Heaven & Hell: How the West Was Won 2017

I try to do at least one rally per year, and had heard great things about How the West Was Won (HW3). The rallymaster has a reputation for creating fun and challenging puzzles, so when the application opened, I quickly signed up.

This year, HW3 started and finished in Grand Junction, Colorado in August. The fun started a week before the rally, when we received the rally pack. HW3 gives you a week to plan, and you need it.  This year, the theme was Heaven and Hell.

The premise is simple but devious. There were Heaven bonuses which were positive values, and Hell bonuses that were negative point values. We needed to have an equal number of each bonus. So the main idea was high value Heavens combined with low value Hells.  But of course there were twists. Completing a thread ( a combination of bonuses with a theme) I could earn a wildcard bonus, there were also wildcards for mileage milestones (1000 & 1500 ). Using wildcards could offset hell bonus requirements, with no negative points. Simple? Of course (not). After a few focused nights and lunches, I had a plan. More on that later. All I had to do was hit all my bonuses and get back within 32 hours.

Thursday morning early, I set off for Grand Junction. After taking I-80 over Donner Pass and to Fallon, I headed onto US 50, America's loneliest highway. I hadn't crossed on 50 since the 2013 IBR. It was fun to stretch out across  the vast empty desert plains, with giant cumulus clouds dotting the sky.  I arrived at the hotel and checked in, getting dinner in the bar with some of the rally staff.

Friday was rally check-in, Odometer check, and dinner. Odometer check took two tries,because of a tricky double roundabout, but all was well. Of course, a new surprise set of bonuses were added. Churches and graveyards. Churches only in daylight, Graveyards from dusk to dawn. With route planned and GPS's loaded, I set the alarm to be ready for the 8AM start.

I woke to the sound of a Harley in the parking lot.  Checking the clock, I found that my alarm didn't sound, and it was 7:30! I quickly messaged the rallymaster that I overslept, dressed and packed. My official start time was 8:30. My tightly planned route just got much tighter.

I headed west on I-70 towards Utah. We needed to collect State signs.  Utah was my fist stop.

Next I headed down 191 towards Moab and Canyon Country. Along the way I was collecting Town names for another wild card bonus.

My main thread choice were Indian ruins. I headed to Hovenweep National monument for a picture of the plaque at the visitor center. After a winding section of freshly removed highway, replaced by rock and gravel, I arrived at Hovenweep National monument.  The skid plate on the wing got a workout too.This became a theme, as I ended up on lots of reservation land through the rally,

Stopped here for the Navajo National Monument

Canyon De Chelly was amazing. The canyon is a hidden oasis in the Arizona desert, and the view from the overlook was fscinating.

This bighorn sheep sculpture was a challenge to find. It was supposed to be at the museum. I asked the docent, and she suggested that the artist had taken it back home. Home was a few blocks away, so I was lucky to find it in the field across from the house. Yay!

This was when it started to rain, I was high in the mountains of Arizona, and it was starting to pour.  It was also a challenge to find gas, but after some local searching, a small independent station topped off the Wing's big tanks. I continued south on 180.

  The trip to the Gila Visitor center was a long 19 mile winding road back into the canyon.  I arrived well after dark, dodging rock slides and deer to get to take this picture. Then it was another 19 miles back out.

It was getting very late and I started hunting for a hotel.  I filled up, then checked into a Comfort Inn near Truth or Consequences NM. I caught about 4 hours of sleep.

Packed and back on the road by 4:15. I was now traveling North on I-25. Riding on the empty highway, I was closing on a vehicle with full lights and siren, It was a Paramedic ambulance. I didn't pass, instead pacing it. It slowed at the scene of a car/semi accident. I slipped by the commotion that would shortly close I-25 for an hour or so.

The sun came up to reveal the beautiful New Mexico desert, with large cumulus clouds dotting the horizon.  I arrived at the Aztec ruins, named for the city, not the people that built them. I paid my donation, got the tour book and even spent some time looking at the museum, before finding the main Kiva and taking my required photo.

I continued north, crossing the Colorado border and getting a state sign photo.

The next stop was at Mesa Verde. It's a rarity, in that you can actually ride way up onto the mesa, and get an amazing view.

It was also another long way in and out. At the required bonus photo location, I met another rider. He looked at his GPS fretfully. "I don't think we'll make it back in time". I told him I thought it would be close.

I have two GPSs, a 590LM, and an older GPSMAP 478. They offered two different routes back. The 590 said I'd be 15 minutes late. The 478 said 15 minutes early. I chose old age and treachery. That route went up 141, through a beautiful canyon and over a very high pass.  I kept the pace brisk, closing in on Grand Junction. At Clifton, I reconnected to I-70 and headed west. I arrived back at finish, with 15 minutes to spare. The volunteers had been watching the SPOT track and were betting on whether I'd make it.

After checking in, I assembled photos and score sheet, and went to scoring. All my bonuses were good, and I finished three wildcards, which when combined gave me another thread for even more points.  I finished 19th, of 30 finishers. There were 16 DNFs.

How the West Was Won is a great rally. Thanks and gratitude are due to the rally master and dedicated volunteers.