Rock-Climbers Ride In Hump N Bump

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Nearly 500 people gathered at the Clark County Fairgrounds on Oct. 29-30 for the 40th annual Hump N Bump offroad event presented by the Vegas Valley 4-Wheelers Club (VV4W). Over 200 off-road rigs registered for trail rides, most were totally tricked out for this huge event.

The Hump N Bump, which features gravity-defying rock crawls and adrenaline-pumping vertical climbs over the red rocks of the Logandale Trails area, draws off-road enthusiasts from far and wide to the renowned trail system.

Event organizer Kevin Bailey said that the event has continued to grow, despite the dampening effect of last year’s pandemic.
“We exceeded our fairground space numbers that we have had in the past,” Bailey said. “And we completely maxed out and sold out our scheduled travel rides based on our Bureau of Land Management permit.”

Bailey noted that, even with the pandemic, last year’s events had also maxed out the BLM permit. “This year, however, we maxed out the permit two weeks ahead of time,” he added. “So the event is still going strong and growing.”

The action started at first light on Friday morning. Rock crawlers, buggies and custom Jeeps lined up early in the Fairgrounds parking lot to get a start on one of the scheduled trail rides. Then the drivers set out at 15-30 minute intervals to tackle their chosen trails.

Bailey explained that trail rides are carefully timed to ensure that there are not too many vehicles on any given trail at once.
“Of course, we are about having fun out there,” Bailey said. “But the biggest thing that this event is focused on is treading lightly throughout the Logandale Trails area. We want to be able to have this event for generations to come.”

The VV4W has been instrumental in posting extensive signage in the Logandale Trails area reminding drivers that “Plant Lives Matter,” Bailey said. “We want to make sure that people out there are keeping tires on the trails and not on plant life.”

By Saturday morning, the trails were abuzz with activity; both with trail riders having a great time and with spectators who came out to watch from a safe distance.

On Saturday, Las Vegas resident Trent Byrd, with Overton resident Chris Houston riding shotgun, were found taking a white-knuckle, nearly vertical trail that climbed out of a ravine that ‘Hump N Bumpers’ call “The Shedder Bowl.” Byrd made it out without a scratch to his vehicle, but he said it wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked.

For each difficult point in the trail, there is a spotter who stands alongside the vehicle and guides the driver on which way to steer and when to give it some gas or hold off, to get the vehicle safely through the obstacle. That can be nerve-wracking for the driver, Byrd said.

“There is nothing like it!” Byrd said. “Getting into that nearly vertical position where all you can see out your windshield is blue sky, and you just have to put full faith in your spotter to tell you how to get out of there. It is pure adrenaline.”

Bailey said that safety is another hallmark focus of the event. Despite all the hazards faced, there was no one injured in all of the weekend’s activities.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that there are no mishaps, he added. Damage done to vehicles on the trail is common and can include broken axles, broken steering pumps, flat tires, wrinkles in fenders, dents in door panels, broken windshields and more. The off-roaders fondly refer to this kind of collateral damage as “carnage.”

“There are always a few mishaps that happen, and that is going to be every year,” Bailey said. “But the most important thing is that nobody was hurt in any of the mishaps. A little bit of hurt pride maybe here and there; and, as we say, carnage. But everyone went home happy and healthy.”

Bailey said that the VV4W club considers the Moapa Valley community like a second home. The group is heavily invested in the community, he said.

“The Moapa Valley is like our backyard,” Bailey said. “We are not just here for this event only. We are out here throughout the entire year, people are coming up and recreating out here. It is an important area to us.”

“We love Logandale; no ifs, ands or buts about it,” Bailey added. “We just plain love Logandale. And we feel we have the support from the community up here and we appreciate that.”
VV4W has a tradition of reciprocating that support back to the community, Bailey said.

“When all is said and done, and all the bills are paid from this year’s event, we sure hope to be able to make some donations back into the community like we have done in the past.”