Here is some perspective from a first year attendee. I'm not trying to stir pots or what not, but I felt that the overall event was fabulous.
1. I was under the initial impression that the fees for the event included the park fees. My bad. Better budgeting on my part for next time.
2. Park flags. We kind of got nailed here, and I didn't have a chance to get with those that had posted up that they had some spares. This could have saved me some $$, no biggie, I have one for next time.
3. Didn't realize that my registration covered my camping. Probably another oversee on my part, but either way, I didn't know then what I know now, and that alone could have saved me a substantial amount of $$ since I had to commute to a hotel, but with the temps and predicted non-weather, and two small kiddos, I didnt feel like dealing with sick people. This was planned on my part, but knowing that camping will be covered(hopefully next time), I can make better plans to save some $$.
4. Better maps. No offense to anyone here but the park's map that we got royally sucked. The copy we got was black and white, and the key needed color to make some better sense of what was where. I have never been to this park before, and I was confused as to where some things were. I'm gonna do some searching and check some other sources to see what is where. If there is some cost for this, can we look into this??
5. Trail leaders and positions. Locally here, we have a leader, a tail gunner, and a rig in the middle of the pack. Leaders should be well versed on where they are gonna lead the group. I have been in mid and tail gunner positions before(no man left behind has always been my philosophy). I know what some of these guys have and had to do to get us to where we are going. We got to a point on Friday that we were done, but still had some time before the end of day. It seemed like no one really knew what direction was which, and all of us were pulling out compasses, on phones and other means, to find North. I had no idea where the parking lot was after about 10mins on the trail. No biggie, I would have eventually found it.
6. Trail markings. This follows the map to an extent. I was seeing a lot of white arrows, but few green, orange, white or whatever other colors of trail markings that should have been. I know things arent perfect, but unless some were calling like we should have been, I wouldn't have been on the right trail. I tried my hardest to keep the rig in front and behind in sight at all times or know where they were, even if I couldn't see them. Early in the green trail somewhere, I saw this and again it reared its head on Saturday. If help here is needed to mark things, I can make plans to help get this up for the new peeps.
7. CBs vs FRS, this is an ongoing debate everywhere I have ever been. I have been a Ham, for over 20 years. I have used FRS, 2M, VHF, UHF, OPP, yeah you know me...well not really. Those with great antennas will pick up everything. Those on portables, or craptastic amazon cheap boxes might not hear everything. The money spent on a decent CB, and antenna far outweighs the problems with hearing or being heard. The Uniden I used this weekend was a replacement for the one Melissa used to have in her Scout. Its been the most dependable, on being heard and hearing. The squawking that was going on on Saturday I agree was an issue, as we too had to turn the squelch up like 80%, but still could have missed things. Myron lost the top half to his antenna, which resulted in his radio being hard to hear when we were as close as we were, but he could receive just fine there, it was us hearing him. Introducing yourself to the guy in front and behind went a long way here, but I didn't introduce myself to Myron, until we were well into the trail, so I had to take care of this at a stopping point, so that it wasn't an issue.
8. Stockers vs Mods. I have about 10+ years of wheeling experience. Probably not as much as lots that were out there this weekend, but with this group I was the newbie. On the Green trail, there were probably only a handful of times that a stock rig could have gotten into some serious trouble, mine twice I could point out. Good spotting, and park knowledge helped out here. Saturday, we took a chance that some of us could make the white trail. I found the end of that, with the first poodle that high centered my rig. We were fortunate that the group and trail leader decided that anyone that wasn't capable of traversing the next poodle that was even larger, were at the point of turnaround, as extractions would have taken a lot longer with the group size.
9. Vehicle spacing. During one of the trips around the gully, some of the rigs were way to close together. If someone had a problem the rig behind would have been on top of them too fast to avoid an issue, this was more apparent during a climb on a rocky area, where we could observe, but I don't think that all were paying attention to waiting till the total obstacle was clear before proceeding. I do have some photos to show what I am describing. We did talk about this at the driver's meeting, but some didn't seem to be adhering to it. I also noticed at least two winch operations where no weights were used on rope or cables. Bystanders were also way too close while winching operations were going on. Not sure how this can be addressed, as I didn't know who was in charge on that run, and I couldn't identify the yellow vested folks, since I didn't see anyone around that trail in said vest.
10. Raffle. Funny thing here, since the raffle has been beat to death. I was one number off the winch. I didn't go into this event wanting to spend a fortune on tickets. I have done a million raffles. None of my numbers got called. I really didn't care. I wasn't there for the winning, but to enjoy all that went on. It was said before that life is unfair. I know its a money maker for the chapter. Any of the goods would have been awesome for my rig(since it needs just about all that was raffled off), but that is what it is. Sure guys win everything, or nothing. The tumbler should help this issue. The issue I saw was the part at the end. There were like 4-6 items at once being raffled in like a hurry, like we were on a time crunch. If we were, ok I understand. If not, well some of the folks that didn't get squat could have gotten a chance for just about anything. Again no biggie, but heck with what was there, almost everyone could have gotten out of there with something.
11. Trail cleanup. I didn't notice anyone picking up litter along the way, but I wasn't paying attention. We hauled a bunch of trash to include an exhaust pipe, rear window wiper and motor, cans, oil drain pan(made out of a 1 gallon oil jug), water and soda bottles and so on. Does the club do any kind of cleanup for the park, that could either get us a free day of wheeling, or something along that line. The local club to me that I wheel with from time to time does this at one of their locations, and it gets them a day of prepping the trails for the event, and the day after the cleanup they get to run the trails for the day for free. I am throwing this one out, because I know it might be something that could be looked into. I know its a private park per se, but we all have to do our part to help keep these parks open, for our and others enjoyment for years to come.
I had a mixed impression from this weekend, being one of the few newbies to this event. I got to put faces to some of the names on here. I had a great time, the kiddos had a ball, and entertained several during the two days of trails. I don't want to come off sounding like a complainer, cause I am not. You want to know, here it is. I will tell you my side, whether you like it or not, just so it goes towards helping improve future events. I am slowly building up my rig for my needs, but I am also there to help out where needed when needed. If further help or assistance or advice from a newbie about a newbie's perspective to this event that could help to make it even better, my email is on, and my PM box is open. I have more experience in more areas of all kinds of stuff it would surprise most. I came this weekend to kind of get an idea of where to go with my rig, help Melissa decide where and how to set up hers, and how to get involved within the chapter. This is one of the first events I have been to that the membership has made us feel truly welcome. They practically jumped right in when needed(even though I was willing to take one for the team, instead Myron did, and thanks for that), but to help make the weekend smooth. I felt that the experience was better than other parks we have been to, just by the fellowship displayed by total strangers to this stranger. Kudos to the BOD and those behind the scenes that put this on. It was great and I look forward to another if work doesn't have me in the field. Thanks to HD Offroad for the lunch, it was great, I forgot to add this into my earlier part of this spacious post.
Rant off, now where the heck did this cranium to seat apparatus collision take place?? Glad you are ok Flex....
ihscout "was gonna bring the trail Scout on 35's to an all XJ event" lover