Sand Mountain - Nevada
By Flyin'Bowtie

FBT Birthday Extravaganza 2002

We had a great time at the Mountain over the week of the 22nd. Thankfully, the weather-guessers guessed wrong, and we saw not a drop of rain the entire six days we were there. The Mountain is in serious need of a big blow, she is really rough, and it was difficult if not impossible to find some smooth sand to play on.

We arrived mid-afternoon on Tuesday, and found about a dozen camps, including the folks we were going to spend the first part of our week with, The Fidler's and The Conway Clan. Tom Conway has created a motorhome that any trucker would be tickled to drive. The 1958 pinch-nosed Peterbilt Tractor now carries a shiny new Arctic Fox 26 Foot trailer, (complete with slide-out) on its back. I took several photos of the truck, but it must be seen to be appreciated. The Cummins powered truck will do the speed limit over Donner Pass loaded, pulling a triple axle TPD with two rails and two quads inside. It draws stares from everybody, and 160 gallons of fresh water is enough for anybody! Tom has talked about building this truck for at least half of the fifteen years we have been friends, and he has done it. Amazing

We were expecting the rest of our crew to arrive on Wednesday, and were certain that there would be plenty of room. I was hoping for a quiet, lightly populated weekend. I could not have been more surprised. By about 3pm on Thursday, it was apparent that the Mountain was going to be busy. Friday afternoon, after Steve, Tom and their crews had left, and the other half of our gang, The "D"s, had arrived, we realized that space was going to be a premium, and how!

I cannot ever remember so many folks trying to cram themselves onto the hill area of camp. I also cannot ever remember seeing so many people driving up into the camp area before walking up to see if there was actually a place left to camp. It went on all night on Friday. I drove down and checked in with the Redneck Racin' Crew, Kevin and his gang, and finally the V8 Rail boys, who were also stunned at the crowd.

If you check the photos, the "Tuesday" pictures are quite different than the "Sunday" ones. I talked to a BLM employee who was also shocked at the crowd. Even though it was "Nevada Day" weekend, most of the license plates were from the People's Republic of California, and BLM was not anticipating a big crowd. I told the guy it was probably my fault, that it was my birthday, and I had invited a few friends. He stared at me, then I lost it.

The crowd though large was reasonably well behaved, and the tire rolling idiots came out only on Saturday night. I hope that BLM takes some of our soon to be collected fee money and finds a way to PUT SOME OF THESE MORONS IN JAIL. The weather continued to be about picture-perfect, and we rode and cruised the dunes, watching some impromptu drags, and staring at some of the nicer machines.

It is clear that the Toy-Hauler-Living Quarters Trailer concept is selling like lighting. I have never seen so many in one place. What is also clear is that the vast majority of them are essentially the same slammed together, siliconed, stapled, glued, and otherwise cheezed-out versions of low grade particle board and paneling junk previously sold only as non-toy-hauling junk. There are a few exceptions, (Pete, yours is one) and I won't try to influence you folks any further with my humble opinion.

Anyway, a good time was had by all, and I actually did get to relax, falling asleep in my camp chair at least once. I did not see the helicopter or the ground ambulance, and know only of one injury that required a trip to the hospital, although I am sure that there could have been more.

We sat by the campfire every night, and enjoyed the company of everybody that stopped by. I thank all of you who made the trip for my Big Day, and look forward to the next time we are all together in the sand.

Flyinbowtie

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