area somebody would lose a transmission. Well, it seems the curse may have returned. After climbing a fairly long hill Janice called Ray and said that his RZR seemed louder than usual. We stopped and listened to it and it seemed to me to be making a noise like a motorcycle with a loose chain. As we fired up to move on to hill five Ray's RZR locked up. We began to worry whether we'd be able to tow it. But after rocking it back-and-forth and moving the shift lever, it freed up enough that Mike was able to tow it back to camp.
Mike feels terrible, but Janice insists they got a great deal on the RZR, and that's part of the risk they took. We packed up and with some help from a neighboring camp, were able to push the broken RZR into the fifth wheel. We were all on the road by 1:30. Once at home, Ray wasted no time and by Sunday afternoon had the transmission out and apart. It apparently suffered a bearing failure and the failed bearing pieces damaged most of the gears, and the case. He has already found a used transmission in Sacramento and plans to purchase and install it. I find it hard to believe we're down to one last Glamis trip of the season. I'm looking forward to heading to Glamis on April 6 and being joined by P.J. and John. Then it's some time at the river, a Dumont trip May 5th, and maybe a trip to the Cinders at Flagstaff, plus Coral Pink in July. We'd love more company on any of these trips. Let me know.
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The Rooster
April 2017
Coral Pink Reservations Time It is that time of the year again, when individual site reservations are available for the annual trip to Coral Pink. This really is the trip of the year for those of us who make it, and this year will be our 23rd year making the trip in July. This year it appears it will be a side by side only trip, since with only a couple buggies it will make more sense to leave them at home and focus on the versatile trail riding that Coral Pink oers. With the side by sides we can explore the whole region, making trips as far as Mt. Carmel Junction where we can stop for a meal after making a beautiful trip through the Virgin River gorge. Below is a campground map showing the group site location. If you book early, you should be able to secure one of the nearby sites. For reservations go online or call 1-800-322 3770. Our dates this year are July 12-21.
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Here in the Group Site we’ll have the Kastles, Schellingers, Fords, and Walt. 5
The Rooster
April 2017
Coral Pink Preview Pics: Looking forward to Coral Pink, here’s some more reasons to make your site reservations based on the great trip we had last year.
This month we’d like to thank Jim Kastle for writing about his Anza and Glamis trips. Please feel free to write up your now thoughts and experiences and send them in. It really isn’t that hard, and we all enjoy hearing about dune trips (or anything else) from new perspectives. As we move into the summer it is always nice to hear what else everybody is up to We can’t wait to hear from you and to see everybody in the dunes. -Paul, Melissa, Allie, and Marshall.
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