2009 spring edition

RoverXchange Spring 2009

2 RoverXchange A Newsletter for Land Rover Aficionados

RoverXchangeThe Rover Xchange is a quarterly publication of the Solihull Society 4-Wheel Drive Club, Inc. All material in Rover Xchange, unless otherwise noted, is the property of Solihull Society and may not be reproduced without permission.

Solihull Society contactSPresident Karen Kreutzer [email protected] Andy Snow [email protected] Graham Jackson [email protected]/Membership Paul Donohue [email protected] Events Coordinator Jim Hall [email protected] Events Coordinator Wendy VaughnRally Sponsorship Coordinator Mike Pomponio [email protected] Issues Coordinator Jim Hall [email protected] Tate Crumbley [email protected] Admins David Garbs [email protected] Dan Russo [email protected]

Website – www.solihullsociety.org

Newsletter Articles and Photos – Articles must be submitted in either Word (.doc) or text (.txt) format. Digital photos can be emailed or mailed on CD in either a JPEG, TIFF or EPS files. The articles can be submitted either via email ([email protected]) or mailed on a CD to Tate Crumbley at the following address: 2010 E 98th Ave, Thornton, CO 80229. Materials will be returned upon request.

Advertising – $25/issue or $100/year for 1/4 page ads. Payment must accompany all camera-ready ads. Make check payable to Solihull Society. Free classified ads to mem-bers. $5/issue to non-members.

Spring 2009PresidentialROVINGS

Well, summer is upon us, even if the weather has been a bit iffy. It’s time to get those trucks out on the trails and get warmed up for the National Rally. The rally is only a few short weeks away, and it is shaping up to be another great get together. We will be in Leadville July 28th – August 1st. Chris Doty heads the rally com-mittee up this year. He and many other fantastic volunteers are working to create another great event. There will be plenty of trails, food, camaraderie, and fun. Also included this year is another “trail free” day on Friday, back by popular demand. And we have a free group camping site arranged for rally participants. Once again, we have some great sponsors on board that help make this thing possible. For more information, go to the official website at www.landrovernationalrally.org.

As far as official business is concerned, we are pleased to announce that Graham Jackson has taken the reins as club treasurer so that Jenny Burris is finally relieved of her duties. Thank you Graham! Also, as you may notice, Tate Crumbley has taken over the production of the newsletter. I’m sure he will do a great job as well. Club membership is currently above 130 members, and each of the club meetings this year has had a 30+ member attendance with a few new members each meeting. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of our new members and encourage all to join us in the upcoming club activities.

Wendy Vaughn has stepped up to help with rally issues, as well as organizing our summer picnic. This year’s BBQ will be held at Pioneer Park in Arvada on Aug. 30th. Look to the website for more details. This should be a great time for hang-ing out and enjoying “Rover” company. The club will provide the main dish and non-alcoholic beverages. Wendy has some fun things planned for this one. Don’t miss it!

I guess that before we know it summer will be over, and I’ll be writing a fall note. Time just seems to fly by without notice. I hope that I get to see a lot of you at the various events this year.

Have fun and be safe!

Karen Kreutzer

Solihull Society President

RoverXchange Spring 2009 www.SolihullSociety.org 3

IN THIS ISSUERoverXchange

Volume 13, Issue 1, Spring 2009

Presidential Rovings 2

Confessions of a Land Rover Enthusiast 5

Disco Isn’t Just a Dance 7

Trip Report: Spring Creek 11

Letter From the Editor 10

Membership Application and Renewal 14

Upcoming Trails 16

Photos in this issue are courtesy of John Reichert, Kristy Taylor, Paul Donohue, Tate Crumbley, and Land Rover


Confessions of a Land Rover Enthusiastby Paul Donohue

Hi, my name is Paul and I have to confess that I am a Land Rover enthusiast. Although I have had this interest for over 40 years, the potential was always there. You might well ask if this is a question of nature or nurture. Are Land Rover enthusiasts made or born? I can only speak about my own case.

I was born right after World War II. As a child I constantly saw pictures of Jeeps and other military trucks in newspapers, magazines, movies and on the air base where my father was stationed as a pilot. Our family photos show him sitting in a Jeep next to his airplane in England, Okinawa, Saudi Arabia and other strange places. In the early fifties, military bases were covered with Jeeps, Dodge weapons carriers, tactical ambulances, command cars, and a host of other rugged, off-road, 4x4 and 6x6 trucks. Their utility appealed to me.

Dad’s interest in fly fishing provided my first serious off road experience. We used a borrowed a surplus flat fender Jeep to get back in to a remote and little used fishing place that Dad had spotted from the air during a search and rescue mission.

In 1957 our family moved to Germany. This brought into view a whole new collection of left over military machinery: the German Kubelwagen, tactical Volkswagens, early Unimogs and the really strange French and English military trucks. By this time I was completely fascinated by these marvelous old utility machines.

While living and working in Leadville one summer, I had the use of an old surplus flat fender Jeep. It had no top, no spare, no seat cushions, no shocks, and faded ugly green paint. With it, however, I was able to explore the area’s old roads, mines, mills, ghost towns, passes and trails. This thing would go where I was afraid to walk. What a blast!

During the mid sixties, while in college, I began to notice Land Rovers. A classmate drove an old 109. On one day it could be a pickup, the next day an open truck, and then, a fully enclosed carryall. On weekends, he used to fill it with girls and go skiing, camping, exploring caves, old ghost towns or old mountain back roads. I noticed.

Alas the need to stay in school (remember the 2S deferment?) meant the funds just were not there to buy a real 4x4. I sadly remember passing up a good buy in 1967 on a used, canvas topped 88 for $1000 as the price was too much at the time.

Upon completing college, my deferment ran out, the lottery went into effect (I drew an 8) and it was time to answer the call. Ultimately this provided chances to drive all sorts of

interesting things. My unit in Viet Nam had a Ford M151, an M-37 Dodge and several deuce and a half trucks. I occasionally drew duty as ambulance driver.

I soon discovered that our Australian allies, headquartered in Saigon, not only had great beer but also Land Rovers. I made some new friends and got to drive open military 109s with steering on the wrong side. It was weird changing gears with the left hand. Aussies tended to flog their Land Rovers mercilessly, winding them up in each gear, going through traffic circles in four wheel power drifts and so on. This was amusing as it sent the locals scattering, yelling “uc dai loi,” and pointing to the orange kangaroo decals on the fenders and doors. My new friends at the Olive Drab Cab Company didn’t even consider a Land Rover broken in till it had a hundred thousand miles on the clock. R&R, of course, was spent in Australia where I spotted even more. Driving on the wrong side of the road was even worse than driving a right hand drive car.

Banana plantation owners in the Mekong delta and central highlands used Land Rovers as the roads got really bad during the monsoon season. On the old trade routes, you could see everything from old Series I machines to the newest Series III station wagons. By this time I had acquired a camera and added Land Rovers to the list of odd things to photograph.

Meanwhile, back in Colorado, my old classmate had traded up to a Dormobile, a sort of pre-historic camper. This was a camping conversion built on a 109 station wagon chassis with a pop-top, stove, sink, table and closet. It would sleep four or


five depending on how friendly they were and could traverse the ugliest trails. It was always fun to go along with him on a trip into the canyons and mountains. By this time we were photographing Anasazi ruins and the spectacular scenery in the Canyonlands of Utah.

After completing service, more travels, and additional studies, it was time to settle down. I got a real job, a real (but forgettable) car and was engaged to marry. One day while on a business errand in 1976, I spotted a Dormobile like my old classmate’s with a “For Sale” sign. Nah, I thought, I cannot afford this, but the least I can do is ask about the price. My fiancée however thought differently. If you really want this thing, we can get a loan and buy it. I had never thought I could afford a Land Rover, let alone a Dormobile. My bank, of course, was useless. “You want a loan to buy what?” Eventually they accepted my forgettable, but paid for, car as collateral and coughed up the funds.

What I got was a ten year old machine with 75,000 miles. It was missing several of the Dormobile bits like the table, closet, plumbing and overhead vent. The vent was a known weak spot but some prior owner had installed a window in its place. My Dormobile came with a large box of parts and things, which were reputed to have fallen off of it. In reality many were spares and other parts returned to the previous owner after service.

Among the challenges inherited with this beast was an intriguing electrical problem. There was a leak in the electrical system (can you imagine?) and the battery would frequently run down. Fortunately there was a hand crank, which was often used before the electrical problem was eventually solved.

Having the Dormobile was a huge amount of fun. We explored

the remote mountain valleys, ghost towns, passes and back roads. We went on one memorable trip with two Dormobiles deep into the Canyonlands to take pictures. The Christmas holidays were the one time all of could get away from work for this expedition, so it involved winter camping, snow, and cold. The Rovers were utterly reliable; they went anyplace we wanted. They are slow ascending the hills, but once off the pavement they are in their element. Elephant Hill only needed a little road building. The canyons that winter were empty. During our week there, we saw no other humans. We saw herds of deer that stretched for miles. I will always have memories from this trip of the sunsets, moonlit landscapes and horizons with ranges of mountains receding into the distance.

In those days car clubs were for sports cars and antique cars. I found little in common with the Jeep clubs. For Land Rover owners there were not even support groups (as for Pinto owners), only a small group of owners who could swap parts and help each other with various repairs. Until about 1981 there were even a few dealers left who stocked original parts. Electrical and hydraulic parts were available from local Lucas dealers. The arrival of the mail order parts catalogs helped keep the old beast running.

As my group of friends who owned the old Land Rovers married and moved, our group dwindled even further. Finally my old classmate, with great reluctance, sold his thoroughly worn out Dormobile. As new Land Rovers were no longer available in the US he replaced it with a Suburban which he fitted with an elevation top, stove, cabinets and bunks. Now I was alone.

In the course of my business, I found a customer who owned a Land Rover. He told me that he got together with a few other Land Rover owners in Castle Rock to relate electrical system horror stories, run trails, and swap yarns and parts. He urged me to attend a meeting. He even helped me find some parts needed to keep Lurch on the road. After several invitations, I eventually made it to a meeting at Elliott Farm & Tractor and promptly joined the Solihull Society. At one of the early meetings a member who had visited the factory in Solihull told us about a new vehicle he had seen at the plant which was not yet on the market but would fit between the Range Rover and the traditional Defenders. The new machine was the Discovery.

So it was that I came to find a group of people who enjoyed both the back country and these odd British trucks.


Disco Isn’t Just a Danceby Tate Crumbley

Sometimes I hate my Land Rover—times like when I get a repair bill, or I get passed on I-70 by a blue-smoke-blowing 1967 VW bus. Then there are the other times, like when I drive unencumbered through a blizzard or complete a trail, when I love it, and it’s those times that keep it sitting in front of my house.

I am a lucky victim of marketing. Back when I was in college, I was driving an old blue Volvo sedan I inherited from my father. I wasn’t a car guy. The Volvo could eventually reach the speed limit of 65 and was fairly reliable. Why would anyone need anything else? Then again, when my friends and I went on one of our regular hiking trips, we had our choice of three smaller-sized sedans not atypical for high school and college kids in the late 90s: a Ford Tempo, a Chevy Corsica, or my Volvo 740. Through some creative driving, we managed to get those vehicles down easy 4wd roads where they really shouldn’t have gone. We just didn’t know any better.

By senior year of college, I had been driving the Volvo for five years and was starting to yearn for something different. I didn’t know what, but I felt like it should be different from the Volvo. Sitting in my apartment, working a computer program for a class, I stumbled upon an infomercial by the local Land Rover dealer, Land Rover Cary. I’d seen Land Rovers around, mostly Discoveries. They looked interesting and different, I thought, but were almost funny looking. I’d seen them in mall parking lots or driving on the highway. In this commercial, they were going offroad. They were really offroad, like in the mud. It looked like footage from a dealership event where the owners drove their own Rovers. Could it be? A car dealer that encouraged the use of its four wheel drive vehicles offroad? This was no typical American truck or SUV commercial where they showed an unrealistic scene of bashing though fresh snow or a truck airlifted to the top of a 3,000 foot high Utah rock tower with vertical sides. These guys were actually driving their trucks through the rocks and mud. I stopped programming and watched the whole infomercial. I was instantly hooked.

When I landed a job offer and the promise of a real salary, I did what any responsible college senior would do: I headed straight to the Land Rover dealer for a test drive. I still remember that first test drive in the two year old green 1998 Discovery. The sales guide, Woody, gave me a once-over on the controls, and off we went. Compared to the Volvo, it felt really tall. It was kind of boatlike. I liked it. Driving down a country road, I asked him, “So what’s it like offroad?” He said, “slow down and turn left here.” There was no road, just a field. Tall

grass dragging along the doors, silly grin on my face, I knew I had to have one.

I bought it on a Friday. On Sunday, the first part fell off. I drove from the dealer in Cary, NC to my parents’ lake house near Uwharrie National Forest. I’d heard they had some trails and was itching to get the Discovery dirty. With father, fiancée, and no offroad experience at all in the Rover, we headed towards a trail that looked muddy, steep, and had a sign communicating extreme slipperiness. A local in a jacked up pickup drawled, “Are you gonna take that $80,000 truck on that?” I neglected to mention that the price was way lower than $80,000 and was actually cheaper than most other vehicles I had looked at, but I nodded, said, “yep,” and pointed the truck up the trail. The dealer had explained low range, and the effect of that change was immediately both obvious and helpful. The diff lock was less obvious. However, I fairly quickly figured out that in the slick mud of North Carolina, it often meant the difference between “moving” and “not moving.” I thought I knew what “solid axles” meant, but it was several months later that I discovered that it did not mean that there was a solid metal bar running from one wheel to the other. After lots of scraping noises, shouts of “WATCH THAT TREE,”


a fair bit of mud, we exited the trail and headed home. Even after committing a large chunk of my paycheck for the next four years, I was satisfied with my purchase. Sunday night on the back roads driving home from Albemarle to Durham, my fiancée Norma and I noticed a jingling sound emanating from beneath the truck that hadn’t been there before. Stopping in a grocery store’s parking lot, we noticed a large metal object dangling from some sort of tether beneath the front axle.

“What’s that?” I asked Norma. “I have no idea,” she said. “Do you think it’s important?”“Well, since it’s on a tether, it’s obviously designed to fall off.”“Well, maybe it’s extra. Think we can pull it off ?”“We can’t drive another 90 miles with it dragging on the ground.”“Well then, we better pull if off.”

I had previously only turned wrenches to work on my skateboard and bicycles, so I had no tools with me. Luckily, it’s not too hard to find a pickup truck with a truck bed toolbox in that part of the country. After randomly accosting several pickup owners, we found a nice one who had some wire cutters we could use to cut the tether. After doing that, we tossed the heavy metal disk in the back, carried on our way, and noticed

no ill effects of not having the mystery piece attached to the truck. Later discussions with the dealer revealed it to be a harmonic damper for the front axle—a big hunk of metal attached to the front axle via another rubber engine mount to help absorb driveline vibration. As I replaced it in the parking lot of my apartment building, recreating the cut metal tether with parts from Home Depot, my transition from “Clueless Volvo Driver” to “Wrench-turning Land Rover Enthusiast” began.

After moving from North Carolina to Arlington, VA, I started to notice that I wasn’t alone. The people I’d seen in the infomercial really existed, and they formed Land Rover Clubs, ran trails together, and formed online message boards to discuss the myriad of problems that seemed to happen with the trucks. Maybe those reviews about how unreliable Land Rovers were had some merit, but I was meeting people, learning how to drive on trails, and learning how to fix my own car. I learned that you didn’t own a Land Rover just to get from Point A to Point B. Rather, Land Rover ownership was an experience that required a time commitment outside of commuting to work or the mall and a financial commitment outside of just filling the gas tank. In return for the dollars and hours spent wrenching, the Disco could take my fiancée and


me to places I’d previously only been able to reach via foot or bike, and we could do it on leather seats in air conditioned comfort. The ability of the Disco’s four wheel drive system became apparent when we would stop on a slick trail. Often, we’d exit the truck and promptly fall down on loose rock or slick mud. During a freak snowstorm that dumped over three feet of snow, I never had to shovel the Disco; I’d just periodically clear the windshield and drive around.

After a couple of years, I traded the Disco on a Subaru Forester Turbo. With 60,000 miles on the Disco in two years of DC driving, the repair bills were mounting. Plus, I thought I was ready for something different. Despite often cursing the Disco as a “shiftless friend who throws good parties,” Norma cried when we drove away in the Subaru. The Subaru was really fast, fun to drive, and very reliable as we moved from DC to Denver. However, I soon realized that the Subaru was too reliable and hard to work on, and I missed having something to tinker with. I tried satisfying that urge with an older Toyota LandCruiser FJ62, but it just missed the mark. I sold the FJ to a guy who was going to take it to drive around Djibouti. We discussed the relative merits of LandCruiser vs. Land Rover while another new-to-me, shiny, white 1998 Discovery hid from view in my garage. It was in better condition in the 1998 Disco I’d traded years ago, and I swear that it didn’t even leak when I bought it. It now leaks oil, goes 45 mph up I-70, and several parts have fallen off it since, but every time I hop behind the steering wheel, it just feels like home.

I’d rather push my Rover than drive a

LandCruiser.

It’s not leaking; it’s marking its territory.


Do you have stuff that you need to sell?

Did you know that classified ads are free to club members? Simply send an e-mail with a description of what you’re selling along with asking price and contact information, and we’ll run it for free in the RoverXchange classifieds.

Send it to: [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDS & ANNOUNCEMENTSPRESIDENT - shall preside over all membership and Executive Committee meetings and be present at all events when possible. He shall be the executive officer and shall have the duty to carry out the policies and decisions of the Board of Directors.

VICE PRESIDENT - shall, in the absence of the President, serve in that capacity. He shall also serve as a Parliamentarian and perform such other duties as may be assigned by the Board of Directors.

SECRETARY - shall keep and preserve all records and minutes of the meeting of the regular membership and the Board of Directors, shall keep a file system of membership and shall receive and answer all general correspondence pertaining to the organization.

TREASURER - shall keep accurate and complete records of the funds and accounts of this organization and shall collect all dues and maintain a record thereof. He shall make only such disbursements from the funds of the organi-zation as are directed by the Board of Directors and Article VII hereof.

Ballots shall be issued to each membership at check in.

A Letter From the [email protected]

Welcome to my first issue of RoverXchange as editor. It’s been a learning process putting things together, and it’s amazing how much page layout software has changed over the years. As I close this issue out, I’ll be starting the Rally issue. If you’ve got trip reports, Rover news, general Rover musings, cool photos, or any-thing else you’d like to see in print, send it my way. This newsletter should be for members, by members.

A huge thanks go out to Paul Donohue, not only for contributing photos and a great story, but also for helping out with a myriad of other tasks that made this issue possible.

I’ve got a white 1998 Disco with a OME lift and Rockware Bumper. I like getting the truck dirty, but I’m by no means an extreme wheeler. My wife Norma and I often use the truck to get to trailheads for hiking and mountaineering.

I spent last summer fighting with an evap system that kept spewing liquid gasoline in my engine bay and intake. After finally finding some missing check valves in the gas tank—evidently a factory defect in place for 10 years—and replacing the gas tank, I’m hop-ing to be less of a fire hazard on the trail this year.


Smash-A-Car Event

Trip Report: Spring Creekby Kristy Taylor

June 6th, 2009

With a three thousand foot elevation gain on the interstate alone, the trek in a Defender 90 from Denver to Spring Creek’s meeting spot in Downieville is an adventure of its own. Alternating between hanging with the semis in a slow crawl up the mountains—flashers a blazing—to zipping downhill in a blur of yellow, I eventually made it to Downieville in an hour flat. That’s only twenty-five minutes behind my GPS’s suggested arrival time.

Expecting a large group to be congregated in the Starbucks’s parking lot, I found instead that I was the sole Land Rover for miles around. As I was fueling up on caffeine and refilling my parched gas tank a Disco 1 pulled up beside me and surveyed the bleak scene. An hour later it was apparent that John Reichert, his two-year-old son James, and I would round out this Solihull group of two for Spring Creek. Not to be deterred we aired down, voted John in as trail leader and myself as tail gunner, and set off for the trailhead located just minutes from the Starbucks’s front door.

A small pullout off I-70’s frontage road marks the head of this difficult trail, and within seconds there is no mistaking that you are on the right track. A nearly vertical march up thousands of feet in elevation forced me to thwart the advance of my temperature gauge towards the red by putting the Defender’s heater on high, popping the hood open, and flipping on my arsenal of extra fans, while the Disco climbed right up with its A/C blasting. Not that I am jealous or anything. John and I kept a wide berth between us as loose rocks and stout boulders made for a slow zigzag of a climb where stopping with a manual transmission required some fancy footwork and total

faith in my emergency brake to start up again.

At the top of the first hill a “Y” in the road marks the first obstacle, often called “Extra Credit Rock.” You can take a right to bypass it or continue straight ahead into a deep gully followed by a very off camber rock slab. There is room to turn around here if you find that your heart just isn’t in it. I found John already halfway up the rock performing an impressive wheel stand before I could even get out of my truck. Directions are as follows: head up to the left for maximum air, the middle to experience 44.9 degree tilting, or hug the right side to avoid most of the theatrics. John attempted both the first and second options while I squatted on the uphill side and inspected the Disco’s undercarriage, so blatantly exposed to the sunlight. The Disco soon scooted up the hill and I followed in my Defender by hugging the right line and keeping all four tires on the ground.

I must admit I didn’t even notice the second obstacle. As I hadn’t planned on writing the trip report at the time, I really wasn’t paying attention to the specifics. Plus, the soaring views from the shelf road high above I-70 held most of my attention. Spring Creek has to be one of the best trails in Colorado for views; it’s just outstanding. As most of it is along a shelf road riddled with switchbacks, there are ample opportunities to catch that perfect shot of Colorado’s snow peaked mountains. The trail itself is strewn with diff smashing rocks, so do try to keep at least one eye on the road.

After stopping for pictures we took a left at the big “Y” in the trail and ventured up a small, steep hill. I would advise stomping down on the skinny pedal here, as about halfway up it gets very loose. Not knowing this at the time, it was all I could do to keep the forward momentum going in my


underpowered V8. I do have my suspicions that my Defender does not contain a V8 but something more suited to a golf cart. Large rocks would make backing down here difficult.

During a break from the rocks along a dirt portion of the trail, we took some time to check out the old mining ruins. Be careful walking through the woods, as many old mines have caved in and even swallowed clumps of giant pine trees. We were talking back and forth on the CB about the history of Colorado’s mining community when John received a cell phone call while way up on top of a mountain. Turns out some of his friends had just started the trail when they recognized his voice on the CB. They asked us to wait for them, so we broke for an early snack and let my Defender’s needle recede out of the red. Within 45 minutes a deep rumble shook the ground and 6 “Juggies” burst through the forest.

I was surprised to find these Jeep/buggy hybrids are actually much bigger in person than they seem on video, and they in turn were surprised to find a teeny-tired Defender sans lockers as now part of their group. After a quick tour of the Juggies (the entire truck, including all the pieces parts under the truck can be viewed without even bending down) we were on our way, the Disco still in the lead. The usual Jeep versus Land Rover banter filled the airwaves and entertained us all right up to Obstacle #3.

The last obstacle before the rock garden is a rocky wall right on the curve of one of the numerous switchbacks. There are dozens of lines to choose from, from extreme to moderately difficult. John hung a tight left and climbed right up a steep ledge. With his rear tires hanging down as far as they could stretch, he walked right up the rocks without disturbing even a pebble. There is room on this obstacle to come around the curve, backup, and plan your attack. This is what I did. With the help of Kevin, driver of the aluminum-bodied Juggy, I found a path and gave it my best, surprisingly making it without even a wheel spin. Then came the entertainment. The Juggies put on quite a performance by spreading out and climbing every boulder they could find on the way up, often tipping briefly onto two tires and launching themselves up vertical boulders the size of my house. Cheers and clapping helped everyone through, and half an hour later we were back on the trail.

A sudden influx of round grey boulders marked the beginning of the end, the infamous rock garden. Deciding lunch would be our reward for navigating this difficult portion we forged ahead with growling stomachs. A Juggy bravely volunteered to lead the pack and act as a winch point. Making quick work of this last remaining obstacle he parked 2/3 of the way through and waved John ahead. John silently picked his way along the hardest lines, hesitating just briefly every now and then to spot his way along this seemingly endless uphill battle of the boulders. A waterfall of sorts marks the halfway point, a pile of rocks nearly as big as my Defender. The Disco’s front tires climbed right up, and with a little gas to get through the mud puddle shimmering at its base, John popped right up. The Juggy scrambled to get out of his way as John blasted right through the top half the rock garden and made the whole ordeal look pretty darn easy. I don’t think I heard the horrid


clang of metal against rock even once. Very smooth. I had to remind John to stop and act as my winch point, as being the only truck without lockers I was expecting to have to put my winch through it’s paces. But with Kevin and John carefully spotting me, I managed to make it about halfway up before being halted in my tracks when I slipped off a perfectly round rock and managed to lodge it just behind my skid plate. The source of my problem was the slippery mud lurking just below the dry crust of dirt on this portion of the trail that seemed to need extra time to dry out. It took a bit of scraping to extricate myself, but with no damage other than a new white gash on the diff guard, I oriented myself on a new line and conquered the rock. The rest of the rock garden went by without a hitch, even though my Defender’s engine kept choking and dying in the altitude, and soon John was scrambling to get the Disco out of the way. The rest of the Juggies followed, and we celebrated the conquest with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juicy cherries. A group of two Toyotas and a Bronco making their way down the trail joined us for lunch as well, rounding out our mismatched group of fourwheelers and bringing the total to around 20 worn out but ecstatic new friends.

The rock garden does have a bypass, but it doesn’t bypass all of the fun. Expect a difficult path whether you bypass or not. I was surprised to find the one normal sized Jeep of the group ambling up the bypass during lunch. His excuse for not following us into the rock garden being that he was nursing a bent U-joint and had run nearly the entire trail in rear wheel drive. This feat was made even more impressive at the end of the trail when we all commented on how no one had needed a winch or a tow strap the entire day.

With the hard parts over, our group broke in half. Most of the Juggies headed back downhill into the rock garden for more fun with the Toyotas and Bronco, while the rear wheel drive Jeep, a few Juggies, John, and I continued on to a Forest Service road leading into Georgetown. Once we cleared the remaining entrails of the rock garden and bypassed a deep mud hole (well, the Land Rovers bypassed the mud hole) it was an easy ride down the switchbacks to Georgetown. This part of the trail could be run back up the mountain to the mud hole from Georgetown with a stock SUV and offers perhaps the best views of the whole trip. Wide grassy valleys open up to views of distant snow capped fourteeners while far below, I-70’s traffic resembles tiny ants marching up to the 11,000 foot high Eisenhower Tunnel. We aired up at the Conoco in Georgetown and bid our farewells after a perfect day in the Colorado mountains.


Application for Membership/Renewal Please print all information clearly.Name:_________________________________________________________Email:____________________________________________________Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________City:______________________________________________________State_____________________________Zip:_________________________Home Phone:_______________________________________________Cell Phone:____________________________________________________Occupation:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Present Land Rovers:______________________________________________________________________________________________________Past Land Rovers: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

May we share the above information with other club members? Yes No

Type of Application: Type of Membership: New member Single (S) -- $40.00 Renewal Family (F) -- $50.00 Out of state (O) -- $30.00

Waiver:I/We, in consideration of my/our participation in the Solihull Society Land Rover Club, [hereafter referred to as club] do hereby release Solihull Society, its members, officers, sponsors, successors and assigns from any and all responsibility or liability for any and all claims, arising from or related to the activities and my/our participation in and all events sponsored and/or involving the club.

I/We understand and acknowledge off-highway driving is a hazardous activity with inherent dangers, which can result in severe property damage, seri-ous bodily injury and/or death. With full knowledge of such risks, hazards and potential for damage, injury or death, I/We voluntarily and knowingly assume such risks and hazards and agree, that the club, its members, officers, sponsors, successors and assigns shall not be liable in any way, to me/us for any claims for damages, injuries or death resulting from my/our participation in the club’s events.

I/We acknowledge my/our vehicle is in good mechanical condition, and said vehicle is insured for bodily injury liability insurance and personal injury protection insurance and/or medical payment coverage, as required by its’ state of registration.

I/We are advised to consult with our insurance broker/agent about availability of and adequacy of present medical payment coverage should I/We and/or our passengers sustain bodily injury, while operating my/our motor vehicle.

I/We further acknowledge the driver/operator of the vehicle is licensed to operate a motor vehicle and the license is not under suspension.

This waiver/release of liability is binding on our heirs, insurers, personal representatives or assignees.

Signature______________________________________________________________Date______________________________________________

Club Use Only: Cash Email to member Check # Roster Quicken Member card # Deposit slip Welcome packet

MembershipInformation


FlatironsSuperior, Colorado

The Colorado Denver East Dealership offers:

The Colorado Flatirons Dealership offers:

The Colorado Springs Dealership offers:

Our members receive exclusive discounts at Denver area Land Rover dealerships

15% DISCOUNT ON PARTS & LABORIncludes courtesy vehicle. Will install customer parts. Contact dealer for details.

15%

15% DISCOUNT ON PARTS & LABOR

DISCOUNT ON PARTS & LABOR

DealershipDISCOUNTS

10% DISCOUNT ON LABORParts typically 10%-20% cheaper than list

JC’s Rover offers:

10% OFF TIRE ORDERSGreen Diamond Tires offers:


You Know Your Rover. I Know Your Real Estate.

Tom Cryer Broker Associate

The Kentwood Co. 303-773-3399303-638-3202

[email protected]

Saturday, June 20: Crystal MountainSaturday, July 4: McAllister Gulch / Ptarmigan PassSaturday, July 18: Grizzly LakeSaturday, August 8: Red Elephant Hill and Bill Moore LakeSunday, August 9: Red Cone and Radical Hill WorkdaySaturday, August 15-Sunday, August 16: Blanca Peak Camping TripSaturday, August 22: Mt. Antero

UPCOMING TRAILS

Tuesday, July 28-Sunday, August 1

Land Rover National RallyLeadville, Colorado

Visit the website to get more information and to register:

www.landrovernationalrally.org


Bill Burke’s

4-Wheeling America 970-858-3468 … [email protected]

Premier Training for all users of

4-wheel drives and all skill levels. Driving Techniques. Recovery.

Safety. Environmental Awareness.

Getting Prepared. Trail Spotting.

Navigation. Field Fixes.

●Private Instruction One-on-one with Bill Burke.

●Group Training Comprehensive training programs that

include all you need to know about going

into the remote back country safety.

●Industrial & Government

Training Programs

Custom safety programs for organizations

that use 4WD vehicles in their operations.

●Trail Leader Training Trail leading is serious business not to be

taken lightly. It is also fun if you are

prepared for all situations. Learn

skills needed to safely lead clubs,

friends, and other groups.

“Though I have driven off road many

times before, I learned some great driving

techniques from the class. It was fun to

learn more about trail prep, recovery and

trail fixes. Bill, I appreciated the mix of

serious instruction with fun days on the

trail and a good dose of patience for my

slightly reluctant Disco.” Sam W., ‘07

“Being new to the sport, I was a little

intimidated going into this class. But,

thanks to Bill’s easygoing teaching style,

I felt right at home. Not only did I learn

a lot about the mechanics of my truck

and the importance of being prepared,

but we tackled some terrain that I

wouldn’t have thought possible

on my own.” Linda P., ‘08

www.bb4wa.com We hold BLM & USFS permits to

operate on public lands.

“A few of us had the chance to spend the

weekend wheeling with Bill here in the

Northeast…. I have to say it's time well

spent and one of the best investments you

can make for your wheeling experience

and knowledge.” David M., ‘03

DVDs by Bill Burke

●Getting

UNStuck

●Getting

PREpared

Safe recovery

techniques.

Real life

situations!

Watch this DVD

before you head

out! Includes 8-

page booklet!

Solihull SocietyPo Box 480864Denver, co 80248-0864

2009 spring edition

Documents

rally issues

tate crumbley

property of solihull

club treasurer

club membership

club meetings

rally participants

national rally