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First Posted: 7/13/2013 LAUREL RUN &#8212; With his camp chair slung over his shoulder, Bob Watkins hiked with his brother, Jerry Baumann, up the steep incline toward Devil&#8217;s Elbow on East Northampton Street, the mountain road commonly known as Giant&#8217;s Despair.
Their voices were drowned out by the din of modified vehicles of all shapes and sizes powering up the hill toward the most precarious turn of the Giant&#8217;s Despair Hill Climb. The time-trial-style race up one of the Valley&#8217;s steepest inclines began in 1906 and now benefits the Laurel Run Volunteer Fire Department.
Watkins pointed to the knoll above the bend where a bustling crowd gathered to watch the race. If you&#8217;re going to watch the race, you&#8217;ve gotta watch from there, Watkins said.
Not only is the Elbow sharp, it&#8217;s also steep, which further complicates the turn. &#8220;If an accident&#8217;s going to happen, it&#8217;ll be on Devil&#8217;s Elbow,&#8221; Watkins said.
Devil&#8217;s Elbow entertains the sadistic side of people who don&#8217;t always get to let it out, Watkins said about the way spectators gravitate to that particular spot on the course.
Above the turn, fans tossed cans of Coors Light to each other. One fan with thick beard and a tiny bottle of Yukon Jack whiskey hung like a charm around his neck cracked open a can and shouted to his buddies with pride, &#8220;I&#8217;ve been coming here for 55 years,&#8221; and slumped into his camp chair. A Corvette squealed around the corner muffling his exclamation.
In the back of the crowd, Mike McGrady looked over a sea of ATVs and dirt bikes that filled a clearing in the forest. McGrady said he&#8217;s been coming to the races for 10 years and he always watches from the Elbow.
McGrady said he and and his pals ride their quads on trails through Bear Creek Township to park behind the lookout point. &#8220;We wait all year to do this,&#8221; he said.
Seemingly out of place, two M35 2 1/2-ton military-grade cargo trucks joined the smaller vehicles in the makeshift parking lot, where a dozen or so fans sipped from beer cozies and leaned against their quads like the small clearing was a biker bar.
Watkins, now retired, said that when he was a kid, a tent and bleachers above Devil&#8217;s Elbow was where all the VIPs watched the race. Nowadays, he suggested strolling through the crowd, waiting a while for the beer to flow, then walking through again to see how the fans have grown friendlier.
Baumann, who lives in New Jersey now, said that while he enjoys the climb, he likes to visit his hometown in hopes of seeing familiar faces.
&#8220;The race is not that important,&#8221; Baumann said as he caught up with Chris Goodhand, a friend the two brothers met at last year&#8217;s hill climb.
Under the shade of the forest, Pat Green confirmed what Watkins said &#8212; Devil&#8217;s Elbow is the best place to watch the race.
&#8220;We look forward to this more than the Poconos,&#8221; Green said, out there on the side of the road, where they could kick back in the cool of the shade, play their music loud and enjoy the race.
See sports coverage of the Giant&#8217;s Despair Hill Climb, 1C

Devil’s Elbow place to be for many