Geared 4 Fun Ramblings

PVD 11-9-07

2007-11-12T15:40:00.000-08:00

This years trip to Panamint Valley was as usual "the best trip ever". We got an opportunity to do some of the old favorite runs as well as discover some new and interesting things we hadn't seen before. Best of all we got to do it with some friends who hadn't done it before.

A group of us caravaned up there early Friday morning arriving at camp around 11AM. Soon after setting up camp we made plans to do a run up some of the nearby canyons.

We had a small, good group. It was Cameron, Teresa, Kirt, Matt and me. First we went up the north fork of Revenue Canyon. We discovered some nice waterfalls to climb but the trail soon became impassible when the brush overcame the trail. Exploring the south fork yielded more interesting results. We found a spring, running waterfalls and a very nice mine. Kirt discovered a fuse sticking out of the end of the mine and we considered lighting it and running. When we finished exploring that we headed back to camp.

That night we had a fire but the wind picked up and the weather grew cold. I went to sleep early.

The next morning was the Isham Canyon run. We had the same group as Friday with John and Rosanna & the dogs. Isham canyon was about the same as last year but we did it with less carnage since we knew what to look for. In spite of having some longer wheelbase vehicles we all made it through with minimal damage except John. Isham has some tough obstacles but as usual, John spotted some optional lines that stepped it up another notch. That's how he peeled off his bumper.

After Isham we headed over to Goler Wash and explored some of the mines in that area. The Lotus mine had incredible switchbacks taking us to the top of the mountain and then down the backside. Everywhere we looked was abandoned equipment and mine tunnels. We took an hour to explore the area and wished it could have been longer. We proceeded up Goler wash, visited Barker Ranch and went over Mengel Pass to Butte Valley. There we visited the Geologists' Cabin. As the sun set we blasted out of Butte Valley, down Warm Spring Canyon and on into Death Valley. For the last 10 miles before the highway we got to speeds of 50-55MPH kicking up dust clouds that didn't go away and could still be seen when we were airing up 20 minutes later.

After airing up we headed north along the eastern side of death valley on Hwy 178. Upon arriving at Furnace Creek we were advised by another jeeper to gas up in Stovepipe Wells. We stopped in Stovepipe, gassed up and ate dinner at a local choke and puke. It was nice to have ribs after a long day of wheeling.

The next day (Sunday) we did some explorations in the nearby canyons again but didn't find anything much other than Wilderness signs. We packed up around noon and headed home.

The Space Saver

2007-10-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

In my never ending quest to make more room in the Jeep for tools, spare parts, and stuff. I installed "the space saver". Simply a piece of flat stock attached to the roll bar to create a place to hang anything that has a belt loop. It's welded on one end and removable on the other with a thumb screw. I'll use it for a knife, binoculars, camera, or whatever else I can cram on there.
Flatty Mike

Heart Bar Peak – Big Bear

2007-09-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Run Report by Flatty Mike
On Sunday Sheri & I took the short drive from Heart Bar campground to run Heart Bar Peak, Trail 1N38. The trail head is only 1.5 miles easterly from the campground turn off on Highway 38. My power steering pump had started failing on Saturday during the Adopt-A-Trail maintenance, but being that this trail was just a long walk from camp I decided to make a go of it anyway. The first obstacle came at less than a half a mile in – a fallen tree was blocking the trail. “Are we going back?” Sheri asked. “Uh, no” I replied. This was the perfect opportunity to use my old school Warn winch.
I had saved it from a '63 CJ3B I used to have. This sucker weighs a ton and I’ve never really tested it except for in my driveway. With all four wheels chocked with rocks (my e-brake cable broke on Saturday) and Sheri stomping on the brake, the winch just dragged the Jeep towards the tree. It was wedged in by other trees on both sides of the trail – so on to Plan B.
I took out my axe and chopped a notch in the trunk a few inches deep. That along with breaking loose the smaller limbs from the uphill side allowed the winch to snap the tree and break it free. I pulled it back and off to the side of the trail and we were underway.
This trail is adopted by Jeeping Jeepers, but it didn’t appear that anyone has been on it lately. It's hard to say how long that tree has been there. The majority of the trail is easy / moderate, but it earns its “more difficult” rating from a couple of long steep climbs as you near the peak. They’re littered with loose rock that will spit out behind you as you try to maintain your momentum. Vehicles without at least a rear locker may have some difficulty on these climbs, but it’s probably do able with a willingness to stay heavy on the pedal.

After a short rest at the summit we headed back to relieve my babysitting mother-in-law. Coming down the steep, loose sections I was really pleased with my newly lowered crawl ratio (110:1). Descending with engine compression, not relying solely on the brakes, gives a great feeling of control. No issues other than my now fried power steering pump forcing me to make a couple of three point turns at some of the tighter switchbacks. Sheri caught a glimpse of a deer darting up the hill as we rounded a corner. Total time, excluding tree removal, was under two hours. This would be a nice little detour for the club to run some afternoon after finishing up trail maintenance on 1N37.

12 Volt Trail Drill

2007-09-10T21:57:00.000-07:00

I've seen write ups on this before, so when I came across this 12v Makita Drill I decided it was a good time to make a portable drill for my Jeep. The concept being that you'll always have a usable drill on the trail, not needing to worry if its battery is charged or if the charge will run out

I found this one on Craig's List for twenty bucks! It came with a flashlight, and a case. No battery, no biggie, I didn't need it anyway since I wired it to work off a 12 volt car battery. I took the case apart and soldered some wire connectors to the battery contacts. Then I attached those to a standard 110v electrical cord prong. Then by plugging that into a spare extension cord with some alligator clips attached, I can now hook up to a battery. I'll make a similar conversion for the flashlight as well and the extension cord can be used to power either device.

In place of the charger and battery in the case I'll load up some drill bits, grinder discs and cut-off discs.

Now I just need to make room for it in the Jeep!

By Flatty Mike

Memorial Notice

2007-07-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

A memorial notice for our friend Chuck as printed in the July 2007 edition of Blue Ribbon Magazine. Click on the article for an enlarged view.

New Axles for the Willys

2007-04-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! My axles are finally here. What started out as a couple of minor upgrades has snowballed into a major makeover for the Willys. Initially the Jeep was down for a dual master cylinder upgrade. Then I came across a good deal on some shocks. Then all hell broke lose. Here’s what’s in store:

Dana 44 front, disc brakes, 5.38 gears, ARB locker
Dana 44 rear, disc brakes, 5.38 gears, Detroit locker
4” Skyjacker leaf springs for an early CJ5 (longer than Willys stock length)
JKS U-Bolt plates
Edelbrock shocks
RCI fuel cell

All of the leaf spring and shackle mounts have to be relocated to allow for the longer springs as well as out boarding the front mounts to get around the Scout Dana 44 pumpkin. The Jeep will end up with a track width about eight inches wider, sit about 2” higher (plus another 1.5” after I upsize the tires), and the wheelbase will be stretched 2-3”.

To Do List:

Fabricate the front spring mounts
Weld on spring perches
Build a drag link (anyone have a spare w/ heavy duty tie rod ends on it?)
Switch transfer case output to a cv yoke for cv driveline
Fitment of drivelines
New shock towers and mounts
Mount and connect the ARB
Install new master cylinder, brake lines, bleed brakes
E-brake assembly to rear wheels

Most of this stuff I’ve never done before, just kind of winging it and learning as I go. If anyone has some life experience to share with me on this type of work, let me have it. For instance, I only want to weld the spring perches on once so it will be important to get things mocked up right the first time.

While waiting for parts I decided to weld up all the holes in the body where the old roll bar was mounted, soft top snaps, etc. Well that was another can of worms. There were over 60 holes on the passenger side alone! It wasn’t my intention to start a body work project on a 65 year old tub, so I just gave it a quick Bondo skim over the patches and moved on. One good thing about a small Jeep is it only takes 5 cans of spray paint to change the color, so I’m taking the Willys MB back to its military roots. That’s right - Olive Drab Baby!

If anyone wants to get their hands dirty, come on over, I’m in Vista. Help will not be turned away. It would be great to get a second eye on some of this stuff like the pinion angles, and I’m still on the fence about the shock mount locations.

Flatty Mike

Russ' Coilover Conversion

2007-04-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

by Chuck

So What does a guy who's Jeep TJ that only has 8000 miles on it do after he's swapped out the axles for ProRock 60's , running 37" Krawlers with a Full Traction Long Arm Kit, Kenne Bell Supercharger and so much stuff under the hood that it barely closes do when he gets bored?

Well how about a conversion to Fox Coil-Over shocks.

That's exactly what we did this Saturday . At least we got the front end conversion done.

The process requires removing the original Springs and shocks.

Then cutting the stock shock tower top off and welding in the new custom Coil Over shock bracket and bottom bracket.

It was really pretty easy with a lift, Plasma cutter, welder and all the tools you could need.

A couple of guys and a Corona made the job go quickly.

Before shot

The Bracket

Using the plasma cutter we cut off the top and side of the stock shock tower.

Using a hammer after the cut removed the excess part of the old shock tower

We then cut a hole in the fender well wall for the new tower to extend through. Then grind off the paint to weld.

Then weld in the new Tower... Part of the old tower is left so there is lots of metal to weld to.

There will also be a cross brace - but due to the Supercharger and assorted other goodies under the hood, Russ will have to fab up a custom bend.

Weld in the bottom bracket.

A Little Krylon makes it all look clean.

Installing the shocks definitely was easier with another pair of hands to hold the unit while threading the bolt. The unit uses two springs each has a different dampening rate. We started with a 150 on top and a 250 below but it felt too soft so we went to a 250 on top and a 350 on the bottom. The theory is the softer spring works until it maxes then the stiffer spring works until it hits the bumpstop. New pneumatic bumpstops will be installed before wheeling.

Note the remote reservoir mounted under the front flat fender - clean!

Truckhaven (aka Ocotillo Wells SVRA) BLM Comments

2007-04-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Below is the letter I sent to the BLM (and Parks' OHV commission and Governor) regarding proposed Geothermal Leasing at Ocotillo Wells SVRA ( Truckhaven to the BLM).

April 4, 2007

Bureau of Land Management
California Desert District Office
Attn: John Dalton
22835 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos
Moreno Valley CA 92553

RE: Truckhaven Draft Environmental Impact Statement Comments

Dear Sir,

I believe there is much misunderstanding about the proposed Truckhaven Geothermal project - much of it stems from misinformation in the DEIS.

A few of the glaring issues are the blatant misnaming of the project area as Truckhaven - when it is really Ocotillo Wells SVRA. The DEIS certainly refers to Ocotillo Wells SVRA throughout the document but the title I believe is misleading. Truckhaven is commonly known as the area north of S22 and West of SR86, if the public were properly made aware of the true location of this project I believe the outcry would be significantly greater. This error should not be understated, a few hundred acres of desert in the middle of Imperial County is a local issue… but 500 acres of OWSVRA is a Southern California Issue. Because this area is used by citizens in a much broader area the public throughout Southern California should be made aware of this potential loss of recreation land and be offered the ability to comment on its impact.

Under Section 4.11 Visual Resources, your DEIS fails to address the effect of Light Pollution at night. The Ocotillo Wells and the surrounding desert area enjoys extremely crisp and clear nights throughout the year, which offer excellent vantage for stargazing. Every power plant I have ever seen has hundreds of bright lights all night long – potentially destroying one of the benefits of the solitude of the desert.

Under the RFD, section 2.2 the DEIS states that up to 36.5% of the total acres (14,731 acres) could be disturbed but the number is quickly downplayed to 340 acres for wells and 186 acres for power plants – I’m concerned that is a gross underestimate. For example of great concern are the Well field pipelines discussed in GeothermEx,Inc.’s plans in Appendix B on page 3-2, where they state that 24” diameter pipelines are run a few feet off the ground. So the footprint of the wells and pipeline may come in within your RFD, but a pipeline a “few feet” off the ground spoils access and views, one doesn’t go to the desert to be in the middle of and industrial park. Nor is my experience enhanced when I have to drive around pipelines.

Section 2.2 states that there is not accurate information on the Geothermal resources available, just proprietary data from 1981 – what if you are wrong and they are sitting on a Geothermal gold mine? Now we loose 36% OR MORE of our SVRA! The BLM just says “OOPS that was the RFD at the time, hey there generating clean electricity now go away.” How then do we get compensated for our lost recreation opportunities? I believe any leasing should impound a portion of the mineral rights royalties for OHV land acquisition in California.

The most important error is the DEIS's estimate of annual visitors to Ocotillo Wells SVRA of 15,000 (section 3.15.2, and on page 3-63 under recreation) (and then in page 3-53 you state 1 million visitors) anyone who has been there on ANY weekend between October and May would know by even the most cursory count that the number is at least 10 and more like 100 times greater than 15000 annual visitors. The factual numbers are gathered daily by the Parks Staff at the Ocotillo Wells Ranger Station, and have been provided to me upon asking by the Sector Superintendent Nedra Martinez. (Printed Spreadsheet attached as exhibit A) For the Calendar year 2006 there were 1,899,446 visitors. Even more important is the annual growth of visitors, During the period 2000-2006 visitors have increased 284,164 per year putting projected visitors well over 2 Million for 2007 and over 3 Million by the end of this decade.

The DEIS correctly notes that Off-Road areas are scarce resources in the State of California, that they are getting more and more scarce and that the citizens of this state have suffered a 48 percent decrease in acres available to OHV recreation in the California Desert! We are loosing property from our Government (See Boxer and Feinstein's huge land grabs) from Environmental Extremists who seek to close what lands are left - what the government, through Boxer, Feinstein, Et al., won't take for them they will sue to keep us out of. Now from businesses who are seeking to develop our lands, our recreation lands are once again under attack.

400 or 500 acres may not seem like much to you but when you have nearly 2 Million visitors per year in just 75,000 acres as does Ocotillo Wells SVRA that's nearly 27 visitors per year per acre. Compare that with the Anza Borrego State Park's 600,000 acres of land and 600,000 annual visitors and you will agree that even one acre of land in Ocotillo Wells is extremely valuable to the OHV recreation community.

We as OHV enthusiasts MUST fight to hold onto every acre of land we currently have access to - especially those within a SVRA.

Section 2.1.4 of the DEIS states that Acquiring State lands in a 1:1 compensation scheme is not feasible as it would be cost prohibitive – EXACTLY my point – this IS valuable land – we can’t obtain and open any more areas so we must stand our ground and fight for what little we have. Millions of visitors use this land for recreational enjoyment and there is no alternative place for us to go.

Please go find a place to drill on the other side of the 86 or south of the 78 that won't affect the limited OHV recreational opportunities within our California State Parks Managed SVRA. Page 1-7 notes that in accordance with 43 CFR 2301.11 the BLM is prohibited from issuing leases on .. b. NPS Lands…,why are State Parks lands so much less valuable? The SVRA is managed by State Parks and should enjoy the same protections even if you are not required to do so by law. Finally, the DEIS in section 1.1 notes that there are 118,720 acres of land classified as KGRA (Known Geothermal Resource Areas) in the El Centro Field Office’s management area, is that land fully tapped out?

Please take note of my preference for Alternative 1 – No Action.

Sincerely,

Charles Seeger

Cc: California State Parks OHV Commission, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Exhibit A - Ocotillo Wells Visitor Numbers as provided by the Ocotillo Wells Sector Superintendent

Calico Madness March '07

2007-03-28T09:28:00.000-07:00

By Adam Burch

What a great way to spend a weekend, my friends. Five rigs headed out early from the Vista area early Saturday morning, and within a couple of hours, were airing down with two others at the Bunkhouse, just east of the ghost town at Calico, CA. There were seven rigs in the Geared 4 fun crew, ranging from my jeep with the tiny 33's to JD's Toyota with the sweet custom cage and 36's.

Our plan was to head up Odessa canyon through the loop, down Doran canyon through the bypass, and then back up the Gatekeeper for those foolish/brave enough. The terrain was excellent, and the trail took us between some pretty narrow vertical walls that took bites out of a few rigs that weren't paying attention. Not far into Odessa, we got iced by another group of wheelers taking a lunch break, who were waiting on an even slower group in front of them. After a little convincing, they got back in their rigs and started moving again, and we ultimately passed them and the other jacksons in the lead who were also taking a lunch break.

Odessa offered some interesting obstacles, and some of the trail looked to be made partly of old eroded pavement. One section of the trail was washed out on one side, making the ascent a little sketchy. You risked a nasty rollover if your tires weren't placed correctly. Of course, John Z. had to climb up the side of the washed out section and make us SWB rigs look bad. We call steep climbs like those "Cherokee Land"; Copy that.

Somewhere along the loop, Odessa turns into Doran canyon, and we passed an area full of great mines to explore. We had the Gatekeeper in mind, so we didn't stop to look around. Doran descends down a series of somewhat challenging obstacles, and we were told the way up was a lot more fun. As we approached the bypass, we could see a couple of CJs stuck in the obstacle, with one having some major mechanical trouble. We parked on the ridge, ate some lunch, and let them clean up that mess. I believe they ended up winching that guy backwards to clear the way for other challengers.

As soon as we saw the entrance was clearing, we sped down the bypass to claim our spot. I decided to give it the first try, and although JD (wisely) advised me not to run the Gatekeeper, I wanted to anyway. In spite of JDs good spotting, I ended up on my side in the monster's mouth, and had to be dragged out backwards by this killer Unimog driven by this group of crazy drunk guys. They turned out to be a life saver, and the only damage was some scratched paint and a broken U-joint.

JD was up next, and even with his bigger tires and crazy rig, got a little tippy and opted to take a winch to keep from flipping over backwards. According to bystanders, the Gatekeeper has gotten progressively harder over time, as the holes between the large boulders are dug out more and more. John Z. decided to make this Cherokee Land as well, but decided to back off when he busted his other fog lamp. It was a sign.

Not to be outdone, Chris had to run the ole' YJ through the Keeper, and almost made it through without assistance, but the final few feet had his front tires in the air, and out came the winch. Gatekeeper: 4 -- Geared-4-Fun: 0. We nursed our wounds, and rounded up the rigs to head back towards the entrance. JD , Jimmy, and Chris were taking off that evening, and the rest of us needed to find a campsite.

We ended up on this cool little hill in the middle of everything, which during the day was busy with quad traffic, but was clear at night. Sam had the tent up and steaks on the grill before I even picked a place to put my tent, and we were all soon enjoying whatever grub we had packed. Although we were all worn out, a 10 pm night run was calling our name. We headed out into the dark, accidentally going up Odessa again.
Instead of taking the whole loop, we checked out a lot of side trails, and found mines everywhere. After contemplating lowering someone down a 60 foot shaft with the winch, we called it a night. Sam complained we were moving too quickly down the trail, calling us the "Speed Wheelers". I guess I can see his point, but I think the coil springs make bumps a little easier to deal with.

We packed up camp the next morning, and after dealing with a loose axle/spring connection on Sam's rig, we took off up Doran canyon to find some more mines. There were side trails leading off in all directions, and although we couldn't reach a couple far-off mines on a hilltop we were aiming for, we ended up having a blast at the Bismark mines, with John Z leading the way on the more dangerous rock wall climbing. With proper gear, there were some spots we would like to go back and check out, which were just too dangerous for free-climbing.

After lunch in the shade of one of the mines, we headed off to the Wall Street mine. Situated near an awesome sheer canyon, Wall Street had a couple deep horizontal shafts to explore. Steve, John, and I decided to climb into a tiny little wooden chute, and ended up inside this killer vertical shaft. We saw light above, so we climbed up the chamber, and it was quite sketchy. In many sections, there were old wooden braces between the tunnel walls, which fortunately held while we were there.

After about maybe 50-65 vertical feet, we came upon a 20 foot long upwards-slanting tunnel, which ended in a well-lit opening just big enough for Steve to fit through. We had to belly crawl over sharp rocks to get there, and although we were filthy and bloody at the end, it was worth it. That shaft popped us out on top of the cliff and we made our way back down to the girls waiting below. After re-hydrating, we packed up and headed out the back way through fairly easy fire-roads, and had dinner at Logan's Roadhouse, which just might have the best dinner rolls on earth.

For those of you that came, Muchas Gracias. It was an all-around awesome weekend, and I would recommend it to the newbies. You just have to watch the time of year; it gets pretty hot out there in the summer. Oh yeah, and you have to watch the Gatekeeper. Watch it, don't drive it.

TDS 2007

2007-03-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

Ocotillo Wells, SVRA
by Chuck Seeger

The 2007 Tierra del Sol Safari was held over in Ocotillo Wells after the TDS club feared that a lawsuit over their use of the Truckhaven hills area where Safari had been held for 44 years would possibly cancel the whole event. Luckily there is lots to do in Ocotillo Wells, but the even definately seemed different in this location. I don't know the exact numbers but there looked to be well over 2000 registered participants, and as with TDS every year, probably two or three times that number of actual rigs out there.

As always Geared 4 Fun lead our own run to get away from the crowds. On our run we had drivers Chris, Ang, Mark, Kevin, Ralph, Scott, Carl, another new guy with silver Rubicon (sorry) and Chuck as tailgunner (at least initially). We headed east and caught up with the TDS folks on Cross Over trail. We saw their line of rigs snaking through the hills for quite a distance and decided to turn around and find something more fun than waiting on the 405 during rush hour.

At this point trail leader and tailgunner switched and I lead the group over to Pole Line road where we climbed a big hill - the view of Salton sea was great.

We headed up Pole Line Rd to S22 and then back to some fun hills where we proceeded to get Scott and Lani's Explorer Sport Trac stuck twice! It was fun to watch Scott push his vehicle to the edge of its capabilites.

The first stuck - was after we crested this steep hill and then dropped down the other side - there was a dip where he highcentered and just spun all 4 wheels. A quick strap by Ralph pulled him forward and leveled off the bump on that hill.

We headed West and into Anza Borrego State park and checked out the 5 palms - a pretty oasis in the desert - although we couldn't see any water. It was just a short hike up the hill but you got a good view of the Borrego Badlands.

We then looped around to Pumkin Patch and headed through the hills there. There was a group of Jeeps coming up the Pumpkin Patch trail so I went Right and climbed a bit of a hill to see how long this group would be - I didn't realize everyone would follow me but once again they did! This hill downhill had a tight turn at the bottom and the road had been banked. This caused the front and rear bumpers of the Trac to make simultaneous contact with the ground and the wheels to loose traction.

Kevin who was behind Scott got his first taste of strapping another rig - Ralph directed from the top of the hill as Scott and Kevin couldn't see each other with the strap attached. Great Job.

Figuring that we had stuck Scott twice already and it was getting late we headed back to camp. Along the way we stopped and helped a guy riding a quad who ran out of gas. Turns out he works with Cal-Rocks. Ralph had a full Jerry Can and we got him going in just a few minutes. Its amazing how a hundred people could pass this guy pushing his quad down Shell Reef Expressway and not stop.

At the Raffle, new guy Carl hit a jackpot with TJ parts - oops he drives a Sammi. But hey if you need an aluminum TJ gas tank skid or PRP seats he's the guy to talk to, if he didn't already sell the stuff he couldn't use.

Later we stopped by the Geared 4 Fun Campfire and ate dutch oven cobbler - YUM!

Sunday morning I took a friend up to the top of Blowsand hill and surveyed the already dwindled crowd.

Ocotillo Wells is a fun place - but lets hope that the Truckhaven situation is resolved and TDS can once again host Safari where it belongs.

PhotoGallery

Glamis goes off without a hitch! (or a sub frame…)

2007-02-08T08:42:00.000-08:00

In my time here at G4F I’ve seen some odd things; fireworks landing on Russ’s dads head, propane bottles blowing up on there own, battery powered blenders (for nutritional purposes), people who become enraged when they see a strap heading their way, etc. G4F’s 2007 Glamis club run was no different. What started out with a separated sub frame and ended up with a yellow Lab riding on a Yamaha quad was another epic G4F adventure.

Early Friday afternoon Matt & Gail Unwin, Tracy & I (Mike Parsons) were the first to arrive in Glamis. We set up camp and we started scouting a way to the infamous “China Wall” that would be passable in our Jeeps. After a couple of miles in the soft sand I decided that it would be too tough for some of the stock vehicles in our group and scraped the idea. We got back to camp in time to wait by the road for team Fichtelman and our resident rodeo cowboy John Landers with Debbie driving their fifth wheel. Most of us sat around the bonfire while our dinners were cooking. For some reason food always taste better when yer’ camping. Tracy cooked a roast, asparagus, corn, biscuits and Ice cream for John, Debbie, Tracy & I. A little known fact was pointed out that when you’re camping food has no calories. I’m not sure of the source for the info but I’m assuming Haagen-Dazs is behind it somehow. Anyway, after a long night of talk around the fire we retired. At about 5AM I called Steve Unwin in regards to bringing out Russ’s spare tire (Side wall puncture) which he said he was already part of his plan. With that small crisis averted I immediately went back to sleep. When I woke up I found Steve, Nora & ? Unwin in their 4Runner, John Z & Roe in their Grand Cherokee and Duane in his gorgeous TJ all ready for our first run.

Our first stop was “Osborne Overlook” (no relation to Ozzy). From here you can see almost the entire set of dunes, it’s truly beautiful. We proceeded to the west canal where half of us went on one side of the canal and the rest went on the other. Driving next to the canal we were able to see hundreds of carp, some of which looked to be close to ten pounds. About every five miles there’s a bridge across the canal where we could drink sodas or switch sides. About fifteen miles out we switched from the canal to the sand highway and from there we made our way across the open sand dunes to Patton’s Valley. Patton’s Valley is known for its big sand hill climbs. Buggies are tested here and there’s always a race going on (except this time). Russ wasted no time at all attempting to take his 8,000 lb F350 up several spots. Watching Russ was more than John Z could handle who promptly hit the hill with his Grand Cherokee. At first they started at the bottom of the hill being careful not to stress the suspension to much. Patton’s wall laughed as it denied run after run of the silly rock crawler’s futile attempts. Then John Z got a brain storm, he took off with a running start at the hill and made it close to the top. There was of-course a reason most folks don’t do this in on road vehicles. The approach to the hill is littered with whoop-dee-doos before it goes from perfectly flat to really frickin’ steep. John didn’t let a little thing like that slow him down. He was the first of the group to climb Patton’s Wall. My ego was not to be out done and I went up next. With Both John and I sitting on the top of Patton’s Wall, Russ was “Hell Bent” on climbing that hill. On his last run he skipped over the whoops at 60 mph where he plowed head on into the hill that made a sickening sound by bottoming out and proceeded to climb up to the top with us. In all my years at the dunes I’ve never seen an F350 go up Patton’s Wall but then again Russ has never tried it before.

We ate lunch after conquering Patton’s wall. Then we took off for the foot hills to take us back to the sand highway. After a couple minutes John Z radioed that he had a problem with his accelerator sticking open. I pointed out that it wasn’t his pedal that was broke it was his lead foot. Upon further investigation we found that his shock tower had completely torn away from the sub-frame (Chrysler forgot to install a real frame in the Grand Cherokees, oops). I couldn’t help but notice when I looked back at Patton’s Wall that it was smirking at us, as if to say;
“Thought you won, didn’t ya”

If you’ve wheeled with John Z then you know nothing bothers him. In fact, I’ve never seen anything even bum him out. I’ve watched him drop a rear diff, he said;
“No problem, I’ll park it and we’ll finish our run”
Then we went out for pizza. Now I’ve seen him bust his front sub frame loose from his shock tower and he said;
“I’ve got chain… lets tie it up then I’ll drive it back to camp” (No pizza this time)
He is truly an even keeled guy. First we used Russ’s winch to pick his Grand Cherokee up off the ground. Then we used Matt Unwin’s winch to pull his shock tower into a more tolerable position. Then we chained his shock tower to his sub frame and John drove it home.
With our Sand run cut short we went back to camp and broke out the quads and headed for Oldsmobile. Steve was riding for the first time and doing pretty good. He kinda’ had to since we taught him how to ride on the way to Olds. Nothing like learning the hardest first (eh Steve?). At one point Steve was on top of an ominous looking dune that dropped into the abyss with an even more ominous looking transition to the next safe spot. He stopped, so I went back. The look on his flush face said it all. It was sort of like, “Are you frickin’ kidding me!?!” You showed me how to start this thing half an hour ago and now we’re here! I led him down to the valley where his confidence came back and we went rite back over the dunes to Olds where the girls were hanging out in the Polaris and Duane’s Jeep. Russ let me ride his two wheeler for a while which made me want to sell my quad in the worst way. On the way back Tracy switched with Steve so she could ride for a while. I was practicing wheelies in the whoops and just about flipped it. Russ was there to laugh point and taunt. JD had a front row seat and watched the whole thing.
Back at camp we sparked up the bonfire with some liquid kindling, Tracy made dinner for John, Debbie & I (Stuffed chicken with sauce, mashed potatoes, Garlic bread & ice cream). Afterwards we sat by the fire and enjoyed seal bombs while decorative Sobe bottle gas fountains colored the night sky (Truly serene).
The next day Steve, Matt, Lexus the Jeep dog and I went into the Chocolate Mountains to do some exploring where we found a gold prospector named Jim. He showed us how his equipment worked, expressed his hate for Diane Feinstein and gave us a nice little tour of the illegal operation he was running. Once we were deep in the mine Steve discovered several nervous bats. It was comedy at its best! The bats saw Steve got scared and tried to fly past him. Seeing the bats come at him Steve tried to get out of the way (Keep in mind we’re in a small tunnel). Steve looked like he was being electrocuted! He was jumping and swatting. If he was on fire he wouldn’t have bounced around any more (Big tough guy terrified of a couple little flying mice. LOL). Steve’s dad Matt, had was totally unaffected by the bats but looked rather disappointed in Steve’s reaction. I just about peed myself laughing and Jim the illegal prospector hadn’t showed any emotion yet (Probably due to breathing massive amounts of bat poop over the years). That would also explain the story Jim was telling about the big Hoover Dam break of 1920 where the railroad filled up box cars with desert sand and drove them over the side to plug the breach. Anyway Jim told us about a water spring that was discovered during the whole Hoover Dam thing (Whatever…) about ten miles away. According to Jim, the spring was located while the box cars were being filled and it had been producing water ever since. He went on to further to say that the area was so lush and green that you would swear you were in a tropical rain forest. Sad as it is, we took off to find the rain forest in Glamis. Two hours later Steve comes over the radio and suggested that good ole’ Jim might have been pulling our leg. Then just as he said we found Jims rain forest.
Now I’ve personally never been to a tropical rain forest…but… I’ve got a hunch Jim’s never been out of Brawley either. I’ll give him the fact that there was a trace amount of larvae infested water covered in yellow jackets. Although I’m still not convinced it wasn’t an abandon septic tank. I’ll even give him the fact that I saw some grass/green weeds. But if this is a rain forest the tree huggers have failed miserably. If beauty is in the eye of the beholder…?
When we got back to camp Lexus the Jeep dog was having a fit so Tracy gave her a ride on the quad which seemed to settle her down. After that we packed up and hit the road.
Everybody who went had a great time! Zero bitching, lots of food and good times, what a club! G4F conquers yet another off road obstacle!

Mike Parsons

Geared Four Fun takes on Johnson Valley

2007-01-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

For many of us in G4F, running Sledgehammer in the famous Johnson Valley has been a personal goal. Several participants in our club have built their rigs with “The Hammers” as their personal pass/fail success gauge. On December 9th, 2006, fourteen of us got our chance.

Introducing the 2006 G4F Johnson Valley line up; (Let’s stir the pot, shall we?)

Russ (I can jump those rocks then smash that boulder. It’ll be easy.) Fichtelman
Steve (This ain’t sh#!, my wife could do it) Unwin
Matt (I take back everything I said about you and half of what I thought) Unwin
Ralph (…Whatever…look at these phone pics)
Mark (Screw with my dog…I’ll kill ya…Tell me to turn the wheel, operate the winch, keep it from stalling and listen to five spotters at once…I’ll kill ya)
Ang (Get to stackin’ bit#$, ‘cause I’m not taking a strap!) Cook (aka, clic-clack)
Tracy (Let me the he*! out of this Jeep now!) Parsons
Mike (Blessed sole, spreader of goodwill and always kind to small animals and children.) Parsons

Once again, Ham radios saved the day by directing the weary travelers to the camp from many miles away regardless of no cell phone service, being three miles from the main road and in total darkness. Of course after getting to camp we realized we were parked next to the teenagers from Mad Max and the thunder dome. I’m still not sure who to thank for that, Russ or Ang. Anyway, after locking everything up tight (Real Tight) we spent the rest of the night around the bonfire. Somewhere around 3 am the psycho teenagers called it a night and we were able to sleep.
First thing in the morning Russ led us to the Sledgehammer trailhead. We had seven jeeps to start and at the first big obstacle Jimmy in a green TJ Sahara couldn’t get his front ARB to work so he turned around and left it at the first wide spot on the trail. Steve Unwin followed along and brought him back to join the group without his Jeep. (G4F zero / Sledgehammer one). The first thing I noticed about Sledgehammer was the lack of chatter on the radios. Most runs require little thought and the radio is usually buzzing with bantering and idle chat. Not this time, most were studying the possible lines and concentrating. I was well aware that Angela said she had been to Sledgehammer five times with Mike Cook (In a very well built rig) and had broken bad enough twice so that she had to turn back.
Early on the trail Ang crawled over a section that was fairly tricky. It wasn’t difficult in a tip over way so much as wheel placement needed to be spot on (Unless you had 37’s… Russ) or you’d drop on to yer’ drive shaft and possibly end the trip. Not being able to lean out the window or pre walk it made it exponentially tricky for Ang. Well the MTR’s slipped and the little white rig landed smack on the saggy diaper. The stock saggy diaper hangs down about four and a half inches. When Angela’s skid pan hit that rock she gained about two inches of much needed ground clearance which she was fairly tickled about. This acceptance of damage is the main difference between mall Jeep people and true rock crawlers.
A few key placed rocks, got her off the rock but set her drive shaft on an equally menacing boulder which was rapidly chewing away at her rear diff yoke. Russ placed a rock in just the rite spot and she was on her way again. We experienced the first carnage and lost one vehicle and we weren’t even a ¼ mile into the trail, this was going to be a long day.
Discount Dave had told me earlier that week about a particular rock that was cut away so much that it was a sure axle breaker even with 37’s. The trick he said was to crawl up it at an angle to get your tires on it. Then get over it without rolling over, which he had seen many times. Russ was the first person in our group and he got over it with out any assistance (Bastard). I tried it next and got three of my four tires in the rite spot but at 40 degrees side tilt I chickened out and set up the winch. I tested the “tippy-ness” of my rig by putting one hand on my front right bumper. To my surprise I was able to move the Jeep a foot up or down with no resistance. Winching seemed to be the favorable option.
After I got over, Ang approached and before she could get lined up, Ralph her spotter and personal Cal Trans road builder threw so many rocks against the obstacle that she rolled right over it straight on! Mark and Harley rolled up next in the Samurai. I missed what happened but when I got there Mark was sitting sideways in the obstacle. I wasn’t alarmed because I’ve seen Mark take his Samurai through and over things that simply defy physics. At this point he hooked up his winch line to Ang so Mark could straighten out and do the obstacle. Then about five people became self appointed spotters with about ten different plans and the commands started pouring out of everybody’s mouths.
“Winch in”
“Winch out”
“Turn the wheel”
“Give it gas”
“Start it back up” etc…etc…
When Mark had enough, he very eloquently suggested that perhaps the steering wheel wouldn’t turn and that he was experiencing some mild frustration. Meanwhile Harley was nestled in Tracy’s jacket because “He looked cold”.
Russ appointed Steve tail gunner since we’ve never actually seen him break or get stuck (Even without a rear locker). Steve was at a major disadvantage. On this particular day his professional rock crawling wife Nora wasn’t able to attend. Steve would have to drive through all of the tough stuff himself this time and without a rear locker (Something Nora never needed). As tail gunner and one of our better spotters he would find himself at the front of the line helping here and there far away from his Jeep. I couldn’t help but notice he was having a blast not sharing the driving with Nora. After all, Sledgehammer was only a mile long and we had waited a year to build up for it. Then I noticed Matt (Steve’s dad) was crawling up the hill in Steve’s Jeep.
If you can imagine a good western movie where two guys square off in the street to fight a duel, when the camera does a close up of the gun fighters eyes. The concentration, the silence, the wind and dust, this is the feeling I got watching Steve see someone drive his Jeep up Sledgehammer. Steve is a menacing looking guy. He is well over two hundred pounds, six foot something and played rugby for fun. Not the kind of guy you want to see with this look in his eye. I’ve seen this look on occasion when the love of his life “Nora” cuddles up to him when were out to dinner and starts eating off of his plate. Anyway, Matt got the same pardon that Nora always gets and it was over. (Warning: Don’t eat Steve’s food or drive his Jeep)
At the Mailbox we ate lunch and had a small debate over where the end of the trail was. Russ said that the trail was virtually over and the exit was literally around the around the corner. Ang stated that we were only half way through. Around the next corner the trail was over. In Angela’s defense the trail did continue on for a very small spur but I don’t think any of us would have made it more than fifty feet with out some serious winching and damage (Russ included). The way out was up a steep sand hill that looked like lots of fun. Russ went up floored sending sand in every direction, I promptly followed doing the same Ang circled around the base sizing up what she hates, “SAND”. Then just like every other time I’ve seen her in sand she went up it with zero surprises in total control (And a very nervous look on her face). Tracy and I took Jimmy back to get what was left of his Jeep, we figured at least the tires would be gone but to everybody’s surprise the Jeep was untouched. We left Sledgehammer that day with a feeling of great satisfaction.
Back at camp, dinner came and went, the cocktails started flowing then the fireworks started appearing. At first it was a mortar here, a bottle rocket there. Then…the unruly neighbors showed up…Kyle was there leader. We hadn’t seen Kyle lurking around for a while (I figured he was in prison or maybe his group had buried him somewhere). But he was here now! He had a beer bong in his hand and he was asking me for some propane. I didn’t have any. Then he told me he forgot his rifle (Thank God! I’m thinking) but he told me he still had his shotgun (Shit!). He went on to explain that when the first mortar that went off in our camp it sent a scared dog flying into his camper squirting shit in every direction. He tried to catch the dog but that scared him more and the dog went into hyper-drive trying to evade Kyle the psycho looking neighbor. Now Kyle was getting pissed ‘cause the dog had shit all over him and his trailer because of the mortar from our camp and about that time another mortar went off and the whole process repeated.
Anyway, he was done cleaning dog pooh and he said he wanted in on the fireworks. He also filled in the blanks about needing propane and a rifle. To my relief he said he was merely going to make a pit, fill it with gas, light it, place the propane bottle in it and then shoot it for the explosion. Being a friendly 4WD club we helped him with the supplies he needed. I was sure to mention the plans to Ang who looked excited but begged for ignorance. I think she liked writing her article for SD Off Road Magazine under what can only be described as G4F tours Baghdad. One of our members we’ll call “Sp-ark” for reasons of anonymity, came up with a couple propane bottles. Another one of our members we’ll call “Sp-ikey” had a lead throwing devise, “??-russ” provided technical advise and “??-ralph” brought the gas. Two big booms later the party was in high gear! We made “Sobe-fire crackers”, launched butterflies from our hands, Russ kept the sky lit up with mortars but the neighbors were still looking for more action. So a game was created where all of the participants were given one bottle rocket a piece. They were to stand around the bon fire for a three count then on three they would stick their bottle rocket in the fire until the fuse lit then launch it by hand at the first person you see. This was a big hit with the unruly bunch next door, in fact they liked it so much they repeated it several times. Ralph at one point impressed us all when a rogue bottle rocket zoomed for his head he performed a matrix move that defied time and space letting the scud bottle rocket miss its target and blow up outside of camp. Meanwhile Mike Parsons was in his RV reading the bible, praying for the hungry children of the world and minding his own business. When the fireworks ran out the psycho neighbors left and we all thought the fun was over. We were wrong…way wrong!! It seemed that the drunken neighbors had just got started. We were sitting around the bonfire winding down when we saw the first M-80 fly into our camp. Someone yelled incoming and we scattered! It went off with a deafening boom. Mark looked for his dog. I tried to locate the insurgents to no avail, none of us could see after watching the fire. Blind and under attack! Then we started taking more hits, I grabbed Tracy got her in the RV. I went back out in the hot zone to help my friends who now had there backs to the fire watching for incoming attacks. The terrorist neighbors were sneaky, silent and very well armed. As our troops retreated to the safety of there trailers, Russ and I attempted peace talks with the neighbors who were now enjoying lap dances from two of the rough looking females in there group. Russ brought a plate of shrimp and cocktail sauce and we made our way through the neutral zone into the enemy’s camp. I mentioned that we had shrimp and all hell broke loose. Apparently the neighbors were not only drunk but they had a major case of the munchies. The plate was quickly devoured and a truce was called. Russ and I went back to our camp with the good news and hit the sack.
In the morning we went into Yucca Valley for breakfast then headed for home. The wind picked up very hard I’m guessing gusts close to 60 mph. The RV’s were tossed around quit a bit. Then a really big gust blew my RV’s canopy open. We stopped can to our surprise it was still attached. I strapped it down after getting nearly blown off the top of the RV. Next it was Russ who had a tire disintegrate and come completely of the rim sending it over an off duty cops windshield. We had it handled in about five minutes with the help of Russ’s air tools. We also discovered that a Jeep winch makes a heck of a trailer jack.
All in all fun was had by all, unforgettable good times were abundant and Sledgehammer was a huge success.
Sledgehammer 1 – Geared 4 Fun 6

A big thanks to Russ for leading the best run I’ve had since Devil’s canyon, to Steve for being a great tail gunner, to Ang for sharing her past experience on the trail and to all who were there for all the support good times.

Mike Parsons

Johnson Valley Run 2006 Information

2006-11-29T19:55:00.000-08:00

When-Deceber 8-10
Where-Johnson Valley (JV)
Trailboss-Russ
Trails planned-TBD
CB-Channel 12
Ham Radio-144.310 Mhz simplex

Johnson Valley is the location of the infamous "Hammers" and a variety of other extreme 4X4 trails of world renound. The minimum requirements for this run are 35's, 2 lockers, adequate skid plates and a winch. Attendees will be expected to help eachother on the trails.

So far we have planned attendees with hard confirmations: Russ, Steve, Ang, Mark and Mike. 2 other guests may also be coming, Jim and Josh.

Most of us are traveling to JV on Friday night and camping. We'll run the trails starting Saturday morning early. Some are staying over Saturday night, and some are going home after that.

Some good JV pictures
A collection of JV Trail Waypoint files

Calico Trails Report 11-24-06

2006-11-26T22:04:00.000-08:00

Trail Report and Pictures by Steve Unwin

Attendees

Mike Carroll/Sherrie - blue flatfender
Ron Parker/Danise - silver FJ Cruiser
Matt Unwin/Gail - white Rubicon
Noah Baldwin/JD Lanford - tan FJ40
Lucas Leifermann/Meggan - red TJ
Steve Unwin/Nora - white TJ

This trip was a lot of fun and a first time for the Geared 4 Fun 4X4 club, at least as far as any of us knew. We got to do the two big trails up there, Doran and Odessa. Ron broke-in his new FJ Cruiser and scratched the rock sliders. I'm glad he had them! We also explored some of the old silver mining operations.

Friday morning we set out for Calico. Its about a 2 hour drive on the 15 fwy. Due to holiday shopping, we encountered traffic which added about 30 minutes to our trip. When we got there we settled into camp and headed over to the Calico Ghost Town with Mike and family to see the sights and participate in "Heritage Day". Calico has all the usual ghost town stuff; gunfights, blacksmiths, kettlecorn and people who will likely be working at the Del Mar Fair next summer. I hate carny folk. Later we settled around a campfire and talked about the plan for Saturday. Lucas and I snuck away for an hour to do a night run but we didn't get too far before we had to turn around.

Saturday was the fun day. JD and Noah came up from San Diego to meet us and do Doran and Odessa Canyons. These trails are the toughest Calico has to offer. Doran Canyon gets hard very quickly. The so called Gatekeeper is arguably the hardest obstacle I have ever taken on. After some hesitation I drove through it with JD's spotting. Besides a smashed turn signal lense there was no problems. Thanks John! The potential for carnage is huge on this one. Lucas came next and got almost all the way through. The final obstacle held him back and despite winching and continued attemps he could not make it. The two vehicles that tried after him broke their axles one after another. The rest of our group prudently took a bypass route to get beyond the Gatekeeper.

The trail continues up Doran Canyon which is tight and rocky. There were many opportunities to take pictures which slowed up our progress but added to the fun. At lunchtime we stopped at Bismark Mine and explored the diggings after eating lunch. When we were done there the group proceeded over to the top of Odessa Canyon. This canyon would have been much more fun coming uphill I think. There were a few ledges that required some careful spotting and even some rock stacking to prevent damage to the FJ's clean body. We were careful to tear down the stacked rocks so as to preserve the difficulty of the trail. We finished Odessa around 3pm and headed back to camp. Most folks headed home then.

Sunday Ron and Danise and Matt and I went on a cruise on some of the easier scenic trails in Calico. We did about a 4 hour loop and hit a lot of interesting trails to mines and mountain tops.
The Picture Album can be viewed HERE

Calico Wheeling Trip 2006 Information

2006-11-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

UPDATED 11-27-06
This trip has passed. I am adding some information and notes using blue text to help with planning for future runs.

The Calico Trip is planned for Nov 24-26. Most of us are driving up there Friday morning and staying at the campground up there. I think Friday we may do some exploration of the trails and mines in the area. Nothing serious, just nice afternoon and evening wheeling. Saturday If we have enough people we'll do some of the harder trails. Odessa and Doran are the ones. Saturday afternoon is open. Perhaps visit the ghost town or shop. Calico is having Heritage Fest celebrations so maybe we'll check that out. Sunday is open also. Do a run, go home early, who knows. We'll have campfires and hang out and stuff, should be fun. The Unwin's will be at campsite E29 & E30 which are huge sites with fire rings. Come on by.

So come out for the weekend, come out for a day run, just come on out. It will definately be great.

The weather will be great, but cold at night.

Thanks to mike for the following

Calico OHV area is about 10 miles east of Barstow, roughly a 150 miles or a 2.5 hour drive fromEscondido. It is adjacent to the Calico Ghost Town.

There trails range from Easy to Difficult, but according to my guide book it looks like it's mostly Easy OR Difficult, not many Moderate,in between trails. The details of which runs we do can be worked out later depending on the expected turnout.

Where to Stay: Calico Campground has RV sites and tent camp sites available. As of today, there is one RV full hook up site left. All of the other RV sites are non-hook up. Please see their website for additional info.

http://www.calicotown.com/
$22/ night for an RV site, $18/ night for a tent site.
If you plan on staying there, I would suggest that you make your reservations ASAP. They have their Heritage Fest that weekend, so the campsite will likely fill up.

So far we have the following people planning to attend

Steve Unwin/Nora
Matt Unwin/Gail
Mike Carroll/family
John Lanford (Sat only)
Noah Baldwin (Sat only)
Lucas Leifermann (Sat only, possibly bringing a friend)
Ron Parker/Daninse (tentative, possibly some others from the Toyota Club)

Steve's Campsite Coordinates 34.94607N, 116.86078W
CB Channel 12
Ham Radio
144.310 Mhz Simplex
147.180+ 151.4 PL (Barstow) this repeater worked great from Cajon Pass all the way to our campsite.
145.280-131.8 Table Mountain (we may have good luck with this approaching Barstow) this repeater worked great from Cajon Pass all the way to our campsite. It probably has great coverage to the north towards Red Mountain as well.

Calico OHV info
Pictures and Waypoints Here
A Calico Trail Report
Google Map of Calico
Additional Barstow Ham Radio Info
Barstow BLM Field office 760-252-6000

Isham Canyon

2006-11-15T10:48:00.000-08:00

By Chuck Seeger

Steve did a great job writing up about our trip I figured the best way to see Isham Canyon is to see a video - so here you go

Hope you enjoy!

More Pictures from Isham Canyon

Panamint Valley Days 2006 Trails Report

2006-11-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

Pictures and Report by Steve Unwin
More Pictures Here

Attendees

Matt Unwin/Mercer Kepler
Charlie Seeger
Mike Parsons/Tracy
John Zilonis/Rosanna
Steve Unwin/Nora

There were others from the club at this event but these are the people who I rode with.

Summary: We all had an excellent time up in the Death Valley area and did some short and very difficult runs as well as a few long and very scenic ones.

Friday morning we got going early to do the infamous Isham Canyon run. Charlie agreed to be the trailboss for this one since he'd been there before. After a minor navigation problem we were heading up the canyon and made it to the first of 4 waterfall type obtacles. Loose boulders and sand made it a challenge. The positioning of the boulders made it difficult to negotiate and both Mike and Matt ended up with scapes near the rear right corners of their jeeps. Mike also broke a valve stem and had to change his tire.

On one of the last waterfalls I took a harder line at Nora's suggestion and found myselft in a predicament. Getting me out required Matt's winch and about a 20 point turn. Still, it was fun and good for picture taking.

On the last obstacle, the V-notch there is the potential for body damage but we all did fairly good. The notch requires you to position your wheels up on both sides of the V driving upward with only the traction offered by your sidewalls. This presents the possibility of slipping which would then put you and your rig on its side. Fortunately all of us made it with only minor scrapage and we had a good time.

The last thing is a long, steep, loose climb to get out of the canyon. The trick here is momentum and all of us made it up without a problem. At the end of the canyon we all stopped for lunch and admired the views into Panamint Valley and Searless Valley.

After lunch we headed down the other side of the mountain into Panamint Valley and did an optional jaunt up Fish Canyon. On the way Mike punctured his right front tire. After plugging it with a handfull of plugs he aired it back up and we headed down the hill. After a couple miles of bad road we found a group of jeepers trying to help a truck get unstuck from the mud. Mike and Charlie hung around to help while we headed back to camp to pick up John and Rosanna for the afternoon run.

For the afternoon run we got a late start and headed out to Goler Wash as the sun was already setting. We made good time though and got to experience the fun of driving through narrow canyons and seeing the ruins of old mining operations. About a mile into it Mike had some mechanical problems that he attended to while we continued on to explore Barker Ranch, Charlie Manson's last address as a free man. We stayed in radio contact with Mike all the while. The sun set so we turned around and found Mike limping back toward camp. He had a broken tri-link and had it all held together with a ratchet stap. We all made it back to camp safely, and Mike was a little tired from the stress of driving the hard to handle vehicle.

Saturday we planned to do Lippencott Mine road and see the Racetrack, then head back for an afternoon run. Things took much longer than I remembered so we didn't have time to do the afternoon run. For the most part this was a scenic run through a couple mountain ranges and valleys. We explored the Lippencott Mine ruins, the Racetrack with the moving rocks, and Ubehebe Mine. There was no problems other than Matt running out of gas and barely making it back on fumes.

Sunday morning we had planned to do pleasant canyon but because of mechanical breakdowns and lack of interest, we could not do the run. We headed home and made it home safely.

More Pictures Here

Fish Creek and Old Stage Route

2006-11-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

By Chuck Seeger

For my Birthday I enjoy going wheeling in the desert, this year was no exception. My brother Johnny & his family and Linda and I camped out at Fish Creek campground at the end of Split Mountain Rd. We had never seen this campground as full as this - maybe it was the full moon or the great weather. But I had always enjoyed the fact that no one else seemed to know about this campground... oh well!

On Saturday we headed up Fish Creek and through Split Mountain then up del Diablo and back down through Arroyo del Diablo to the Old Butterfield Stage Coach Route that goes through the area.

From there we headed East through a marshy area to an old Stage stop in a cool box canyon.

After taking some pictures and enjoying the view we headed North East along a well marked trail that took us up into the hills. The trail got very narrow and occasionally faint. I thought for a minute it might have turned into a quad trail as it got more difficult.

Finally we crested a point that my belly pan leveled off! I knew my brother Johnny running 33's and with a lower belly pan would likely have a problem on this spot but as it was getting late Linda didn't want to to turn around. She started walking the trail ahead to see if there was a way out while I went back to spot Johnny over the rise.

On the 3rd try he got over with a little momentum and since it was just dried mud no damage from the high-center. From there we proceeded down hill now until we hit a wash - from there I knew we would be home free - as all arroyo's lead out of the mountains "Gravity Works" .

Driving through the wash I glanced at my GPS to see where we were and if we we heading in the right direction and "BAM" I hit something. I still don't know what but it tore off my Lower Control Arm mount on the drivers side - sheered the mount clean off!

We must have drove 20 miles of washes when we came across a row of signs across the wash that were all pointing for folks coming in the other direction. We stopped for a second to read the signs - "DO NOT ENTER - UNEXPLODED ORDINANCE" Oops! well at least we were out of that section now!!!

A short ways down the was we came to a trestle under the train tracks that lead from the gypsum mine at Split Mountain around to Plaster City - from there we followed the trail along the train tracks back to camp, by now it was dark.

And I had to drive slow avoiding getting up enough speed that I would have to use my brakes which pulled my axle back and made an awful sound. Johnny suggested I use my winch cable to pull my axle forward which was a great idea.

Truckhaven Tortured

2006-10-29T19:11:00.000-08:00

I went to Truckhaven this weekend with some guys from EarlyCJ5.com. Our camp consisted of five Jeeps: My ‘42 Willys MB, Jim’s 1947 CJ2A, Joes’s 1968 CJ5, Curt’s 1970 CJ5, and Bob’s 2006 Rubicon. The weather was perfect, just a light breeze that kept it from being too hot. The layout of the area is a nice mix of moderate and difficult trails and obstacles.

Our morning run took us through a series of tight, twisting hills. There was a lot of mogul type terrain that provided a good test of articulation. There were some challenging hill climbs as well, requiring momentum to make it through the soft patches. The stock Rubicon had a couple of minor high centering issues due to the longer wheelbase and its shovel-like skid plate. A very long and steep downhill exposed a couple of leaks in my brake system. One was easily tightened at the fitting. The other leak was from the stoplight switch. Luckily, Jim had a threaded plug to replace it with and we were soon underway again.

The goal of our afternoon run was to head out to the fire hydrant that Tierra Del Sol 4WD Club set at the top of a mesa about three miles from camp. I lead this run since I already had the coordinates in my gps. About a half a mile away from our target, I was paying more attention to my gps than to where I was going and went over a four or five foot ledge. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast or I might’ve gone end over. We hooked up two winch lines and pulled the Jeep back to level ground. It actually came up a lot easier than we all expected. The other incredible thing was that the only damage was a broken shock mount. So I removed the shock, cleared out a little bit of hydro-lock and we continued on. After one last long, steep hill climb to the top of the plateau, we arrived at the fire plug. We all signed the ledger in the geo-cache ammo box that’s chained to the fire hydrant. No one wanted to “trade” for any of the items that were in the box, but we left some odds and ends for people that come after us to choose from. The only other vehicle damage occurred when Curt’s (1970 CJ5) was climbing a tall chute to another plateau. It sounds like he probably lost some teeth from the spider gears on his front axle.

We ended with a fun night run through the mud hills and a few drag races through an open wash. It was the first time I’ve had a chance to try out my rock lights. I was very pleased with the side lighting they gave me. It was a great trip with good people.

Flatty Mike

Marron Valley and Carveacre Trail

2006-10-29T11:09:00.000-08:00

Pictures and Trail Report by Steve Unwin
10-28-06

Attendees:
Matt Unwin/Steve Unwin - white Rubicon
John Zilonis - silver Grand Cherokee
Lucas Leifermann - red TJ

Summary: We explored a new area down by the border an found lots of easy, meandering trails over the hills near the border. Its worth the trip for the views alone. Carveacre Trail took us up a very undulating and washed out road requiring careful wheel placement (or lockers). Once up there we found some nice optional stuff John showed us what GCs can do.

The three of us met at the intersection of Jamacha Road and Hwy 94 at 9AM on Saturday. From there we headed down to the trailhead at Marron (pronounced like marone) Valley Road. The GPS was programmed today so we had not troubles navigating and could concentrate on having fun.

I started out driving down Marron Valley Road through some farming neighborhoods, the South Bay Gun Club and on down through an unamed narrow canyon heading south. Near the end of the canyon was a locked gate. Joyce from the BLM had told me to expect this. Following her instructions we backtracked about a mile and took another road south along a ridgeline which bypassed the locked gate and dropped us down into Marron Valley.
The picture shows the valley and Tiajuana River as viewed from Tecate Peak.

This valley is cut in half by the U.S. Border and the Tijuana River. There was no one there. We explored the abandoned homestead and trails in the far corner of the valley. We never saw any Border Patrol except for a passing helecoptor which didn't pay us much interest. From the valley we headed up a trail that passes over Tecate peak. At times the trail was right along the U.S. Border fenceline. The entire mountain seemed burned out. The higher we got the better the views became and we were able to view into Mexico and see that there was a fire burning in the hills down there.

The trail dropped down again and finished at an open gate on the hwy 94. From there we had lunch and planned our next adventure. We decided not to air up since we weren't going to be on the highway. Our group headed over to Carveacre Trail off Lyons Valley Road. The trail is immediately challenging and remains so all the way up to the top of Lawson Peak. John's Cherokee proved to have incredible climbing ability in spite of not having lockers. Once at the top of the hill we messed around on some fun optional stuff and took some nice poseur shots.

From there we headed north along a ridgeline toward the end of the trail. I got out of the Jeep to take pictures, slipped on a sandy hill and landed flat on my back. This was the second time this happended to me. I concluded it was safer to stay in the Jeep. At the end of the trail we found a locked gate. We opted to take a well worn bypass rather than backtrack all the way to Lyons Valley Road. This was the end of the trail and the conclusion of another fun adventure. Thanks to John and Lucas for coming along.

PVD 2006 Information

2006-10-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

This event has passed but the information is still useful so I will not delete it. Comments are in parentheses and italics. Pictures of this event are posted Here.

PVD (Panamint Valley Days) is coming up on Nov 10-12. This is by far the funnest and best attended event we have each year.

GPS waypoints for camp 36.129149,-117.343898 (these waypoints will be good for 2007 also)

This is a suggested plan (you can make your own run schedule or tag along) for PVD runs

Friday morning: Isham Canyon (with 4 vehicles this ended up being a 3 hour run)
Friday afternoon Goler Wash/Mengel Pass/Striped Butte (we could not finish due to a late start)
Saturday Morning: The racetrack (this run ended up taking the entire day)
Saturday afternoon: Jail Canyon (this run was sacrifced because we had not time)
Sunday morning: Pleasant Valley Loop (due to lack of interest and mech. breakdowns, run cancelled)

That's my schedule for the trip. None of them are official PVD runs so we'll have smaller groups and more flexibility to check out different stuff. If anybody wants to come along they are welcome to it. Otherwise, everyone can schedule themselves into the many available fun runs hosted by the PVD trail folks. Here is a list of trails offered at PVD.

Ham Radio Information

Repeaters:
there is no perfect repeater available for us to use out there. Repeater operation may depend on where you are and the power you are running. So we will have to experiment with the following repeaters and see how it goes. Hopefully the ROARS guys will be there to help out.

145.340-100.0 Randsburg repeater (covers Ridgecrest and much of western DVNP) (This repeater worked from Victorville all the way to near Trona using 50W. We were able to hit it from main camp using a Yagi. For general offroad usage in Panamint Valley it was not at all reliable)
146.970-123.0 Trona repeater (this machine was not runing)
146.880-100.0 Potosi Mtn repeater (covers eastern DVNP) (we did not try it)
146.985-146.2 Keller Peak (Big Bear, may covern western DVNP) (we did not try it)
145.280-131.8 Table Mountain (Wrightwood, may cover from Victorville to Ridgecrest) (we did not try it)

Simplex

National Simplex freq 146.520 (Wilderness Protocol) (we did not try it)
Ridgecrest hams use 146.420 and monitor 24/7 (we did not try it)
170.00 (Park Service freq to monitor only) (we did not try it)
144.310 (this was our primary channel and it worked for 25 miles at times on 50W)

144.335 (secondary channel)

People who went

Steve Unwin/Nora

Mike Parsons/Tracy

Matt Unwin/Mercer Kepler

Charlie Seeger-

Tom Bienkowski/Maggie

Angela Cook

Mark

Ralph

John Zilonis/Rosanna

John Lanford/Deb

Scott Bradley/Lanni

Joe/Liz Estrella

More Explorations of NE San Diego County

2006-10-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Explorations of NE San Diego County
Photos and Trail Report by Steve Unwin 10-21-06

Attendees:
Matt Unwin/Steve Unwin - white Rubicon
John Zilonis - silver Grand Cherokee

Summary: Just another day in NE San Diego county exploring unknown trails, seeing incredible views, and trying out Matt's new lift. See picture of new 4" rubicon express lift and 33" Goodyear MTRs.

We started out from the I-15 and Hwy 76 park-n-ride where we met John for the first time. He had heard about the club online and charlie hooked him up with me since he knew I had planned a run that day. We gave John a small radio so we could stay in touch. The small group caravanned out to the trailhead in Chihuahua Valley.

After airing down and disconnecting (the the first time in my dad's case) we headed over the hill to Cooper Canyon. I tried to be tour guide for John since this was a new place to him and I had been there several times already. We headed down Cooper Canyon looking for an old trail that I had seen on the topo map. The trail heads NW from Cooper canyon over a mountain and connects with Iron Spring Canyon. The topo shows the trail going through, but the aerial photography (google earth) shows the trail disappearing about halfway through. Finding the trail proved to be harder than I thought since I had not brought waypoints to use and was relying on an old map. After making a few wrong turns we headed up the right trail and the fun began.

The trail got rougher and narrower the furthur up the hill we got. It proved be be a good test for John's GC with no lockers. It also revealed that Matt's driveshaft rubs on the transmission skid plate when the jeep is flexed. We had to stop for a trail repair to prevent the driveshaft from further damage.

The bushes grew into the trail making it only a few feet wide in most places. This required us to roll up the windows and blast through pushing the sage and manzanita brush aside. John kept up with us with no problems though and I took solace in knowing I had warned John this is what the trail would be like. He had no problems with it and did great the entire day.

At about the midpoint of the trail as it crests a saddle the trail disappeared, just like the aerial photography showed. We hiked around looking for possible ways to continue on but it was not to be. After a quick snack we got going again and headed down the hill intent on doing another trail on the other side of Cooper Canyon that we could clearly see.

When we got to the beginning of the next trail we found a hunter's camp which looked to be occupied. Sure enough we were confronted by the spokesman of the few hunters that were there. He discouraged us from continuing up the trail saying it was private property beyond his camp and that it was impossible anyhow. Impossible? I've heard that before. Well, we sensed that we were not welcome so we turned around and headed out of cooper canyon towards the next adventure.

There is a nice looking trail way out by the Lost Valley Boy Scout Camp. To get there we went to the end of Chihuahua Valley and hooked up with an old dirt road. the road went on for 10 miles heading east towards the boy scout camp. Along the way there were side trails and great rocky hills that beckoned us. We reached a point where we could see into the desert and It was a great view. When we got to the beginning of the trail I wanted to do it was marked with an old closed sign. This is the risk you take looking for new trails. Reluctantly we moved along hoping to find something else to drive on.

Luckily we found a short trail heading up the side of a mountain with steep dropoffs. At the top of the mountain you could see down into lost valley, over to los coyotes indian reservation, and down into the desert. It was a spectacular vista. The day was getting late so we agreed to head back.

Kevin & Mark discover Heart Attack Hill

2006-10-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

So New guys Kevin and Mark in Kevin's unscratched shiny new black Rubicon TJ enjoyed their day including this trip down "Heart Attack Hill".

Fun times.

NOTE: This is a pretty big video that hiccups if you don't let it all download before playing it - press play then pause and wait for the status bar to fill across - at least 1/2 way.

Pinyon Mountain Run @ ODF IV

2006-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

by Chuck Seeger

We had a great trip this year at ODF IV, I lead a run of about 20 rigs (all but 1 were Jeeps) through on the Pinyon Mountain Trail out in Anza Borrego.

This is a beautiful trail that leads from the high desert, through the fameous " Jeep Squeeze" a passage that is wide enough only for narrow vehicles like Jeeps and Toyotas - an H2 won't fit.

The path through the "Squeeze" requires you to follow the spotters directions to avoid body damage - which thankfully everyone did. There is no bypass for this section of the trail.

For this trip my friend Kevin who just bought his new Rubicon-TJ and had it lifted w/ 33's came along with his brother Mark. Kevin was a bit concerned as his new Jeep didn't yet have even a scratch - the night before I promised him that if he came along on my run he would make it through without a scratch!

After getting everyone through "the Squeeze" we proceeded through a fun little ledge and rock garden and then on to "Heart Attack Hill" so named because it is very steep down. There used to be the rusting hulk of a rolled truck at the bottom which really increased first timer's anxiety! However that has since been removed and the area is clean and beautiful.

Here Dirt goes down Heart Attack hill and even though he had coached several others "don't hit the brakes" he did - you'll see the fun for yourself. Yikes!

Pretty Cool eh?

What makes it tough are the two big holes spaced just so that your wheels fall into them and the second one drops such that the natural inclination is to touch your brakes.

Lots of fun.

It was a beautiful day out.

After that we headed back to camp to race RC cars and finally we headed up to Blow Sand with Steve & Nora and Mikey.

Yellow Jeeps make for great pictures and this one is no exception - sweet rides long and short!

I like the sand flying in this shot.

Here Mikey and Dirt are going up the steep side of blowsand while a sand rail passes.

After Blow Sand hill we headed around the back side and played in some rocks where I took this awesome picture... I love how the sun that shows through on the ground and the details in the foreground - pretty good picture for a point and shoot camera (of course the camera doesn't understand composition... that's my job).

Later when we got back to camp we had the ODF Raffle - I won the Mystery prize - which was pretty cool a $50 ORW gift card, TDS registration some cash and some other stuff including a nice piece of artwork from one of the Vets -thanks.

Ang turned out to be the big winner of the night - winning the Warn Winch - here she is still holding the certificate at about midnight not wanting to let go of it.

Well at least we won't have to hear her complain about needing to win a winch anymore - Can't wait to take the first picture of her actually having to use it!!! HA

The next day I lead Kevin & Mark out to "Pumpkin Patch" that is a cool place where sandstone concretions have been formed by erosion - Sunday was the nicest day with hardly a breeze and not a cloud in the sky... isn't it always that way!!! Till next time

More Pictures on Imagestation

JD's bad ass Toyota truck!

2006-09-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Posting this for JD, truck looks like a badass monster.....

Well here it is. Another few weeks and it will be ready to rock. Thanks to all the guys that helped me build this thing Chris, Noah, Russ, Mike P, Dirt, Scott and Debbie for being understanding with a trashed garage for a year. I cant wait to get it out and see what it will do. As far as a parts list and what's been done.

came with a carbureted motor now it has a injected 22RE
Came with a four speed now it is a 5 speed
dual transfer cases twin stick rear case
rear drive shaft disconnect (for front burns)
custom drive shafts
35 spline chrome molly axle shafts front and rear
front V6 high pinion third member with 5:29 gears and ARB locker
high crossover steering with hydraulic assist
custom front bumper with a mile marker 8000 lb winch.
custom interior cage.
36x13.5x15 Irocs for now going to 40's (just wont fit in the garage)
Rear 5:29 gears and Detroit locker
custom lift est. 4 to 5"
custom rear tube bed
stretched wheelbase to 108"
frenched rear spring hangers with 62" springs
most of you know me. Rock lights everywhere it will be lit up like a x-mas tree.
and a BUNCH of other stuff. With a year of knuckle busting.

Total cost $6200 About half the cost of Russ's front axle. Love ya man.

Miscellaneous Safety Upgrades

2006-09-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

I’ve got a few off roading safety odds and ends to share with you all. Some of this stuff won’t mean much to the people with newer vehicles since you’re already in good shape right off the lot, but maybe some of the info will be useful.

I added battery terminal covers to my battery. It’s good to have all of your positive power sources under the hood covered. Otherwise in the event of a rollover, a crushed hood or other moving metal parts could spark a fire. I got these covers from the local boat dealer for 5 bucks. Just disconnect the cable from the starter end (or from the grounding surface end for the negative cable) and slide them on.

For those using an electronic fuel pump, standard wiring would have it set up so that when the engine dies, the fuel pump shuts off. To go a step further would be to route the power for the pump through an emergency kill switch within arms reach on the dash. In the event of a rollover, with the engine still running or with the fuel pump still pumping, excess fuel will be dumped into the engine compartment and thus increasing the risk of fire. If a rollover is eminent, swat the kill switch and hang on for the ride.

The majority of the fire extinguishers I see on off road vehicles are mounted on the roll bar behind the driver. That’s easy access for others, but typically out of reach by the driver while he is still strapped in his seat. An example of why this could be a problem is this: You’ve just rolled your vehicle and you’ve ended up in a position that has you either pinned in your seat or unable to exit. Help may be on the way, but in the mean time your engine compartment is on fire and it’s getting rather toasty by your legs. Maybe you and your buddy riding shotgun are both trapped and one of you is unconscious.

Whatever the case, my opinion is that having the fire extinguisher within arms reach while seated is best.

The best of both worlds is of course to have two fire extinguishers, with one of them that can be reached from the driver’s seat. That also provides you with a spare in case the one you’ve had clamped to your rig for the last five years decides to malfunction when you need it most. I plan on adding a second one to my Jeep.

No making fun of my "center console."
Flatty Mike

Beauty Mountain Trail Report 9-16-06

2006-09-17T16:02:00.000-07:00

Beauty Mountain
Trail Report by Steven Unwin
September 16, 2006

Attendees:

Matt Unwin/Steve Unwin-white TJ Rubicon
Adam Burch-yellow TJ Rubicon

Summary: We did a 20 mile loop around in a new area and discovered some awesome new trails. There were about a dozen branch trails leading up to mining claims and possibly mines, but we didn’t have time to explore. The trail was mostly moderate with some difficult sections passable in a stock 4X4.

We met Adam at the Deer Springs exit off the I-15 and then caravanned to the start of the trailhead near Chihuahua Valley in the North-Eastern corner of the county.

The plan was to do a loop around Beauty Mountain by connecting a few of the “Jeep Trails” that crisscross the area. We had never been on any of the trails, nor did we have a clue what to expect. So After airing down we started off to Cooper Canyon by way of the California Riding and Hiking Trail. 1/3 of a mile past the first of the Twin Lakes we took a left on “Jeep Trail” and headed towards Iron Spring. None of these trails had names other than “Jeep Trail”. We didn’t find a spring there but did find our first technical challenge. It was a rocky uphill section requiring careful tire placement and 4 wheel drive, but not lockers. Immediately after getting through this we were passed by a single motorcycle rider. He was the only person we saw the entire day. This place is desolate.

As we crested a saddle between two hills you could look down and see the convergence of Cooper Canyon and Talmadge Canyon. Above us was Beauty Mountain to the left, and Iron Spring Mountain to our right. We continued upward along the side of Iron Spring Mountain and the trail got narrower and bushy. It became necessary to roll up the windows as the dry brush seemed to be designed to propel seeds into our laps and down our backs. Most of the trail was brushy and overgrown.

We reached a saddle between Iron Mountain and Beauty mountain and discovered a man-made earthen dam that the trail crossed over. We took lunch and made a contact over the ham radio with a man in Oceanside using the 147.730 repeater. He wished us a safe voyage and told us to give a holler if we needed anything. We continued to make radio contacts throughout the day.

The trail continued towards the north side of Beauty Mountain and then became a long meandering loop all around the mountain. We stopped at many points of interest and were amazed by the views of distant mountains, the groves of blooming cacti, and remnants of mining operations. The hills were covered with rocks of the same quality as those in Joshua Tree. In the lower elevations the foliage was similar to Corral Canyon, up higher it was like McCain Valley or Valley of the Moon. Several times we stopped to take in the stong smell of mustard. Wild flowers in bloom were giving off this strong scent.

Near the south side of the Beauty Peak the trail begins to switchback down towards Pawnee Mine. This section was the most technical and required spotting and caution since the edge of the trail gave way to a drop-off of several hundred feet. Despite that the two Rubicons managed with no problems. At the bottom of the hill we visited Pawnee Mine and had lunch. Adam took the time to play on the steep sandy hills in the area.

After lunch we proceeded along a trail that took us down Cooper Canyon and into Chihuahua Creek and ultimately to Oak Grove where the 79 Hwy is. We aired up and headed back to Temecula to have dinner at Rosa’s.

Mike's write up of Devils Canyon Night Run

2006-09-12T09:56:00.000-07:00

Mike posted his writeup over on a seperate blog - check it out here

Mike's Write up

Devils Canyon Night Hike

2006-09-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

Posted by Steve Unwin 9-11-06 GOD BLESS AMERICA

Mike, Nora and I went down to Devil’s Canyon to see how things were coming along for a group of wheelers from the Justruns club. We drove the Camry to the trailhead and found out just how little ground clearance that thing had. We were getting high centered on rocks no bigger than my fist. Anyhow we arrived there around 9:45 PM and began to hike down the canyon. We anticipated seeing them at the first waterfalls, but encountered them near the first bridge. They’d gotten a later start than we anticiapated.

No proper introductions were made so many of them assumed we were hikers or eco-nazis. Eventually they realized we were fellow wheelers and they relaxed a bit.

There were three vehicles in their group. All three were Cherokees with 35” tires. Two of them were fairly beat up while the third looked to be in pretty good condition. In fact he had his first dents that night.

In some places the Cherokees did real well. Ryan Brown, the trail boss showed remarkable skill at getting his rig up some of the obstacles. Although it helped that that he was unconcerned about body damage. But it was fun to watch. The other two had a rougher time but still managed to follow along. The major carnage occurred at the last waterfall. The second rig slipped off a rock and landed on his steering knuckle, breaking it in two. At the same time his steering box broke off from the frame.

The rest of the evening was spent trying to fix the broken vehicle. We stayed and tried to offer assistance. With no tools we couldn’t do much other than offer advice, so at 3AM we left. Rumor is they got home at 7AM, 2 hours later than we did.

Ryan's Picture Album

The next day another group ran Devils Canyon from top to bottom. Their pictures are posted here More DC Pictures

50 Miles in the Cleveland National Forest

2006-09-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

Attendees:

Steve Unwin/Nora - white 4Runner
Lucas Leifermann – red TJ
Ron Parker/Danise – blue Landcruiser
Vern Britain – red TJ
Matt Unwin – white Rubicon
E.R. Gilmore/Dianna/Thad/Rachel/Conor/Aiden – white Mazda MPV 4X4

Summary: We completed the 50-mile loop over the Palomar Divide Trail, up the Indian Pass Road and out to see Pawnee Mine and Twin lakes. We made a stop at a running spring and checked out some abandoned buildings. We were on the trail for about 8 hours.

The group assembled at the intersection of hwy 371 and hwy 79 at the location on the map called Aguanga. After a short meeting to discuss the plan for the day and trail etiquette we left for the start of the trail. I led the group as a passenger in my dad’s Rubicon and handled navigation and communication within the group. This was particularly challenging since we had CB, ham, and walkie talkie within our group. Nora took the tail gun position driving our grocery getter, the 4runner.

The trail immediately began to switchback up the side of Palomar Mountain rising 4000’ in 12 miles. When we reached the top we got out to make the short hike to the fire watch tower, which is abandoned. Although the tower is now locked, we were still able to take advantage of the high elevation to see miles in all directions and take pictures. After the hike we found some shade under oak trees and stopped to have lunch.

After lunch we started off on the trail again and noticed the weather was changing. Dark clouds formed over us and in the distance we could see rain. I even felt a little sprinkling. The clouds remained with us most of the day but it never did rain. The trail took us down the ridge past an old abandoned rock house. We stopped to investigate, take pictures and poke around. We started up again and drove down the mountain to a dirt lot just off the 79 hwy.

At this point E.R. and Dianna (my brother-in-law and sister) departed for home. The rest of us plodded on down the start of the Indian Flats road which is about 6 miles down the highway. Unfortunately the first 6 miles of this road is paved. Once the pavement ends the road continues as a very nice sandstone shelf road cut through some very remote parts of San Diego County. We stopped at a creek crossing to check out the natural waterfalls and marvel at the off-road possibilities. Realistically this will never be possible, but it was nice to dream. We took some nice pictures and watched the pollywogs. The group proceeded to the end of the trail in Chihuahua Valley.

We lost another rider here. Vern turned left and headed down Chihuahua Valley Road toward the 79 hwy which took him home to El Centro. The rest of us headed due north towards Cooper Canyon, the location of Pawnee Mine. Getting to Pawnee Mine is the only 4X4 required part of the whole day’s journey. The trail here is a bit rocky and steep. Sometimes it’s loose. All of us managed to get to Pawnee mine unscathed. Matt and Lucas did some optional hard stuff at the mine while the rest of us prepared to enter the Bat Cave. We found no bats this time. After exploring the remains of this mining operation which dates back to at least the 1950s, we left.

We headed back to the center of Cooper valley to a place called Cooper Cienega, where a natural spring and some recent abandoned buildings lie. The buildings are the remains of some poorly built/maintained homes that have been vandalized and are now uninhabitable. The land is pristine and has a flowing spring, fully grown oaks, and lush vegetation everywhere. This would be an ideal place to camp if it weren’t for the spooky old homes.

Our last destination was Twin Lake which was very close to the Cienega. Finding no way to access the lake because of dense vegetation surrounding it, we left. The group headed back to Chihuahua Valley and back down to hwy 79. On our way down we crossed paths with about 20 wild turkeys running across the road. At the highway some of use went south while the rest went west to Temecula. A few of us met up at Rosa’s in downtown Temecula for some awesome Mexican Food. After that we all headed home. It was long, fun, safe day.

See ENTIRE PHOTO ALBUM

A Dusy of a trail

2006-08-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

Running the Dusy-Ershim Trail August 25-27, 2006

Report & Pictures By Chuck Seeger,

Trails Coordinator & Run Leader - Geared 4 Fun 4x4 Club

Getting to the Dusy Our drive to Fresno was pretty uneventful - we got up at 4 a.m. and got on the road by 5:30 so that we could get through LA Traffic without a hitch - that worked great. Driving my Jeep through
LA traffic with half doors and two racks full of gear was interesting - I kept thinking about that commercial where the guy bypasses traffic by wheeling up the hill - damn - I COULD do that! But alas we were waiting for some real wheeling up in the Sierra's.

The weather in the Central valley was perfect and as we climbed the foothills out of Fresno the scenery just got more spectacluar. We arrived in the town of Shaver Lake in the early afternoon and stopped at a bait store and topped off at the gas station .

On our way into Courtwright Resevoir we stopped off at the McKinley Grove of Giant Sequoia's - wow what a way to start our trip. Those trees are awesome. Some are over 2000 years old and the biggest measures hundreds of feet high and over 16' around.

We arrived at Courtwright after about an hour drive through the forest. Mike & Nora missed a turn and went to see another lake but luckily because we were all on 2M radios we could communicate with them and direct them back to the right road even though we were several miles apart.

Courtwright was beautiful, and while Steve and Nora went fishing....

Mike and Chuck couldn't wait to find the start of the Dusy-Ershim trail and see what the deal was with "Chicken Rock" We found the start of the Dusy trail about 2 miles down the trail to Voyager Rock...

Immediately we knew this was going to be a real Dusy (pardon the pun) the trail started with a boulder field as a "Gate Keeper" then went straight up the face of Voyager Rock - I understand why the also call this "Chicken Rock" one could easily chicken out when you see the steepness of the climb. The view from on top was incredible and made the climb even better.

We headed down to the shore of Courtwright to fish but didn't catch anything. So we headed back to camp to get ready for tomorrow.

Thompson Hill Our first real day of wheeling started easy enough, we posed for some shots atop Chicken Rock but then moved on to beat a huge group of Toyotas that were running the Dusy this same weekend.
The first thing that strikes you about the Dusy is the forest... it is so green - healthy and thick. The trail runs between the trees and is so narrow it is hard to imagine a fullsize truck getting through this trail. We came across our first real obstacle only a mile or so in - this really didn't seem like much but it was a great warm up. As we proceeded through the forest Mike was and Steve wanted to keep a bit of distance to keep the dust down - unfortunately Steve kept a bit too much distance and the Toyotas started to over take him. By the time Mike & I got to Thompson Hill, Steve had let at least 10 vehicles pass him... So since we were in good communication we headed up Thompson hill, after at the 8 mile mark according to my GPS... as we crested a ridge I radioed to Mike that we were done with Thompson and it really hadn't been bad at all....

- OOPS - I was wrong! Way wrong! The real challenge of Thompson hill is in the last 1/4 mile as the trail turned into an uphill boulder field where I suddenly had caught up to several rock buggies who were "challenged"... Knowing that Mike was playing on some obstacles because he thought the trail was done I radioed to him urgently that indeed the trail was NOT done - I think my exact line was " Mikey don't go looking for trouble because it is most certainly going to find you when you get to where I am!!!"
At this point I was stuck and pointing sideways on the hill after trying to climb between a huge boulder and a Tree - gravity pulling my front end off the rock and in the wrong direction. I knew I needed to use my Winch to pull the front end in the right direction up the hill. There was no way to go backwards or to the side as rocks had me blocked in. Luckily I could pull forward enough to get my Winch gear out of the back of my Jeep. Mike assisted and we pulled a text book winching session - complete with Tree Saver strap to extracate my rig from this pickle.

As we spoke to Steve on the radio and learned of a rollover that was keeping him held up we agreed to push on to Thompson Lake to get the good campsite - which really paid off as the Toyota guys swarmed around us 45 minutes after we got in.

Rubi enjoyed relaxing in the grass after wheelin' all day.

After getting to Thompson Lake went fishing and relaxing.

I learned not to come between Mikey & his Steak

Thompson to Ershim Lake Day 2 on the trail was probably the easiest as there were no huge obstacles to overcome. The forest was very tight in places, there was one fun part for Steve & Mike as they climbed a tough hill

and we got into Ershim lake around 1:30 pm with plenty of time for fishing and relaxing - again beating the group of Toyotas because we left camp at 8:30 a.m. as they were just awakeing.

Ershim Lake is really beautiful and the fishing turned out to be better than over at Thompson... at least for Nora & Uncle Fred.

In camp that night we learned just how much Mikey likes gasoline for starting fires - so I played Barbqueue by Eddie Murphy on my iPod over the Jeep's speakers...

... we all laughed at Mikey's impersonation of "Uncle Gus".

Ershim Lake was really spectacluar.

On Sunday morning we took our time hitting the trail so we wouldn't be right on the tail of the Trail Gear guys.

As we headed out on the 3rd day there were several challenging sections including this drop off that were fun.

There were lots of rocks and Trees to navigate through and over. Everyone who attended can say that they drove at least part of the Dusy-Ershim Trail

On the way out we stopped at Lakecamp Lake - another jaw-droppingly beautiful lake - this one with a creek feeding it that was so glassy it was unbelievable we had to take a few pictures (too bad I couldn't get the camera higher for the group picture.

Steve & Nora made for a great picture here.

Mike started experiencing mechanical issues a bit before Lakecamp Lake with his rear axle making weird noises - probably a broken spider gear. He engaged his rear ARB Locker and that seemed to be a good trail fix for the problem - we just needed to get 4 more miles to get to pavement.

As we climbed to the highest point of our trip - over 10,500' we felt like we were on top of the world ... the views in every direction were incredible - there was even still snow in the distance.

Mikey almost fell off the mountain -- hee hee

In the end thankfully we all made it all the way through the Dusy-Ershim Trail without serious incident and we all had a blast on what has to be one of the most scenic and challenging trails I've ever been on.

Imagestation Photo Gallery

Dusy Ershim Trail Report 8/24/06

2006-08-29T09:53:00.000-07:00

Dusy Ershim Trail Report

Attendees:

Charlie Seeger w/ Robert & Rubi in yellow TJ
Mike Parsons w/ Uncle Fred in red TJ
Steve Unwin w/ Nora in white TJ

Summary: We finished the 3-day, 33 mile Dusy Ershim Trail in the Sierra Nevadas as planned. There were some mechanical breakdowns, and some body damage, but we all made it off the trail on our own power. The trail was longer and more difficult than the Rubicon Trail. The scenery was magnificent. The fishing at Ershim Lake was good. Next time we should do it from North to South.

Day 1: Thursday was for driving up to the Courtright Reservoir where the trail begins. We met up with Mike in Oceanside about 5AM and continued north. We kept in touch with Charlie who started off about 1/2 later over the 2M radios. The all day trip went off without a problem and we arrived at Courtright in the early afternoon. After setting up camp Nora and I fished the reservoir while Charlie and Mike explored the beginning on the trail. While fishing we observed a large group of Toyotas (about 15) driving up. After not catching fish we returned to camp and settled by the campfire.

Day 2: The Second day was our first day on the trail. Our group, led by Charlie managed to start early enough to be first on the trail. We climbed the steep and tall granite slab called Chicken Rock. We negotiated the trail through the dense forest leading up to Thompson Hill. Along the way 3 rock buggies from the Toyota group caught up and overcame our group. Later some more Toyotas passed us and we found ourselves stuck in a column of Toyotas unable to catch up to our group. Meanwhile Charlie and Mike were miles away doing their best to get to Thompson Lake, our camping destination to reserve us a good spot. We stayed in continual contact using 2M radios.

The highlight of the first day was Thompson Hill. Our group made it up this steep and loose hill with no real problems. The Toyota group had a broken driveshaft and 2 rollovers. While heading up we encountered another group, The San Diego 4 Wheelers retreating off the mountain due to a snapped driveshaft. There was an additional group of 2 Jeeps that was broken and sidelined on Thompson hill with a bent tie rod.

Charlie managed to get good campsites at Thompson Lake and we quickly set up camp and began to fish the lake hoping to provide dinner for the night. We caught no fish this time.

Day 3: We woke up early and immediately packed up the Jeeps. It was clear to all that an early start and no stopping or breakdowns meant the pick of the campsites at the next camping destination, Ershim Lake. So we kept a fast pace on this day.

This segment of the trail was comparatively easy to the first day and although the scenery was great the trail posed no significant difficulties. In spite of that Mike broke off a track bar bracket and we had to stop in order to remove the broken parts. Thankfully he finished the work before a group of Jeeps overcame us.

Getting to Ershim Lake took about 6 hours and again we were the first ones there. We set up camp and I jumped in the lake to take a bath. It felt great! Nora and I started fishing and with Fred’s instruction she caught 2 nice Brook Trout. Fred caught a Brook Trout and a Rainbow Trout. 3 or 4 hours later the other group began to arrive. They were delayed by a broken axle and a long stop for lunch.

That night Nora cooked up the great fish and we all enjoyed a taste. Robert tended the fire while Mike told stories of former motocross glory and Mad Max days at Glamis.

Day 4: It was not critical to get an early start on this day since we were not camping on the trail. We ate breakfast and slowly packed up for the last day on the trail. We left about 10:30AM and had a breakdown 5 minutes into the trail. Part of Mike’s homebrew suspension came apart and we stopped along the trail to fix it. Fortunately Mike had the spare parts and tools to fix it and we were underway within 20 minutes.

This day was by far the most scenic of all and Nora and I enjoyed it the most. Most of the trail was around 10,000 ft elevation and from there we could see for hundreds of miles. Nora and I alternated driving this day and all of us were lighthearted since there was no frantic pace to maintain. Mike had a hard day due to additional mechanical trouble but it didn’t keep him from finishing the trail.

We drove off the mountain and into Shaver Lake to have a burger and get a couple gallons of gas. After that we all drove back to Courtright Reservoir and set up camp for the last time. This night was fun and relaxing. We sat around the campfire and looked at pictures of our trip. The lies and exaggerations began to form.

Day 5: Charlie and I woke up at 5AM to begin our drive home. Charlie and I were able to maintain radio communication for most of the way home. Along the way Charlie radioed that he had a breakdown so we turned around to meet up with him. His driveshaft had come apart. My driveshaft wouldn’t fit his jeep so he ended up driving home in front wheel drive only while we followed behind him. Other than that there was no troubles getting home.

The PICTURE ALBUM is posted on imagestation.

More Pinion Mountain Stuff

2006-08-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Pinion Mountain Night Run Trail Report, Aug 12, 2006

Attendees: in order of showing up

Larry Gumm- Silver LJ Rubicon
David Heker/Jennifer – Brownish LJ Rubicon
Steve Unwin/Nora –White TJ
Adam Burch/Siler – Yellow Rubicon
Charlie Seeger/John Lanford – Yellow TJ
Steve Porretta/Tracy – Suzuki Samurai
Chris Zeitler/Liz – Silver Tombraider Rubicon
Errol Poe – Black TJ

The start of the run was significantly delayed by late arrivals. It might be better for a run like this to caravan from a meeting place in town. That way cell coverage won’t be an issue trying to find out where people are at or if they are coming or not. Charlie led the run while I remained at the meeting place waiting for the last guy to show. When he did show we unloaded his Jeep from the trailer and were able to catch up with the rest of the group at the Jeep Squeeze.

The Squeeze was a little harder at night since it was hard for the spotter to see with headlights in his face. John Lanford did most of the spotting for the evening; thanks John. Charlie did nearly all the picture taking; thanks Charlie. After the Squeeze we ambled along toward Heart Attack Hill. Along the way there were a couple fun rock gardens but everyone was able to negotiate the obstacles with no problems.

At Heart Attack Hill everyone stopped and got out to survey the challenge. At night this thing looks scary! Charlie led the way and made it look easy with his big lift and 35” tires. The remaining vehicles had less than controlled descents that were scary to watch (and I’m sure to drive) but no damage was done. Its very tippy right there.

Beyond the Squeeze the group continued into Hapaha Flats, past Split Rock and down into Fish Creek. By then the moon was out and we could almost have turned off our headlights. Charlie led us up into Sandstone Canyon and we got to see some new signage indicating the official end of Sandstone Canyon which is about a mile before the furthest point we’ve gone before. Coming out the canyon we all made our way towards the Diablo Dropoff. One driver missed the turn but we were able to find him and get him back on track.

At the Diablo Dropoff most vehicles had no troubles. At the long sand hill Chris and Adam in their Rubicons got stuck in the sand. After airing down and getting enough momentum Chris made his way up the hill. Adam aired down and made it almost to the top. I tugged on him with a tow strap but saw my tires were digging in. Just as I was heading to hook up the winch line he miraculously pulled out of the thick sand and crawled his way to the top.

The group continued down Arroyo Seco Del Diablo to Carrizo Creek and back to the S2. We aired up and prepared to head home. We got home at 5:15AM.

Geeky Radio Stuff

The group used 2M radios exclusively to great effect. Those who did not have mobile hams in their rigs were given HTs by others to use. Everyone had a 2M radio except for 2 rigs. As the Tailgun I was able to communicate with the Trail Boss throughout the evening despite the twist and turns of the canyons we were in. We enjoyed clear inter-group communication throughout the evening. Later when our group was heading back to the Stagecoach RV campground I began losing reception on simplex since Charlie was too far away and behind mountains. We switch to the Monument Peak repeater and continued talking. This was truly fun.

Pinyon Mountain Night Run

2006-08-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

We set out from the Stagecoach Trails RV Park finally getting underway at 9 pm. There were a couple of folks who were running late and we didn't wan't to leave them to run the trail alone.

Chuck took trail leader and lead most of the group ahead while Steve waited for his friend Errol from Monrovia.

We waited for the rest of the group to catch up just after Jeep Squeeze and we got these shots of Steve going through the Squeeze with his Rock Lights illuminating the way. - way cool shot!

Here's a shot of my Jeep and the rest of the crew behind us as we get read to run the rest of the trail after the Squeeze

I'm heading down Heart Attack Hill - always fun - just gotta use your gears!

Here

Here Adam makes it look pretty interesting in his stock Rubicon - check out that rear wheel in the air - was he about to go Ass over Tea-kettle or what???

Steve and his rocklights makes it look cool going down Heart Attack Hill

P.S. - I definately enjoyed "racing" Steve P baja style for the last mile out of the wash - Ain't gonna get beat by no 'zuk! LOL

Picture Gallery - Click Here

Nora at Holcomb Creek

2006-08-09T08:50:00.000-07:00


Here's Nora proving that she can show the way. Always fun

Holcomb Creek Water Crossing- 2

2006-08-09T08:46:00.000-07:00


Next we headed to Holcomb Creek - starting from the rock pile off 3N16 we ran West to East and finished at the water crossing where we had some fun.

Big Bear Fun - 3 trails

2006-08-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

So we (Steve & Nora, Steve's dad Matt and myself - Chuck) started out in Arrowhead running trails from West to East - First we did Deep Creek . The actual Deep Creek water crossing is now a Cement bridge but the trail does have some challenging sections and was fun.

Chuck

Big Bear Jeep'n

2006-08-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

We went back to Big Bear for some camp'n and Jeep'n. It was really nice being there on Thursday and Friday before the weekend crowd. We felt like we had the mountain to ourselves. We logged about 50 miles on the Willys without issue. Most of the trails we did were easy, but being that we were there by ourselves, we decided not to go on anything too difficult.

One of the trails we really enjoyed was 3N08 which heads east from Holcomb Creek towards John Bull. It's not marked very well so that added some adventure to the ride. We took some fun side spurs on the way back that got pretty narrow.

We also went up to the Lookout Tower at Butler Peak. It's worth the drive just for scenery. The Tower has great views of Big Bear Lake to the east and Lake Arrowhead to the west.

Mike & Sheri Carroll

The Big Bear Trifecta

2006-07-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Story and Pictures by Steve Unwin

Attendees:
Charlie Seeger - yellow TJ
Matt Unwin/Thad & Rachel Gilmore - white TJ Rubicon
Steve Unwin/Nora - white TJ

Yesterday Charlie, my dad and I went up to Big Bear to do 3 of the harder trails up there. The trails are done back to back starting with Dishpan Springs, Holcomb Creek and the John Bull Trail.

We started on Dishpan Springs, the newly opened trail with a black diamond rating. The scenery is amazing as you make your way from Lake Arrowhead towards Big Bear Lake. At the earliest part of the trail after Deep Creek there is a minor rock garden that requires some careful tire placement to do without getting hung up. None of us had any difficulty there. At the hard part of the trail there is a very rocky uphill climb with a "waterfall" type obstacle at the top. There is a bypass, which still looks pretty bad. All of us opted for the harder line up the waterfall. I made it with no trouble. My dad and charlie both did wheelies, then tried again and made it. We finished the trail in less than two hours and moved on to Holcomb Creek.

Holcomb Creek starts out with a nice rock garden. All of us commented on how it use to be much harder. This time there was no need for spotting, especially for those of us with larger tires. We had no real difficulties on this trail until we got to the second rock garden. My dad's Rubicon struggled due to lack of ground clearance. Fortunately he had ample armor and we could hear the screeching metal as he clawed his way along. At one point he got high centered and it required rock stacking and the use of his winch to get him unstuck. A misjudgement in spotting on my part got him his first body damage: a dent in the rear passenger corner. Later, wrote on the dent with a Sharpe pen "Jesus forgives, Rocks don't: Holcomb Creek 7/27/06". I'm glad he had a sense of humor about it. We all negotiated our way to the end of the trail with little difficulty and noticed how few vehicles we were seeing on that day. It was unexpected. At the end of Holcomb Creek we splashed around in the water crossing and got some pretty good pictures of it.

The group made its way to the East side of the John Bull trail with plenty of time left in the day and a confident attitude. Charlie and I did fine with our larger tires and ground clearance but here again ground clearance was the issue for the Rubicon. The winch was required to unstuck my dad from a ledge climb. Later as we descended down the west hill my dad's Rubi slipped off a rock into a position which threated to take out his driveshaft. After a lot of trial and error (including my dad smashing his finger stacking rocks) we were able to winch him backwards and no damage was done. Beyond this we were careful to spot him the rest of the way down so as not to have a repeat performance. Dad was getting tired after his 3rd black diamond trail of the day, and so were we!

So it was a fun day in the forest for us with lots of fun and lots of work. We topped it off with a dinner at the local Mex restaurant and headed home.

Trashhaven

2006-07-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

Just got back from the run this morning in the area referred to as Trashhaven. Went back to the area where we were last week with the new guy and completed the trail. It was kind of hairy and I'm glad we didn't do it at night the way we were planning.

Anyhow, My dad and I did pretty much all the black diamond stuff there is to do up there and now I pretty much know every trail on the mountain. There's plenty of stuff to do, all skill levels. Its a good place to practice your recovery skills.

The temperature was 113 degrees at noon and I had the top down. On my way back down the hill my rear disk brakes started grinding and letting me know its time for new pads. Then I remembered those are the pads that came with the axle when I found it sitting in the junkyard. God knows how many miles are on those pads, but they're grinding bigtime. Luckily I got it home without having flames jetting out of my wheels. I'll replace them when it cools down a bit!

Peterson's Article

2006-07-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

I finally got a copy of the Peterson's magazine today. I went and scanned it all and posted it up on my website. You can download the full sized image 1.5mb here
FULL IMAGE

It looks like this only much bigger times bigger.

New guy gets broken in on first meeting

2006-07-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

After July's monthly meeting a group of veteran club members (Steve, Mike and Chuck) went tooling in the local hills with a newcomer (Christian) in tow. He showed himself to be an able wheeler, despite having 33's and open diffs. We think he's going to fit in just fine. We were laughing because on day one he's nearly fulfilled his requirements for membership.

Since none of us were prepared to go wheeling, all of us were wearing flip flops, had no recovery gear, no tools, and no way of airing back up. This was probably the least prepared I have ever been. Next meeting I go to I'll be packing all the right gear, just in case.

This run was another example of the futility of CB and the superiority of VHF radio. CB was constantly scratchy and short on range. Meanwhile Charlie and I were able to jaw on simplex the whole time and for most of the way home. we were 8 miles away and I could still talk on simplex with him. When he finally got out of range we hooked up with the palomar 146.075 repeater and continued the conversation all the way home. This is communication at its best.

Devil's Canyon

2006-07-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

So I put up a link on the front page of the website to Steve's Devil's Canyon page - excellent write up Steve. I especially like the Historical Society pictures of the same trail with old Model - T's on it.

Some Pictures from Big Bear Forest Fest

2006-06-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures. All of these are from the first rock garden at the west end of Holcomb Creek.

Steve & Traci - taking the most challenging line

Chuck2 and Jim - leading the way

Ang and Ralph - easy money w/ the 35's

Bat's Video

2006-06-07T20:10:00.000-07:00

So here's Steve's Bats Video

Willys MB Jump'n In

2006-06-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

Okay, I’ll jump in. Mike here, the new guy with the ’42 Willys. Here’s some picture of my new roll cage.

Six point cage, tied to the frame at all six.
All of the posts have notch joints so it’s completely removable should I ever decide to swap out the tub.

Got some garage time this weekend and replaced all my U-joints. I also fixed a leak at the transfer case drum brake so my e-brake should have a lot better hold now. A few more odds and ends and I’ll be ready for BBFF!

2006-05-31T17:35:00.000-07:00

alright thought I would try this, thanks to everyone for a great trip last weekend, this is a great pic JD took, next time I might leave the top on, it was cold on the way home.....

Dirt's new Jeep

2006-05-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

So Dirt got to play in his new Jeep LJ aka "Short Bus" I've gotta say his Jeep performed awesome! Lockers? Who needs Lockers? That Long Arm suspension just floated over rocks like a Caddie down the boulevard. Great job on the build up and not only does it look good but it performed better than any of us probably thought possible.

I can only imagine when the ARB's and 4.56's are installed.

Oh and make sure that Short Bus looks as good going as it does coming - full size spare please!!!

Initial Post - Geared Blog

2006-05-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Good day techno Jeepers. Welcome to the new century and Blogging. You can post pictures, comments and more.

Scenic Sedona

2005-04-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

Trails Report of Run from April 2005

Report by Chuck Seeger
Trails Coordinator, Run Leader Geared 4 Fun 4x4 Club

As Trails Coordinator for the Geared 4 Fun club I wanted to inject some new life into the position and the club, so I asked everyone what they wanted in a run – Good trails that are challenging but not Sledgehammer tough, Scenic beauty, something different – how ‘bout someplace with after wheeling activities…. Hmmm??? Well Sedona fits all of those and more!

With the rainy winter I was worried in February and March – would it rain all over our trip? Luckily the weather pattern changed and we had beautiful warm weather (at least until Sunday’s drive home).

Thursday morning we all met up on the I-15 by Chase’s house – Sorry Chase! From there we started our drive to Sedona – thankfully that was uneventful! We arrived right at 6 o’clock as expected and got to our condo then grabbed a beer – later we met for dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant. There – because of the full moon that weekend they were having the Wesak festival – something to do with the vortexes around Sedona that the new age folks are into – when one singer was done (beautiful voice) and the announcer came up to welcome everyone to the “Sedona We Suck Festival” (that’s what I heard) we all guffawed and laughed loudly – which caused several new age’rs and hippies to look at us funny – how did we know it was Wesak? I guess its like laughing in church – but it was funny as heck to us…. Still funny now!

book said it was a great trail. The trail starts with a small gate keeper obstacle then after a short dirt road gets to some fun slick rock – here we let several “Pink Jeep” tours go by us as we played on the rocks and posed for pictures – there were several times where the Jeep tour folks were spending more time watching us play than the red rock scenery! The trail took us to Submarine rock – a huge sub like rock then out to Chicken Rock - I’m not sure if it was chicken shaped but it did drop off precipitously soFriday morning we all met up at Telaquepaque (an art gallery like outdoor mall) and headed to our first trail “Broken Arrow” this is the trail that all the Jeep Tour companies take and our guide maybe that’s where the chicken part came from. Here I got a friendly mountain biker to take a Well, the book says you can do this trail in 2 hours – and picture of everyone together with our Jeeps and the red rock scenery in the background. We then headed to some fun obstacles including a blind climb straight up the slick rock and then over to a fun crack that Russ went up. From there it was over to “the steps” a steep downhill with step like rocks and a well worn path down the hill – for those with decent tires and gears it was fun. I think it was a little nerve racking for Bogdan and his family with the Cherokee – but he made it with some good spotting by Russ. JD couldn’t go slow enough in his big Blazer and kind of bounced down the steps but we all made it no problem! you could have if you just drove the trail – but it was so beautiful we had to stop and check out the scenery several times – so now it was 1 pm.

We blew off Soldier’s pass trail and headed to the Oak Creek Homestead trail – this was an easier trail that took us down to Oak Creek where we had lunch…the fun was on the way out while Russ and I were waiting for everyone else to catch up at this old stage coach era dam, Russ asked if I wanted to go play in the rocks – I mentioned something about it getting late – but go ahead and I’ll spot you! Well that was enough and Russ skillfully maneuvered his Jeep though the rock garden and up through a “V” notch in the wall of this “dam”. When he made it through the rocks and to the “V” notch that was only the start of the fun – the first angle was bumper to 2 feet below the top – JD had him back up and come from an angle to get the drivers side tire up – but then the front bumper on the other side was making solid contact with the wall. Back it up a bit…stack a few rocks and come again – ok now we got the front up, but by the time the back tires touch the wall there just isn’t enough traction to climb out…. Someone said for me to get the winch out but Russ wouldn’t hear that… he backed up – not too much – and we stacked rocks to get the tires up 8” or so after a few tries and more rock stacking he climbed right up and Russ was all smiles… of course we again had a crowd this time a couple of rental Jeeps (one guy bragging that if he had “his jeep from home” he’d try that too – yeah whatever!

We headed back to town and had a nice BBQ at our condos - grilled steaks, Salmon and lots of side dishes – mmm too much to eat!

Saturday dawned clear and beautiful – I thought there was supposed to be a storm coming? We headed to Jerome, an old Copper mining town clinging to the side of Mingus Mountain, the town became a Ghost town when the copper ran out in the 1950’s but has come back as an art gallery – tourist town. Bogdan asked that we take the dirt route to town up from Cottonwood, this was a bumpy shelf road but wasn’t challenging – the trail shook and rattled several bolts loose on JD’s Blazer and we had to pull over and tighten them up. We decided to blow off any further wheeling for the day as we had promised the girls they could shop and explore the towns… we walked around Jerome and several people got an ice cream from this old New Yorker guy who just about talked their ears off ! Jerome was a neat old town with lots of history.

We headed back to Sedona, did some shopping and went to dinner, that night the storm hit and boy did it rain hard! Around 6:45 a.m. the last hard rain fell and the sky started to clear – or so we thought… as we headed out of town… after one last fix of JD’s Blazer…it started to pour and even pea sized hail – after Russ’s big motor home went through a puddle (it was a big one) all the warning lights came on so he pulled over to check it out – Joe and I went up a side street to wait and caught an awesome view of the red rocks getting rained on – this caused several waterfalls to flow – very cool! Once we go to I-17 the rain stopped and the sun came out – I can’t wait to go back there, we didn’t get a chance to do several trail that looked very cool in the book – I guess that’s a good thing it keeps you wanting more!