YELLAHEEP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Littleton, Colorado
Well this year's Colorado Fest was a HUGE success! I never did get an "official" tally of attendance but there were about 35 - 40 rigs and 55 - 60 people that showed up during the event! I believe this almost doubles what we had last year.
The weather wasn't exactly cooperative but for the most part, the rain we experienced didn't dampen the spirit of the event. It was great that the rain didn't stick around long enough to cancel any campfire circles.
Wheeler Lake was a great day! Beautiful weather and a good sized group - 12 rigs - made it up and out without any issues. We all enjoyed the long lunch at the lake soakin' in the sun or fishin'.
Bob Loose and family once again get the "Long Haul" award for coming all the way from Wisconsin, but have to share the honors with Ron (ZukiRon) who also came from the same State. Bob arrived Monday night where Led, Joey, Jeff and Justin got busy with cutting wheels to clearance Bob's fenders for 35's. That was a great show all in itself - looked like lions all over a fresh kill! 1 1/2 hrs later, all 4 corners had been cut, trimmed, folded and tucked and Bob was ready to go!
The Indy run was, well, interesting to say the least. That is one NASTY trail! 6 rigs in attendance. The entrance dinged some front fenders, A-pillars and rear quarters, but Led's spotting kept damage to a minimum. The waterfalls claimed my driver's side weld-in rock rail design causing some damage to the driver's door sill and floor pan and pushing in the rear quarter behind the pass. door. JohnJohn popped a bead and Bob Loose tried his best to destroy my old Pro Comp 35's.... but the dang things held up! Led showed us how difficult the "Patriot" exit was as we watched him give his exo a serious workout on the "Coffin Rock" obstacle. The rest of us opted for the "easier" and longer "Liberty" exit. I use the term "easier" loosely because this is where the majority of damage occurred. The worst carnage had to be John Bjorum's flop onto the pass. side. His purdy rig ended up with a caved in pass. front fender which then bent the side of his beautiful cowl hood. I think we all felt his pain. Bob managed to cut a side wall and JohnJohn popped another bead. I also lost a rear window to a tree branch. Justin Schrock made it out mostly ok with just a few minor dings.
I took Wednesday off to do some repairs but I heard that both the Grizzly and Iron Chest runs went well. Andrew (hjeepxj) had some CPS wires melt that ultimately led to him having to be towed back to camp late at night, but no other issues that I heard of.
The Holy Cross overnighter went very well. 16 rigs went up to French Creek and ZukiRon watched the group battle the obstacle before he returned to camp. Toward the end of the group's assault of French Creek, we got rained on heavily. This made it even more difficult, but 14 rigs made it without breakage. Bob (TNT Customs) had a steering box tear loose and had to leave his rig behind until morning. Campers enjoyed a wide variety of dinner items ranging from grilled cheese sandwiches to beer brats. One camper introduced us to "blue flame dogs"...... :laugh3: Friday morning involved a small group going to Cleveland Rock to play. John Bjorum, Bob Loose, Justin and Terry (MMIXJ) all gave a valiant attempt but both lines proved to be too much for the muddy tires and tall ledges. After that, we broke camp and headed out. Charlie of Zion Off Road experienced some issues with his transmission sticking in park, then having his track bar fold up. While he and a few others worked on those issues the rest of the group headed out........but not without additional, um, problems. It seems their trail leader got a bit heavy on the "stupid" pedal running thru the stream crossing and sucked water into the engine....... at least the water was nice! :laugh3: Another 'wheeler apparently thought MORE speed was the solution to getting thru.... then there were 2 of us purging water from our cylinders. Luckily, no major damage and several of us then headed to Leadville where we had dinner.
Carnage Canyon and Chinaman's Gulch wrapped up the event's last day. Everyone assembled to watch the circus that was Carnage for the first couple of hours, then the Chinaman's group headed out. Chris (cagedxj) started it off with his awesome XJ/Buggy. It was cool to listen to the turbo charged 4 liter spool up and down as he worked the rocks - and the rear ATV winch limiting strap was super trick! John Bjorum, Bob Loose, Mike Holder, Justin Schrock and Tyler all did a fine job of driving this trail - once again, under the spotting skills of Led. Not one XJ broke down! The only "carnage" was a little left rear quarter damage to John's rig, a cut sidewall on Mike's, and a pair of broken centering pins on Justin's rear springs. The worst "damage" was the cut below Justin's right eye when a screwdriver being used to pry a stuck rear hatch latch snapped back and gave him a deep cut.
Prez Tom Houston didn't get his rig done in time, but decided to come out and do an awesome BBQ dinner for everyone! That was a great conclusion to the event!
The raffle was the first one for a Colorado event and our sponsors provided some awesome prizes! Thanks goes to TNT Customs, Big Off Road, Zion Off Road, Formatt Fabrication, Brian Harmon (xjnation)!!! The Chapter made some decent money so that we can get started on T-shirts, and have funds for meetings and supplies! Thanks to everyone that bought tickets!
Honorable mention goes to DJ Kittrell (91JeepProject) for getting the Chapter logo stickers done in time for the event! They look great!
I'd also like to thank Led's wife, Mary and Jeff's wife, Paula for helping out with the BBQ and raffle!
Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions about the event here so that we can plan for next year's event!
The weather wasn't exactly cooperative but for the most part, the rain we experienced didn't dampen the spirit of the event. It was great that the rain didn't stick around long enough to cancel any campfire circles.
Wheeler Lake was a great day! Beautiful weather and a good sized group - 12 rigs - made it up and out without any issues. We all enjoyed the long lunch at the lake soakin' in the sun or fishin'.
Bob Loose and family once again get the "Long Haul" award for coming all the way from Wisconsin, but have to share the honors with Ron (ZukiRon) who also came from the same State. Bob arrived Monday night where Led, Joey, Jeff and Justin got busy with cutting wheels to clearance Bob's fenders for 35's. That was a great show all in itself - looked like lions all over a fresh kill! 1 1/2 hrs later, all 4 corners had been cut, trimmed, folded and tucked and Bob was ready to go!
The Indy run was, well, interesting to say the least. That is one NASTY trail! 6 rigs in attendance. The entrance dinged some front fenders, A-pillars and rear quarters, but Led's spotting kept damage to a minimum. The waterfalls claimed my driver's side weld-in rock rail design causing some damage to the driver's door sill and floor pan and pushing in the rear quarter behind the pass. door. JohnJohn popped a bead and Bob Loose tried his best to destroy my old Pro Comp 35's.... but the dang things held up! Led showed us how difficult the "Patriot" exit was as we watched him give his exo a serious workout on the "Coffin Rock" obstacle. The rest of us opted for the "easier" and longer "Liberty" exit. I use the term "easier" loosely because this is where the majority of damage occurred. The worst carnage had to be John Bjorum's flop onto the pass. side. His purdy rig ended up with a caved in pass. front fender which then bent the side of his beautiful cowl hood. I think we all felt his pain. Bob managed to cut a side wall and JohnJohn popped another bead. I also lost a rear window to a tree branch. Justin Schrock made it out mostly ok with just a few minor dings.
I took Wednesday off to do some repairs but I heard that both the Grizzly and Iron Chest runs went well. Andrew (hjeepxj) had some CPS wires melt that ultimately led to him having to be towed back to camp late at night, but no other issues that I heard of.
The Holy Cross overnighter went very well. 16 rigs went up to French Creek and ZukiRon watched the group battle the obstacle before he returned to camp. Toward the end of the group's assault of French Creek, we got rained on heavily. This made it even more difficult, but 14 rigs made it without breakage. Bob (TNT Customs) had a steering box tear loose and had to leave his rig behind until morning. Campers enjoyed a wide variety of dinner items ranging from grilled cheese sandwiches to beer brats. One camper introduced us to "blue flame dogs"...... :laugh3: Friday morning involved a small group going to Cleveland Rock to play. John Bjorum, Bob Loose, Justin and Terry (MMIXJ) all gave a valiant attempt but both lines proved to be too much for the muddy tires and tall ledges. After that, we broke camp and headed out. Charlie of Zion Off Road experienced some issues with his transmission sticking in park, then having his track bar fold up. While he and a few others worked on those issues the rest of the group headed out........but not without additional, um, problems. It seems their trail leader got a bit heavy on the "stupid" pedal running thru the stream crossing and sucked water into the engine....... at least the water was nice! :laugh3: Another 'wheeler apparently thought MORE speed was the solution to getting thru.... then there were 2 of us purging water from our cylinders. Luckily, no major damage and several of us then headed to Leadville where we had dinner.
Carnage Canyon and Chinaman's Gulch wrapped up the event's last day. Everyone assembled to watch the circus that was Carnage for the first couple of hours, then the Chinaman's group headed out. Chris (cagedxj) started it off with his awesome XJ/Buggy. It was cool to listen to the turbo charged 4 liter spool up and down as he worked the rocks - and the rear ATV winch limiting strap was super trick! John Bjorum, Bob Loose, Mike Holder, Justin Schrock and Tyler all did a fine job of driving this trail - once again, under the spotting skills of Led. Not one XJ broke down! The only "carnage" was a little left rear quarter damage to John's rig, a cut sidewall on Mike's, and a pair of broken centering pins on Justin's rear springs. The worst "damage" was the cut below Justin's right eye when a screwdriver being used to pry a stuck rear hatch latch snapped back and gave him a deep cut.
Prez Tom Houston didn't get his rig done in time, but decided to come out and do an awesome BBQ dinner for everyone! That was a great conclusion to the event!
The raffle was the first one for a Colorado event and our sponsors provided some awesome prizes! Thanks goes to TNT Customs, Big Off Road, Zion Off Road, Formatt Fabrication, Brian Harmon (xjnation)!!! The Chapter made some decent money so that we can get started on T-shirts, and have funds for meetings and supplies! Thanks to everyone that bought tickets!
Honorable mention goes to DJ Kittrell (91JeepProject) for getting the Chapter logo stickers done in time for the event! They look great!
I'd also like to thank Led's wife, Mary and Jeff's wife, Paula for helping out with the BBQ and raffle!
Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions about the event here so that we can plan for next year's event!