41st Annual All-4-Fun
By Frank G. Whiston (Trail Tales September 2007)
The 41st annual All-4-Fun was held near Salida, CO July 29 thru August 3, 2007. For 41 years, Mile High Jeep Club has done this event in various locations in Colorado. NM4W members in attendance included the Grevens, Meiers, Jureys, and both sets of Whistons. NM4W guests included Don and Sarah Walker of Farmington, NM, and the Lombards who were voted in as members at the August meeting. It was a great week. There was just enough rain to keep the dust settled and keep things from getting too hot. The Jureys are also members of Patrol 12 of MHJC (the fugowie’s) and volunteered to lead trips at the event. Hmmm, should we follow this guy that is associated with a group with this kind of name? Add the words “where the” in front of the patrol’s name and you will understand my questioning.
This year, All-4-Fun was quite large with around 375 registered drivers and 999 registered participants. They even had people from New Zealand, Canada, and Hawaii in attendance. We have made friends from all over the country by attending this event. With that and several family members along, it was nearly impossible to sign up for trips as a club. So we all had different experiences on trips.
Sunday was the first trips and I hesitated too long to sign up, so I chose to lead a group on my own. We did Hancock, Cumberland, and Tin Cup passes. James Lombard showed us the capabilities of his mildly modified Liberty on Old Tin Cup. Good Job James!
Monday we were able to get signed up and did the Mary Murphy Mine/Pomoroy Lake trail.
Tuesday, the Jureys were leading Iron Chest, so all of the Whistons and friends signed up for that one. I was relieved that Keith never had to say “where the ___”. If he had, that would have been a fine. After lunch at the top, we all made our way back down thru the rock garden. An afternoon shower made things interesting as we slid down from rock to rock. I was able to find a good flex rock and Frank Sr. found that his new JK needs more ground clearance. Back at camp, we all enjoyed an Ice Cream Social sponsored by Bestop.
Wednesday was reserved for a parade through town, kids’ games, a show-n-shine, and vendor displays. Hot dogs were provided for lunch and a barbeque for dinner catered by a Buena Vista establishment.
Thursday we took it easy and drove Fooses Creek to the top of Monarch pass. After that, we ran up and back to Bross Lake. That night was door prize night and the raffle benefiting COHVCO and the children’s hospital. Congratulations to Keith on winning a set of tires in the raffle. We saved the most challenging for last. Friday we ran Chinaman’s gulch. There was evidence of ~3 feet of water running in the gulch the night before. Our trip leader had never seen the trail that eroded. It did not seem to provide too much of a challenge for most of the rigs, so it was a long, but enjoyable day.
That night there was a hamburger dinner and dance, and Warn gave away some valuable products. Congratulations to Erwin on winning an ATV winch. If only he had an
ATV. Maybe he can use it as a trailer winch.
