NextStepDesigns

Saturday’s run to Nightmare Gulch in Red Rock Canyon was terrific event.  We had a huge turnout for this challenging run, 15 trucks total.  Most of the participants were members that I had met on the past few Cleghorn “New Member Orientation” runs and other recent events.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Our new members are really great, passionate people and I look forward to watching them help shape the future of the club.

Here is a link to the photos (41 images on SmugMug)

I knew it was going to be a great day as soon as we got out of LA.  It rained solid from Orange County to Valencia, but as we passed through Lancaster, the clouds disappeared, the sun came out, and Mojave unfolded before us in beautiful color and amazing clarity.  I have never seen Mojave look more beautiful.

The next pleasant surprise was that everyone got to the staging area at Jawbone Station on time!  We left promptly at 10 after a bit of preamble and pep-talk, where we went over spotting do’s and don’ts, TreadLightly parameters, etc..  We regrouped at the Nightmare Gulch trail head, aired down, and hit the dirt at 10:30.  As soon as we got the mouth of the Canyon, we ran into a few other groups of off roaders.  Since we were such a large group, I elected to let them through.  In order for us to make room, we had Rovers stashed into every nook and cranny of that tight part of the canyon.  It was chaos, but pretty cool at the same time.

As a side note to future trip leaders, I was greatly assisted by having some of our more experienced members to the rear of the group.   Without them (Frank, Conal, Steve), I would have had a difficult time running such a large group.  Because of how long our truck line was, it was essential to be able to hand off spotting duties for the last few trucks to these veterans, while I scrambled back up to the front to get the head moving again.  Thanks guys!  You made my day much easier!

Our group was making good time and was really working together well.  I was impressed at how smoothly everyone stepped in to help each other and keep up a playful banter throughout the day.  We made it to the water crossing, which to our surprise was totally dry, but made for a great lunch spot.  We then promptly made it the Exit Hill spot about at 1:30pm.  In fact, we made it so fast, Frank Buddenbrock, who’d done this trail a dozen times or more, completely missed it, thinking we hadn’t gone far enough yet

As promised, we pressed on and continued for the far end of the full Nightmare Gulch trail.  I’m reasonably sure we are the first big group of Rovers to ever attempt it.  It did not disappoint!

The second half of Nightmare is spectacular, with tight canyons and tighter “pinch rocks” throughout.  These spots are made even more interesting by low overhangs that restrict the line you can take to make it through the pinch rocks.  And there are a couple of ledges that you have to climb up.  The largest ledge is about 24” tall, and is tilted, with the passenger side being the high side, and the lower drivers side closed in by 75 foot tall wall of rock.

I made it up, then my friend Chris, and then Tawfik made his approach as I was running back to help.  He got his rear wheels up, and I just had time to yell, Look at your Side! When his street tires slid laterally and his LR3 slid into the rock wall, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.

This was a tough spot.  He wasn’t stuck, but he could not move forward or backward without thrashing his sheet metal.  Because of the narrow canyon, and the tilted slab of rock he was on, there was no easy way to rig a winch, pulley, or towline to get him away from the rock wall safely.  Then the magic of traveling in a group kicked in and we had lots of help and lots of great ideas.  Scott happened to have a brand new hand winch/come-along tool that looks awesome and works great.  We put a strap on Tawfit from the front the next car up in the line to prevent him from rolling back.  Then we pulled Kep’s truck up as close as possible and then use the come-along to pull Tawfik sideways a bit as 5 or 6 guys heaved on his truck and moved it a few feet over, enough the clear the obstacle and let him drive through.

It took a bit of time, but it was an awesome experience.  The group worked together superbly, with everyone being a part of its success.  I was really impressed.  I did very little other than keep an eye on safety and communicate with Tawfik, who remained cool and in good humor throughout.  Before I could suggest it, Mark and others had a bag out and were collecting the shards of glass to leave no trash on the trail.  Awesome.

While waiting for the rest of the group to make their way over the ledge, a few of us found a cool little slot canyon carved into the canyon walls.  Not sure how far it went, but the first hundred feet or so were pretty cool!

After that, we exited the canyon without any other adventures, but enjoying the transition of the geology as we reached Opal Canyon.  There we stopped for a group photo and I pointed out a few opal stones laying about that gave this spot its name.  At that point we were essentially only at the halfway point of the trip. It was 4:30 and rapidly getting dark.  I asked the group if anyone needed to head out for home because it was promising to be a late night.  Though I should have expected it by now with this terrific group, everyone one of them said that they wanted to keep going, and the prospect of a night run sounded great.  Awesome!

We dropped down into Last Chance Canyon at Camp Cudahy, talked a bit about the local history, then headed down into the wash, which, unlike Nightmare, had flowing water and offered a bit of fun.  Not far from the rock garden, we met an older couple in an XTerra coming up the canyon, who asked if we knew the way out!  They had gone down first, saw the rocks, and turned back, but had already spent most of the day looking for the exit and were a bit anxious.  I handed them a radio and invited them to join our group, and we got them out safely.

Last Chance proved to be more difficult than anticipated.  Apparently there had been several large groups of Jeeps through it that day (over 80 rigs from one report), and it was TORN UP!  Rocks every where.  It scarcely resembled the trail I had pre-run the weekend before.  However, we made it through in good shape, though the temps started to drop and our aired down tires got a little squishy.  Frank managed to unseat the bead on one tire, but quickly changed it and we made our way on.

We ended the trip in good spirits, round about 7:30pm or so.  Everyone aired up and made for home, with some stopping in Mojave to grab some dinner before the journey back.

I had a great time, and Wow was I tired at the end of the day.  Thanks everyone!

SCLR had a very successful run through Nightmare Gulch last weekend. The first day we had at least 22 Land Rovers of all vintages, from a Series III to a new Supercharged Range Rover Sport. The trail was fun and incredibly scenic, as always. The last hill proved to be a good challenge for all, though all but a few made it up on their own. I’m happy to say that all the modern LR3 and RRS’s made it up on their own this time, unlike our pre-run just a few short weeks ago.

Those that opted to stay overnight experienced a fun nightrun towards Bickle Camp, where we had a fantastic Thanksgiving feast, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie! Huge thanks to Trail Leader Chris for organizing that terrific potluck dinner!

The second day a much smaller group made its way south east, into the Red Rock Butte area slated for closure next year. After a few fun hill climbs and exploring the mines, we dropped down into Last Chance Canyon, had a pleasant lunch at Camp Cudehay (sp?), and worked our way through the rocks of Last Chance Canyon. It was another terrific weekend in the Red Rock Canyon state park. Thanks SCLR!

SCLR - Nightmare & Last Chance photos (58 images on SmugMug)

Wow, technically we were only gone from home about 60 hours, but in that short time, we had a lifetime adventure experience.

We started out Saturday through Last Chance Canyon (my first time there), then did some Baja style wheeling to the north (watching Joe catch 5 or 6 feet of air off the bumps in his DII), went up and over the scenic Bird Spring Pass, transitioned abruptly in Sierra county and dropped down into the Lake Isabella area.

We enjoyed a nice steak dinner at McNally’s, then collapsed into a food coma and hit the tents…well, that was the plan.

Turns out that during a lunch stop in Last Chance, Buddy “temporarily” stowed some gear on his roof rack. So Buddy, Joe and Mark piled into Buddy’s DII and did some night wheeling and GPS caching to recover the lost gear. They were successful and everyone tumbled gratefully into bed by 2:45 AM. We even convinced our camping neighbors to turn down the Mariachi music by that time

Sunday morning was warm & beautiful day followed by 6 hours of sheer terror and heart pounding excitement and I can’t wait to do it again!

We started with a serious talk from our river raft guide about all the ways we could be “strained” through the rocks, trees, etc…or crushed against rocks or drowned in “holes” or ejected like a human pebble in the fetal position out of a loopback eddy. We were encouraged to give serious consideration to whether or not we wanted to do the white water rafting adventure. Speaking for myself, I totally had second thoughts after that little training lecture. But what the heck, I have good life insurance

The event itself, for some of us, was simply a blast. It was a little more exciting for others. Hovic (who cannot swim), was the first in the entire group of 4 rafts to get dumped into the Class IV rapids. He wisely opted to take a break once we recovered his drifting body into our lead raft.

Chuck & Debbie and Mark & Yani were in 4th raft and their guide steered them right into what she later called an “F-U Rock” and dumped the entire raft and all it’s occupants in the first stage of a longish Class IV section. The 3 other rafts immediately turned to shore, the guides leapt out and raced upstream to recover the bodies…successfully!

After a considerable rest break to bring the heart levels down and body temperatures back up, we reshuffled the crew with Buddy and I joining Mark & Yani’s boat while Debbie & Chuck rested in the raft. That was the best ride of the day for me. We went a LONG way down the river all the way to camp site, through 4 or 5 Class IV’s and several Class III sections. It was tremendous fun.

We had a great lunch prepared by the river guides, then hit the river for one last run through a really long Class IV section, then back down into familiar waters. Which included the F-U Rock and it’s bottomless hole on the backside. Our guide prepped us before we approached. Letting Buddy & I know (we were in front and aiding in steering) that she intended to go to the right, clearing the hole and the rock….that was the plan anyway.

We drifted towards the rock sideways, our guide not able to turn us. As we approach, our Guide says, “Oh Crap! - Hang ON!” Buddy and I shared a glance and together we took matters into our own, turning the raft as we break over the huge rock and head straight down into the hole. I was literally standing on the bow of the boat, parallel with the bottom of the boat, trying to A), stay in B), pin Yani down so she stayed in this time C) paddle like mad as we dropped out of the sun into the hole D) Whoop holler and yell like a raving lunatic while solid water washed over us. Buddy and I had ear to ear grins all the way through it. It was a blast. Our Guide did a quick head count and then promptly turned over command of the boat to a riding Intern Guide. I think she had the willy’s.

That night we had a nice campfire and stayed up to late and just enjoyed ourselves.

Monday we explored several more pages of the Backcountry Adventure book, hitting Trail #CM13. We were going to take Trail CM12 all the way to Bakersfield, but were running short on time, so we stopped again along the shores of Lake Isabella, had a nice tailgate lunch, then headed down the amazing and inspiring 178 highway. Along the way we experienced the grim reminder of what can go wrong in white water rafting, with crews of raft guides (still holding their oars) searching up and down the fiercely raging Lower Kern river for someone. We were passed by ambulances and rescue vehicles pre-staging themselves all along the river and an extremely well piloted helicopter dropped into the canyon to aid the search also. We don’t know the story, but that portion of the river was frightfully powerful. Class VI (impassable) in my opinion, and we fear the worst.

The rest of the drive home was uneventful, with traffic holiday light all the way home.

Collectively we have lots of photos. I hope to have some online by Wednesday or so.

Thanks Hovik for organizing and volunteering to guide this trip, I’m really glad you survived

Photo Gallery of Last Chance Canyon (60 images on SmugMug.com)

More images to come (kernRiver, Lake Isabella trails, etc…)