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!

As we do several times every year, SCLR hosted a New Member Orientation run at the scenic Cleghorn Trail.  This fall’s trail run was a lot of fun. We had 18 new members explore the scenic Cleghorn Trail, many of them venturing off road for the very first time!  Everyone did great and made it though with big smiles all around.  The weather was superb, and there were some fun action shots too!  Thanks everybody!

Photos from Cleghorn Ridge: 35 images on SmugMug

I recently led an SCLR trip up to Papoose Flats in the Inyo Mountains, just east of Big Pine, CA. We started the trip up the 395 by stopping at Fossil Falls to climb the lava flows, then we had fun driving up into the caldera of the Red Cone volcano. I love the geology of the 395 highway! We stopped in Olancha at the Roadhouse Café and had an awesome breakfast around 10am, then rolled into Big Pine right at noon and met up with the rest of the SCLR gang. We had a diverse group, from founding members, to the two newest families in the club. 10 trucks in all.

We headed up Harkness Flat, which climbs from around 6,000 feet up to 8,500 feet, and offers terrific views to the west of the Sierra Mountains. The trail is moderate, with one decently steep hill climb that posed some problems for my traction challenged friend in a 2wd Toyota Tacoma. We strapped him up and easily pulled him to the top, and the rest of the journey was uneventful. After about an hour and half of beautiful scenery on the trail, we started to drop down into Papoose Flats.

Papoose Flats is amazing. Immediately a sense of reverence is felt as you descend into the valley. It is a very special place. Everyone could feel it. Many people remarked out loud, that no matter what happened the rest of the trip, just absorbing the views and sense of the place was worth the journey.

With a large group, our camping options were limited, so after hunting around a bit, we found a good spot upslope offering dispersed camping among some trees, and a centralized fire ring. After camp was struck, and people had some food, a small group headed out to explore a trail marked on the map as “The Narrows”. We figured we’d be gone for about an hour.

We were wrong! The Narrows is a loonnngggg trail, taking use along the eastern side of the mountains, all the way back towards Death Valley Road again. It’s an interesting trail, portions of it along a sandy dry creek towards an old mining cabin and mine entrance. Here and there, trail heads were marked out as closed, due to “Cultural and Historic Significance”, assuming they led to Indian artifacts or points of interest. It annoys me to no end that this history is denied to our children now, for the sake of some future generation?

Anyway, my little group of intrepid explorers eventually found ourselves back in camp well after nightfall, with a warm campfire, clear skies, amazing stars, perfect evening temperatures and a healthy appetite!

Sunday we woke up to a significant increase of haze due to the fires to the north, and the Santa Barbara “gap” fire to the southwest. Several of our group went to explore the Narrows in the daylight, while the rest of us leisurely broke camp, cleaned up the area, and then headed down to the jumble rocks to let the kids play. The rocks were a big hit, with all the kids scrambling all over, giving the parents a proper worry for their safety.

Our group rejoined, and we headed south over Badger Flats, again pulling the Tacoma here and there, as we climbed up past ancient Bristlecones and knotty Pinyon pine trees along the rocky trail. We reached Mazourka Peak in time for a late lunch, and absorbed the views from 9,350 feet. The haze was still prevalent, but you could still see a remarkable distance. A truly beautiful spot.

We then dropped down into Mazourka Canyon, watching the temps climb from a pleasant 70 up to what felt like 100 degrees towards the bottom of the canyon. Along the way, I spotted dozens of mines dotting the canyon. This is a well worked area of the Inyos for sure. I’d like to explore the mining history in this area more thoroughly in the future.

Photos of Papoose Flats (and Fossil Falls): 44 images on SmugMug

I had the pleasure of running the Gold Mountain and John Bull trails TWICE in the past 7 days.  These trails are located on the east side of Big Bear Lake in SoCal.  The first trip was with fellow SCLR buddies Matt Norton (DiscoII) and Steve Perry (D90).  I had so much fun, I just had to go again!  The second time was just the Woods Family, and we used it as a chance for Marni to get more familar with just how amazingly well the Jeep handles the rougher trails.

SCLR run (30 images on SmugMug)

Woods Family run (25 images on SmugMug) 

As we do several times every year, SCLR hosted a New Member Orientation run at the scenic Cleghorn Trail.  This spring’s trail run was a lot of fun. We had 16 new members explore the scenic Cleghorn Trail, many of them venturing off road for the very first time!  Everyone did great and made it though with big smiles all around.

Photos on SmugMug (37 images):

After several months of planning, I am happy to report the success of the first ever Land Rover Open House, hosted by Southern California’s preeminent Land Rover dealer, Land Rover Mission Viejo.  The San Diego (LRCSD) and Los Angeles (SCLR) based Land Rover clubs partnered with Land Rover Mission Viejo and the local Vendors and independent service shops to have the first Land Rover specific Off Road Open House. The event was a major success, with several hundred people attending despite the heat ( 95 degrees!). Dozens of unique Land Rovers were on display, from privately owned vehicles from the club members, to fully tricked out vehicles created by the service vendors, to dealer demo vehicles. I did not shoot most of these photos. With few exceptions, the photos below have been compiled from images sent by Darrin Simmons of LRMV and Dennis Yard of LRCSD. Thanks to Rich Guzman and Darrin Simmons of LRMV for making this event a success!

Photos on SmugMug (30 images):

Wow, what an interesting day!

We had a great turnout, with somewhere around 24 trucks and about 50 people in attendance. It was a bit chilly (42 degrees, plus a north wind), so we kept the “classroom” session a brief as possible. I hope the participants who are new to off roading take the opportunity of this club and this forum to ask as many questions as the need to fill in the gaps of what I left out.

Special thanks to Scott Brady of Overland Journal and Adam Spiker from OffRoving.com for magazine donations. Each participant received a free premier issue of Overland Journal and the hot of the presses copy of Land Rover Lifestyle Magazine. Thanks guys!

After the abbreviated speech, we initially divided up into three groups and gratefully jumped into our warm trucks and hit the road. We quickly reached snow line which was all the way down to 3,000 feet, and then we took the first offshoot. Unexpectedly, the soil had turned to amazingly greasy mud! The rain had no effect on the soil as predicted, but I was completely unprepared for the effect the melting snow would have on the frozen dirt. It turned the top few inches of trail into tractionless mud that had the exact consistency of a tub of Crisco food shortening!

Many of the trucks with street tires struggled to make it up the very first offshoot, and then as the lead, I felt the next offshoot was too steep and muddy, so I tried the road instead. It was so muddy and slippery that I had great difficulty making it up, despite aggressive tires and the LR3’s traction control.

With the difficulties we had on this first section of the trail, I was very concerned about the remainder of the trail with it’s higher elevation and increased snow. We had not even gone half a mile, and we had 15 more miles to go! I made the uncomfortable decision to recommended to those with street tires that they should turn back and head home. As those 5 or 6 street tire equipped Rovers played slip and slide rounding the turn at the bottom of the first hill, a few stalwart drivers opted to see how much farther up the trail they could go.

15 drivers made it up that that next bit of muddy road, and eventually the trail conditions improved. Three of those who initially turned back changed their mind, and decided to try their luck and rejoin us. Fortunately, after so many trucks made their way up the road, the muddy area actually improved and they all made it up okay.

That meant we had 18 trucks all grouped together into one fun pack of Rovers.

The weather changed quite a bit throughout the trail. Relatively warm and sunny in areas, cold and windy in others. It even snowed a bit at one point! The trail itself was fine once we got to higher elevations. Every single off shoot proved to be drivable, and we all had a great time.

As trail leader/scout, I didn’t have the opportunity to take many photos, but I posted a few online here:
http://nwoods.smugmug.com/gallery/3971504#230831086

Thanks everyone for coming out to play with us! It was great to meet many of the wives and children that attended this event. I am very sorry about the unexpected complications with the mud for those that needed to turn back. Please come out again with us. We have several trips coming up soon, including Santa Barbara and Glamis dunes in January, and Cleghorn again in February.

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)

Few people have run the Nighmare Gulch trail in the Red Rock Canyon park this season, so I took a small group through as a pre-run before SCLR’s club run next month. On this trip we had two new SCLR members, Randy and Brad, both in their shiny new Land Rover LR3’s. We were joined by Patrick who monitors a Jeep forum I participate in, and ironically, in addition to his 2006 Jeep LJ (Unlimited TJ), he also has an LR3 and was very curious in how they would do on the trail (his has never ventured off the pavement it seems).

I was not worried about the LR3’s abilities on this trip, but I was concerned about the status of the trail. Particularly, this rock and this water crossing. I was fearful that the large rock may have finally come down, and after recent rains, the water crossing was anybody’s guess.

As it turns out, the trail was in great shape, and has changed little from last year. Except for the last hill! The rocks on the last hill are just perfectly sized and spaced to really give the LR3’s a hard time. Not to mention that the hill is steep, and the soil is a traction robbing silty sand. Not a good combination. With some strategic rock stacking, Patrick’s Jeep (3″ lift and 33″ tires) made it up, and eventually pulled us all up the hill. I’m confident we could have made it on our own, but it would have taken quite an effort and we would have had to move a lot of rocks to make it happen. I’m grateful Patrick was there!

All said and done, the day was a great day. I enjoyed “threading the needle” with Brad’s virgin LR3 with the stock tires and negligible sidewalls. All three of us made it through without a scratch, but I did put my rock sliders to good use on several occasions, mostly just because I knew I could

Personally, I feel that I did not drive my best on this day. I was very focused on spotting for the other guys, and simply rushed through my parts to the next staging area and just didn’t have the “flow” that I have enjoyed in the past. Well, I look forward to more practice!

Nightmare Gulch Photos (55 images on SmugMug)

Also, check out the cool images from Brad:
http://gallery.allkinds.ods.org/main.php?g2_itemId=7159

Every year all the southwest Land Rover clubs get together and host a large off road event called Rover Rendzevous.  This year, I am a trail leader and coordinator for the event, so Trevor and I and SCLR clubmember Bill Ruttan went up a few weeks early to scout out the trails.  We stayed at Panamint Springs Resort, and ran a number of trails and destinations:

• Cottonwood Canyon
• Marble Canyon
• Furnace Creek Visitors Center
• The Charcoal Kilns
• Manely Pass
• Fish Canyon (part of the Manely Pass run)
• Ballarat ghost town (part of the Manely pass run)
• Lookout City

Photos are here (114 images on SmugMug)