Over the weekend and on June 21, Eureka City via the Elks BPOE 711 facilitated yet another great Poker Run.
A friend of mine and I took off pulling my 43' 5th wheel. Sadly, on the steep climb up toward Eureka, my trucks transmission decided to give up the Overdrive clutch pack and valve body, leaving me with 1-3 gears.
We got situated in the High School parking lot and went for a short ride around the Tintic Mountain. Just prior, we hit the 3 Prospectors and were the last guests just as we overheard that the folks who owned the adjacent gas station were doing a "hostile take-over" of the restaurant and converting it to a BBQ place. The current tenants/proprietors were being made unemployed. Sad.
The next morning, we hit the 3 Prospectors again for a great breakfast before setting out for the Poker Run. Although the run wasn't supposed to start until 0830, we were told that a few machines had already hit the trail 30 minutes prior.
Before the first station, I had already come up on the first machines to hit the trail. They were rolling at a leisurely 5mph (or so). At an intersection, they paused and I managed to get around and ahead of them. Sadly, my two riding companions weren't quite so fortunate and continued to be "stuck" behind them for most of the remainder of the run.
I completed all five stations and had a great time. The locals and Elks that were manning the poker & fun stations were all very nice and polite.
On Saturday evening, I waited until just around 11pm before hitching the 5'er up and making the very slow (35mph) trek back home. Being locked in 3rd gear, it took almost 2 hours to do the ~40 miles home. As of this writing, my truck is already at J&G Transmissions.
Rattlesnake trail / canyon.. easily the best trail of the day:
A few photos and GPSr tracks from the day.
Derek, Shawn and I after completing the Poker Run.
A view from the mountain directly South of Eureka.
A view from the peak directly North from the top of the "Rattlesnake" trail.
Tracks from our route that day, to include a large loop past Vernon Reservoir and through Cherry Creek:
