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Archived Newsletter |
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May 2006
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CALICO GHOST RUN or JEEP RESCUE 101 "Up Odessa and down Doran". Sounds familiar, but not always the same. This trip was a little different than the last few runs to the rustic rock canyons of Calico. This trip was more of a Jeep Rescue 101 class.
About 9:30am we left the Shell Station with a few guests; Carl Trice, Dave’s brother, driving the old black jeep and Joe Nieto, Mike’s dad, with a friend Matt. Keeping with change, Dave Trice wanted to do the "Gate Keeper", so we all wheeled there first. Now, the "Gate Keeper" of Doran is not for the faint of heart nor the unseasoned Jeeper. Dave crawled right up the first step, not easy by any means. Then came the second portion, a "V" notch with a 4 foot step to it. Don’t ask me how it’s done, because I still haven’t seen it conquered yet, although Dave only missed it by "that much".
Ok, now it’s time to begin our journey up Odessa through the boulder field, some tight squeezes and a few steep steps. This is where Mike had to strap his dad up the step just before the waterfall. Now to the famous waterfall, where it lends itself to excitement every time. I still do not understand why one time a jeep crawls right through and the next one rears his jeep up through it. Maybe that’s why I enjoy this "Jeeper see, Jeeper do" event.
When pride gave in to sensibility, they allowed me to hook up my winch and pull him out. Behind him were eight jeeps that crawled through and then about 20 Toyota pick-up trucks that had no business traveling up this trail. At this point of the day we voted to turn around and go up about a half mile of a rock strewn road, which reminded me of a lava flow. After we put our teeth back in our mouths we continued to Phillips Loop trail which overlooks Odessa Canyon and then back to Calico Road. Back at camp we emptied our trash bag’s and made the last draw of our poker hand.
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Since it had only been a few months ago that we had visited
Calico, we decided to do a few things differently. Bob and Sally weren’t along
this time so we had another Poker Run. Each jeep was issued a trash bag and
whoever filled it up received another draw on their poker hand . Al so ,
submitting an unanswered Trivia question earned another draw. Susie Schaffer
drew a couple of cards for that one.
Dave’s left tire slid off into the notch and pinned the left
side of the jeep to the canyon wall. Before we could winch him out, we had to do
some rocking and rolling to get him in position to be winched out without
further damage. This is when his rear axle snapped. About an hour later we got
him clear to winch out and Jeff Coursey pulled him to flat land. Now it’s "5:00
o’clock somewhere" for Dave as he and Jeff returned to the motor home to do some
wrenching and to lend some moral support to Dave.
We finished Odessa and then on to Bismark Mine to begin the
journey down Doran. Approximately one mile down the trail, about halfway
through, we came to another jeep in distress. This guy bent his tie rod severely
trying to climb this 4 foot step. His partner was strapping him out, tearing up
his bumper and light bar.