NWFest 2009 planning thread

I know Ryan, Jeremy, and Myself wont be in 'office' next year, but I would like to start this early this year. Once the new BOD takes the reigns, they can feel free to plan it, organize it, and make it happen their own way. There was a brief discussion at the M&G about possible places for it to be held, activities, raffle prizes, food, camping, ect...

So lets start off with where would you like it held at this year?

How many days do you want it to last?

What time of year?



Remember, these are always family friendly eventsD), with easy, medium, and hard trails, great friends, great wheeling, and great times.

Ill make this a sticky toward the end of December, so it will be fresh for the new year, and the new chapter BOD.

Meh I have said it before, even though Reiter doesn't really have a big organized place to camp, I still think it would be a great place to at least discuss. It has a ton of trails that vary in difficulity for everyone, and also a large area that we could claim and camp at.

I know that Reiter has somewhat of a bad rep, but its getting better. The trails are better cleaned up then ever before, and I have seen less nut jobs out there this year then I did last year.

For time, I say june or august is best, but I do prefer june. Probably one of the last two weekends of june.

I also think that we need a committee to help plan out the logistics of NWF. The BOD should have enough on their plate by that time of year and needs at least some of the burden taken off of them.

-Alex

Actually, the BOD probably wont have that much on thier plate by then, we didnt, but we dont got much to show for it either.

Anyways, Reiter would be a great place to have it. Im just worried about the camping situation. I know in the past, there have been tweekers, partiers, drunks, and jackasses out there. I dont know as of late if that has changed much, but you have to think about people and thier families that will be camping out there. What if something happens? I know something can happen anywhere, but Reither has a bad rep in my mind for overnight camping.

Also, there has only been 1 NWFest in Oregon, and I think it would only be fair to have another one down there. Yes, TSF does suck in the dry of summer with all the dust. Seems like there are a few more open trails than there were last time I was there. The camping wasnt bad.

Evans was discussed as well. Alot of people know Evans like the back of thier hands, and it offers a variety of trails. The campground can house a good bit of people. But, with the policing of OHV as of late, is that something that ALOT of wheelers want to deal with? Yes, it might fade off by next year, or it could be 10x worse than it was this year. There were ALOT of PNWJeep people pissed off about the situation, but what can you do.

Naches would be nice again, especially earlier in the year when the trails are still sloppy. Organized group runs would work this time around,as where before, there were zero.thumbdn: on my part). Plenty of camping, lots of various trails, and lots of other stuff to do.

In all, its really up to the new BOD on where it will be held at. They can do a poll, with a bunch of different options on where to have it at, or they can say it will be here(insert a place).

i vote oregon or Naches again. i'll never get tired of TSF. and Naches i think us Oregon guys barely scratched the surface as far as the trails there. there just seems to be sooooo much to do / see there. a lil somthin for everyone.

Liberty was fun a couple years ago.



How bout Tahuya? :compwork:

Personally I think it should be back down in the OR again. TSF has a little for everyone and plenty for the "closer to stock" vehicles which I think is still most important. Are there any other areas down in OR? any ORV parks at all? Camping is good down there and easily accessable to everyone (tent, RV, trailer, etc).

I think Evan's could also work well but not as many trails for "closer to stock" vehicles that can safely travel. My vote would be 2010.

No matter where it ends up being I think there are a couple of important things that need to be done relatively soon.
1. determine a large enough camping area for everyone camp together (with enough space for families, children, RV's, etc). Get it RESERVED!!
2. a few volunteers to start planning all of the details.
3. I don't think most of this should be on the BOD.

Michael

I'm still pretty ignorant regarding my knowledge of local trails, but I've got some questions about the viability of a few places.

- Liberty
I've driven a few of the forest roads around there and have seen lots of trails that I'd like to go back with a Jeep and explore. I think there are quite a few places to camp around there too. Plus, I like ghost towns, gold mining, all that kind of stuff and there seems to be quite of bit of that type of history there.

- Manastash Ridge
I've heard of trails in the area but really don't know much more about it than what I've seen driving down I-82. What are the trails like around here? Are there enough to keep everybody busy?

- NE Oregon
What kind of trails are in the Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City area? Deb and I took a trip there over Memorial Day and explored a lot of the forest roads and ghost towns in the area. It is a beautiful area with a lot of great history. Ghost towns and old mines are everywhere. Definitely some place I plan to go back and explore more. Anybody know of any Jeep trails there?

Willy

Good call Eli, the sooner the NWFest planning gets started the better. I was reading through the feedback thread from the last one and getting ideas together, but my notes are at work.

I'm not against having it at TSF next year, but Naches makes TSF seem like a city park to me. I've never been to the many other playgrounds you Washington guys have in your back yard. I know Naches will work well. Reiter doesn't seem family friendly. I think a poll with all of the different possibilities is the way to go.

As far as the time frame goes, early summer seems like the way to go there. There were criticisms with having it at the end of the quarter (June), and having it too close to the 4th of July. My kids aren’t out of school until June 12th, so for me it would have to fall sometime after school gets out. I think late June, early July would work best.

It’s not too early to get volunteers for various responsibilities. Welcome, tech inspection, trail coordinator, trail leaders, raffle, and dinner, just to name a few. If someone wants to take the responsibility and be the event coordinator that’s fine, but I think it’s more important to get people lined up to handle the specific areas.

Ken

- Okanogan
Lots of mining and ghost towns, but any Jeep trails? Never been there, just read a lot about the history of the area.

Willy

Well it sounds like some of you dont know Reiter that well. The last two years Reiter has changed. My 2 year old loves that place and it is a family place now. There is several places to set up a big campsite and once that is done the place is ours. Biking for the kids, trails to hike on, and I've seen horses at the third pit with no problems.

We could run several groups of all levals and be on trails all day. The second pit would be a good chill spot for a large group and be in the middle of all the trails. there is no place that offers BYS, trail on DOOM, Poop shoot, Bonnus round, the wall, grumpy's trail, Cable and many more. Elbe has some good trail but it is a small place. Needless to say my vote is REITER

Naches is an excellent choice. Meets all of the requirements, just a great place to wheel and camp. Liberty isn't far behind, it has a great big open area to camp many rigs over the bridge and to the right. Good variety of trails, easier stuff on the east side, tougher stuff on the west, it's a bigger trails system than it seems. Reiter isn't a terrible option, and if we claimed the big parking area towards the back en-masse, it would be do-able. That's the order of what trails/areas I'd choose.

Don't know much about TSF except what I read here. If it's light on challenge and a dust bowl like many think, then I'd put it below the other three I mentioned.

fubar XJ said:

Don't know much about TSF except what I read here. If it's light on challenge and a dust bowl like many think, then I'd put it below the other three I mentioned.

Click to expand...

One thing TSF has that I like is night wheeling, I don't think it's legal at Reiter.

reson46 said:

- Okanogan
Lots of mining and ghost towns, but any Jeep trails? Never been there, just read a lot about the history of the area.

Willy

Click to expand...

There is mine's at Reiter and the lake up top has ghost town's. That is if you want to hike up there

liberty is a fun place, along with the Table Mountain area, there are lots of trails and the difficulty level is across the board... I really enjoy it over there. Lots of places to camp also..

I am also down for discussing Reiter as a possibility.. That would be a real fun place to have Northwest Fest!!

Keil

WaXJ_Skier said:

One thing TSF has that I like is night wheeling, I don't think it's legal at Reiter.

Click to expand...

You can but its called a recovery mission

reson46 said:

I'm still pretty ignorant regarding my knowledge of local trails, but I've got some questions about the viability of a few places.

- Liberty
I've driven a few of the forest roads around there and have seen lots of trails that I'd like to go back with a Jeep and explore. I think there are quite a few places to camp around there too. Plus, I like ghost towns, gold mining, all that kind of stuff and there seems to be quite of bit of that type of history there.

- Manastash Ridge
I've heard of trails in the area but really don't know much more about it than what I've seen driving down I-82. What are the trails like around here? Are there enough to keep everybody busy?

- NE Oregon
What kind of trails are in the Pendleton, La Grande, Baker City area? Deb and I took a trip there over Memorial Day and explored a lot of the forest roads and ghost towns in the area. It is a beautiful area with a lot of great history. Ghost towns and old mines are everywhere. Definitely some place I plan to go back and explore more. Anybody know of any Jeep trails there?

Willy

Click to expand...

We did Liberty 2? years ago for NWFest, it was ok and I suspect we could find more trails it sounds like but the camping was Far from "family friendly camping" I think would could probably find a better place for this and it could work well again.

Manashstash ridge is what we are calling Naches. Great place to wheel with lots of opportunities. We were here last year for NW Fest.

NE Or and Okanogan? I don't know, havn't done much in either area. Unless we get plenty of input from others on these areas specifically I don't think it is a good idea to plan an event like this without plenty knowledge of the area (that hasn't worked too well in the past).

Michael

Well for Liberty, you can camp on Table Mountain which is about 8-10?? miles east of Liberty. Trails connect the two and there are just as many tails on Table Mountain as there are Liberty.

But like you said Michael, camping is, well, dry. But a fun place regardless!

Keil

My vote is for Naches or Liberty. TTCW was a BLAST up there and we found tons of good trails!

Of course, you know Auburn Car Repair & Offroad is IN again to sponsor a dinner Saturday night!!!!!

I'll also go ahead and volunteer myself (and any ACRO employees who attend) to perform a minor tech inspection!

John

Typically, Manastash refers to the north side of the park, naches to the south side. But they are basically the same wheeling area. I agree that Liberty is a good choice, and there are many trails that didn't show up on my map there.

John, I'd be willing to help out with a registration table or tech inspection in some capacity.

I've never gone to NWF, but with all the pictures of Naches i think that place would be perfect. i wanted to go last year, but i decided in just one short year, i would be better equipped.


TSF: Great for small groups 5-10rigs max. but not Ideal for a large group. the trails arnt very long.. and they are far apart from each other. IMO ( im up there twice a month)