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Santa Claus Run
Santa, late to meet the Black Hills 4 Wheelers, called up his old friend Mr. North Wind and loaded his sleigh and eight tiny reindeer right on to that ‘ole Alberta Clipper. Not only did Santa get there on time but he brought that frosty nip in the air; just to remind us what the Black Hills can offer up in winter! Baken Park was home to our little troupe as we gathered in the steadily falling temperatures, watching Santa’s Elves Steve “Twinkle” Berg and Doc “Sparkle” Elston rush from rig to rig tossing out Santa’s little goodies.
By 10 or so the “chilly baker’s dozen” were ready to rock ‘n roll to the trailhead. Steve and his wife Deb led off with the rest of us following: Carol, Rick, and Allison Sharp; David, Megan, and Amy Scuta; Mark and Charlene Porter; Donna and Colt Kinsella (Jim and Cody we’re thinking about you); Shannon and Lance Horst; Jarod, and Becky Groven with their son; Don Digman and his girlfriend; Aaron Fredrickson; Marty Errea; Sarah and Darrel Baldwin (their last hurrah!); Doc and his son Nick tailgunnin’. We swept through Black Hawk against the wind then turned to follow the service road to Bethlehem Cave Road. Swinging through those twists and turns brought back fond memories of Midnight Mass in Bethlehem Cave as a kid…Christmas was definitely in the air!
We then took a quick run up the road to Vanocker Canyon Road and a short detour to the woods. As we rolled onto the trailhead we were pretty much done enjoying the road trip part and were ready to wheel. We shivered through the “air down” and “lock-‘em-if-you-got-‘em” while Jarod and Don untrailered their rigs (the no-top-what-so-ever CJ 7 and Bronco didn’t look inviting!) Bundled up like Christmas presents Jarod, his wife and son and Don and his girl started out like they enjoyed the chill. Seems like Aaron, Shannon and Lance had survived the road trip so there was hope! (Chills and Thrills?) Jeeze, I was having trouble just moving my heater control to a higher setting ‘cause my fingers got cold airing down!
Steve “Twinkle” headed us out to the view overlooking Lost Soldier Canyon where we carefully surveyed a route over that last 150 foot obstacle. By then Mr. North Wind had cranked it up to about 240 knots and you had to lean so far into the wind you really felt like you were falling out over the cliff edge! (We figured we’d let Jeepman do the first assent on that overhanging wall; since he’s toolin’ around Antarctica I guess it might be awhile.) We saw Santa zooming by just then and man were his cheeks glowing red!
The fun really started as we found our way back to Hal John’s bypass and got into the rocks. Aaron, unspotted in his buggy, was awesome! and with Shannon, Jarod and Don they all got into the first section and all had a good time. The rest of us were just fine on the bypass what with the frozen ice and snow putting that extra little touch of fun on the rocks! (It seems a Bronco might have ended up on a line with a Jeep pulling it, for a really short time I heard, but that’s probably just rumor and I don’t want any more coal for Christmas so I won’t bring it up.)
People grabbed lunch along the way, shared their warm enclosed rides with the outdoorsy types, and generally had a great time. We decided Velveeta, cold meat, and Miracle Whip were all invented for days like this. Hot chocolate and coffee were better sellers than ice cold pop, too. We picked up a fourteenth rig somewhere along the way…and they seemed really grateful for the spottin’ and help out of their little jam…all in a day’s wheelin’.
We worked all the way through Calamity Canyon without a calamity, except Doc’s leaky right rear (tire that is.) By the time Steve got us to the top we were watching our gas gauges, odometers, and clocks! We did the big “line up and say cheese” at Camp 5 and Aaron and Rick had to bail on us, but the rest stuck with it. Santa’s Twinkle wasn’t done with us yet, and we worked our way to the ridge above Galena in time to watch the sun set. Shannon was runnin’ on fumes by then and most of us missed the sunset ‘cause we were trying to siphon gas. (Say what you will, we must’a been pretty good kids ‘cause 8 of us couldn’t even siphon a gallon before it got dark and cold and really windy.) Somebody saw Santa behind us and Shannon insisted on backing down the ridge into Galena just to watch him.
We finished up the wheelin’ cold, tired, and pumped! What a great day! We finally started on the long old road trip home, which is always longer after being out in cold fresh air. Nick was down for the count with the ‘flu bug by then so I ran him home, and I hear Shannon really ran out of gas then. The rest headed to the Golden Corral for food, warmth, and a little good natured teasing. I eventually caught up with em before desert and finished before most, but didn’t spill any. Those who couldn’t wheel (Sue Sharp, Darla Jones, Tim Sheldon, and Scott and Denise Wigglesworth) met us for dinner and laughs. We finished off a great meal, all wished Sarah and Darrel the best, and we high-fived each other for another great day of friendship and wheelin’. We made quite a clatter, but nothing was the matter and we all headed home for a long winter’s nap. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
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