The 33rd Annual Sierra Trek by Jack Raudy

A ROUGH SPOT ON WINCH HILL #5 - Hundreds of onlookers make their way down Winch Hill #5 to cheer the four-wheelers through the last tough spot on the famous Fordyce Creek Trail. Each day during the four-day Sierra Trek event, approximately 120 vehicles spend 12 to 14 hours crawling over boulders and making their way up the 14.5 mile trail.

Meadow Lake, California - Ohl Olson of Redding said he and his team of volunteers working Winch Hill #5 put in 10 to 12 hours a day on Sierra Trek '99; one day they worked 22 straight hours, but enjoyed every minute of it and are already talking about volunteering again next year.

Olson, a member of the Faunky Broncos Four Wheel Drive Club and a five-year veteran volunteer on the event, was one of approximately 500 volunteers on the recent 33rd Sierra Trek in the high Sierra, hosted by the California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs.

Bob Reed, Sierra Trek '99 chairman, said that this annual four-wheel drive extravaganza in the high Sierra is the largest all-volunteer, 4x4 event in the country.

"We plan Sierra Trek for the best part of the year. "said Reed, "and we couldn't begin to pull it off without the assistance of our volunteers who help make up 50 Sierra Trek committees."

IT JUST DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS - Many of the people attending Sierra Trek arrive early at Meadow Lake to get the best spots on the lake for camping.

This year's annual pilgrimage attracted more than 1,500 four-wheel drive enthusiasts and their families and more than 500 vehicles ranging from the most sophisticated rockcrawling rigs to the top-of-the-line sport utility vehicles. One young serviceman stationed in Korea took a leave of absence just so he could be part of the event.

How do you feed 1,500 hungry mouths over the four-day period? Ray DeLong of Penn Valley has volunteered to be the head chef for many years.

"Once we know how many guests we will have and what days they are staying with us, we begin ordering our food at least 45 days in advance," said DeLong. "Because Meadow Lake is a remote location with no electricity, we must bring all perishable food items into camp by refrigerated trucks where we keep it cold with the use of generators."

COOKIN' UP THOSE TRI-TIP STEAKS - More than 40 volunteers from Sacramento Jeepers and Mendocino 4x4 clubs pitch in to help with the Saturday night dinner during the 33rd Annual Sierra Trek. During the four-day event, more than 500 volunteers play major roles in helping to ensure a good time is had by all!

DeLong explained that clubs volunteer to cook and serve each meal. "many of these volunteers in the kitchen have been doing this year after year," DeLong said. "I'm there for advice and guidance but they do all the preparing, the cooking and the serving."

The Saturday night dinner may be the most complicated. More than 40 volunteers from the Sacramento Jeepers and the Mendocino 4x4's arrived at the field kitchen to receive their instructions and begin cooking the steaks and baking the potatoes.

"Our cooking crew actually begins preparing and firing up the stoves early in the afternoon in order to feed 1,500 people, "said Don Klusman of Yuba City. "By 5 p.m. we will have at least 100 people in line and that line doesn't end until well past 9 p.m."

Olson and his volunteers finally made it into camp around 10 p.m. on Saturday night. He said, " we truly appreciate the fact that the kitchen remained open late at night to feed the volunteers who had been working the winch hills as well as the participants who were coming off the trail."

This year, DeLong fed his guests 1,311 pounds of New York tri-tip steaks, 647 pounds of turkey, 480 pounds of roast beef, 3,450 gallons of low fat milk and 196 apple pies. Any food not used during the event was donated to the Shelter for Battered Women in Yuba City.

Not everyone gets into main camp for dinner, dancing and camaraderie. Volunteers at Winch Hill #1, some 12 miles down the trail near Interstate 80, can choose whether to remain in their camp overnight or drive the trail to main camp after the past participants pass through.

The Cal Sierra 4X4s club from Chino has volunteered to help out at Winch Hill #1 off and on for the past 18 years. "I think this event just gets in your blood and we don't want to miss anything," said Marshall Gregory, the club's crew chief on the winch hill. "Yes, this is a remote location, but we have a nice camping area nearby and we really want to ensure that everyone gets through this first rough spot."

Marshall said that winch hills get their name from the fact that their area is an extremely tough section of the trail and sometimes they must winch a vehicle through to keep the procession moving.

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SIERRA TREK OFFERS HIGH COUNTRY BEAUTY - Participants on the rugged short-wheel base run on the Fordyce Creek Trail are afforded some of the most scenic views in the high Sierra. Driving speeds averaged roughly 3 m.p.h.

Seventy three-year-old Tex Texiera from Sacramento has volunteered and participated in all 33 of the annual backcountry events. "I think I just keep coming back because I don't want to break my streak," Texiera says with a wide grin. "This is a wonderful time to reassociate with a lot of my friends and I must admit that the Fordyce Creek Trail was a real challenge this year."

Thursday through Saturday, approximately 120 rigs each day begin their bumping and grinding from the staging area near Eagle Lakes, twisting through tight boulders and finally, 14.5 miles and 12 to 14 hours later they arrive at the Meadow Lake Base camp. Most of the veteran drivers this year said that if the Rubicon Trail is rated a 10 in difficulty, the Fordyce Creek Trail must be a 12.

"We had a lot of breakdowns this year," said chairman Reed, "but fortunately there are always people on the trail who stop to help and generally within an hour or two, they have the rig back up and running."

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FUTURE FOUR-WHEELERS - Garret (left) and Cody Dayton, sons of Phil Dayton of Sacramento, practice their four-wheeling skills at Meadow lake base camp during Sierra Trek '99. Sierra Trek is a family event and attracts four-wheeling families from throughout the western Untied States.

A welcome scene for volunteers and participants coming off the trail is the camp shower unit that is staffed by 20 volunteer members of the Sierra Treasure Hunters 4x4 club. In addition to charging a nominal fee for showers, the club raffles off a special hot tub special with champagne for two. "Between the showers and the raffle, we grossed more than $1,000." said Carol Bryant, club chairman for the showers.

Other Sierra Trek events this year included a scenic sports utility vehicle run that attracted 33 vehicles and nearly 100 participants. Jim Bramham, Trail boss on the SUV trip, escorted the visitors throughout the old Summit City Mining area and explained the historic significance of the region.

Additionally, 16 vehicles participated in the long wheelbase trail run on the Bear Valley Loop Trail near Truckeee. "This is what I would consider an intermediate trail for challenge," said Joe Melhorn. "It is about 12 miles long and takes about five to six hours to complete the run."

On Friday and Saturday nights Trek attendees were offered Swing dance lessons followed by entertaining music until 2 a.m. provided by the Blue Prairie Band.

Sunday, the final day of the Trek is raffle day and time for the big 4x4 show. Hundreds of four-wheelers and their families tour the show to see which rig they like best and then they assemble at the big stage to see if they won one of the hundreds of prizes.

For more information on participating in sierra Trek 2000, contact Rob Reed at (924) 447-3142 rkreed@aol.com.

WHEELIN THE WEST - 1999 Sierra Trek
Travel the Fordyce Creek Trail, as Team Big Rock brings you the action from the 1999 Sierra Trek event. Hosted by Jim Cole. 65 minutes.