Power Line Road

March 20, 1999

(Trip Report by Deano)

ABOVE: Trucks gather at the Oak Flat Campground before the run.

Fifteen Broncos and a handful of Jeeps gathered at the Oak Flat Campground on Saturday morning to try their luck on this fun but challenging series of trails. Jerry Steele and his wife Melanie were there with Bronco and Jeep. But, the Jeep lost its power steering pump and they did not have time to fix it before the run or to fix it later if they went on the run in the Bronco, so they dropped out. This was a double shame because they didn't get to run with us after coming out for the Sunflower Mine trip in February either, due to the group being split up by an accident that closed the highway.

 

LEFT: Heading up the power line after the first obstacle. The road itself was a continous obstacle from here to the top of the hill.

The layout here is excellent, with a rough trip in, a nice lunch spot, a figure eight crossover through a big meadow, a trip out and back to the meadow by another entrance, and then another rough trip back to the campgrounds, coming in from behind. Maybe it was a bad omen that there was a deceased bovine in very poor condition in the clearing where all the trails crossed. We ran this trip one year ago with a smaller group of EB's and had no real damage. Apparently we were very lucky.

RIGHT: Rich Wilson on the first tough climb. He destroyed a wheel flare coming down backward soon after this shot was taken.

 

RIGHT: Mike and Heather Watt do an optional trench, and avoid damage.

 

RIGHT: Mike Watt coaches as a nice rig sporting an NV4500 tranny takes one of the last obstacles.

This trip was destined to be a fierce shoot-out for the possession of the club's dreaded "Cow Pattie" award. For those who don't know, the "Cow Pattie" is awarded to the driver whose vehicle breaks the worst during the trip. The early favorite was Janelle Bonesteel, who happened also to be the current holder of the award for all the carb and starter problems she had on the Sunflower Mine run. Janelle spent quite a bit of time on the end of a tow-strap again this trip, but to be honest it wasn't due to breakage and certainly not due to lack of effort on her part. This was just a very tough trail. In fact, as hard as she was charging the obstacles and bouncing and flying that old Bronco it was astounding that it didn't break A LOT!

 

LEFT: Randy Harral takes the hard way in a buddy's borrowed Bronco. Note the CB antenna on rear corner.

Anyhow, enter Randy Harral driving a borrowed Bronco. Now most of us would probably take it pretty easy on a friend's truck who had been nice enough to let us use it while our own was down for repairs. Maybe Randy even planned to, but once we got to the optional, really tough stuff, he just charged right in. He stood it up on end, flopped it down on its side in a rock trench, flogged it till the CB antenna was broken off, the rocker panels were scraped on both sides, and a front axle was broken. Then he broke for lunch. At this point the "Cow Pattie" practically had his name on it.

 

RIGHT: Randy Harral wallows in a trench. Note CB antenna, and mount, as well as some paint and metalwork are all gone. A front axle is soon to follow.

 

 

LEFT: Randy replaces axle at lunch stop so he can abuse the truck some more.
Meanwhile, back at the rear of the column there was a new member making his first run with the club and doing his first off-road driving with the pretty orange Bronco he had just acquired two months before. David Moerman, the fellow in question, had been up and down the hill on foot, taking photographs of the action at the first major obstacle. Then he went back to his truck after most of the rest were on their way to the lunch stop. I was already gone, but I understand he wanted to turn back at this point, but ended up giving it a try. In the effort he broke something--from the sounds of it everything--, in his rear differential and smacked the rear quarter panel on the driver's side all out of shape.

 

RIGHT: David crawls down to the meadow on front end after blowing rear. Even at this distance the rear quarter doesn't look good.

It was decided to have him try to make it back to a meadow that the power line re-crosses so that we could meet him there or go and retrieve him after completing the leg we were on if he didn't make it back that far. As it happened a Jeep club was coming through and spent some time winching him back that way after he fried his starter, while trying to crawl out on the front end only. By the time we did meet up with him back at the meadow, he was also overheating and had lost his power brakes. To top off a great day for him, he was awarded the "Cow Pattie", but only after being helped back to camp by Don Bonesteel and Winston Brown while the rest of us completed the fourth leg of the trip.

 

LEFT: David, in red shirt, takes a break from working under his truck back at camp.

Someone even came up with a spare starter so David could get back on the road.

 

RIGHT: Deano's "After" picture.
During that fourth leg of the trip I managed to kick up a big oblong rock just right so that it squeezed along between my left rear tire and a ledge I was driving along, until it jamed into my wheel well, destroying the eurothane wheel flare and folding a good deal of sheet metal in on itself. That's what I get for not waiting till I had a spotter to warn me about stuff like that.

 

LEFT: Janelle, stuck in one of the obstacles.

It was on this part of the trip that I was the one ahead of Janelle. The first time I rolled out my tow strap someone remarked about how nice and new it looked. I commented that it had "Only, ever, been used to tow Janelle." (I had lent it out during the Sunflower Mine run) Not knowing the trail ahead, she retorted that she wouldn't need it again and that if I had to pull her anymore she'd autograph the thing for me (See photos).

 

RIGHT: Janelle makes good on her word.

 

LEFT: The official Janelle Bonesteel Tow Strap "Autographed Series, Limited Edition"

I didn't know everyone there but the ones I did know and can remember were: Mike and April Brown (trip leader), Don and Janelle Bonesteel (and those kids that were being flung all around in her truck), Rich Wilson (with Mike McCarthy and son riding), Winston Brown, Randy and Tiffany Harral, Mike and Heather Watt. I'd do this trip again for sure, just leave me some time for repairs and upgrades in between. Except for the body damage I did much better this time around simply due to one year's greater experience driving in boulders and dealing with my carburator. Oh and the new BFG Mud Terrain's probably helped a little too.

ABOVE: "Before" shot during prep for run. Note Deano's undamaged truck in background...sigh.

ABOVE: A tired, bunch returns to camp at end of run.

- Deano