The Grand Four Wheel Drive
Excursion And Epicurean Extravaganza
If
there was ever a mouth full of words strung together
to stand for special event this was it.
Three
members of the Mountain Goats Club, Tex Texeira (A.K.A. The old
Goat), Peter Horvath
(A.K.A. Easy Rider) and Dave Londeree(A.K.A. Jelly Belly) while
touring the pinnacles section of the Grand Canyon National Park,
on a four wheel drive Trip, were suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
The mountain Goats Club had just giving
up the cooking committee for the entire Sierra Trek weekend, which
they had volunteered for three years running. They gave birth to
the idea that the club ought to Put on its own special event and
really cater to its clientele in a way that is impossible to do so
for 1500 to 2000 people such as Sierra Trek.
The year was 1987 and the idea of a small
very special event was presented to the club. It didn’t have a name yet but the
concept was an easy sale to a club that had a long history of hard
work on projects they elected to do so. The chairman of the event
was Pete Horvath the past President of the California Association
of Four Wheel Drive Clubs Inc. & Cal Trans Engineer. The cook who volunteered was Dave
Londeree a repairman for Nuclear Submarines Working out of Mare
Island. And the third
member of the trio was C.P. "Tex" Texeira one of the founders of
the Mountain Goat Club and an aerospace worker.
The trail chosen was to be the Adopt-A-Trail
of the old club Pete Horvath had belonged to. The Blue Lakes Trail
Or Deer Valley Trail. One and the same, was just the other side
of Carson pass. Main Camp was set three miles into the Trail and
the camp gear was to be transported by the club into its location. The Trail led from camp across to
Highway #4, a distance of approximately 10 miles of Alpine splendor
only available at this altitude in the sierras. A trail launch was
to be provided. This would allow a return route through the quaint
town of Markleyville and a stop over in the Cutthroat Saloon for
some local color.
The menu was selected as a main course
selection of Prime Ribs of Beef cooked to individual order. Six other courses were to proceed
this course and consist of French onion Soup, Fresh Garden Salad,
Pasta & Sauce, Shrimp Cocktail, Baked potato, Green Beans
with Bacon and a desert of cheese cake to follow. The menu and cooking
logistics were a non-issue to a club who had published its own
cookbook for two years prior to this event. Champagne was to be
served during the dinner and included in the event. And each guest
was to be dressed in a Tuxedo (Tee Shirt With Tuxedo Print) provided
by the club. The guests were to be seated at there own tables and
served on china plates instead of the usual paper. And all guests
were to be individually served by club members dressed in club color.
The entertainment was to again
to be provided by the club in front of skits performed on a stage
constructed on site with a pull-away curtain. A disk Jockey was
to be provided for dancing afterwards on a dance floor constructed
at the clubhouse and assembled on site.
On Sunday a pancake breakfast was to be served and this was to be
followed by a raffle. All this was to be accomplished for a fare
less than the fare charged for Sierra Trek.
A Veeerry Bold
& auspicious beginning for an event without a name!
The three founders probably achieved the zenith of their careers
in the club while in an alcohol induced haze brought about undoubtedly
by too many adult beverages consumed around the camp fire at Wooden
Shoe Campground in Grand Canyon Nation Park in the State of Utah.
These three wordsmiths also produced the name "The Grand Four
Wheel Drive Excursion And Epicurean Extravaganza". Amazingly
it all fit. Grand four
wheel drive excursion for the trail, epicurean for the food, and
extravaganza for the entertainment. With the help of an inspired club
this event was trans formed into reality.
The "Extravaganza" as it has become known for over time
was held three years on the Blue lakes trail, 1987, 1988,1989, Each
of these events was as close replication of the original as possible
with all the original flare and inspiration.
In 1990 the event was moves across the Sierras to the Hell
Hole Reservoir Trail. This
being the Adopt-A-Trail of The Capital; City Mountain Goat Four
Wheel Drive Club. Main Camp was located in the group campsite at
Middle Meadows Campground. This allowed for easier Logistics in
putting on the event and also provided a location for people who
wanted to enjoy thee event and not to four wheel to get there.
The
four wheel drive trail which runs around the reservoir in the rim
rock and down to the head waters of the lake where the Rubicon River
flows into it is a challenging back country trail with some exceptional
scenic mountain and lake vistas with an especially beautiful waterfall
along the way. The trail is a one in and one way out trail with
some serious rock climbs on the way out. It is not the gear breaker
of either the Fordyce Trail (Sierra Trek) or the Rubicon, but it
will challenge the best four wheelers to keep alert and provide
much entertainment for all.
The Saturday Bill-of-Fare has
remained the same throughout the years that followed even with changes
in cooking staff with one addition of Chicken Gordon Bleu as a selection
for non-Beefeaters. Additional menu items were added to the
Sunday fare to provide eggs to order with sausage and pancakes,
melon, juices, & Sweet rolls to round out a complete breakfast.
Professional
entertainment was added in 1992 and has been brought back each succeeding
year. This provides
both live as well as recorded music to dance to in the "Starlight"
Ballroom until midnight Saturday and later on many occasions.
In
1997 the camping location was changed from Middle Meadows to Big
Meadows Campground to provide room for customer camping and easier
Main Camp Access.
Available to the select four wheeling
community in the State of California.
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