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Archived Newsletter |
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October 2003
For more trip information, see TRIPS. |
CONTENTS |
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DEEP CREEK AND HOLCOMB CREEK Arriving at 8:30am, I figured I was the last to arrive for the run. Jim Bays was there much earlier, reserving the parking lot at Arrowhead Village, for what turned out to be eleven vehicles. Steve Frank bad towed his Jeep up and left his Suburban there at the parking lot. Six club members and 5 guests in all. Tom Moreys guest from his other club, 4X4 Freelanders, was driving a beautifully built up 4 Runner. After waiting for stragglers until 9:15, we headed for Deep Creek via a nice warm-up trail shown to us last year by Toni. It leads off the road near the dam at the Arrowhead Marina and intersects 3N34 just before the new bridge at the crossing. Dave Trice's guest, Mike from up in San Juan Bautista, got his Jeep Rubicon stuck on the first rock pile on the warm-up trail. A little rock throwing and we were on our way. Finding our way to 3N34 entails crossing and joining a couple of other trails. Lucky for me, Toni was there to direct me. I'm getting pretty good at making wrong turns. The new bridge across Deep Creek seems more like a freeway off ramp. I understand why it was built, but they took out the rock garden at the far side and now there's a big parking area there. I foresee the place getting trashed from too many people real soon. Just up the trail, as you start to make the climb, there's some rocks and ledges to get up. These seemed new and a little difficult to climb for open differentials. Dave's friend, Mike, got high centered there and needed a winch (that he just installed the night before) to get him off. The rest of the trail seemed fairly easy up to Dish Pan Springs. "Devil's Slide" looks ominous, but everyone made it up unassisted. Steve was the first to take the hardest line. As you cross a deep notch at an angle, your left rear drops in deep and Steve came really close to rolling. Careful maneuvering and spotting got him through. I won't discuss here what Michelle was saying to Steve at that moment. Dave Trice came through the same way. Right in the notch he stalled, and we sort of held him tip as he re-started. Miles Mocker, in that really nice 4 Runner, caught some nice air with the right front, but having a longer wheelbase, didn't seem to tip as far. I here is a new pleat in his driver's seat now, though. Arriving at the top at 12:30, we searched out a lunch spot. We passed on Tent Peg Campground as a ranger was just passing through and not all of its had our Adventure Passes. Crab Flats is private and we didn't want to pay a camping fee just to have lunch there. So we moved on down 3N16 a ways and found a short spur trail with enough space and had lunch overlooking the burn area from last year. We hit the rock garden on 3N93 (Holcomb Creek) and danced our way through without incident. Tom Morey and Miles Meeker split off from there, after playing a bit oil the rocks. Steve's friends Mike and Chris, in Mikes open TJ, were heard whooping and hollering as they made their way through unassisted. The same went for the middle rock garden where we seem to have had problems in the past. From there on out, the trail seemed pleasant. The steep hill climb before the beaver ponds has been bypassed, keeping you on the proper trail to the right, thus preventing erosion of the hillside. No challenge there. Passing through the beaver ponds to 3N14, Suzy and I, and Steve and Michelle headed out leaving the rest of the group to go on to John Bull and Gold Mountain. Since Jim Bays was leading that part, I'll leave the rest of the report up to him. From what hat I hear, it was a long night! Members present: Jay & Laurie Anderson, Jim Bays, Steve, Michelle & "Little Off-Roader" Stevie, Toni Morey, Rick & Suzy Schaffer, Dave Trice. Guests: Mike Wirth with Chris Gonzales, Jeff Coursey with Travis Willkinson, P.J. Anderson, Miles Meeker, Mike Scone.
DEEP CREEK PART II When we reached the end of 3N93, 4 of our original 11 decided that it was time to defect (babies, knees, whatever). But 7 of us hardier souls had a yen to visit old JOHN BULL and partake of what he had to offer. Our group now consisted of Dave Trice, his friend Mike Score, Jeff Coursey and his rider Todd Wilkinson, P.J. Anderson, John Montoya Jay and Laurie Anderson. We took off on 3N89 which is just a stones throw from the end of 3N93. I was to lead, but that all changed when I came upon this large young man about 16-17 who was struggling up, and in the wrong direction, totally lost, dying of thirst, winded, and had no conception of time. He said his cousin had gone on ahead about 5 minutes ago, but when Dave took 3N89 on out, and I went right on 3N08, we never found his cousin. So... I wasn't about to leave this poor confused kid out there by himself. So, I hauled him to the Ranger Station at Big Pine Flat and explained the situation to them and beat it back to the group waiting for me. I called on the CB to let them know I was on my way back and got a reply from Laurie saying they and the Montoya Jeep were heading home as it was getting late, and blamed it on Kevin. The last five of us found 3N10, and it was around 5pm then, but we weren't about to "not do" what we came to do! So Dave promptly went into a huge hole and rubbed his chin for about 10 minutes looking for the easiest way to get out of there, while his friend Mike went on up the trail and got stuck on some rocks. With no body in front of him, it was a little difficult to extract him. This scenario went on over the entire trail, taking turns as to who it was that had to be hung-up. Somewhere near the very top I slipped off a rock and my exhaust pipe came apart. Macho sound!! We started hearing unfamiliar voices on our CB's and when I inquired we were informed that a group of 5 was coming up from the east side. It was all but pitch black by this time. They seemed like nice people and the CJ5 was crewed by a couple of smiling people. She with a nice sun-bonnet. We started down and it was uneventful until P.J. took Dave's instructions to heart and "stayed as close to the tree as possible" at the deep, very off-camber hair-pin turn. If you ever did John Bull, you will know where I mean. Anyway... P.J. came within a second of turning his Jeep Over but, as luck would have it, his left rear bumper became entangled in the roots of the tree which saved him. But now, it wouldn't let him go! A lot of brain power began to go into motion. If it did let him go I am positive his Jeep would have turned over. So, what to do? All the wheel-spinning didn't help. All the suggestions didn't help. Jeff finally decided not to fool around any longer. He got out his snatch block and strap, and set it up on a tree about 40 feet away. Well this is just what I was thinking too, but I didn't have enough cable for those measurements, so I got out my 40 feet, 40,000 pound strap and gave that to Jeff. He doubled that around the tree and with a shackle, and put the snatch-block on the strap. Now we could get the right angle to winch P.J.'s Jeep back a little. Each time it came back, it would slide sideways a little. With Dave's hand waving, I would pull or release until the bumper was clear of the roots and I could finally let him down all the way and keep him from rolling over. No way was I going to share my reputation (Jim "Rollo" Bays) with him. It was 11pm now, and we still had a bunch of rocks ahead. The events weren't over yet! We got down off the hill and found that we were lost! Well, WE weren't lost, Dave was lost. The rest of us were just following him. In the pitch black it is very difficult to tell where in the mountains you are!
TRIP COMMITTEE MEETING The trip committee meeting will be held at Steve Franks' house on Wednesday, Oct. 22. If you would like to attend, lead a run, or nave a run suggestion, please give him a call at 714-739-4394.
CLUB BEACH PARTY This year we'll once again celebrate the club's birthday with a beach party. This year it will be held on Saturday, October 11, at Bolsa Chica State Park in Huntington Beach. It will be a pot luck, so check with Carol Kelly on what to bring. We will be eating around 2:00, but come early and enjoy a day at the beach. Directions: Bolsa Chica is on Pacific Coast Highway between Goldenwest and Warner. The entrance is across from the nature reserve. When you enter, continue north and look for the FITS motorhomes and banner. The club will be making a $250 donation to the Blue Ribbon Coalition. They seem to be doing the most to fight the land closures, so we should support them. If you are not a member of the Blue Ribbon Coalition, I would highly recommend that you join.
NEW MEMBER We would like to welcome our newest member Martin Goetch. Even though we drug him and his Cherokee over some of the roughest stuff we could find, he survived and STILL wanted to join the club! Obviously a personality flaw that we can embrace! Welcome aboard! Also, Anna Chersky (soon to be Lobaugh) has officially rejoined the club. She has been out recovering from surgery and has also had her share of related problems. We hope to see her and Chuck on the trail soon.
TECH TIP - CRANK & CREEP The TJ's with the manual transmission has an interlock that keeps you from starting without depressing the clutch. Oil the trail, this can be a problem. In some situations, it would be nice to be able to start the vehicle in gear without having to depress the clutch. Well, there is a simple way to bypass the clutch interlock. The Jeep engineers built in a simple work-around. All you need to do is insert a 20-amp fuse into slot #20. You may be able to steal one from #6, which isn't used. Your fuse block is behind our glove box, so you'll need to clean it out and remove the glove box door to access it.
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