Novemberfest '97

Prior to today's fest I took a walk up the main trail and noticed a sign had been posted on a tree claiming to "persecute trespassers". To prevent any legal problems, I gave the owners a call and got an OK to fest on their land which is commonly known as Mount Tractor. The fest began with a pancake breakfast which was attended by The Mystery Guest, Ed, and Jon. We all tried pancakes made from millet flour and talked about non related fest topics like food, exercise, Georgia, and fast cars. Then we went for a spin so that The Mystery Guest and Jon could fest before having to leave early. After ascending the lower slopes of Mount Tractor, we did some baja as snow began to fall. The Mystery Guest rode shotgun over the stone wall, hung on during the "bull" section, and checked the mail upon returning to the yard. Then we rotated passengers and bajaed back into the woods. An attempt to cross the stonewall in the uphill direction required stonewall adjustments before it was successful. After some more baja it became apparent that the V Belts needed to be tightened, so we returned to the barn and lowered the transmission. On the way Chong was ejected from shotgun while riding the bull. By this time so many people had arrived that I didn't have any idea how to accommodate them all, so I just took a load of passengers (John, Becca, Chong, Medora, Ed, Keithel, Brian, Andy and David) over the other side of Mount Tractor into un-fested territory. We ran over a lot of dead trees and got hung up on a stump. The recent modification to the snow chains combined with tighter V Belts resulted in exceptional traction on the snow covered slopes. We were able to drive through many situations where the tractor would have normally gotten stuck. After a lot of baja, we ascended the backside of Mount Tractor to the turnaround. Then we descended the main trail at full speed and returned to the yard to look for the others, but found nobody there. We dropped off Ed, Medora, and John, and went in search of the others with Brian driving. There were a couple more cars parked in the yard, so I knew that there must have been at least ten people in the woods somewhere. After searching the entire length of the main trail, we hooked up the washing machine that was used during octoberfest '94. It took much effort to pull the washing machine up a steep slope to the turnaround. Becca surfed on the washing machine as we proceeded toward the summit of Mount Tractor. On the way we met "count" Ethan, the designated search party. We unhooked the washing machine and descended to the yard at full speed. Apparently those who were not with the tractor were at the summit taking part in a caber toss (the throwing of dead trees), but they did not encounter the tractor group while returning to the yard by foot. The Robinson party (including Jake) had to depart soon, so we went for a baja loop with "count" Ethan. After the stone wall crossing, I noticed a couple of cross links had come disconnected on the snow chains. They didn't present any problem, so we bajaed to the highway fence. After zigzagging thoroughly through that area, we returned to the yard and met late arrival Vin. We transferred a sacrificial computer, donated by , from Graeme's Cherokee into the dump body. Then everyone proceeded to TV cliff. The very heavy hard drive was tossed first. Then Chong threw the full size monitor and achieved a direct hit onto the rocks below. As a result the tube imploded creating a loud sound that was enjoyed by everyone. George tossed the keyboard but missed the rocks; only the space bar fell off. That was OK though because some opted to apply further damage to the computer at the base of the cliff. Meanwhile "count" Ethan and I managed to get the tractor back to the turnaround without getting stuck. During this time John displayed exceptional strength by actually climbing TV cliff while keyboard keys were thrown at him from the top of the cliff. After regrouping at the turnaround, we hooked up the washing machine and Chong surfed until we began to descend the back side of Mount Tractor. When the grade became less steep, Brian surfed until he got close lined by a tree while trying to limbo under it as he surfed. Eventually forward progress became slow while ascending a grade, so we stopped and untied the washing machine. One end of the rope was stuck under the washing machine, so we tipped it onto its side and used the tractor to free the rope. Vin decided to create more dents in the side of the washing machine, so he began kicking it. Others soon joined in the fun and Chong began ramming it with a large rock. Then we filled the inside (where the clothes go) with large rocks from a nearby stonewall. Three rocks had it full, but we continued to stack more rocks on top to create a new fest monument. Vin and Keithel added the final rocks about two feet above the top of the washing machine making our new monument quite top heavy. We ascended back to the turnaround and began the descent on the main path. While taking an off camber turn, the tractor wheelied and the drivers side foot peg got caught on a tree. After getting unstuck, we continued down the hill. George was the last to pile on; and he did so while the tractor was moving at top speed by diving into the dump body which already contained Vin, Keithel, Brian, Ethan and John. Matt Vitale (shotgun) and I enjoyed watching everyone in the dump body as they hung on during the full speed descent of the main trail. Vin was barley visible under everyone else and George wasn't able to get much of himself into the dump body, although he managed to hang on as we pounded down the hill. The hill was finished off with a short neutral drop at the end of the engine braking section. We returned to the barn and Vin laid down on a pile of 3/4" stone to rest. We were all somewhat exhausted, so the fest was concluded with the distribution of www.tractorfest.com decals.