I guess it’s a high class problem when your wheeling schedule is so full that you have to hold an April event in May. Such was the case for our annual Run of Fools held this year in Stoddard Valley.

We camped behind the Slash X Ranch Cafe in their graded, level, 44 acre camping area. No dust and walking distance from burgers and beer. And, my God, those tater tots covered in the mornings biscuit gravy – to die for.

Our Saturday run started off with Achy Breaky. Mike’s GPS verified that we were at the trailhead and off we went. Achy Breaky winds up and down through a number of canyons and washes. The only notable obstacle is The Staircase, a rocky ledge that gave our lower slung vehicles some new skidplate stripes.

After Achy Breaky, we headed up the trail to Pumpkin Eater. This trail is a rock laden wash that is very “Hammeresque”. This is also the top rated trail at High Desert Round-Up each year. By the way, it is perfectly named.

Pumpkin eater’s premier obstacle is a 6 foot tall waterfall that brought out the winches on almost all of our rigs. While we pulled cable and stacked rocks, two members from the Desert Dawgs who were prerunning the trail for Hi Desert watched. Once up the waterfall, the rock carnage continued right to the end of the trail. Overall, we spent 3 hours to travel 0.2 miles.
Our return to camp featured burgers and beer at the Slash X followed by off road videos in the motorhomes.

Our Sunday morning vehicle look-see revealed an unplanned wheelbase alteration on Richard’s CJ7. Seems the right front leaf spring pin sheared off and the differential shifted 4″ forward. We also got to smile at the new rock rash at every corner of Bob’s Rubicon Unlimited. Another great trip!

Attendees: Ed & Jeni; Bob & Kathi; Mike; Richard; and Tom & Lawana