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In order to  allow co-founder Tom Merewether a choice of attending at least one Hi-Alt rally it was decided to offer a triple treat rally deal of three different rally locations in the vicinity of the I-25 corridor, beginning with a mini-rally at Bear Lake near Cuchara, CO(July 18-21), followed by the main rally near Woodland Park, CO (Colorado Springs/Pikes Peak area: July 21-25) and finally at super scenic Sugarloaf CG, near Centennial, WY (Laramie area:July 26-31).

 

The rspective pre and post rallies are first come/first serve basis, as reservations are not accepted. Reservations for the main rally can be made on line for the 19 site Meadow Ridge CG, More info can be obtained by contacting Karl Konrad at kjkonrad@eiu.edu.

PRE-RALLY July 18-21 near Cuchara, CO at 10,500 feet

http://campincolorado.com/federal/pike_san_isabel/bear_lake/bear_lake.htm

 

MAIN HI ALT RALLY CG July 21-25, near Woodland  Park, CO at 9,200 feet

http://campincolorado.com/federal/pike_san_isabel/meadow_ridge/meadow_ridge.htm

 

 

 

 

The 15 site Father Dyer CG was ideal and blessed with a very friendly host. A special invite went to members of the SW AOC region to meet their new director: Linda Will and Jim Eaton. Their presence was much appreciated and they enjoyed meeting some of their members before their first SW rally near Durango, CO.

Hi-Alt and SW region members came from Wyoming, Illinois, Texas, and Colorado.

When we visited the Frisco CG we found 2 CG hosts each in their own Aliner, parked side. Hi-Alt rally activities included a scenic train ride from Leadville to Climax and back, a steak dinner at the Golden Burro Restaurant and the usual campground activities like fireside chats, out-door prizes, commemorative T-shirts and Open House. The directors, Karl & Judi Konrad explored the nearby Hagerman's Pass with their 4x4. While any high clearance vehicle could have made it without 4x4 drive, it was a bumpy and slow ride for the very last mile or so. However a fantastic view of many peaks after passing through a plowed 12 foot snow drift was enough reward to do it again during a return visit to the Leadville area.

Noteworthy for AOC members: The Turquoise Lake area near Leadville, CO offers plenty of Forest Service CGs with excellent sites, flush toilets and running water. If you need full hook-ups, then there is the nearby Sugarloafin CG with hookups.

2007 was a special year for the Hi-Alt Group. While a projected knee surgery for 2007 for one of the Konrads almost led to a cancellation of the annual rally. After checking everyone’s availability and travel plans it became obvious that we had to plan for shorter local rallies, namely one in May (WI) and two in July (WY)

Roche-A-Cri, Crying Rock, in Wisconsin near Friendhsip/Adams North of Baraboo, East of Tomah and West of Coloma resulted in a weekend of Aliner friendship with the USMACM Regional director stopping by while returning from the National Rally that week. One of our HiAlt members who recently had relocated from Texas to Northern Michigan also attended. The location was picked to allow HiAlt members from the Midwest to use a weekend to attend the rally. Roche-A-Cri State Park proved to be a very nice location: Rustic, quiet, with a trout stream within park boundaries and a wonderful family restaurant in Adams/Friendship (about 3 miles away). All you can-eat catfish and potato pancakes ranked high on the list of menu options. Saturday morning was used to visit Danny’s Camper, the only dealership selling both Aliner’s and Chalet Aframe style campers. The May Rally at Roche A Cri also hatched the idea of an AOC friendship caravan with people arriving from different U.S. locations at Glacier National Park to hold the first of two Hi-Alt Rallies in July of an upcoming year, as for example 2009. The 2nd Hi-Alt Rally was to be held a week later at Jasper National Park in Canada. 2008 was targeted as the year for route planning and exploration of interest.

The first of two rallies took place at HOG PARK CG near Encampment, WY. The site had served the group during its inaugural rally in 2003. The second at SUGARLOAF CG near Centennial, WY.

HOG PARK RALLY: This rally had three units occupy three prime sites along the shoreline of Hog Park Reservoir. A brand new member from Breckenridge Colorado joined us with an Aliner that could easily be used year-round as a home, carpeting, sat TV, etc. The new member also suggested a Colorado location for the 2008 Hi-Alt Rally complete with an easy 4x4 trail exploration in Colorado’s Hi-Country. See 2008 Hi-Alt Rally.

In addition to the usual activities the group chose the exploration of the so called SIERRA MADRE SCENIC DRIVE starting near the Hog Park CG and ending in Riverside. It was breathtaking and one of the pictures we took became a winner of the Columbia Northwest Photo contest and finally the photo appeared on the companies web site and brochure. The Scenic Drive turned out to be better approach road to reach Hog Park.

Phil & Sally from Wyoming brought wonderful steaks and the next day freshly caught trout, while Greg from Colorado surprised us with a rustic Cowboy breakfast with input from our family in form of sunny- side-up eggs. An Open House, Fireside Chat and Door Prizes were part of the rally, even though we only had three units congregate. Our family stayed beyond the weekend and enjoyed a few quiet days canoeing and fishing. For the next weekend we traveled to Sugarloaf CG at the SNOWY after a hearty breakfast in Riverside and a slight detour to Saratoga and its well known Hot Springs Pool.

SNOWY RALLY at SUGARLOAF CG: This location is a sublime high altitude location that definitely requires at least one night of lower altitude camping for flatlanders from the Midwest, as well as staying hydrated by drinking lots of liquids. That way headaches can be avoided. What remains is shortness of breath, which has you slow down in what you do. Actually great when vacationing. Loafing, reading books and fishing and mild canoeing are typical pass time activities. Sugarloaf CG is also known as a frequently windy campground, which requires staking down screen houses, but also guarantees the absence of mosquitoes.

We were joined by Hi Alt friends from Arizona, who were en route to a wedding further West. We shared a camp site for a whopping $2.50 each., while the night before the family enjoyed dispersed camping at a very scenic spot with access to running water in form of a creek.

Rustic and dispersed camping definitely help your travel budget and are a welcomed as being able to off set record breaking gas prices every night of camping at reduced or eliminated overnight costs. This is especially important for people who have only 2-3 weeks of total vacation time, which involves more travel days in a shorter time than those who spend the whole summer traveling shorter distances each time. Naturally the actual travel distance and cost may be the same, but a monthly average would be lower when travel involves 2-3 months for example.

 

On July 20th 2006 5 Aliners & one Chalet started the historic AOC HiAltSIG CARAVAN in Casper Wyoming under the trail boss leadership of AOC members Phil & Sally Robinson(WY). It began with a visit to the National Histroric Trail Center that gave participants from CO (Jim & Elaine Rollins), AZ (Hans Hoffman), TX, but now MICHIGAN (Chris & Barb Penney), MI (Susan Shaver & Friedhelm Rickert) and IL (Karl & Judi Konrad) an overview of the historical facts of what the pioneers endured in going West.

After exploring some historic sites near Casper the group followed the Robbins family toward significant stops along the way. What a site to see a two mile long string of Aliners, who reached the parking lot at Independance Rock after a 2 hour trip and while staying in touch by intercom. Jim & Elaine Rollins climbed all the way to the top as many pioneers did back then in celebration of reaching this landmark before or by Independence day. Arrival by that time was critical if you wanted to avoid inclement snowy weather by the time you reached the rockies.

The HiAlt group was reminded that many Pioneers succumbed to bad weather conditions, while others stayed behind because their waggons broke. As luck would have it AOC HiAltSIG member Hans Hoffmann had to return to Casper in need of a professional welder. While delayed, he was able to catch up with the Aliner group three days later near Pinedale, WY.

In the meantime the remaining Aliners headed towards the Mormon Handcart Center to learn about Mormons, who left Illinois pulling handcarts where others pioneers went with covered waggons.The commemorative site is used today to have young people re-enact what it was like to pull a handcart in 100degree temperatures wearing period clothing and pulling a heavy load along the Pioneer trail. Fortunately for them only a 3 mile long section of trail was used for the re-enactment. Fortunate for the members of our group that we stayed put led by site-interpreters. Following an outdoor box lunch our group reassambled and headed toward Lander, WY with a few stops along the way, including an ice slough alongside the high mountain desert road. Access to ice helped pioneers to ice down perishable goods.

After staying overnight at a Lander Campground with an evening BBQ and a documentary movie about horse trail rides along various trails, the group continued towards South Pass and nearby South Pass City that allowed exploring a ghost town left after a local gold rush. Rally masters Karl & Judi Konrad left the group earlier to secure Lakeside campsites at a secluded campground near Pinedale Wyoming.

At that point the group was joined by Nancy Wilson & Sutton Page to settle down at one of the few locations in the Windriver Range where Mountain Men held gatherings to be known later as Mountain Rendezvous. This CG is known as the Narrows CG at New Fork Lake. While the CG is reached by gravel road as the final stretch it was worth it to stay. Sites were spacious and were located hi above the lake with wonderful vistas of the lake and nearby mountain peaks.

The next day started with an open house that had everyone look at everyone's Aliner, but especially at the Sutton Page Aliner. The AOC DIY director assisted each an every one with improvements and or repair tips as needed. Around Noon the group drove to have lunch at a Mexican Mexican Restaurant at nearby Pinedale. After lunch the group took the Skyline Drive, the very scenic Freemont Lake road with vistas of the lake and major peaks of the Wind River Range. The group also stopped at the Museum of the Mountain Men to learn more about this colorful part of the local history that occurred before the Pioneers came through.

The group also enjoyed drawing for "OUTDOOR PRIZES" as door prizes are known as by this group of drycampers who enjoy camping at high altitude locations. Because prizes won could be claimed by the next winner it trurned out to be a noisy fireside gathering with lots of laughter.

Before breaking camp on July 26th the group split up to explore other points of interest, including, but not limited to GRANITE HOT SPRINGS near Bondurant and the GREEN RIVER LAKES AREA just up the road from Newforkslake and 58 miles from Pinedale with the last 18 miles taking about 2hrs to travel well worth the drive. Those who went stood in awe at a photographic point of a 3 mile long lake at 8000feet, while viewing Old Squaretop 6miles away and rising an additional 4,000 feet from the valley floor. Great fishing, canoeing and Moose everywhere.

All in all members expressed their satisfaction with the event and vowed to send in a suggested location for a 2007 rally in one of many States, including possibly the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Definitely a "high altitude location" in terms of what is available in Michigan. Suggested also where the Big Horn Mountains and a few places in Southern Colorado or Northern New Mexico.

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