[Steve Barcak]

We had another really great day today with the Az Pontiac Power group! Early in the am was another auto swap meet. I picked up a pair of billet 35 spline axles for 61-2's and a set of 4 early style American 5 spokes for my 64 GTO. Then, we hopped in Todd's 67 and hit the road and cover several hundred miles in western Az along the Colorado river including London Bridge, Parker dam and over into California for a bit, then a great buffet dinner at a casino in Parker. greatweather and sights along the way, great friends, the best of times

[Mister Pontiac]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

We had another really great day today with the Az Pontiac Power group! Early in the am was another auto swap meet. I picked up a pair of billet 35 spline axles for 61-2's and a set of 4 early style American 5 spokes for my 64 GTO. Then, we hopped in Todd's 67 and hit the road and cover several hundred miles in western Az along the Colorado river including London Bridge, Parker dam and over into California for a bit, then a great buffet dinner at a casino in Parker. greatweather and sights along the way, great friends, the best of times

Indeed! Well stated, Steve. Well stated...

Here's some photographic evidence of today's adventure. Over 400 miles today with REAL Pontiac Power. Couldn't have been any better! With my friends... Steve Barcak and Mechanic Keith.

[Steve Barcak]

Today is the 1st anniversary of the Arizona Pontiac Power Group-

Dedicated to increasing interest, knowledge and camaraderie of the legendary Pontiac
V8.
Over 110 members-
Over 75 activities in the last year ( most active )

Looking forward to our second year! It has been a real pleasure doing things with other members.

[luvmygto]

Steve, just joined. If you guys do the Parker-Yuma-Cali run again I would like to meet up with you folks. The pics are great!

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by luvmygto

Steve, just joined. If you guys do the Parker-Yuma-Cali run again I would like to meet up with you folks. The pics are great!

glad you like the pics and welcome to our group!
Today, some of us are in Phoenix having our anniversary pot luck party and Glenn and I are attending the Mooneyes Christmas party at Iwindale, Ca. Lots of things going on here.

Our next automotive archeological hike adventure will be this Tuesday. Going back to the Salt River Canyon area looking for more old cars, trucks, mines and whatever. We have never been disappointed going there as we never know what we will find.

[Steve Barcak]

Here are some pics from the Mooneyes Christmas party at Irwindale-

John Ewald in his AA/Fuel Dragster did a push start and cackled it for the fans along with a few others



Here is a '40? chev with a tunnel rammed Poncho for power



Glenn Gibbons chooses off against Todd Harding



An extra sharp and stock looking '67 Firebird conv is a real sleeper. It can run 11's! There will be a feature on my site soon on this car.



Marky Izrdis "Purple People Eater" with blown, injected '56 316 Poncho Power! There also will be a feature on my site for this car soon.

[Vet65te]

It's going to be a while before we are able to relocate to Prescott but when that finally happens (a year or so), hope to meet you guys are one of your events.
Mike T.

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by Vet65te

It's going to be a while before we are able to relocate to Prescott but when that finally happens (a year or so), hope to meet you guys are one of your events.
Mike T.

We look forward to meeting you as well Mike. You will make a lot of Pontiac friends here in Arizona.

[Steve Barcak]

Happy New Year from the Arizona Pontiac Power Group!
We are kicking off the new year with our next auto archeological exploration hike/adventure tomorrow when we return to the Salt River Canyon area north of Globe.

Who knows what we will find this time???
Then-
Fri night we will be attending a Cruise in at Chandler.
Saturday morning we are off to the Az state fair grounds for the auto swap meet and show.
Then, heading to Firebird Drags strip for a nostalgia event. Good friend Glenn Gibbons will be there with his altered wheelbase injected 421 '64 Lemans
Sunday- it is the auto swap meet at Glendale college.

Always plenty scheduled and happening with Arizona Pontiac Power. Now the largest and most active Pontiac club/group in Arizona! and it is all FREE! No dues, no voting, no normal monthy meetings, just fun , adventurous and cool meet ups.

Join us! sign up now and be part of it. http://www.meetup.com/Arizona-Pontiac-power-group/

Brought to you by fans of Pontiac Power by.

Yours truely, Steve Barcak
AllPontiac.com
Kauffman Racing
WW Williams
Network Service Centers
Glenns Pontiac Garage
Too Hotties Mens Hair cuts
Pontiac Heaven
Quick Guns

We thank them for their support

[Steve Barcak]

Wow! what a week we have had already!
Wednesday we headed to the Salt River Canyon for our 11th auto archeological exploration hike adventure. Had a great time discovering some more old mines, equipment and some old trails. We found even more and started to close on it but, the darkness was coming and we decided to call it a day. We'll be back in less than 2 weeks.
Saturday was the big auto swap meet at the State fair grounds. Todd and Mark ( at least ) got some great deals.
Then, we headed to Firebird raceway for some nostalgia. Saw Glenn and Clint there and hung out.
Now in the morning is yet another auto swap meet, this time at Glendale college.

[Formulajones]

Sounds like a blast. We love to tinker in the mountains, ghost town hunting, mines, metal detect etc...but prefer to do it in something off road capable (4x4 blazer or sandrail) Is that forbidden with the pontiac group?

I'll be at the Pavilions next Saturday for the BJ kickoff cruise, probably in a pontiac. Hopefully the weather holds out. The extended forecast didn't look promising.

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Sounds like a blast. We love to tinker in the mountains, ghost town hunting, mines, metal detect etc...but prefer to do it in something off road capable (4x4 blazer or sandrail) Is that forbidden with the pontiac group?

I'll be at the Pavilions next Saturday for the BJ kickoff cruise, probably in a pontiac. Hopefully the weather holds out. The extended forecast didn't look promising.

For the most part, the areas we are exploring have to be made on foot. Some of them could be done on mountain bikes or trail bikes but, as of this time. I am the only one with a trail bike. So, we drive as far as we can and hike the rest of the way. The type of vehicle you describe would not work well. Plus we do not wish to tear things up but, to leave the area the way it was for others to explore in the coming decades.
However, Arizona has a lot of places for the type of vehicles you describe. They are very popular here.

We have a scheduled meet up at the Scotts Pavillions on Sat the 19th.

We hope to be able to meet you.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

For the most part, the areas we are exploring have to be made on foot. Some of them could be done on mountain bikes or trail bikes but, as of this time. I am the only one with a trail bike. So, we drive as far as we can and hike the rest of the way. The type of vehicle you describe would not work well. Plus we do not wish to tear things up but, to leave the area the way it was for others to explore in the coming decades.
However, Arizona has a lot of places for the type of vehicles you describe. They are very popular here.

We have a scheduled meet up at the Scotts Pavillions on Sat the 19th.

We hope to be able to meet you.

I should have asked that question differently. What I meant to get accross was whether or not you are traveling on dirt roads. Once that enters the picture, my classic cars are out of the picture
When it comes to off roading (anything dirt, graded, rocky, rough, or old wagon paths in general) it's strictly the 4x4 or a sandrail for us.

If this is indeed the case, I was wondering if such vehicles are allowed to traverse with the Pontiac group. I ask because some groups (how do I put this nicely) are a bit accentric when it comes to these types of things.

We also park and hike, as sometimes that's the only way to access some of the mines and old towns, alot of the seldom traveled roads are degraded (not maintained). Some of the roads are also just not passable unless you have a high clearance vehicle anyway, stuff the cars were never meant for. If you want to see alot of the history, only a high clearance vehicle will get you off the beaten path in some places.

I never meant to imply we tear things up, actually we are exactly the opposite, we just prefer to use a dedicated vehicle Actually if you saw these old towns in the 70's and early 80's, and then see them now (if anything left at all) it's sickening to see how people have treated it over the years. Destroyed grave sites, walls knocked down and shot full of holes, garbage everywhere etc...Truely sad. We just love to get out, find old wagon trails, sometimes using old geological maps, and see where they take us. Usually all day spent up in the Bradshaws just driving around and taking in the history.

Anyway, I'll be at the Pavilions, we've met before at the Pontiac Heaven event.

[Steve Barcak]

Here is a pic that Todd took of Mark and I. We are not always on this rugged of terrain, but, are at times. It is normally milder hiking but, we can be quite adventurous. Not sure how many people, if ever, have been where we were here. The whole experience is quite thrilling and fun. The air, the views, the comraderie, etc. Just absolute great times!

[Steve Barcak]

I can understand if all your Pontiacs are cherry and one wishes not to get them dirty but, I like to drive them. In the winter, it is time for snow tires and to head for the snow for some fun!


I am itching real bad now to hit the slopes with my snowboard, gotta do it soon.

Here we are last year on what would be called a quad trail in my '66 GTO.



This is one of the roads we travel. I have no issues taking this with my GTO. We could not make it last week in the Bonneville because of fairly fresh snow, mudd and a one legger rear. Next trip, we take my GTO in there.

[Steve Barcak]

Of course, you are most welcome with whatever you drive. I hope it is at least American but, you can drive whatever you wish. On some of our drives, we do want Pontiac power but, it is not practical to require that for trips like this. However, we take Pontiac power anyway almost all the time, even here.

Originally Posted by Formulajones

I should have asked that question differently. What I meant to get accross was whether or not you are traveling on dirt roads. Once that enters the picture, my classic cars are out of the picture
When it comes to off roading (anything dirt, graded, rocky, rough, or old wagon paths in general) it's strictly the 4x4 or a sandrail for us.

If this is indeed the case, I was wondering if such vehicles are allowed to traverse with the Pontiac group. I ask because some groups (how do I put this nicely) are a bit accentric when it comes to these types of things.

We also park and hike, as sometimes that's the only way to access some of the mines and old towns, alot of the seldom traveled roads are degraded (not maintained). Some of the roads are also just not passable unless you have a high clearance vehicle anyway, stuff the cars were never meant for. If you want to see alot of the history, only a high clearance vehicle will get you off the beaten path in some places.

I never meant to imply we tear things up, actually we are exactly the opposite, we just prefer to use a dedicated vehicle Actually if you saw these old towns in the 70's and early 80's, and then see them now (if anything left at all) it's sickening to see how people have treated it over the years. Destroyed grave sites, walls knocked down and shot full of holes, garbage everywhere etc...Truely sad. We just love to get out, find old wagon trails, sometimes using old geological maps, and see where they take us. Usually all day spent up in the Bradshaws just driving around and taking in the history.

Anyway, I'll be at the Pavilions, we've met before at the Pontiac Heaven event.

It sounds like we would get along real well.

[Formulajones]

I get along with about any car guy, I'm a bonified car nut, my wife will tell ya

I love the pontiacs but also own some other brands so I'm a little diverse. Basically I just enjoy most any car from the 50's/60's/early 70's. Been around pontiacs my whole life though, my father bought a 69 goat new and still owns it today so it rubbed off on me.

Beautiful scenery, I can't get enough of that stuff around here, love this state. My hats off to you for taking the cars back there. My stuff is either original unrestored (original paint) survivors that still show very nice, or restored cars that show well at local shows, so naturally they are stictly paved road vehicles to preserve them as much as I can. I still drive them frequently, and make the trip to Phoenix in them on a regular basis, definately not afraid to put miles on them, and even occasional trips to the track.

I'll probably drive my Formula down to the Pavillions Saturday.

[Steve Barcak]

The Arizona Pontiac Power Group is heading back to the Salt River Canyon area this Saturday for our 12th auto archeological hike/adventure....
Who knows what we may find?

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

The Arizona Pontiac Power Group is heading back to the Salt River Canyon area this Saturday for our 12th auto archeological hike/adventure....
Who knows what we may find?

We had another really great adventure deep into some remote areas in Arizona. Visiting mines and places that no one has probably been to in decades. Neat stuff.
Here is a link to where some pics are if interested-

http://www.meetup.com/ac-christians-...otos/13209592/

[Steve Barcak]

Here are some more pics of our last exploratory hike/adventure. This first pic shows 5 of the 8 of us who attended. This crane type structure is on the side of a cliff and must have been used to lift ore from the cliff openings below. There is also a few buildings in the immediate area so, this was some sort of main area. That's Mechanic Keith on the right.



This mine was on the side of a steep cliff face. It appears a ledge was cut out to access this area where there are 2 mines. This are is pretty remote and I guess no one has been here in many decades. The views are incredible but, you need to be very careful as it drops right off. Some of our group opted not to go here but, most of us did and we are glad we did. Since we were there, we took a break and had a soda and some food. It would be a neat place to camp out or to see a storm but, is a bit scary to get to. Also, the ceiling appeared to be in poor condition structually.



This pic is of me and one of my dogs deep inside a mine. This part of the adventure was later in the day and most of the group were too pooped to keep going. Todd and myself decided to continue to explore this mine that I found last time. Todd had found the foundations and other clues higher up the side of the mountain last year and I was expecting something big. We were not disapointed. We were not able to find out how deep this mine was. It just kept going and going into the mountain! It seems to be in excellent condition structurally compared to some of the other mines but, still creepy going in that deep. On our next trip, we plan to investigate this mine completely. It is my guess that this is the oldest mine wew have yet to explore.






Todd and I found this late in the day at this large mine we were exploring for the first time. At first we thought of it as graffitti. Then, we realized a few things. 1st. we doubted anyone had been here in many decades. 2nd, it is written in scrip. That has not been common for many decades either. We cannot be sure, but, guessing this was the location of an on the job death and was put up as a warning and/or tribute to other miners. There is a skull and crossbones at the lower left and the mans name and is dated 1936. We will return to this mine soon and investigate further.



All in all, this was a very fullfilling adventure hike/exploration. We covered a few area we had failed to get to in the past and it answered some of our questions. We are really getting to know the area.


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