This year's July 4th Club Run again had a great turnout. Our trail master reported at least 54 Jeeps brought their owners for the weekend. That totaled out to around 122 people. Four of the higher rated trails were run, and have we got a list of vehicle casualties! Actually, most of them were minor - or else we're just getting used to it.

Dave Jacobs led us through Tall Dog while riding in Don Sterne's Jeep. Tall Dog starts out with a challenging climb Dave calls the 'Guardian'. You'll realize right away that if you don't like this spot, you'd better turn back a.s.a.p. Once you climb or winch through the Guardian, you'll squeeze through muddy sloughs and encounter lots of steep climbs and narrow shoots. There were only 8 of us that day, and we all worked well together. I got a kick out of John Toumbs. He breezed over each obstacle with his Mangler, and then kept an eye on his old T-Rex. He gave Mike (it's new owner) advice on how it could handle things. Seems we never stop feeling responsible for our "babies". And Randy Whitaker's son Isaac sure enjoyed the ride. He was all smiles, all day long.

Lee and O.R. led Dutch Creek on Saturday.

Paul writes: Just thought I would write a little note about the Dutch Creek Trail. It was my first time on this trail, and I had a real good time. Well maybe except for when the body flex caused my clutch control tube to release from the ball stud and bracket on the bell housing side. (I thought John T. would give me heck if I didn't use these technical terms.) Anyway the clutch thing fell off of the little dealy and we had to do a trail fix for ½ hour or so. Or when I took the wrong line up that hill, and received my first body damage. Hope I didn't hurt that tree much. Or maybe it was when I got stuck and the fine gentlemen with the Cherokee came to my rescue. My brother Frank was in the shotgun seat with me (his first time). He said he had an outstanding time, but he thinks we're all nuts. (It's a Jeep thing he doesn't understand.) We ran the new part of this trail, and our Trail Guide was as helpful as he always is. All things considered I believe everyone had a full and fun day. About 4 p.m. we went over to Tom & Debbie Wombles place for the feed they put on. The food and company were great. Thanks Debbie for all the work you put in. (Did Tom help you? Well ok, thanks to Tom also). Anyone having pictures of that Red, White, and Blue CJ that they would like to share please let me know. Thanks to all for a good time!

After Saturday's trails everybody ended up at the rock pile. Then we all raced for much needed showers before heading back to Tom and Debbie's for a great picnic and hog roast. They were smart and had the hog roasted ahead of time to save us from the added heat. There was a good variety of roast pork, BBQ pork, and ham, and plenty of it. Along with great salads, coleslaw, chips and cake. Many of Tom and Debbie's family were there too. (Not only do they enjoy the club, they are also landowners). After the picnic, Tom led the group to a spectacular fireworks display at Pleasant Hill. He arranged private parking for the Jeeps right behind the stage area. And when the show was over, they even got out before the rest of the crowd. A few members went back to Tom and Debbie's for drinks and snacks and general tall trail tales.

On Sunday, Garry (yes, it's 2 r's) from GDS and his other brother Gary (Doc) took us through Tom and Debbie's newest trail, 'Atlas'. Debbie designed most of the layout for this trail. It has plenty of long vertical climbs that loop up and down and around each other, and it's deep in the thick of the woods. While Rongway had a great time putting his CJ to the challenge, I had difficulty finding a place to hop out for videos. If I wasn't so afraid of the itch-weed, I would have taken some great footage… (yeah, ok, enough excuses). We had only 7 on the trail, so Garry kept us moving pretty fast. That is until we reached the mud hill. After winching himself, he had to winch us all up. John Toumbs and Tom Wombles had a bet to see who could get the farthest. Tom was in the lead until Debbie suggested he try one more time. The second run wasn't as far, so John took his money back. Garry's winch held out until the last Jeep, and then it died (sorry, Val). I heard comments from those who walked up, that we need to install chair lifts on this trail. Woodpecker broke both front springs, so he opted to take his Jeep back to town. Tom gave him directions to the main road while we all finished the trail. We kept in contact on the CB, but Woodpecker must have been enjoying his shortcut. He made enough wrong turns that the group got to the main road before he did! We finished the trail just in time for lunch so we all joined up with Kim Miller back at the air-conditioned motel to bid her and Tim goodbye. Too bad we had to get back to work to support our sport. On their way home, the trailer tire loosened up and Tim lost the retaining nut for the axle. Lucky for him, Eagle Eye Kim walked back and found it along the highway.

Junior led the Back 40 both days. (I heard he claims "Killerman" chickened out on Sunday). Marcus got into a tough spot on T-Bucket, slid sideways and around, then ended up doing the obstacle backwards. Everybody got strapped at least once or twice, except for Brad. And the Cherokees seemed to have the least amount of trouble. They finished the trail in such good time Sunday, that they decided to turn around and run the last half again backwards (but not like Mark did).