GETTIN’ OFF 4X4 Off-Road Club – April 8 Meeting Minutes
2012-2013 Officers: President: Terry, VP: Brian B, Treasurer: Don, Secretary: Paul E.
Meeting Time & Location: Every 2nd Tuesday at 7, Antonella’s Ristorante (patio area), 1701 Park Avenue, San Jose , CA 95126 (408) 279-4922.
Website http://www.gettinoff4x4.com
7:00 pm. Buffet Dinner $10. Salad, Pasta, Pizza, Bread & Soft drinks, or order directly from the menu. To help Antonella’s cover the cost of using their patio area, members are encouraged to enjoy the dinner.
7:30 pm. Meeting Start
WELCOME and Board Reports
President – Terry: Welcomed Guests & Members; membership explained ( 2 runs, 3 meetings, then members vote; $60 per yr).
Vice President – Brian:
Treasurer – Don: $560 in account.
Secretary – Paul: noted “No Man’s Land” TV show on History Chnl, part of show is finding relics near Darwin, CA. Google search of “4×4 clubs San Jose, CA”: Gettin’ Off is in top 5.
Members Attending (1 point): Aaron, Brad, Brian, Chris, Don, Eric, Gary, Lyle, Mario, Matt, Paul E, Paul H, Randy, Roger, Ron, Terry
Guests – Marco,Tom, Mike
Participation points: Lyle in lead so far.
GENERAL NEWS, ACTIONS & IDEAS
a) Brad has a quote for promo cards to handout on the trail or anytime. 500 cards ~$50; 1000 for ~$75 (?). The vendor has our quality digital artwork & newest logo. The card will have our logo and website, ideas welcome.
b) Annual Board Elections coming. Nominations were held, and can be made up to election time. Election is held at the May meeting. The current board were nominated & seconded.
If you are interested in a board position chime in and/or ask some to nominate you. The Board serves for one year. A copy of the club’s by-laws is attached, and can be be viewed at the club website.
VEHICLE PAINS & PROJECTS
Terry – 4-Runner passed the Smog test.
Paul H – 94 YJ not passing smog. May part it out (!)
Brad – Jeep is back and running.
Randy – Acquired a new YJ, ready to roll.
Don – Contemplating SAS (Solid Axle Swap) on 4Runner. Quotes range from ~$6K to ~$8K, depending work completed, new/old parts, etc. Club members encouraged Don to send out a list of parts needed, and club members could recommend best suppliers. To save on labor costs, members also suggested a time (a Saturday morning at Calabazas RV?) in which the axle could be installed by the club. Aaron & Paul H have professional welding skills. Perhaps this could be combined with the CB tune-up & Swap Meet.
RECENT RUNS & ‘Chances to Lock Axles’
March 14,15,16. Panamint Valley & Calico Mountains. Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Matt, Lauren and his friends Dave & Tony, and I met met in Ridgecrest to run trails in Calico Mountains & Panamint. It went very well, a trip report was submitted March 28. Photos: http://4door4x4.smugmug.com/Off-Road-Trips-1/Calico-and-Panamint-March-2014/38109443_ntbPfH . Click “Map This” for locations.
March 22 – Snow Run ! Terry & Tom (‘new’ Tom) met up near Georgetown & ran up to Wentworth Springs toward Ice House Rd. Just light drifts of bit snow encountered on the way up. Rained off & on. They drove across the dam at Loon Lake to try the Rubicon for a bit, up to the former gate-keeper spot. The rock was wet & slippery, another rig with 38s had traction issues too. Other trails in area were on winter season closure. (these should open up end of April)
March – Eric & friends went to Shoshone Hot Springs, east of Death Valley to Gunsight Mine, and Armagosa River narrows, along old train tracks. Eric noted the pick and shovel labor to build these earth structures for the railroad was incredible for that time.
UPCOMING RUNS (2 points)
April 26 – Adopt-A-Trail – Sourgrass, Hwy 4. Meet at ARCO in Tracy (Grant line Road exit, head southeast, on left) at 7:30am, and/or, Burger King in Angels Camp at 9:15am, and/or Sourgrass parking area at 10:45am. Bring: shovel, pruning loppers, gloves, garbage bags, chain saw, lunch. Looks like we’ll have a good crew of 8 or more rigs going !
May 31 – Slick Rock, then perhaps the 1st few miles of Deer Valley, from Hwy 4 side. Alternate could be eastern side of Corral Hollow if Deer Vly not accessible..
June –
July –
August 15,16,17 – Club BBQ Run: Aragain Rim, up Hwy 108.
CB Tune-Up and Swap Meet – Terry & Tom to determine best day. If you have 4×4 stuff to sell or a CB & antenna to fix or tune-up, this is a good time.
Other run suggestions: places we’ve not been for a long time, and not closed (as is Eldorado NF): Swamp Lake, Rubicon, Fordyce, Lassen Applegate, Barney Riley, Moab.
8:40 pm – Meeting adjourned.
SAVING OUR TRAILS
Barrett Lake Jeep Trail:
1) After the lawsuit from PEER last year, and the subsequent truce between litigants, Eldorado National Forest (ENF) has put together a plan make the required changes to the trail. Work should begin this July. The trail could be ready by 2015. It appears it will take many 100’s of thousands of federal & OHV trust fund dollars to make the trail changes. It is amazing all the behind-the-scenes work & expense required to re-open these trails to the public: large additional reports & plans written by ENF for environmental compliance, volunteers, pro-access groups & the county of Eldorado, etc, and of course the actual ground work by contractors. Even the recent plans made are under attack by the only opposition, PEER, who is already complaining to ENF about their remediation plans…unbelievable! It really makes true the motto ‘Freedom Isn’t Free’. To help understand this, read ENF’s plans and comments at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprd3792621.pdf
I think the next trail ENF will work on is Strawberry Pass, they applied and should receive state OHV Trust funding to study it. No word on Deer Valley or Pardoes/Squaw Ridge yet.
Glamis:
2) Some good news for Imperial Sand Dunes in So Cal (a.k.a. ‘Glamis’). A generally positive court ruling for potential renewed OHV access to this long restricted area. See BRC article: http://www.sharetrails.org/news/2014/04/04/epic-decision-portends-new-balance-re-opening-dunes-glamis In possible retribution(?), PEER/CBD a day later, apparently notfied BLM of their intent to sue them on grounds of inadequate record-keeping of ESA animal populations there.
Check BRC (sharetrails.org) and Corva.org(‘News’) websites for more access news.
Paul E