Walden, Colorado

January 15, 2011

Trip Report below by Rod Pepper

These photos contributed by Mike Jacob

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These photos contributed by Rod Pepper

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Walden Snow Bash 2011: The Moose Got Loose!

I’m not yet sure how this story is going to go, since I ended up being the entertainment for the day! We had 9 rigs show up for this annual thrash-fest. Club members on this run were Dewey Williams, Howard Segal, Brian Kubal, Taylor Olson, Mike and Krissy Jacob and myself. Brian rode shotgun with new prospective member Brian Ott in his newly acquired, but soon to be transformed, YJ. Taylor had his cousin and his cousin’s girlfriend, “Charly“, riding with him. Later on, she became an un-witting victim when the moose got loose! We also had 5 guests/new prospective members driving their rigs on this run.     The weather was really good for North Park in January. High 30’s, partly sunny/cloudy. Nice day……..weather-wise. The snow was really tough and really deep, 2-3+ feet with about a 6 inch crust. You could go in it but it was hammer down and inches at a time. We had to park tow rigs at the bottom this time. When I got there everyone was lined up at the bottom of the hill at the south outhouse. Dewey was working his way to the top. On this day we only had 2 big-tired Jeeps so it made the going tougher and slower. We got nearly everyone to the top but then were limited as to how far we could go from there. Getting to the “Creek” may have been possible but it would have taken several big-tire, big-power rigs with maximum fuel load to do it!     We then decided that the north side might be a more play-friendly area. How prophetic that turned out to be! But first, I welded up an axle u-joint cap on Mike’s JK and Dewey towed the broken (driveshaft), black CJ7 back to his trailer while the rest of us headed for the north camp area. Prior to this, and due to overcrowding in Taylor’s Jeep, “Charly” had jumped in with me. That was her first mistake! I was already feeling pretty “Froggy” that day, anyway. It was also her very first wheeling experience. She is a college nursing student from Cowley, Wyoming, up on the Montana border. She had to be back to work on Sunday morning……in Cowley……500 miles away! I briefed her on what to hang on to and what not to……..it later came in pretty handy!     We got over to the north side and everyone started picking their own “Poison” and blasting all over the place. My “Poison” ended up being this nice-looking little high-bank “Track” around the base of one of the large transmission towers. It was a deep snow “groove” all the way around the tower and just big enough for a Jeep to fit down into. On one side there was a tree that stuck out from under the tower at an angle, about top level. Hey, it looked like a playground to me! Something in my brain snapped, the loud pedal hit the floor, Charly grabbed the “Oh, Sh*t” bar, the tranny hit 2nd gear at 6000 RPM and the Oatster thought he was at Daytona! It launched.     About half way around, that tree came up real quick but I was able to go high side and missed it………the first time. We went all the way around that sucker and out the other side. And I thought, “Holy crap”, “That was really a hoot!”, “Lets’ do it again……..faster!” I don’t think Charly was quite as anxious as I was for the second time. Just an observation. I didn’t have as good a luck with that tree the 2nd time around. I was going a little faster but that tree was just a little quicker this time. I think the first time it was just a little surprised and spooked. The 2nd time, it was ready for me!     I zigged….. it zigged……. I zagged……. it zagged ! Bang…..it just caught the top left, rear corner of the top enough to knock the ass-end off course which, at wide frickin’ open throttle, caused it to shoot left into the inside bank which pitched it up into the air where it did a three-quarter roll and landed on it’s right side! Still running! I would have to say it was good for about a 9.7 on the Olympic scale! OK, the landing was a little off but, hey, it was high on style points. Had the tires been in the vertical position, instead of the horizontal position, I’da still been cruisin’! Details! It really is all about the “angle of the dangle”! It got all the usual pieces, grill, hood, windshield etc. but it’s all fixable and Charly got to go home with a great story of a wild ride! Walden is still there, still kicking my butt, but at least I can prove that I can still get stupid there! Life’s Short, Ride a Fast Horse!        Rod (The Oatster says, OUCH!)