All-4-Fun 2009

[tobyw]

My parents first took me to the Mile-Hi Jeep Club’s annual All-4-Fun event 30 years ago, in July of 1979. Nearly every summer since, we have spent 10 days in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado, four wheeling and making friends from across the country. At this summer's 43rd annual event, I was able to pass the torch to my kids, with my oldest (Gavin) being a year younger than I was at my first All-4-Fun. Here are some pics and quick commentary from the trip…

Command central for 2200+ road miles:



My official co-dawg:



Nothing compares to the lovely sounds of a happy baby, especially for 2200+ road miles:



Home for the week, 8610 feet elevation in Empire, Colorado:



Typical weather conditions for the week:



There were about 20 different trails to choose from each day, and we took a mixture of moderate and difficult options to keep our week interesting.







This was lunch at Wheeler Lake, elevation 12,400 feet:



This was on Kingston Pass, again just over 12,000 feet:



This is near the summit of another 13,000+ peak:



I love Colorado for not only the views, but the neat historical stuff you find in the woods:







And of course there is breathtaking scenery everywhere you look:













And when you are up at nearly 14,000 feet, even a crappy 3x digital zoom on a 1.3 megapixel camera can make out some detail on an overhead jetliner:



On Wednesday, there are no scheduled trail runs and instead they have kids games and a vendor show. Both kids got in on the action, and I was able to spend some time looking at Pat Gremillion’s (of Premiere Power Welder) latest IFS/IRS rock buggy, and Fred Perry’s (owner of Clemson 4wd and Ultimate Adventure veteran) stretched TJ.

Here’s Gavin (red shirt) in the mad dash:



Aubrey’s turn:



He’s not quite ready to go pro:



Some action from the race track:


And the boy even brought home some hardware:


Pat’s IFS/IRS buggy:


Fred’s stretched TJ (he custom built this before the Unlimited hit the showroom floor):



And some nice Commando’s just for Roy, Lee, and Bruce:





And last but not least, rep’n the ‘Putters :



It was a fun week of trails, family, and friends and we're already looking forward to next summer!

[Grumpy]

Great pix. Looks like the kids had a ball. That's important...

[SPR]

I found that every view from 8000 feet plus is breath taking. It is a good thing you took a few days to adjust. I wonder if my carburated truck would even run at 12000 feet.

Thanks for posting the pictures....

[Phantom 309]

Incredible pics! This one is screen saver material!







Did you get to see pats Buggy in action?

[iaccocca]

That looks like so much fun! How'd the engine do at 13,000 ft.? Even with injection you have to be opperating at less than 50% hp.
It is great that it is so kid friendly.

[tobyw]

I was unable to get many good pics from the trails, but thanks to the innernwebs there is a way I can share some of the fun... This isn't from the All-4-Fun event, but it's the Spring Creek trail which I ran on Friday and was one of the more challenging offerings for the week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g1_BL1bE1Q