Saturday was a big surprise to
most of us. We had been hearing there would be about 75 vehicles
for the run, but you never really know at an event like this. I
counted 76 plus vehicles as we began to stage for the various
runs. Three runs were planned for the day. The easiest run, lead
by Carlos Diaz, was at Knippa. It was for the open vehicles or
those who didn't feel comfortable driving up and down various rock
ledges. The next run, lead by Todd Hoffmaster, was for your
average 2+ to 3+ driver who wanted some challenges, but knew the
limits of his vehicle or driver skills. I was in this run along
with Mike Klinke and the same red Hummer we drove down with. The
intermediate run would travel down the Nueces River while the
harder run, lead by Rick Jones, would travel up the river. Rick
Neil and Marc Haught sought the challenges of going up the river.
Our run down the river offered
some very scenic trails as well as some difficult sections. This
river had much more water, and the river rock was packed a bit
tighter. There were several rock ledges to climb down, but the
Hummer made most of that easier for those who followed his direct
path. As much as Hummer owners believe in the concept of Tread
Lightly, it is much easier said then done in one of those beasts.
We had planned to meet up with the group coming up the river at a
very scenic section called the waterfall. However, they had some
troubles with a full size Blazer with 44" tires trying to go
swimming in the river. A gentleman from Austin, Robert, unloaded
the kayak from atop his Tacoma and several people took rides in
the kayak or parked atop larger rocks for pictures as we stopped
for lunch. The waterfall itself was a nice section of slick rock
to traverse. Most of our vehicles had stock or little added
clearance, which really made things a bit more fun. We did have
one Defender 90 almost tip over as he fell into a hole between a
few larger rocks. However, the spotter kindly pushed him back to
stability.
When all the vehicles were
guided down or around the waterfall, we pulled up to another
beautiful section of the river where most of the other group was
stopped for lunch. After navigating a tricky little off-camber
drop into the river and slippery climb back out of the river we
headed up and around the river to a very large hill made of that "quick
rock". The 4xFanatics had never heard of a vehicle making it
to the top of this hill. However, we did have a brown CJ make it
to the top. To our dismay, the top was only more of that same
rock. The Jeep had only enough room to crest the hill and was
forced to back down after getting a few good shots with the
camcorder.
It was getting late and dinner
was to be served at 7:00pm so we decided to head back to town. The
rest of our trail contained some mild dirt and river rock climbs
as we bypassed a tougher section called "broken bridge".
All in all it was a very nice day on the trail, and we experienced
no breakdowns in our group.
Back in town, several of the
wives and friends had been preparing a homemade fajita dinner for
those of us on the trail. The dinner was very delicious and much
appreciated. This was the only part of the trip were any kind of
fee was required. For $7.00 one could eat all the fajitas,
tortillias, beans, corn, potato salad, and cookies you could
handle. After dinner we all mingled and talked about various
things including the adventures of the day. Later that evening,
some of us went to the hotel to watch more video, while others
when on the night run.
Many of the North Texas people
left the next morning, but there was a planned run on Sunday.
Sure it was hot, and it was a
long drive, but most would agree they had a great time. This event
was a last minute effort to satisfy the request of several Texas
4-wheelers who communicate through the Tx4x4 Mailing List on the
Internet. The 4xFanatics hosted the event hoping only to break
even with funds from the dinner. They also managed to raise a good
deal of canned goods for a local charity. The city of Uvalde was
very open to the idea of visitors to the area and they look
forward to this becoming an annual event. My thanks go out to the
4xFanatics, and the city of Uvalde.
Lance
takes the Tacoma up the bank.
Running
the edge of the Nueces River.
|
Lisa
Curry in Todd Hoffmaster's Tacoma.
Lance
in his Taco.
Mike
Klinke plays in his YJ.
Mike
Klinke.
Scott
Boaman hits the water in his Dodge.
Lance
just loves the rocks!
And
the rocks love Lance!
Read
Shawn's Report! |