Jeep Wave Day

Hey all.  We’re trying to get a day going where we can celebrate our Jeeps and promote the Jeep Wave.  With more and more Jeep drivers out there every day, we need to make sure everyone knows about the wave.  We decided last spring that the “day to wave” would be May 7th, which is in just over 2 weeks from today!

So, we wanna get the word out and we need some help.  Let’s post it up on Facebook, share it with your Jeep clubs, and throw that #JeepWave hash tag out on Twitter.  Don’t forget to holler at your local Jeep Dealer and make sure they know what’s up too!

Feel free to link back to the blog here if you want to share around the web with your Jeep friends!  linkback: http://bit.ly/jeepwaveday

Moab 2012

Who plans to go out to Moab this week?  Anyone already there?  Based on the Facebook pics, it looks like people are having a ton of fun and the rigs that we’ve seen are super impressive.  With snow hitting this morning, it should make things interesting.

We’ve got some Jeep Wave fans in attendance rocking stickers and even a few t shirts.  The JW.com team is thinking we may drive out late Thursday for a Friday morning tour around Moab.  Not sure yet, will depend on work and what not.  We’ll be sure to update if we make it.

If anyone needs a sticker or shirt, there’s a special EJS sale going on over on eBay.  Check it out!  http://bit.ly/b3tkwA

Crawlin' for a Cure

As most of us know, it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  So, we went out last weekend to a local Jeep event here in Colorado called Crawling for a Cure, with proceeds going towards Breast Cancer awareness and prevention.  The first round of crawling went down early in the day, with two classes of Jeeps (and others) based on tire size (36″ being the separation line as I recall).

The crowds were decent sized and the action was plenty fun to watch.  A little mud, some boulders, and a few stacks to get over made it a fun little course.  Most of the top times were around the 30-40 second mark, with a few DNF’s in the lot due to broken parts, flat tires, or just plain stuck vehicles.

After the first round was over, the ground crews cleaned up the broken axles and set up the course for the main even in the afternoon.  This meant bigger rocks, higher stacks, and all around a much tougher course. We got some bbq for lunch in the mean time and then headed back just in time for the rains to come in as well.  Fitting that mother nature provided an even greater challenge for the drivers with mud, slippery rocks, and rain soaked wood.  A “course” much like you’d find on the trail…unpredictable.

So yeah, the rigs got bigger, and louder.  You could tell the owners put a lot of time and passion into their rides, so it was cool to see them being used for a good cause.  The early morning Jeeps were nice, but nothing we hadn’t seen before.  The afternoon competitors were something else entirely as was the course.  You can see as the even progressed, it got a lot harder and pushed even the big rigs to the limit in some spots.  Especially that last stack section.  Straight to the moon! While the first round was an average of 30-40 seconds per run, this go-round, drivers were taking 10 minutes at a time. Multiple tries, a lot of failure, but some damn good entertainment.

The evening crowds were much larger than the afternoon group and plenty rowdy.  Jeeps + a crowd drinking beer on a Saturday night made for a fun and loud group that cheered at every near flip, roll, or crash.  In fact, a rolled Jeep made for the loudest roar of the night as the driver, trying to ease the pain of a jacked up Jeep, stoked the crowd with some fist pumping antics.

All in all, no body got hurt, a few jeeps got dinged up, a big crowd had a great time, and we all raised some money for a good cause.  Hopefully, the event returns to our part of Colorado next year.  Share your thoughts with us and let us know if you’ve got anything similar in your neck of the woods!

McAllister Gulch to Ptarmigan Pass 09.26.11

Thought we’d throw up a trip report from our outing the other day.  It was a gorgeous afternoon solo trip from Red Cliff, up McAllister Gulch, over Ptarmigan Pass, and back into “civilization” at Camp Hale.  Phew, what a mouthful!  All in all a great trip with some gorgeous vistas and foliage as the leaves here in Colorado have just begun to change.

To start, we were counting the Jeep Wave’s over to the trail head via Rte. 24 in Minturn / Red Cliff.  We initiated about 10 and got 9 back.  Not a bad rate of return at all, especially based on the feedback we’ve been getting on the Facebook Page lately.

Heading up towards Shrine Pass, we hadn’t been on McAllister in a long time, so we were curious if it remained as difficult for our near stock Wrangler as it had been last time.  Any one who is familiar with the trail knows that the time of year is the make or break for this run.  Since early summer runs on this trail are often impossible due to rushing rapids, we were fortunate to hit it at this point in the season.  The gentle flow of the late September cascades were a piece of cake and the multiple creek crossings were done with ease.

 

Over the river and through the woods, we opted to continue up towards Ptarmigan pass (left at the fork) as we had heard the McAllister Gulch loop to Camp Hale was potentially closed for the year for repairs.  Not having been this route before, we didn’t know what to expect.  Up we went and encountered a few steep rocky sections.  Big rocks with careful tire placement allowed us to get past without too much trouble.  Keep in mind we’re working with just a 2in. lift.  A few bruised kidneys and about 20 minutes later, the road returned to mostly dirt, winding up the hillside with golden aspens dropping leaves on our path.

 

Rounding a few big corners, we approached Ptarmigan Pass.  The rolling terrain up here was impressive and got this skier thinking about snowier days and seemingly endless powder runs.  Now, to outfit the Jeep with tank treads for the winter!  Back to reality, we took in the views and thought about heading back down to Camp Hale as the clouds moving in spelled rain and looming darkness encouraged us to head home.  The road down was probably do-able in a Chevy Caprice which was just fine after being jostled on the boulders earlier on.  Ready for some food, we headed back to Minturn, CO and grabbed some BBQ at Kirby Cosmo’s.

 

All in all, a great outing and nice way to spend a gorgeous Fall day in Colorado.  There’s probably only a few more weeks left until the snow blankets us up here in the mountains…so go out and get some!  Oh, and don’t forget to Jeep Wave!

National Jeep Wave Day?

We posted a question on our Facebook page, asking our followers if and when they’d like to see a national jeep wave day. Taking inspiration from the National Go Topless Day sponsored by All Things Jeep, we thought this would be another great way to celebrate being Jeepers together. Let us know on the Facebook page or in the comments below when you’d like to see a national jeep wave day!