This being my first run at Kinta, the only insight I had on what was going to take place was what the guys (Jason Doepel & Shane Thatcher) had told me. Telling me about parts, trails, and the difference between each rig, and for most all you other women in the club, you understand what I mean when I say that I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea the remarkable things that these rigs could do and what it takes to keep them going. When we pulled into the safety inspection sight 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning I was nervous for a couple of reasons: first, the obvious one, this was my first run and second, I thought that the group was waiting on us. We had left OKC at 4:30am Saturday morning to make it on time. Little did I know the rig that was missing was our trail leader, Tony Scalf. Come to find out his Scout had flooded due to a “misunderstanding” between him and Big Mike. Men and their communication skills, what else is there to say? With all fourteen rigs present and inspected we were finally on our way. With the roar of tires, CB static, and beautiful scenery of Robber's Cave State Park the fun had now began. As we turned onto the dusty road to the trails I realized quickly how lucky we were to be in an enclosed rig. The dust was terrible! By the chalky white faces of Big Mike and Justin Baggett they were not enjoying the dust much at all being the trail gunner. After almost an hour of the dust we finally reached the waterfalls. Sadly Marc Davidson and his Scrambler didn't get to see much action as he broke a u-joint first thing. Without a spare u-joint the Scrambler was trailer bound. One after one each rig tried it's luck at the falls. Teri Chancey was the next rig to go down. Her Toy-Let started leaking antifreeze. Next was Alex Flatt and his Samurai that was plagued with a sliced sidewall. After all this excitement, everyone was ready for a break and some lunch. Now it was time to start the trip back. The Toy-Let's carb started acting up and had to be towed by David Loessin in his Toyota Tacoma. Nearing the end of the trail I got my first real thrill at the expense of a U-turn on the side of a hill. After we nearly rolled our rig I was ready to end the run for the day.

After a goodnight's rest at the Wilburton Inn I was excited about getting to go out on the trails again. The group met at the same place but with less than half of the rigs we started with. Joining us was Robert Jones and his grandson Bobby in the highly modified Suzuki for Sunday's run to Donaho Stone. Little did I know but this run would produce the most excitement of the whole trip. At the “New Pit” the rigs flexed their muscles by displaying awesome climbing ability and strength. Some of the most impressive was Robert Jones and David Bigley, both rigs climbed vertically up a stone that stood nearly 8 ft strait up in the air. Next it was on to conquer a large hill compiled of loose stones. Robert Jones made the first pass making it successfully over. Don Huddleston and his Jeep Wrangler were up next but with one HUGE snag. On the way up the Jeep decided that it needed to take a load off and promptly turned on its side spilling all of it's contents except, luckily, the driver. After Don was cut from his seatbelt, it was on to the task of getting his shook up Jeep up and running. Apparently excitement is the lunch whistle on the trails. As we were eating and talking about the events of the run we had a very unexpected guest. A rattlesnake decided it would like to be part of the group when it introduced itself to Robert Jones' feet. After the group was rid of it's newest member we headed out to the “Old Pit”. With the beautiful scenery in the background the rigs stretched their legs for a final time as the run came to an end. I had a great time and met some incredible people. The Kinta run is definitely something I will remember for many years to come.