Trip Report for Cougar Buttes New Years Run, 12-28-2012
Prepared by DuWayne and Tina
Participants: Ric & Lisa, John & Wendy, Mike & Laura, Rich & Corky,
DuWayne & Tina, Richard & Vicki, Bill, Jed and his sister and boyfriend
We did the Riffel trail on Friday -- We started out around 10:00 am.
General consensus of opinion was that it was the most difficult trail
our members have encountered. Ric and Lisa had a front locker
malfunction at the beginning, and returned to camp. The only other
problem was that John broke a wheel. At some point on the trail,
almost everyone had to be strapped. (Modesty prevents me from naming
the one who didn't.) It was getting late in the afternoon; and since
we didn't know the trail or how long it was, we walked ahead and
encountered a very difficult rock waterfall which would necessitate
winching for everyone. The decision was made to return the way we
came. We got back into camp at 7:45 pm. Thankfully, Ric and Lisa had
made a delicious tortellini sausage soup (enough for all the weary
travelers), and we gratefully and heartily consumed it. Jed's sister
and boyfriend went home that evening (a lot later than they had
planned to).
On Saturday, when John returned from town after getting his tire
repaired, we did Crowbar. Ric and Lisa were able to fix their problem
and join us. The tire gremlin grabbed John again (he is now
reconsidering his stance regarding bead locks). Crowbar was
difficult, but we had a lot more fun than we did the day before, and
we arrived back at camp at an acceptable hour.
That evening, we had our tri tip pot luck dinner, preceded by an array
of hors d'oeuvres, all of which received rave reviews. In spite of
our good intentions, the day's exertions and our full stomaches
prevented us from ringing in the New Year!
Sunday morning, we had a great pot luck breakfast, and we decided we
wanted to make our New Year's run with a pot luck dinner and breakfast
an annual event. After breakfast, Rich and Corky left as Rich had
broken a traction bar Saturday and elected to fix it at home. The
rest of us went to the Cougar Buttes Hammer trail and had a good
time. Richard rode his trials bike along with us.
In the afternoon, everyone left for home except John & Wendy, Ric and
Lisa and DuWayne and Tina. Monday morning we all bid good-bye to
Cougar Buttes. Everyone seemed to enjoy the scenery and trails, and
are looking forward to returning.
DuWayne and Tina