Nevada Chapter - December 10, 2005

Event Planning for official HXC Events and HXC Members gatherings

Nevada Chapter - December 10, 2005

Postby Rod » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:38 am

Hi all,

On December 10, 2005 the Nevada Chapter of the Hummer X Club will sponsor a one day trail adventure from Las Vegas to Christmas Tree Pass and back. We'll meet at 8:00 a.m. in the southeast part of the Vegas valley and we’ll depart at 8:30. Meeting location is TBA and there is no fee to attend. Membership in the Hummer X Club is not required (but it would be nice if you considered joining. :D)

Since this will be a first off-road adventure for some who’ve already said they’re coming, you can expect the majority of trails to be fairly easy going. Even with that, though, you are definitely encouraged to remove your tube steps before leaving home. All it takes is one unexpected rock or dip in the trail and your tubes will not be happy!

If you're an off-road junkie with a taste for traveling on three wheels, we'll do our best to find a few optional obstacles along the way.

Christmas Tree Pass arcs from US95 to State Road 163 (the road to Laughlin). While there we'll make a stop at Grapevine Canyon where there are lots of very cool, vivid petroglyphs. Bring your camera! It's a short, easy hike from parking on the trail side into the Canyon.

Our total trip time from Vegas to Grapevine Canyon should be about four hours. If you need to get home early, US95 will get you there in less than one and a half hours.

If you're in no hurry to get home, then stay with the group as we explore different trails on the trip back to Vegas. The return route isn't firm yet but it's possible we'll trek across the Mojave National Preserve to Cima, CA, then north to Jean and on into Vegas. The Mojave Preserve is an awesome place! Cima is pretty cool, too – odds are good you’ll get up-close and personal with a massive freight train as it powers its way up and over Cima Hill.

Got kids? Bring ‘em! This is a family-friendly event. My daughters, ages 5 & 6, will be there.

If you’d like to participate in this event (and I hope you do), send an email to mailto:nevada@hummerxclub.com. Be sure and include your contact information. I’ll respond with my contact info and other important details (meeting place, what to bring, etc.).

Lastly, I need to pre-run the route on December 3rd or 4th and would like to have at least one other vehicle come along. Any volunteers?

Thanks much and hope to see you December 10th!

Happy trails,

Rod
Last edited by Rod on Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby PhilD » Thu Nov 10, 2005 9:49 am

Sounds like a lot of fun Rod, wish I lived in Vegas, well if you had an ocean near by I'd consider it ;)

Make sure you get plenty of pics.

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Postby Rod » Fri Nov 11, 2005 3:22 am

Wish you could be here, Phil. Maybe next time!

For everyone else . . .

I came across some interesting trail notes about the drive across the Mojave Preserve. Wow - looks like we're in for a good time! http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/nov/stories/mojavetrail.html

Not to harp on the tube step issue BUT, if you're planning to take the second leg of the journey across the Preserve, it's pretty much guaranteed you won't want tubes on your truck.

If you're new to off-roading, don't let the trail notes at the link above get you spooked. Our Hummers will do great. And if anyone does gets stuck, no problem, between the gear I carry and the small fleet of Hummers in the group, we'll be fine. :D
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Postby Rod » Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:30 pm

Looks like the pre-run is going to be December 3. I got invited to run the Mojave Road trail with a bunch of Jeepers. Should be fun if anyone wants to tag along.
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Postby fubar » Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:57 am

Should be a lot of fun. Looking forward to getting out and having fun, & meeting everyone.

Rod, I'll do the pre-run with you. Let me know when and were we're to meet.
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Postby Rod » Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:31 pm

[quote=\"fubar\"]Rod, I'll do the pre-run with you. Let me know when and were we're to meet.[/quote]

Sounds good and thanks. :) Will let you know the specifics later in the month.
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Postby Rod » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:05 am

Pre-run update . . .

Fubar and I spent the day scouting trails.

The trail to Searchlight was fun. It was pretty cool to exit the valley without traffic. Ever see those TV antennae on top of Black Mountain? We'll drive to the left of them through Dutchmen's Pass.

Christmas Tree Pass was smooth sailing. Almost too smooth but Grapevine Canyon made it worth it. The facilities there (parking and a toilet) are much improved since last I was there and the hike to the petroglyphs is very easy. Water was running pretty good down the canyon. It's a definite Kodak moment.

Looks like we'll have to make the Mojave Road its own run another day. We did the first 10 miles of the Road and it was some pretty slow going -- lots of washes, deep washouts, rocks and tons of amazing scenery. Let's do the 40+ mile trail from US95 to Cima, CA in January. We'll drive to Searchlight on the highway and pick up the Mojave Road earlier in the day. If we take trails there, this time of year there just isn't enough daylight left to get through it safely and with time to enjoy it.

Some really good news: This was taken on the \"dry\" lake bed you see west of 95 after turning south on the highway at Railroad Pass Casino. We'll stop there on Saturday if you like. (Thanks for the pic, Fubar, and thanks for going. :) )


Image


At this time it looks like we'll have 4 or 5 H2s and an H1.
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Postby PhilD » Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:11 am

Looks like it could be a lot of fun :D

6 vehicles is a good size group, we had 14 out on Saturday and everything takes so much longer. With 6 you can keep moving at a good pace and have plenty of time to play on stuff (or looking at the picture, \"in\" stuff).

Have a great event.
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Postby PhilD » Mon Dec 12, 2005 1:49 pm

So... how did it go?
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Postby Ric » Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:10 pm

Yes please...Pics and video.
Hope all had fun w/o too much carnage!

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Postby Rod » Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:53 am

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you guys. I had to make a trip to Seattle and came home last night to a houseful of sick women.

We had fun, although the group turned out to be smaller than expected. Two new drivers bailed, one guy got banged up at work and was taking pain meds and our H1 was AWOL. When the dust settled, we had 3 H2s. One SUV and two SUTs.

Albie rolled-out his new SUT with the Fabtech lift and BIG (40\") tires. He got quite a workout.

I have a few pics that I'll upload to my server and post. Nothing very exciting, I'm afraid.

It was a good time and I learned a lot about leading these events. January will be a good deal better.
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Postby PhilD » Thu Dec 15, 2005 2:32 pm

It happens like that sometimes, and other times you'll geta bunch of people show that you never knew about. We've had half a dozen vehicles turn up before without any warning.

As you'll discover, you'll look back at the days of only a few vehicles fondly and remeber how much easier it was ;)
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Postby Rod » Sat Dec 17, 2005 12:21 am

A few pics from our trip...

During the second half of the day, we made our way to the old Fort Piute, then hiked to find the source of the water. Never did find it but the further we went, the more interesting it got.

Image

What's left of the old fort, which was established in 1859.

Image

One of our local Vegas Hummers.

Image

Nice lift and tires on that SUT!

Image

Quite a collection of desert plants in this pic if you look closely. It's not often you see so many different types of cacti in one place. This was on the east end of the Mojave Preserve.

Image
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Postby PhilD » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:58 am

Cool pics Rod, looks real nice out there.

That white H2 looks very \"Vegas\", a definite contrast to Albie's monster.

Have you ever been out to Red Rock Canyon?
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Postby Rod » Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:49 pm

[quote=\"PhilD\"]Have you ever been out to Red Rock Canyon?[/quote]

Many times. Great place for hiking and if you're into it, some world class rock climbing. We even get measurable snow there sometimes.

Unfortunately, Vegas development is already up to the edge of the Canyon. A hotel/casino is being built right now with views of Red Rock.

Pretty soon Red Rock - like so many other formerly remote places around here - will be overrun with suburban daytrippers. Vegas made a lot more sense a million people ago.

That's one of the reasons we enjoy treks into the desert so much. It's like going back in time, where you can spend an entire day or weekend in the open space and only see the people you came with.
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