The 2024 Vision Quest and Counting Coup participants were greeted in the morning with overcast skies, which made for great riding weather, with the sun breaking through later in the afternoon. We had 64 participants out of 133 registered and aside from a few DNF's most of the field finished. We had several of our legacy 10 plus year riders finish another Vision Quest; Warrior's Society member Jeroen "Dust Cloud" Bossboom, Warrior's Society member Mike "Changes Fate" Caffrey, Mark Scheetz, Charlie Gilmore and Frank Cain. The 10 plus years most notable finishers are Charlie Gilmore, who has completed 18 Vision Quests and Frank Cain, who has finished 17 Vision Quests. We also had the father and son team of Doug and Trevor Zanella also finish, Doug is a long time supporter of the club and it's great to see him finishing with his son.

We also had two riders become full members of the Warrior's Society and they were initiated into the club at the event. Diego Morones "Rides With Smile" and Darshan "Sings Spirit Songs" Ahluwalia have been a tremendous help with trail work and we are happy to welcome them into the Warrior's Society. Blaine Mengert was also nominated as a member and will be initiated at our summer beach party. We will also be awarding the Pua and Bob Haislett awards at the Beach Party. Both these awards honor deceased Warrior's Society members who made a giant contribution to our organization and mountain biking. Pua was a top professional endurance rider who won many events and was tragically killed in a street bike accident. Bob in his 70's, was the oldest finisher of the Vision Quest on both a geared bike and single speed; Bob was a gold medal shot gunner, bush pilot, off road racer and all around amazing athlete.

Many thanks again to Mark Hardison and the California Fish Grill for the excellent lunch, thanks to Legacy Sponsor Troy Lee Designs, Steve Parker and the Parker Ranch (our official club meeting place), the County of Orange and last but not least Jake Rodriguez and the U.S. Forest Service

Thanks to our club elders and other event volunteers especially event directors Keith "Leads With Quiet Voice" Parsons, Joe "Flying Buffalo" Lopez, and Mary “Never Tires” Huth, shuttle drivers Gene "Guided New Warriors" Frial and Dave "Herds Horses" Allen who worked though out the day as both race support and shuttle drivers.

And most importantly many thanks to Trail Maintenance Director Keith "Keeps His Word" Eckstein and his volunteers who worked on the trails in preparation for the event.

The list of those who finished are posted here:
Vision Quest Counting Coup

Next year's Vision Quest and Counting Coup will be on Saturday, May 3, 2025. We hope that by moving the event to early May there is less of a chance of a rain delay. As you all know next year we will not be publicly promoting our events but will instead move to an Associate membership model in order to get back to our grass roots beginning. The Associate Member fee is good until June 2025 after which you'll need to renew your membership. This 2024-2025 membership covers our Saturday, August 3rd Beach Party, our Saturday, October 12th Toad Festival and the May 3rd, 2025 Vision Quest and Counting Coup. The only other additional charges for the event will be a $15 camping fee (for those who would like to camp there) charged by the Parker Ranch for use of the property. Priority registration for Associate Membership is now over and if you are interested in Associate Membership email us at: sanofan.chris@gmail.com

For an application. The Associate membership fee is $85.

Thanks again to all who participated! We will see those of you that sign up as Associate members at the August Beach Party!

Photo Gallery

– Chris Vargas AKA Dances With Hornets