RAINDROPPERS:
The final results of the 1985 Raindrop Rally are enclosed. While the hardcopy numbers in 
your hand may make you wonder what you were doing out there, I want to remind you that the 
intent of the rally was not to simply accumulate the lowest score in a rallyist vs rallyist, or 
rallyist vs the rallymaster competition, but rather a thinly veiled tour of the best roads and 
scenery we could fit into the format. So while the "hard" numbers may make you wonder what you 
were "really" doing out there, your best memory of the event is what I can't put on paper-the 
tour, roads, and scenery. Someone wanted to know why I didn't allow time for sightseeing. The best 
response I can think of is- why didn't you take the time anyway? I tried to please the most people 
I could, and the response indicates I did a good job. You can always go back, and a lot of people do.

Where were you? The route went over Cougar Mountain, with checkpoints 1 & 2 8 seconds 
apart, at the top of the hill. CP 3 was at the bottom of the hill, as you turned left onto Lakemont 
Blvd. May Valley Rd had CP 4 located at a members' driveway, in the middle of a slow 25 mph 
section. Taking the long way down Cedar Grove road concluded the first regularity, and there was a 
CP (5) there. Just before you reached Maple Valley, a well hidden CP 6 timed you.
 
The Pipeline Regularity is hard to find without rally instructions. Seems like someone new 
has moved in everytime I rally through there, tho. CP7 wasn't very well hidden, on the middle of 
the pipeline right-of-way. CP 8 had my alertest crew- you cruised by at 38 mph just before 
Ravensdale, and the CP was on an inside apex.
 
There was only one CP (9) on the Green River regularity, through the best part of the fabled 
Gorge. You will often see stories on the history of the area, and even now we are seeing the legacy 
of the old Railroad Land Grants- the clearcut areas belong to Burlington Northern, who can sell the 
lumber very cheap due to laws enacted to make the construction of the original railroads 
attractive. This area, for years, had a very, very healthy and old second growth of lumber, and I 
can hardly wait to see what now developes.
 
The course planned on stopping at Nolte State Park right up until the club checkout a week 
before the rally. Unfortunately, the park people don't put water into the pipes until the frost 
season is over, so I moved the "leg stretcher" break to Mud Mountain Dam. While the task of flood 
control on the Cedar and Green Rivers is handled high in the Cascades by the (drinking) water 
depts. of Seattle and Tacoma, the Corps of Engineers controls the White River, and you can view the 
dam year around. The fill up in spring must be awesome, tho I haven't witnessed it myself. 
Unfortunately, the main topic of discussion at the break was my bum mileages, a result of a simple 
error juggling mileages to move the Monte start up...
 
The 10th CP was at a traditional location, expected by the experienced rallyists. The 
checkpoint crew arrived from Cougar Mountain just minutes before the first car arrived ! (you 
guys weren't having all the fun !)
 
The trip through Buckley wasn't intended for sightseeing, but a few cars missed the angle of 
River Road, and wandered far off course. I still haven't figured out what went wrong, and the actual 
intent of the "scenic" route was to avoid the intersection where you finished the Transit, which is 
nearly impossible to "legally" describe in this rally format. The off course excursion is a long 
trip past the Rainier School, but comes back to the same spot about 15 miles later, I understand....
 
Burnett is full of history. You took a left at the big triangle intersection, then plunged down a 
tiny, paved, narrow road to cross the bridge over South Prairie Creek, where CP 11 was located. 
That little valley once held 10,000 miners, and the large concrete block on the right was the bank 
vault of the thriving community. The story goes that someone tried to blow up the vault, and 
demolished the bank instead ! The creek is now a protected spawning water, and I think there are 
only 8 houses in the valley.
 
The trip to Wilkeson turned acute right at the last chance before you were committed to 
following a dead ended hiway. The more observant would note that there were cemetarys on either 
side. I toyed with a quick trip through town, but a rally wouldn't do the trip justice- go back on 
your way to Mt. Rainier.
 
As it was, you went through South Prairie, and nearly back to the big triangle intersection 
before turning left on Mundy Loss, The finish of the section was supposed to give you time to look 
over the canal between Mud Mountain Dam and Lk. Tapps, but I understand that a few cars barely 
made their time. The 35 mph road is just barely paved, and perhaps too rough for an autocross 
car ....

As you turned left onto Radke Rd., you should have looked over your shoulder for a great view 
of Mt. Rainier, the kind you see on calenders. The sign was on the ground when I arrived, as it has 
been off and on for the last three years. I put it back up, then zoomed up to the checkpoint (CP 12). 
The crew would probably have had a good view of the mess if the sign had been left down ..... They 
came in from the backside and would have been truely mystified to watch the rallyists miss the 
turn.
 
You passed the monument ( now everyone knows about it), and passed the last CP (13) at the 
overpass of Hwy 410. Angeline Rd. i s a perfectly good 35-40 mph road, posted at 25 for some 
reason. I nearly got run down trying to maintain 25! The reason for the exercise was to take you 
to the finish past the new bridge, which seems to be taking a long time to build. This is a prime 
tulip growing area, and a month's delay would have made it dazzling. I didn't get to see it, but the 
fire at the bottom of the hill at "SPRING WATER GARDENS" finished off that landmark. The simple 
route Pietro's Pizza didn't work if you took the exit off Hwy 167 at '15TH ST SW' instead of "NW"!
 
The finish worked very well, with the introduction of an IBM with Lotus 123 for scoring, 
using direct input of checkpoint times, and letting the computor take it all from there. Compared 
with manual scoring, we knocked probably 45 minutes off the scoring time. Of course, Dan and 
Barb Raemer spent hours and hours putting the program together before the rally!!!  But it 
worked- scored 13 checkpoints in just under 2-and-a-half hours. 13 checkpoints is very, very 
ambitious for a rally with less than four hours running time, and RASC will be a bit (justifiably) 
proud for the effort. 8 checkpoints would have been perfectly reasonable. The delay at the start 
was purely my own error, incidently, an I'm sorry for any inconvenience. As it happens, the 11 
AM start was far better for a variety of reasons.
 
Publicity is a major problem, and our mailing list is a considerable asset. I will make it 
available to other rally clubs, but can only guarantee the quality on the RASC events. Newcomers 
should remember that this was a "Monte" style rally, and there are other types of rallys where 
following the General Instructions are considerably more challenging.
 
On April 12-13, RASC and SCCA will present the 'RODLAND TOYOTA NOR'WESTER'
PRO-Rally. The rally will be headquartered in Everett, with most of the visable stuff happening 
there, and some late nite running near Shelton. We could use some help, and the opportunity to see 
the best American rallyists is worth some effort. We need people to simply park in the woods and 
block the roads- while watching the rally ! Working a checkpoint (it takes a few people) is a good 
experience, and no one is expected to trash their favorite wheels doing it; most controls are only a 
quarter mile off a paved road.
 
The Rodland Toyota NOR'WESTER has a lot happening on Friday, with tech opening at the 
Everett Toyota dealership at 10 AM ( the service department is CLOSED that day !!), cars on 
display until 5 pm, then some Special Stages in the Everett area until 7 PM or so. The rally then 
moves to the Sheltaarea at 10PM, to return to Everett at dawn.  A few more Special Stages in the 
Everett area until 2 or so. Awards on Saturday nite. I recommend you start planning to take Friday 
off, just to be in Everett before the rush. If you plan to "work" the rally, its perfectly possible to 
be in Shelton for the nite stages, but you'll have missed the excitement in Everett. In any case, you 
really shouldn't miss this, and being a "worker" is by far the best way to see the action and 
actually know whats going on. Unfortunately, the budget for informing the rallyists is nil, so 
you'll have to contact RASC for more info. 
 
The BIG question, especially among the newcomers, is "Whens' the next rally?". In the "good 
old days", there were 2 a month, not counting Friday Niters. Now, all I can predict is "Nite on Bald 
Mountain" in mid-July, which you will likely receive a mailer about. A rally connected with the 
Portland Rose Festival will run for the umpteenth time.... BUT 
The Tour de Washington will be an adventure, an exploration of the roads we ran when 
NOR'WESTER was a 2 day TSD event of 800 miles. A chance to take a carefully guided tour of the 
roads only us'n'th'local folk know about. It won't be easy, and it definitely won't be a bore. Some of
the best roads cover 40 miles of excellent gravel roads at a shot, and we aren't adverse to taking 
them if the trip is worth it. Car preparation is expected to be what you'd expect for any 1000 mile 
trip - no snow tires or skid pan, etc. BE THERE, September 28. 

-Mark Nolte