KING OF THE HAMMERS 2009
by Aldo Rodriguez
Saturday, Feb 28, 2009

If you didn't make it to this years King of the Hammers... make it a point to attend the event next year. Not even having my writer flake out on me in the last hour before departure was going to keep me from making the journey to Johnson Valley. Although I don't have a full article to post, I kept a little log of my trip. So here it goes....

Thursday, Feb 26, 2009

9:15 p.m. - Pile all my stuff into the Titan. Just the basic stuff needed to survive. This included my sleeping bag, pillow, blankets, tent, clothes, lantern, stove, firewood, 2 cans of Minestrone, oranges, bananas, water, toothpaste, toothbrush and a lighter. Made a call to one of the Rockbrawlers to see if I could meet him there. He agreed to wait for me at the entrance and offered to let me crash with them in their camping area.

10:00 p.m. - Drive to the local gas station to fill up, grab some jerky and Monster energy drinks, then hit the road.

12:15 a.m. - Arrived at the Johnson Valley (Boone Rd.) entrance. Met up with David and a couple of other members of the Rockbrawlers. We drive in and after a few minutes of driving around, we made contact with the rest of the group. We hung around the campfire while everybody exchanged offroading stories. There was a big group from Trail-Gear there as well. Everybody there was cool people. Someone even took a couch to the campsite. Sometime around 1 a.m. or so the wind began to blow. I knew at this point I'd be sleeping in my truck.

3:30 a.m. - Clear out the back seat of the Titan. Grabbed some blankets and tried calling it a night. The wind had a different idea about us sleeping. Just as I was falling asleep, the wind would rock the truck and wake me up. I think when I did finally sleep, it was time go get up.

Friday, Feb 27, 2009

6:45 a.m. - David pretty much breaks my window by knocking on it to wake me up. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit but it woke me up. We get ready, eat a little breakfast and wait for everyone so we can drive to Back Door. The guys from Rockbrawlers had volunteered as crowd control for the event. Today was the LCQ (Last Chance Qualifier) for the King of the Hammers.

7:45 a.m. - We get to Back Door. It is super windy and cold. We all wait eagerly for the first vehicle to make it to that portion of the race.

8:06 a.m. - As the crowd awaits, we hear and see the first vehicle. Everybody cheers, and for that moment we forget how crappy the weather really is. One by one they all make it through Back Door. Well not really... There was 3 vehicles that ended up rolling over and had to be winched back upright. Their day was done at that point. There was a few broken parts and a few flat tires as well.

12:00 p.m. - Head back to the campsite. David had to help someone with an alternator so I decided to drive to Yucca Valley for some food. Found a McDonald's, had a number 1 then drove to Starbucks for a drink. Then I head back to camp.

2:30 p.m. - Arrived back at camp. Had nothing better to do so I just relaxed.

6:50 p.m. - Walked to a raffle that was being held for all the people who volunteered their time. A lot of the Rockbrawlers won stuff. One guy won a pair of axles others won winchlines, tire deflators, t-shirts, and hats.

12:10 a.m. - Another windy night. Not as bad as the first night but still not a good ideas to sleep in the tent. So the back seat of the Titan it is. I was so tired at this point, getting to sleep was really easy.

7:45 a.m. - Yes you guessed it... David wakes me up with one of his famous knocks on my window. I drive him to Back Door and then drive around taking some pictures of the race.

11:00 a.m. - Make my way back to Back Door to snap some more pictures. Today they were running that rock trail backwards so I expected some carnage. To my surprise, they made it look easy. The only carnage that day was to my finger. I slipped on the rocks and smashed my index finger. The top of it split open pretty bad and it began to bleed. Lucky for me there was help there. I got it cleaned (OUCH) and wrapped.

1:00 p.m. - Get back into my truck and began my journey back home. I left at a pretty good time. I avoided most of the traffic until I made it into L.A. of course.

4:05 p.m. - I'm home! Dirty and tired but all worth it.

Next years race i'm sure is going to be bigger and badder. I can't wait for that time to come. Next year I hope I can get some of my friends to go out and enjoy a truly one of a kind race which is... THE KING OF THE HAMMERS!

For more information log on to www.kingofthehammers.com

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