April 1, 2006    The Official Newsletter of the New Mexico 4-Wheelers    www.nm4w.org

Note: Click on any of the pictures on this page for a larger view, 
then "Back" on your browser to return.

 Upcoming runs – Cliff Meier is going to lead some trails in Las Cruces this Friday – they will be meeting Tom Huff for dinner on Friday and discussing trails that will be run over the weekend.  I (Lauri Rector) volunteered to lead a “Chic Challenge” on May 20^th – it will be the same trail that Marsha Duggar lead a year ago last January.  It is better known as the “blow hole” trail.  Once I can get Tom Hurt to help me pre-run it, I will have Glenn Bontly put it on the Events Schedule.  Garage sale at Honeywell may be on May 2^nd, but not yet confirmed.  Mark Wolf has only provided Mike Coe with last years information and the contact information is not good any longer.  Mike promises to have details by the next meeting.

Director Environmental Affairs Report – Bob Norton:  Not present.

Program Chairman’s Report – Jerry Marx:  Explained the 50/50 raffle to the guests.  He gave a valiant try to collect more money for our coffers by saying that tickets are a $1 a piece or 5 for $6 (it’s 6 for $5).  He also let everyone know that he has club clothing paraphernalia for sale as well.

Historian’s Report – Laurye Tanner:  She has gotten 2 CD of pictures from the Chile Challenge.  She has removed a lot of pictures from the Snap Fish site and she’ll remove more once she puts on this year's Chile Challenge pictures.  She needs pictures of our little homely faces for our web site, and action shots (extreme or not) for the calendar.  Please send them to her as soon as possible.

SWFWDA Report – Mark Wolf:  Talked about the raffle, and Leon announced we raised $9,600 (+/-).  NM4W won the winch and the Gift Certificate from????  (For some reason I thought Jeff would be able to tell me this, but he can’t.  But it was something really good).  Spring Quarterly will be at the Superlift Park in Hot Springs, AR.  Fall Quarterly will be at YO Ranch in Austin area (give or take 200 miles or so) of TX.

Old Business:  Mark Wolf said that the Summer Quarterly dates have been set for July 27th, 28th & 29^th.  He is trying to check about us getting the Ouray County Fairgrounds.  This would still be close to Ridgeway.  He explained that the All-4-Fun would be ending just as our event is starting and it could be overwhelming for Silverton to have our event right after the All-4-Fun.  Mike Coe is still finalizing the food arrangements.  Cliff Meier said that trail pre-runs are scheduled for July 7^th & the 15^th.  You can do the pre-runs other weekends if these weekends are a conflict with your hectic social calendar.  He has copies of the trails and maps with him if you’d like to have a copy.

Auge’s 4X4 101 is scheduled for April 29^th.  Mark Wolf explained what this event is about to the guests.  Pat Brady is the organizer this year and has been remiss about contacting Robert Auge this last month.  He will have dates and times confirmed by the April meeting.  April 15^th & 22^nd were set for work weekends at Auge’s to get the course ready.  Mark Werkmeister reminded us that Sunday, April 23^rd is the International Auto Show.  He is soliciting other people and their vehicles from outside the club.  If he gets more than 25 vehicles, he will take it upon himself to be the one to decide which 25 get to put their vehicle into hock for the day.  More details to follow at the next meeting.  Time is definite, be there by 9:00 am sharp.  Show opens at 10:00 am.  Show ends at 7 pm.  We can take our vehicles at 5 pm, but not before.  Someone must be with our vehicles at all times in case there are questions.  So we need to take turns on using our free tickets to the show.  Whoever has any NM4W banners, please bring them with you, or give them to someone else who’s going. 

The subject went back to Fall Quarterly and where the YO Ranch is located.  Some said Kerrville and some said Fredericksburg – outside Austin – maybe about 60 miles (my fault if this is wrong, I struggle when just one person is talking, let alone more).  August 28^th to Sept 2^nd are the dates that have been set.  Information and possibly registration can be found on Austin Jeep Exclusive Club’s and YO Ranch’s website.  Glenn will post it on our website.  Mark Werkmeister said that the YO Ranch website is worth checking out; there are a lot of things that this ranch is doing besides off-road activities.

New Business:  Need to decide what the club will do with the brand new, still-in-the-box XP9500 winch.  Pat Brady suggested $5 raffle tickets at the summer quarterly with proceeds going to club to pay back the $500 worth of tickets that the club bought and the rest going to the SWFWDA land fund.  Would enough people buy tickets that we would bring in enough money to recoup our expense of buying the $500 tickets?  Mike Coe brought up T-shirts, he had a suggestion, but then didn’t suggest it? (Did I hear that he was going suggest that he and Mark Wolf would wear them in a wet t-shirt contest?  That’s just wrong).  Mark (one of them) felt that we should raffle something off at the monthly meeting (I didn’t type in what was to be raffled – was it the t-shirts or the winch?  I think it was the t-shirts the club won in the raffle) – it was motioned and approved.  More discussion on the winch (OK, I’m lucky to get anything typed, much less a persons name) we need to require that you must-be-present-to-win, more exciting this way, you get to see the persons reaction to winning it and they get to take it home with them (because we do not plan to have the expense of mailing it to them, it weighs more than Wolfie).

Meeting adjourned at 7:45 with a big thank you to Jeanne Meier for bringing the homemade goodies.

Winner of the 50/50 drawing: Jeff and Lauri Rector donated several T-Shirts to the raffle that they won in the raffle at the Chile Challenge (yes, Jeff is very particular about his T-Shirts, must be a Large and cannot be white).  Jeffery Woodard – M.O.R.E. T-shirt.  Frank Whiston (the Jr) – some kind of part.  Cliff Meier - Currie T-Shirt.  A Guest – Mile Marker T-Shirt (sorry that I did not get the name), and Mike Coe - $54 of the $107 pot.

This is the 2^nd month in a row that Jerry has sold over $100 tickets at the meeting.  Way to go Jerry for the great sales effort and way to go club members for buying tickets.

Spring in New Mexico is a fickle thing…after having one of the warmest and driest winters on record, March has been a wide range of weather drama with howling sand-laden winds, heavy late season snow-falls, and beautiful sunny days.  It is a good thing we drive 4WD’s to deal with all of nature’s idiosyncrasies.  Don’t let the unpredictable weather dissuade you!  We still are seeking several trail leaders for both April and May.  Dust off your old maps and help the club “re-discover” a trail we haven’t run in a while.

Speaking of dusty maps, we are busy trying to figure out how to engage the various National Forests to ensure that appropriate motorized recreational opportunities exist for all of us when they complete their mandated route-designation process.  From our conversations so far, it looks like old maps will be useful in helping to identify roads and trails to be included on the “starting point” maps.  Dig through your closets and map drawers and pull out any old National Forest maps (the older the better!).  We are also trying to ensure that user-provided input, in the form of common GPS format trail logs, will be accepted and used to identify potential designated routes.  We don’t have a clear picture just yet but be prepared to participate in an all-out GPS blitz later on this year if one becomes necessary.  In addition to the obvious routes that we will want included in the Jemez District of the Santa Fe NF, we will probably be called upon to provide suitable 4WD trail system suggestions for several of the other forests.

In the meantime, fire up those vehicles and prepare to enjoy the approach of warmer weather by four wheeling with your club friends!

Mark

How did Mike Coe get from being a technical writer in Virginia to being a four-wheeler in New Mexico? “Fate intervened,” says Mike.  And not once, but twice.

In 1998 at his company parking lot in Virginia, Mike noticed a lifted YJ with New Mexico plates.  He eventually met the owner, Ron Simkulet, a onetime NM4W member.  Ron mentioned an upcoming event in Salida, Colorado that offered challenging terrain and lots of trails.  At Ron’s advice, Mike contacted Wolfie (also Ron’s former work colleague) and signed up for the NM4W-hosted summer quarterly in Salida.

With his easygoing style, affinity for campfire lies stories, and enthusiasm for wheeling. Mike fit right in.  He became an NM4W Associate Member and over the next several years ran with the club at Mt. Blanca and Moab.  By 2004 Mike had retired, sold his Virginia house, and was a fulltime RVer.  It was July 2004 at the Summer Quarterly in Fairplay when fate intervened again and in a most special way.  Mike met Kristy Ohnesorg--and the sparks flew.  They’re now a happy, two-Jeep household and recently moved into a new home on Albuquerque’s west side.

Mike actually qualified for full membership his first time out with the club.  He’d gotten to Salida early so went on several pre-runs with NM4W.  When Mongo (aka, Scott Brunwasser) sustained major Jeep damage on Carnage Canyon the first day, Mike hauled Mongo around for the duration of the event.  From the passenger seat of Mike’s TJ, Mongo led Iron Chest Mine twice and Carnage Canyon.  Mike earned enough points to become a full member before the Sheriff even had a chance to explain the system!

Mike was raised by his grandparents in Olympia, Washington.  He joined the Navy at age 18 and stayed in for 10 years.  He was a Fire Control Technician, a strange title for something unrelated to fire suppression.  He worked with radar and analog computers, high-tech stuff at the time.  After the Navy, Mike worked at Boeing while earning his B.A. in Business from the University of Washington.  Then he went east and worked as a technical writer for defense contractors and private industry.

For seven years, Mike “dropped out” of the corporate world and moved to West Virginia.  He ran bars, worked as a roughneck, and did odd jobs.  This is when he became interested in Jeeps.  He was driving a ’63 Chevy pickup in the mud and swamps and was often told, “You should get a Jeep.”  So he got a ’78 CJ5 and started racing it in drags, hill climbs, and obstacle courses.  (He’s also owned a ’79 CJ7 that became the tow vehicle for the racing Jeep, an ’89 YJ, and his ’97 TJ.)

About the racing, Mike explains, “It’s a different kind of four wheeling back there.  There isn’t as much public land or trails.”  He enjoyed the mud/swamp area in the Caanan Valley, which has since been closed off.  “We called them swamps back then, now it’s called wetlands.”

After West Virginia, Mike dropped back into the corporate world as a technical writer, but this time he let go of the corporate ladder.  He concentrated on doing his job and socking away for retirement.  It was a joyous day in 2000 when he retired and became a fulltime RVer.

Following professional advice to set retirement goals, Mike set three: find the ultimate in four-wheeling, beer, and pizza.  He’s accomplished much in the four-wheeling and beer categories, but says pizza dropped off the list.  He’s visited over 100 brewpubs and the ultimate to date is Dick’s Brewery in Centralia, WA.  The owner makes his own sausage and bottles 36 varieties of beer, the most in the world.  His state rankings for best micro-breweries are Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Arizona, and then New Mexico.  Best in NM is High Desert in Las Cruces.  They also have the best motto, “None of our beers suck.”

And the ultimate wheeling?  Mike’s overall favorite trails are the Rubicon and Holy Cross.  Highest ranking on the testosterone scale are Johnson Valley in California and Patzcuarro’s Revenge in Las Cruces.  He’s run 90% of the Moab trails and likes them all.  Future rides?  Mike wants to do Sierra Trek and repeat Johnson Valley and the Rubicon.

These trails should be no problem in his beefed-up TJ.  With Mike’s money, Pat Brady recently installed a stretched Rock Krawler suspension.  The TJ also features coil over shocks, Dana 60 rear, high pinion 9” front, 4:1, ARBs, etc., etc.  Mike thinks 37” tires are enough, but “I thought that about 35’s a few years ago.”  Now that his Jeep is done, except for some cleanup, Kristy’s Jeep will get a makeover with some of the dismantled parts and some new stuff as well.  (He gave me specifics, but I dozed off, sorry.)

Mike’s six-year old grandson, Mason, loves the Jeep—and that’s just been on rides to the grocery store.  He hasn’t been on trails with Grandpa yet.  Mike’s family also includes son Aaron, a high school teacher in Everett WA, granddaughter Annie, and son Steven who runs a small construction business in Virginia.

Due to some unpleasant situations at former clubs, Mike had misgivings about joining NM4W.  But he likes the people in NM4W and appreciates the concern about taking care of the environment.  Although he and Kristy have been busy with the new house, Mike volunteered to organize the May swap meet and is on the Silverton Summer Quarterly committee.  He’ll lead some trails and set up the group dinner meal.  Hmm, which brewpub will it be?

The Post Chile Challenge Run held in Las Cruces Mar 17- 19 was a great success.  NM4Wheeler members attending were Frank and Beth Whiston, Erwin and Jeannie Greven, Mary and Craig Turpin, Cliff and Jeanne Meier, and guests Cory and Tiffany Ryan.  Our trail leader was Jim Huff from the Las Cruces Four Wheel Drive Club.  Jim's wife, Nancy, joined the group for the Sunday run.  We all had a great time.  Saturday we ran Amatista Ledges and Hopping Jalapeno.  Sunday we did Upper Broad Canyon and White Gap.

Jim was an excellent trail guide and we appreciate him taking time to be our leader.  All Jeeps survived without damage, even though Erwin and Cory got a chance to use their winches.  It seems our trail leader has a continuing challenge with the infamous grease pit on Amatista Ledges!  Nancy reported that Jim has slid into the pit before, and this trip claimed him again.  We also were able to schedule both days’ lunch stops right when the gale force winds were blowing!

During the run, Jim discussed an eight-day trip to Copper Canyon, Mexico that he had just returned from in February.  He has led numerous trips to the canyon and other Mexico trips over the years.  He is planning another trip to Copper Canyon over Christmas and New Years this year, 2006-2007.  He has invited anyone from our group to go with him.  I have a CD with 180 pictures from the February trip and will make copies for anyone who is interested.  I'll send out a separate e-mail with more details on this trip and a trip to Casa Grande the end of March.

Ok, folks!  This is what you have all been waiting for!  A location for our Summer Quarterly!!  Let's go with it!  Everyone is encouraged to make their own reservations ASAP.  Check out the website.  This is a nice place and you can even bring your fishing pole!  The following details were provided to me by Ed Kausche:

Mark,

I think Ridgway State Park is our best bet.  They have bathrooms, showers, and a place for our business meeting and for the dinner.  I am recommending that we go for the sites with the full hook-ups (Loop G) as they are only $4 more and there are many more of them than for the sites that must share water and sewer.  There is also an area with tent sites (Loop H) that is not far away.  There is also BLM land just across the road from the park where someone can camp for free if they don't want any services.  (They will have to buy a vehicle pass, $5 per day, if they want to come into the state park however.)  Loop F is also a full hook-up site and is located very close to Loop G.  Loop F would be an option if Loop G were to fill up.

The full hook-up sites (Loop G) cost $25 per night.  This includes $5 for a vehicle pass.  The shared water and sewer sites cost $21 per night, also including the vehicle pass.  I believe that tent sites (Loop H) cost $17 per night.

Each RV site can accommodate an RV (this includes motor homes, travel trailers, and pop-ups) plus one tent, or two tents.  The tent must sit on the ground, no pop-up with another RV.  Also, no more than 6 people (not including babies and toddlers) can inhabit one site.

There is no parking right at the tent sites (Loop H).  They share one common parking area and the actual tent site is some distance from the parking lot.

Each camper must make his own reservations.  This can be done by calling 1-800-678-CAMP (2267), or through the web site: http://www.parks.state.co.us/.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the green "Park Reservations Map" icon.  This brings up a Colorado map with the campgrounds listed below.  Click on Ridgway.  This provides maps of the area and links to actually reserve a site.

Ed

For those of you new to the club or those of you who are just cruising our web site; we have slide shows of our runs on the Internet.  The new web site address for the club pictures:

http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=39110739/a=8290670/t_=8290670;jsessionid=E7A51E2FFB3B84043C5D91D28A9217E1

It will change every time I add new sideshows.  There are now 2 new slideshows of the Chile Challenge Winter Quarterly to view.  If you do not want to personally register with Snapfish, you can use nm4wphotos@earthlink.net as your login, and jeepers as your password.

For those who are taking pictures on our trips, please e-mail me at lauryetanner@earthlink.net, or give me a CD of the pictures you have taken.  Please let me know the name of the event and who took the pictures.  Remember to save your originals.

I hope we will be making a calendar to sale at the Summer Quarterly.  Please e-mail me a picture you would like to see in the calendar.  Again, I need to know who took the picture and where it was taken.  I have a few pictures already.  I will let the club vote on the ones that will go into our calendar.

Glenn and I are trying to get pictures of our members to add to the web site roster on the Member’s Only Page.  Please e-mail Glenn or me your picture if you would like it included on the roster.  If you do not have a good picture; I will try to bring a camera at the next meeting and will be glad to take your picture there.

We have committed to providing up to 25 vehicles for the Auto Show on April 23rd (that is the Sunday of the show).  The vehicles need to be there by 9:00 am, and you won’t be able to leave until 5 pm.  Participants will receive a free ticket to enter the auto show inside the Convention Center.

Some people expressed reservation about the "show quality" of your vehicle.  The promoters want to see "club" vehicles.  If you are proud of your vehicle (and who isn't?), bring it on out and show it off.

This is a great opportunity to advertise our club with the enthusiast community, have a little fun, and maybe brag to a few strangers!

Here are a few things you need to know if you will be participating in the show:

§         While on display, all show vehicles must have the positive battery cable disconnected and taped using UL approved plastic electrical tape.

§         Proof of insurance (as stated in the Feature Space Contract) or pre-approved by show management waiver must be provided to the show office upon move in.

§         A representative should be present during all public show hours, if possible.

§         If the gas cap door can be opened from the outside of your vehicle, the vehicle must either have a locking gas cap or the cap must be taped.  If the gas cap door can be locked from the inside of your car, then a locking gas cap is not necessary, but the standard inside gas cap must be taped.

§         Cars using AC/DC converters must have the security system fuse disconnected to prevent the alarm from being accidentally set-off.

§         Please provide in advance, a list of participant names that will be working in your display so they may gain admittance to the show for free, all show hours.

If you plan to trailer your vehicle to the show, the designated area to park the tow vehicles/trailers is located outside the Northeast Hall under the Marquette Street bridge at the convention center.

As you know, we are hosting the Southwest Four Wheel Drive Association (SWFWDA) Summer Quarterly from 27 – 29 Jul in the Silverton/Ouray, CO area.  Wolfie is the Event Chairman, and has several committees working for him to take care of the various details, such as registration, facilities, and meals.  Our Trail Boss this year is Cliff Meier, and he needs several trail leaders and tail gunners to help with the trail rides.

“I’ve never led a trail”, you may be thinking.  “I’m not qualified to be a trail leader.”  Nonsense!  Leading a trail is a piece of cake.  The biggest thing is simply knowing where you are going.  This is pretty easy in Colorado, cuz many of the trails are identified with signs.  Besides, Cliff will provide you with the maps that you will need for your trail.  GPS coordinates are also available for most of the trails, so if you have a receiver, you can just punch in the coordinates and follow along.  In addition, you will likely want to pre-run the trail a week or two prior to the event.

So what else is involved with being a trail leader?  Well, the first thing you need to do is gather everyone up for a driver’s meeting.  Introduce yourself and your tail gunner, announce the trail you are riding, the difficulty rating, and the CB radio channel.  Inform everyone to keep the vehicle behind them in sight at all times and to announce to you if anyone has any problems during the ride that requires the group to stop.  Although it’s normally not a problem at these events, remind everyone that there will be no tolerance for alcohol on the trail, not by the driver or any of their passengers.  Finally, remind everyone that they are totally responsible for the safety of themselves, their passengers, and their vehicles.  Encourage them to bypass any obstacles they don’t feel comfortable driving, although there won’t be too many tough ones on the trails in this area.

Out on the trail, one of the biggest challenges as the trail leader is keeping the group together.  In addition to everyone keeping everyone else in sight, this is accomplished by maintaining good lines of communication with your tail gunner.  Ask the tail gunner periodically how the group is doing at the rear, and ask to be advised if there are any problems in the group (breakages or stucks).  You may also want to designate someone you know and trust as a mid-gunner, especially if you have a large group.

Other than that, make sure you stop periodically for potty breaks, photo ops, and of course lunch.  If you really want to impress your group, read up a little on the history of the trail and the area, and share this information along the way.

Okay, supposed you are just not comfortable enough to lead a group, but you think you will be able to handle being a tail gunner.  What will you be responsible for?  Your primary job is to keep the trail leader informed of the status of the group.  If you see the group stopped in front you, immediately inform the leader.  When making key turns during the trail, inform the trail leader once everyone has made the turn.  You can also assist with spotting, if needed.

If you’re still not sure about all of this, and would like some additional information, talk to someone in the club who has experience leading or tail gunning trails.  I’m sure they will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

 And remember, the trail leader eats no dust!

Aluminum Cans: Our club saves and recycles aluminum cans.  Money from the sale of cans goes into our club treasury.  Please bring your crushed aluminum cans to each meeting, and somebody will take them to the recycling center.

To Our Guests: If you attend a club meeting or event and provide us with your e-mail address, you will be added to our guest e-mail list, and will receive monthly notifications of when the Trail Tales newsletter is posted on our Club web site.  If you are interested in becoming a member of the New Mexico 4-Wheelers, please contact one of our officers for membership requirements, or visit our web site at www.nm4w.org/join-the-club.htm.

Trail Tales on the Web Site: In a continuing effort help save natural resources and to control costs, you are encouraged to read the Trail Tales newsletter on the Club Web Site in lieu of receiving a hard copy in the mail.  Around the first of each month, the current issue of Trail Tales is posted at www.nm4w.org/newsletters.htm and an e-mail notification is sent to all club members.  In addition, a minimum of 2 years of back issues of our newsletter is also available on the web site.  So if you want to help “save some trees”, please send an e-mail to TrailTales@nm4w.org stating that you do not need to receive the hard copy of the newsletter.  Thanks for your participation in this program.

Submission Due Date: The Trail Tales is published on the first of each month.  Submissions for each issue must be received by the Editor not later than the 25^th of the prior month.  Submissions can be sent to TrailTales@nm4w.org, or Trail Tales, 21 Rattlesnake Ridge, Tijeras, NM 87059.

Please see the Events Schedule Page

Trail Tales
21 Rattlesnake Ridge
Tijeras, NM 87059-7440

TrailTales@nm4w.org