Colorado Land Cruisers is a four-wheel drive club based out of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and sanctioned by Toyota Land Cruisers Association. We are organized to bring together Toyota owning families and individuals interested in exploring Colorado four-wheel drive trails.
Well, I learned a few things on the Schubarth outing with CLC. First, charcoal is great! But propane is faster! Standing in 12” of snow is the wrong time to realize this. Second, I learned that just because something has always been….doesn’t mean it always will be! As we came to a road closed sign on a trail that I had driven multiple times in as many years. And third, I realized that I have a lot to do to get ready for this seasons expeditions. Things like finding all my gear and checking my rig for loose bolts, cracked or worn parts. Checking supplies, like oil, brake fluid, rags, gloves, and the list goes on.
Spring time in the Rockies! I love it! CLC’s next run is to Carnage (Boulder) on Sat. April 17th. This should be a fun trip and also interesting. I just found out that the top of carnage is temporarily closed which means we must come down the way we came up! There is a restoration project for Left Hand canyon going on that weekend, so there will probably be lots of people and rigs up there. I’m not sure what to expect. I am planning on going. Hope to see ya there.
Got word today that there is going to be another 4x4 expo at the Colorado Springs Expo center on Union, south of Constitution. Bring chairs and sunscreen. The event will be:
April 24th & 25th
Sat: 9am - 6pm ~ Sun: 10am - 5pm
Admission: $5 ~ 2-Day Admission: $7
Kids & Military: FREE!
Andy “Minisrule” Johnson
President - CLC
Trip Report: Slaughter House Gulch – Mar 20th
Come to CLC’s next meeting and get the report live from those that went. See Super Charlie’s digital photos at www.coloradolandcruisers.org.
So, you want to help in Colorado Springs disasters? (Assisting in ~ not causing)
Pete Van Vuren compiled the following:
The topic came up again at the CLC meeting about CLC members assisting in the event of a major blizzard, etc. Awhile back, not sure of the date, probably close to a year ago now, I updated Jim Mesite, Emergency Services Division Manager for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office as well as Battalion Chief Steve Dubay, the Director of the Office of Emergency Management for Colorado Springs. Both added us (CLC) as a contact in case of such a need arose.
For those of you who don't know how this would work or what exactly an OEM and EOC are, it works like this. An OEM is an Office of Emergency Management. We have them at the City, County, and State levels. At the federal level it is FEMA. In any case, if there is a large enough incident, an EOC ( Emergency Operations Center ) is activated. This usually means (depends on incident of course) that police, fire, hospitals, utilities, emergency communications, red cross, etc. are all county and / or city OEM's to respond to requests for assistance. People call in with requests for assistance. This is the biggest place that a request for assistance would come to us (CLC) from. If a hospital needs 4x4 assistance to get critical personal to the hospital, they know to call OEM. Private citizens also call a lot. People panic, the calls are full spectrum.
I am in the county Office of Emergency Management 15+ hours almost every week. I also work pretty closely with Steve Dubay. Both of these guys had the two same questions last year when I met with them about CLC. First was "can you give us a count of vehicles that might be available?" and secondly "what is your communication abilities?" I am glad this topic came up at the last CLC meeting. Reminded me that it would be a good idea to update Steve and Jim on what our status is. So...
1) Who would be interested in participating in that kind of event, and what are your capabilities? I know the second part of that is a hard to define kind of question. Lets say...If you are interested, what would you bring to the table? (example: 4x4, with room to haul one person besides driver, 4x6 foot pickup bed, tire chains, winch, CB radio, licensed amateur radio operator with 2 meter and or 70cm capability) Basically, give us enough info to let us know what you can carry in the way of people or supplies, what communication abilities you have such as cell phone (very often jammed up during crisis situations), CB radio, ham radio, pager, etc. and anything else you think might be good to know about your rig or skills. Also any medical experience, etc. that might be useful is always good to note. This will get passed on as "We have 5 vehicles capable of _____, and 2 vehicles capable of ____" kind of thing.
2) What is your contact info? This will not be passed on to City or County. This is so I have it at time of call up. Kendall was the other person besides myself that was listed as a main contact.
On a slightly different note, if you are interested in being contacted for Old Stage / Gold Camp rescues let me know. Obviously here I am not going to call someone to pull a stuck vehicle out if the next 4x4 going past with a winch can handle it. On the other hand, recently we had a couple significantly serious situations, one where Randy's off road rig couldn't get to the stuck vehicle. If you want to be on this list, drop me an email with contact info, etc.
Pete Van Vuren
Voice: 719.238.0269
County Pager 719.236.3139
Email: pvanvuren@coloradowildland.org
Things you see on I70,
between here and there.
As most of you know I spend a lot of time traveling between home and Grand Junction, my home town. I travel there to help my dad with life’s issues which beset us all and in particular the issues facing an 86 year old traveling the path of life. There are 4 good routes for winter travel, 3 of which are on I70. The 3 I70 routes are all the same from west of Vail to Grand Junction. On this last trip back home (Saturday, April 3rd), I noticed pickup after diesel pickup, all with a trailer in tow, which had 1, 2 or 3 jeeps lashed securely in place. Most, if not all were probably headed for Moab for a week of Easter ‘wheeling. (I think there is a big Easter thing the jeepers have, but not sure I’d understand it.) All of the jeeps looked to be ready for the task, sporting 35’s or larger, skinny fenders, roll bars, winches prominently positioned and ready for use. But in this group rolling west I noticed one rig that stood out head and shoulders above all the rest. It was a FJ40, with probably 35’s, a nice jaunty factory soft top, black in color against a dark purple paint job. It looked like the Boss. It was so completely distinctive in appearance, that even the jeep crews – I’d think – would notice its simple elegant classic lines. It isn’t a jeep-thing and we understand.
I hope the Boss had a good week at Moab.
Tread Lightly,
Darryl
Carnage – April 17, 2004
CLC’s next scheduled run will be to Carnage, in the Boulder area. The meet / leave times are 7:00am / 7:30am, at the North location, McDonalds at N. Academy and Hwy 83. Hope to see you there!
Next CLC Meeting ~ April
20, 2004 7:00PM
Mark your calendar for CLC’s next meeting, Liberty Toyota, North. Bring your ideas as we chart CLC’s direction in 2004, and beyond. See you there!
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