Empire, CO – How many people can you fit within the city limits of Empire? Well that’s a good question. The first week of August was a pretty good chance to find out, as this small mountain community hosted nearly 700 people from all over the nation, who all had one thing on their mind. Ice cream… Wait, that’s not right. I thought they were there to go explore the local trails. That sounds better… From Saturday, August 1st through early the next Saturday morning, the city park and ball field was a frenzy of Jeeps with the odd Toyota or other 4WD thrown in for variety. And what a week it was…!
That first day was busy with the quarterly meeting of the Colorado Association of 4-Wheel Drive Clubs, Inc (CoA4WDCi) and Land Use Night. This night gives organizations such as the Responsible Recreation Foundation (Stay The Trail’s parent organization) and COHVCO a chance to give updates on current issues, and insight on where things are headed with our recreation opportunities. Jerry Abboud, COHVCO’s lobbyist, spoke with a warning about groups such as Responsible Trails America (see previous month’s issues for more information) before I was given a chance to stand up and give a big “Thank You” to Mile-Hi Jeep Club for the donation that ultimately paid for a large portion of the “Guidelines for 4-Wheel Drive Vehicles” brochure that we released earlier this year. That night winded down quickly, as many people were anxious to get out to the trails early Sunday morning, and understandably so. 
The trail list for this year’s All-4-Fun covered some of the best trails in the area, ranging from Spring Creek for those wanted a challenge, to Red Cone for the altitude junkies, and Wheeler and Bill Moore Lakes for a mild challenge and some great scenery. Monday was my first chance to get out on a trail run, and I headed out with Gene King to Wheeler Lake. This trail leaves Hoosier Pass just north of Alma and heads west up the valley towards the lake, which makes for an incredibly scenic lunch spot. There are a couple of obstacles along the way, and each has various lines that offer a range of difficulty levels. Our group encountered members of the International Harvester Scout Rally, and a group of Jeeps from the Midwest as well. A word of caution… Much of this trail is narrow through the vegetation, so please be aware of other users, and be patient if waiting to pass another group. Valerie, from GO Chrysler Jeep West, was my co-driver (yet another newcomer to the 4WD world, following in Claire’s footsteps the prior year) and she spent a decent amount of time piloting my Jeep up to the lake, but was apparently content being a passenger while we played on the fun lines with the obstacles.
Monday night, after the festivities in camp and having the education trailer open for all to visit, about 20 rigs took off on a night run of Bill Moore Lake, which leaves right out of Empire. This was a great time, and it was a blast getting up near timberline and looking back on the lights of Denver and the Front Range. On the way back, we scooted ahead of the group and took pictures as they came back across a large open area and up a small climb. I learned an important lesson during this photography session… I should stick with my day job of being the Stay The Trail program coordinator, and leave the photography to the professionals. Ansel Adams, I am not.
Tuesday was the vendor run, in which many of the various companies that attend the event head out together. This year, rigs from Daystar, JKS Manufacturing, Off-Road Only (ORO), RockHard 4×4, Tiny Bits of Silver, and others that I’m probably forgetting all headed up the Spring Creek trail which heads up the hills south of Dumont, eventually returning to Idaho Springs. The first obstacle is optional, but with all the built rigs, we took the time to play. Everyone got up okay, but there were a few fun wheel stands and sideways moments to add some excitement to the morning. Once through that, the trail winds up through a series of scenic switchbacks, allowing us to look across the Clear Creek valley towards Bill Moore Lake and even a view of the All-4-Fun camp in Empire. 
These switchbacks eventually come to an end at the infamous Rock Garden. This is where things got… fun. There are numerous lines through the rock garden, and drivers were having a great time picking a choosing ways to test not only their rigs, but their own skills. This proved to be a challenge for me, as even though I’ve been up and over this trail numerous times in the past, I still somehow managed to destroy a u-joint on my front axle, which required a trail fix and purchasing an axle shaft from the great guys at ORO (THANKS AGAIN!!!). An hour later, fixed and ready to go, I found out that I was apparently not the only one having issues, as one of the Daystar rigs found out how easy tie-rods love to bend. Valerie had again joined me on this trip, so she took the helm again and we headed up to the top of the trail.
The trip back through Idaho Springs and back to camp was a quick one, and I yet again had to bail down to Denver, this time for a meeting with the Stay The Trail Steering Committee.Wednesday was Vendor Day in camp, with no scheduled trail runs. The baseball diamond in Empire was literally a combination of vehicle showroom, parts warehouse, and a zoo. The vendors list was incredible, with representatives from Warn, Tomken, Mountain Off-Road Enterprises (M.O.R.E.), Rockhard 4×4, Bestop, COHVCO, 4Wheel Parts, Pro Jeep, GO Chrysler Jeep West, High Country 4×4, and many, many others having booths and rigs available for drooling over… I mean, well yes, drooling over. There were even a number of people who were just wandering around Empire and came down to see what all the fuss was about. Wednesday night continued the trend of the Stay The Trail trailer being open to the event participants, with many people coming through to take a peek at the new 4×4 brochure and ask for more information on what they can do to keep our trails open and promote responsible recreation to their friends back home.
Thursday, I joined the Warn Industries group and headed to Georgetown. This trail run came with a twist… Warn had brought over some industry representatives from France, and as part of their trip, were joining us for a run up and over Red Cone and Radical Hill. Problem 1… I don’t speak a lick of French, other than badly pronouncing “croissant”. Problem 2… My passenger didn’t speak a lick of English, other than “thank you” and “Holy cow, you’re taking me WHERE?!?!?!” Well, maybe that last part isn’t accurate… She didn’t say that, but when we broke above timberline and I pointed out our destination, the look on her face spelled it out clear as day. Once we reached the summit, my passenger swapped with another, whom spoke pretty good English, and I was able to gather that the group was a combination of Warn employees and dealership owners. As I had suspected, they didn’t have this type of OHV opportunities in France, but the reason why somewhat surprised me. I had assumed that the historic ownership of estates and private lands would be the main reason. However, their recreation opportunities were falling victim to the same opposition we face. I was honestly shocked.
So back to the trail-run… After lunch down on the north side of Webster Pass, we loaded up again and headed up Radical Hill. Our visitors were impressed by the large herd of mountain goats near the top, and we hung out for awhile with one of the other trail groups and watched as an afternoon storm moved in on us. A quick stop at Starbucks in Keystone, where some rigs aired up in the ski area parking lot, and we headed back to camp for the big raffle night. Thousands of dollars worth of donated prizes were given away, with proceeds from the raffle going to Children’s Hospital and the MHJC Land-Use Fund. Historic recipients of that fund have been COHVCO and Stay The Trail, and we greatly appreciate that support.
The final day for trail runs was Friday, and most of the camp came back early to start packing before dinner and entertainment that night. There was a live band and dancing, and I’m proud to say that I did not embarrass the Stay The Trail program by stepping out on that dance floor. Will-power my friends, will-power. Nobody wants to see me dance, not even me. So the night continued with music and a few more last-minute visitors to the education trailer before the packing began. Saturday morning came, and I headed out to the next event before the train of toy-haulers, campers, and Jeeps trickled out of Empire. Many, many thanks to the community of Empire, Mile-Hi Jeep Club, CoA4WDCi, and everyone else involved in this event and for their continued support of Stay The Trail! See you next year in Silverton.
