Friends,

We are indeed blessed! The Great Spirit showed us Saturday - in vivid beauty - his love and grace. Before the event we had rain and snow, the day after the event record high temperatures. I am truly grateful to him for this gift of a beautiful day.

And as I stood to address you Saturday morning I knew you would all suffer, some more than others, to achieve your own personal Vision Quest and Counting Coup (an act of courage). And some of you accomplished this without even finishing; you had the courage to try and learned a lot in the process.

You all have my respect.

I see in all of you the great things we are capable of - and I hope to encourage you to achieve even greater Visions. The greatest joy I receive from these events is the belief that this is not the end for you, but a new beginning.

On behalf of the Warrior's Society I thank you all for this blessing you give to us.

As I said, I am never surprised at what you can accomplish, and by this year's results you rose to the challenge. We had a lot of time and age records broken; a true testimony of the greatness we are capable of.

Chris Vargas
AKA "Dances With Hornets"
Executive Director

Here is the link to Dave Vornberger photos of the event: www.vesperlight.com/2004/vq/index.htm

2004 POW WOW VOLUNTEERS

We all know the Pow Wow would not have been possible without our many volunteers. Many hours went into making the 2004 Pow Wow happen. Thanks to all those who set up the night before, especially Jesse Vargas and Jady, who made us an excellent pasta dinner and Larry Branham and Brian Walker for taking lead on setting up. After dinner we had a preview of the 3D flyover that will be a special feature in 2004 Pow Wow DVD. The DVD will be on sale in about a month after post production of the event footage. Other special features in the 2004 Pow Wow DVD will be interviews with past record holders, the history of the event, and training advice. Special thanks to Red Bull for also providing the 2004 Red Bull Challenge DVD for after dinner entertainment.

The following people and the volunteers that worked with them did an excellent job:

Aid Station #1 Director Event Co-Director Jesse Vargas
Holy Jim check point Director Larry Branham
Aid Station #2 Director Terry Hamlyn
West Horsethief check point and Communication Director Joe Lopez
Trabuco check point Director Bill Hines
Finish Line Director Jane Lemonds
Shuttle/Comfort Station Director Jady Enomoto
Base Station Communication Director Ron Cooke
Registration Director Geri Ann Vargas and Pit Boss Becky Vargas
Food Services Director Jim Simescu
Rick Bellis and the staff of Orange County Search and Rescue
Allison Hughes, Ron Sobchik and the other members of the Orange County Dualies off road motorcycle club
Our Shuttle Truck Drivers, Reed Price, Bob Hale and Gregg Howard
Our mobile support vehicles
Our mountain bike sweep volunteers
Robert Blain of Jax's Bike shops for helping the Event Director address the problems that came up during the event
Our Web Master Barry Wood for his constant attention to our web site and patience with posting the final times.

Geriann Vargas, Jesse Vargas, Larry Braham, Ken Rands, Jeroen Bosboom, Mike Caffrey and Flying "B" Managers Amy and Mark Ferguson for helping to clean up and pack up the next day

The Warrior's Society would like to thank the following individuals and organizations that helped to make the Pow Wow possible:

• The U.S. Forest Service and Rangers Judy Behrens and Virgil Mink.

• Dan and Diane Dulac as well as Alan Dean, owners of the Flying "B" Ranch, and their managers Mark and Amy Ferguson

• County Supervisor Tom Wilson

• County Public Works Manager Bill Tidwell

• Lon Hanson County Public Works Senior Inspector

• The SHARE Mountain Bike Club for donating sodas

• Our Major sponsors: Titus, Shimano, Oakley, and Manitou, MTBAccess.

• Our sponsoring bike shops: Jax's Bicycle Centers, Rainbow Bicycle Company, Edge Cyclesports, The Bike Company, Switchback Cyclery, The Path Bike Shop, Bike Tech, Rock and Road and South County Cyclery.

• Our contributing sponsors: Cliff Bar/Shot, Voler, Crank Brothers, The Indian Store, Active.com, Arrowhead Water, Kona, Mountain Biking Magazine, Yakima, Cytomax, Maxxis Tires. Please support these companies that contribute to keeping the trails open.

CHANGES FOR 2005

Next year we plan on having computerized scoring so our volunteers don't lose our minds towards the end of the day. We have tried to avoid doing this to avoid the increased expense but our inability to get the scores done without confusion and quickly is affecting our ability to get the closing ceremonies completed. We also plan on having a photo station set up at Holy Jim so we can give you your coup feather award and take your picture with your bike. We would then mail you your "finish line" picture with the after event letter. Later at the closing ceremonies, we will announce the top 20 finishers and any notable participant.

There was some confusion on park entry fees due to our not keeping track of those who already had paid to enter the Flying "B" Ranch Friday night for the early start/pre-registration. We apologize for this confusion. Next year we will incorporate the entry fee into the event fee and this will cover you even if you pre-register Friday night for the event or for the early start.

If your family or friends wish to enter the Flying "B" Ranch the fees will be $5.00 per person, with children 13 and under free. This will include lunch.

As I previously mentioned, we will be incorporating the park entry fee into the Vision Quest and Counting Coup entry fees and initiate electronic scoring. This will result in an increase of $15.00 in the event fees for both events; $100.00 for the Vision Quest and $80.00 for the Counting Coup.

As I mentioned, the event fee will cover your entry into the park, dinner Friday night, pre-registration, the early start, breakfast Saturday morning, a photo at the finish with your coup feather, bike and finishing time, and dinner/lunch after you complete the event.

We ask for your understanding in raising the event fees. This will not increase our profits but will be used to make the event a more enjoyable experience for you and our volunteers, as well as to eliminate much of the confusion we experienced this year.

2004 POW WOW DVD

We have producsed a DVD about the 2004 Pow Wow. Click here to find out more.

IN CLOSING

We truly appreciate your support of our advocacy and events. We have accomplished so much because of your passion in protecting your freedom to responsibly access your public lands.

May the Great Spirit guide you on all your Vision Quests.

Ya Ta Hey

The Warrior's Society

Copyright© The Warrior's Society® countingcoup@warriorssociety.org