Stoddard Valley Crawl Fest

Stoddard Valley OTR Crawl Fest
February 20-22, 2015
Attendees: Mike and Chris W., Rich and Corky, John C. and Nova, Randy M., John "Zuki John" and Amy C. and kids, Joe P., DuWayne and Tina, Mike and Laurie S., Ric and Lisa, Bob B. and a guest wheeler; Panamint Paul.
Friday, February 20. Mike and Chris arrived to find Rich W., Randy M., John C and Ric and Lisa already there. The weather was perfect and the desert was beautiful and green from rain earlier in the season. We headed out to do a trail John C. knew about called Sanger's Revenge. When we returned to camp later in the afternoon we found Corky had arrived along with Panamint Paul from the Waywegos. Some of us know Paul from Johnson Valley. He has a buggy that started life as a Cherokee. Now it runs on 42" sticky MTRs. As the evening progressed everybody else showed up with the exception of Bob B.; he came out on Sunday for a day trip.
On Saturday morning after breakfast and a quick drivers meeting (since we had 10! buggies and Jeeps) to make sure we were all on the same radio frequency and the usual talk about watching for the guy behind you, etc. we all headed out for a full day of wheelin' and beautiful weather. First we headed for Empire Strikes Back then over to Richie's Crack. When we finished playing at RC to head over to Pucker Factor John C. got on the radio to let everyone know he lost his power steering. When he checked the level at the PS pump he found it empty...hum. Paul had some PS fluid and they added it to John's PS reservoir where it promptly drained out. Turns out the seal failed on the steering gear pitman shaft...what fluid went in promptly went out. Randy M. towed John back to camp while the rest of us headed for Pucker Factor. After PF, the group headed around to the other side of Stoddard Mountain where we met John and Randy in Randy's Jeep. After meeting up, the group headed to OTR Trail; a trail the club pioneered several years ago. We got back to camp just in time for beer-thirty. The wind had started to pick up and we headed for Rich's Man Cave for lots of munchies and Ric's Margaritas...did I say thanks Ric and Lisa...if not thanks as always!!!
The wind howled through the night Saturday into Sunday morning.
On Sunday morning, Bob B. showed up for a day of wheelin' with the group. There was a threat of rain. Some of the group decided to call it a trip and headed for home. The remainder of the group (Mike and Chris, Ric and Lisa, Bob B., Paul and Zuki John, his two kids with John C headed for Pumpkin Eater to do both sides of PE. All went well and everyone made it through without mishap. We all got back just in time for it to start sprinkling. Everyone loaded up and headed for home.
This was a really great trip. Everyone had a great time. Nobody really had any problems and for the most part the weather was fantastic. Stoddard Valley is a lot of fun!!!