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Jeeps Blessed Sight – A WWII Vets Story

11 Nov 2011 By admin

With a family history steeped in military service, Veteran’s Day is always a time to reflect for us here at Jeepwaves. As it should be for everyone. Lost in the day off of work and school is the real substance of remembering service and sacrifice and being thankful before the fourth Thursday in November.

That said, we were recently going through some old heirlooms passed down from my grandfather and came across a series of newspaper clippings from Louisville, KY describing the events of his time as a POW during WWII.  Injured in 1944 after bailing out of his P-47 Thunderbolt (clipping his leg on the tail section), he was captured and sent to a German controlled hospital.  The details of the story can be seen below in this scan of the original article.

Long Jeep story short, it was the American Jeeps rolling down “rubble-strewn streets” that signaled an end to their ordeal, and ultimately, a sign of the end of the war on the horizon.  He was 22 at the time and it’s hard to imagine the feelings going through all the soldiers minds as they saw what they did that day.  My father was born two years after this happened, and was it not for countless heroes, he, and I might never have existed.

The very personal aspect of this aside, I hope it’s something we can all take pride in as we drive down paved and un-paved roads today in our Jeeps.  They truly are a blessed sight. Think about THAT today and the next time you wave at a Jeep.  Here’s to all those past and present who serve our country.

Kite Lake Jaunt

17 Oct 2011 By admin

Went out this past weekend here in Colorado to enjoy what might be one final hike before the snow sets in and stays in till next June.  We usually take the Wrangler out for any serious off roading, but finally got the Grand Cherokee off pavement this year (yeah ,yeah, we know) and drove up to Kite Lake / the trail-head for Mt. Democrat, one of Colorado’s 14ers.  Kite Lake sits at around 12,300ft, easily accessible by most vehicles with decent clearance.  That said, mashing the gas and whipping up the road was fun, especially watching the two other vehicles we saw putter around the holes and mud puddles.

So, no serious off roading to speak of, but it reminded us that Jeeps might not be the reason you’re going somewhere, but they’re damn good at getting you where you wanna go…and now some pics of the surrounding area.

Crawlin' for a Cure

11 Oct 2011 By admin

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

27 Sep 2011 By admin

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!