Interoffice memorandum

Date:	Feb 2000
To:	Roughwheelers
CC:	Everybody else
Subject:	Snow Run 2000 Report

It has come to the attention of management that the the much-ballyhooed Snow Run 2000 was marred by a very serious lack of snow. This is the second year in a row that this has happened and steps must be taken to assure that this trend does not continue in the future. After the total fiasco of 1999, in which the only snow that was found was not deep enough to wet a dog's butt, but which somehow still managed to stop the entire club, less than a mile from the objective, the person responsible was replaced with a new leader, who assured us all that snow would be found and it would be conquered. This new leader even claimed to have retraced the very same route, in the opposite direction, less than a week later, and encountered no difficulty.

Be that as it may, the run this year got to the exact same location, a small turn on the shady side of the hill (not to be confused with the sunny side of the mountain), where the snow drifted deep, and stopped. It must be stated here that a single vehicle (Rooster) did manage to get through, with the aid of a support vehicle (Pappy) and much winching, and would probably have gone all the way, but the rest of the group would have been left behind. In fact, the support vehicle and its support vehicle (Fearless) did spend almost two hours in towing each other back and forth from the many stuck spots that they managed to get themselves into, and gained 100 to 200 yards further than last year, but the snow just got deeper and it was decided to quit while we were ahead.

While all this was going on, other members were taking turns getting stuck in the tracks that had already been made by the lead vehicles. Altogether, a very sad performance by everybody. To make matters even worse, there were 4 guests along, who seemed to be nice enough, but certainly could not but be non-impressed . I mean, these guys were tough- they decided to camp out in the snow Sat. night, right alongside the trail. Repeat, in the snow! The Roughwheelers, however, chickened out and decided to camp in Tehachapi at the Hughes' house, except for a couple who opted for home sweet home instead.

How did all of this come to happen? Perhaps a brief synopsis might help:

Friday nite the Bogarts (Pappy & Cupcake and Fence Killer/Trail Princess), Old Vic (Rooster), Young Vic (Knucklehead), "Bobbo" Wakefield and "Fidget" Lamori and Seany gathered at the Hughes' to get an early start the next day. We won't go into the 2 hours Bobbo spent playing in the snow on the high peaks around the house (BECAUSE HE WAS LOST!!). All this time "Shiftless" Atkinson was wandering the desert looking for food or shelter but he finally gave up and returned whence he came.

Saturday morning saw a gathering of all in Mojave at the jump-off, including "Boot" Albright and Terry, "Buddha" Bob Baker,Big John Chase, "Eightball" Dill, Chris "Break-a-lot" Norris, and 4 guests. The group left at 9:00 sharp and headed for Last Chance Canyon to find snow- but there was, of course, none visible anywhere near there. So on to Dove Springs Canyon and Pass, which at 5220 feet, should have snow. No such luck, however. There were obvious signs that snow was there once, but all gone now.

On to Kelso Valley and up the Piute Mountain Road to Piute Peak, where snow was found. And where 14 vehicles stopped. We did manage to get 4 or 5 miles up the snow-bound trail on virgin snow before finally being stopped, but stopped we were.

While we were stopped at one point, waiting for the stragglers (mainly Knucklehead!) to quit getting stuck, the artistic talents of Rooster came out in a remarkably life-like snow sculpture, entirely from memory (although there was a lot of talk of Lauren's butt).

This was the trip that showed a properly equipped jeep, with ninety thousand dollars worth of lift and big tires and fuel injection and winch could get through the snow where no one else could follow. Go Rooster. Of course, maybe we all would have had a shot if we hadn't spent so much time earlier watching the same Rooster underneath the same Jeep fixing the same fuel system.

Speaking of which, we seemed to have spent some more time with Chris and his 2-wheel- drive-only Jeep.

So we tried, we left, went down the hill, aired up (and watched Chris fix a flat and 2/4 wheel issues), and left via Jawbone. On towards Tehachapi and Pizza and beer. Of course, no trip would be complete unless we stopped on the way to fix a broken Jeep or two. Guess who (No, not tenball) (and Keith wasn't there)(any editor comments here?). Pappy had to stop to add oil to rear diff, after dropping drive shaft, Because it was smokin'.

A little cards at the cabin, a few little lies, and eventually to bed. Next day saw breakfast in town and home.

Now, with all this experience and skill, one would think that the snow could have been beat. Next year WILL be a different story or heads will roll! We will NOT accept any excuses, nor will we be receptive to any obvious stories such as that one of the group (supposedly Bobbo) tried the trail the very next day in the opposite direction and would have made it through if he had had any backup.