Date:    Saturday Sept 21, 2002
Leader: Roger Mullins (619)579-7120
Meet:   Mobil station Greenfield & I8 5:15PM
Bring:   Drinks & Chair

We will depart from the Mobil station at 5:30PM Sharp.

The trail is suitable for stock vehicles though will be challenging
for novice drivers in stock vehicles.  Novice drivers will be
exhilerated as the narrow trail overlooks a deep canyon.  The trail
is also heavily erroded so requires patience.  We will return down
the same trail well after dark which will also be a thrill for novice
drivers.

A year ago I led a group of about 25 vehicles on this trail.  Several
of those were stock vehicles with novice drivers.  One SUV was about
a week old.  That vehicle suffered some body damage and the driver
was unhappy (Read Angry) at me because I advertized this as an easy
run.  The other stock vehicles did the trail without problems.

As always, there is a possibility of body damage on any trail.  The
key to avoiding damage is to have patience, go slow and ask for help
with spotting BEFORE it is too late.  Learn the name of the person in
the vehicle ahead and behind you and ask them for help if needed.
This is the most important reason for the requirement that every
vehicle have a working CB Radio.  If one gets in trouble, do not
hesitate to ask the person ahead to give a tug on a tow strap.  Most
problems occur when people fail to ask for help.

The view of the full moon rising from the HUGE rock at the top of
Carvacre Trail is spectacular.  The moon will rise at 7:16PM. In
order to be on the top of the trail before the moon rises we must
depart the Mobil station no later than 5:30PM SHARP!


Roger Mullins
619/579-7120
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------------------------
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

4 Wheeling 101
For novice drivers in stock vehicles:
1.  If you see a tall rock in the the trail that you cannot go
around, put a tire on it, do not straddle it.

2.  With open differentials, whenever possible try to keep your
vehicle level from side to side.

3.  With open differentials, approach shelfs or gullies at 90 degrees
if possible.  Avoid crossing at 45 degrees.  Vehicles with open
differentials have get no power to the ground if one front and one
rear tire is off the ground.  Always keep either 2 front or 2 rear
tires on the ground.

i put a few of the pics i took in the jacumba run on the 15th, enjoy.

john bakker

Just wanted to thank all of you guys for the wonderful day full of
adventure and surprises that I experienced. It was a blast and I
appreciate it. It was scary as it was only my second time EVER off
roading, but well worth the excitement. Thank you again and hopefully
I'll see you guys out there sometime in the future. But I must say
that stagecoach track had me death gripping the Oh shit bar for my
life. But it was a blast. Thanks again, Tanya

Will there be anything along the way up that could be challenging on
this trail?

Also, I see there may be a run to Pinyon Mt scheduled, if I read that
right, would anyone like some pics of the trail and the squeeze? We
did that trail about two weeks ago, 114 in the shade!

Jay

I have created a folder of pics taken on the 9/15/02 run lead by
Darwin.  It was Barb and my first trip with the group and a wonderful
day with wonderful people.  Special thanks to Bob G. and Roger for
their help, advice and overall support.  And to all our new friends.
I am fairly new to rock climbing and my TLC is still in process of
refinement - that means I still have some money to spend, but for
basically a stock vehicle it was a great day.  As with all pics I
post, should you want a copy suitable for printing, just email me and
I will send you a full size version, and if you don't have a printer,
I can print one out for you and mail it to you.  While a novice at
rock climbing, I have over 20 years with computers and been playing
with digital photos since they were invented.  Thanks again and look
forward to seeing you on the 21st while we all "howl at the moon".

Hello everyone, My name is Rod and Jan is my wife.  We live in
Oceanside and are very active offroaders.  We have known Roger for
nearly one year. We drive a 1977 GMC stepside pick up, it has 35"
MTR's, locked front and rear, and will go anywhere that it will fit.
We also have a 1991 XJ but it's still stock.  We'll see you soon.

thanks you everyone for a wonderful time. this was my first "real"
experience off road. i have done a little but today was the longest
and for me most technical run i have ever been on. i learned a lot
about myself, my truck and most importantly what i can and can't do
in it. i think for being the "rookie" i held my own today. not bad
for a toyota, huh! thanks for your help spotting through the tight
areas, roger, i made it through the day with no mechanical damage
and a minor scratch on the front bumper, but those give the truck
character! my only regret was not going all the way at about the
halfway point, but maybe my longer wheelbase would have hurt me up
there on that tight switchback, and the other regret, i don't think
i aired down enough, about 25 psi in each tire when we aired up at
the end of the run. all in all i had a blast, looking forward to
seeing you guys out there for the moonrise run next saturday, as of
right now, i'll be there! thanks again.

john bakker

I have downloaded this run report into the Files section.  The file
is in Adobe Acrobat format.  To view the file you need to have
Acrobat Reader on your computer.  You can download Acrobat Reader for
free at www.adobe.com.

If you do not have Reader a Text version of the file is below.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Back to Jacumba
Run Report
by
Roger Mullins
Sept. 15, 2002

We had 7 vehicles on this trip.  Of those, two were on JustRuns trips
for the first time. Welcome to the new members.  I hope to see you on
a run again soon!

As planned most of us met at the Mobil Station in El Cajon.  From
there we drove east to the Texaco station at the Jacumba off ramp.
(In the future please remind me that the Shell station has much
better facilities.)  There we met Darwin and Bob Greenwald.  We
proceeded to hwy 94 east to a dirt road that turns north and passes
under I8.  This is the Table Mountain trail.  The trail goes north a
ways before coming to a split.  One trail goes east and one west.  We
took the west trail toward the Carrizo Gorge overlook.  Just after we
passed the 2nd. radio tower we came to the first obstacle.  It is a
steep downhill that is heavily eroded.  Bob A.  got in a bit of
a "pickle" going down and, since he was open, couldn't
back up enough
to take a much easier bypass.  He also couldn't get his engine
started.  We decided the safest solution was to winch him backwards
to a spot where he could start down the bypass.  Bob's
Landcruiser
has manual steering and manual brakes but since he couldn't
start the engine that was perhaps a good thing.  With Bob G. belaying
me I winched the Landcruiser back up the hill a short distance where
he could take the bypass.  He coasted to the bottom with no
difficulty.  Once on the flat, the MASTER MECHANIC Bob G. went to
work diagnosing the problem.  After a short while it was determined
that there was no power to the fuel pump or ignition.  Bob searched
down and fixed a loose connection and the Landcruiser was back on the
trail.  Further down the trail we came to a truly UGLY hill climb
with a bypass.  Darwin was in the lead.  As usual, Darwin in his
Samurai went for the difficult trail.  (If you don't know Darwin,
we
have been trying for years to get him stuck.  No luck yet.)  Anyway,
Darwin made the difficult hill climb.  Then "Sailor Tom"
tried.  He
got about 20 feet up the hill when his engine quit and wouldn't
restart.  He was in a very difficult position, without the engine
running he had no power steering or power breaks.  We had him back
down the hill in reverse using his starter.  Once he was on the flat,
Bob G. again worked his magic under the hood and got Tom running.  We
sent Tom back to the bottom of the hill where the Landcruiser and the
Toyota Tacoma had decided to stop.  Bob Alexander, in his TJ followed
me and Bob G. up the bypass.  Darwin was the only one to make the
UGLY hill.  We proceeded to the Gorge overlook where we spent a few
minutes before returning to the group waiting in what little shade
they found in a wash.  After a brief lunch we proceeded back the way
we came.  When we came to the hill that the Landcruiser had problems
I decided to lead the cruiser up the bypass while everyone else went
up the hill.  Everyone was exhilarated when they made this
challenging hill.  Particularly John B and his friend Tanya.  John
was beaming having driven up the hill.

We then decided to take the old stage coach trail down to Mountain
Springs.  The route we took had a few technical challenges which
everyone did with little problem.  The ruins of the stage coach
station is right next to I8 west.  Instead of returning up the trail
we decided to air up and take the freeway back up the mountain.

Everyone said they enjoyed the run.  Some of the less experienced
people had some anxious moments but everyone did fine.  I hope we
didn't discourage anyone with an unexpectedly difficult trail.  I
was
surprised at the difficulty myself.  It had been years since I was in
the area and had never been on some of the trail.
Attending:  Roger Mullins; Bob & Barb Alexander; Tom & son Scott; Jim
Davis & Jim Quick; John Bakker & Tanya Burless; Darwin Rappold; Bob
Greenwald & Mary.

SPECIAL THANKS to Bob Greenwald, Master Mechanic, for saving the
day!!!!

Hey guys... I guess I was farther down the 94 than I thought... didn't get
to the Shell/Texaco station until around 9:45-9:50.  I tried the CB but you
guys must have already been over the first mountain.  I ended up just
toying around on the south side of the 8 with my wife (who I finally
convinced to come out with me).  When I was up at the top (near that
wrecked Tacoma) I got someone on the CB, not sure who, but I ended up just
staying on the south side.  I won't be able to make the run this Sunday,
but if anyone else goes out on an unplanned run, let me know :)

Take care

Gaylord

We decided to join the group because we like to go wheeling with
friends and groups. We spend alot of time at Los Coyotes and the
desert. We are a jeep family, I own a 97 TJ SE and she owns a 02
TJ "X". My 97 runs 33's on a simple 2.5 - 3.0 " lift and open diffs.
Hers is bone stock but we have plans! We do alot of easy stuff for
stockers but occassionally a few friends and I will venture into
rougher areas. I do all my own work on my Jeep. We hope to get
together with you guys soon.

Jay and Valerie

---This is one of the messages that accidently got deleted.---
--------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Saturday Sept 21, 2002
Leader: Roger Mullins (619)579-7120
Meet:   Mobil station Greenfield & I8 5:15PM
Bring:   Drinks & Chair

We will depart from the Mobil station at 5:30PM Sharp.

The trail is suitable for stock vehicles though may be challenging
for novice drivers in stock vehicles.  The view of the full moon
rising from the HUGE rock at the top of Carvacre Trail is
spectacular.  The moon will rise at 7:16PM.

I just installed my new CB today in hopes of using it on this Sunday's
run... well I didn't have any time to find someone with a SWR meter and I
am heading out tomorrow morning around 9am to go camping.

Does anyone here happen to have a SWR meter that they wouldn't mind
bringing out Sunday so I can use my new CB?

Would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and see you all Sunday morning.

-Gaylord


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Friends,

Because several messages were deleted by accident, I have changed
everyone's status to Member from Moderator.  When I did so I set a
switch incorrectly that temporarily prevented people from viewing
messages.  I believe I have corrected that.  If you are still unable
to view the messages, please let me know.


The reason I changed everyone from Moderator to Member is to
hopefully prevent accidental deletions of messages.  As a moderator
there are some extra editing tools that can cause harm if not used
carefully.  If anyone feels that they want to be a Moderator, please
let me know and I will restore your Moderator status.

Roger
mullinsr@...
619/579-7120

I just installed my new CB today in hopes of using it on this Sunday's
run... well I didn't have any time to find someone with a SWR meter and I
am heading out tomorrow morning around 9am to go camping.

Does anyone here happen to have a SWR meter that they wouldn't mind
bringing out Sunday so I can use my new CB?

Would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, and see you all Sunday morning.

-Gaylord

Los Coyotes Run
Labor Day Weekend 2002
Trip Report
Because of the Indian's miss-communication there were very few
other
people over this normally busy 3 day weekend.  The Indians had
forgotten to change their answering machine message so many people
thought the reservation was still closed because of the fire.  In
addition there was a sign in Warner Springs saying the 4X4 trails
were closed.  The result was that we had the campground practically
to ourselves and there were few others on the trails.

I arrived on Thursday evening thinking I would need to get there
early to "reserve" a good campsite.  It turned out that no
one else
was there until close to noon on Friday when others began to arrive.
On Friday afternoon a small group of us decided to drive to the
Lookout Tower.  On the way we found that the Indians had forgotten to
take down the Closed sign on Dangerous Road.  After speaking to the
Indians they asked me to remove it.

By Saturday morning we had 14 vehicles in our group.  Two others
asked to go along with us so we started out with 16.  The first
obstacle was Left Turn Hill.  Left Turn hill is a good test to see if
one's 4 wheel drive is working and to see who will have
difficulty
later.  We quickly discovered that one of the two who had asked to go
with us was clearly not going to be able to make the run.  He was in
an IH Scout.  He was open on both ends and had no 4 wheeling
experience.  Fortunately he decided on his own to return to camp.
His buddy was in a TJ also decided that perhaps this was too
challenging a run for them.

We continued up Rough Road to Quiet Road and then to Jeep Squeeze.
Everyone who tried the Squeeze did fine.  From there we went to
Dangerous Road.  and out to 4 Corners.  Then on to Nelson's Camp
for
a short break and on to Lady Bug Lane.  Bronco Hill is at the end of
Lady Bug.

Bronco has three ways to go up.  The left side (usually the easiest),
the center (harder) and the right (hardest).  I tried the left side
and promptly got stuck.  After several tries I winched myself up.  I
was followed by Bo who also had to be winched up.  Aaron tried the
center and made it.  Then Rod decided to take the right side option
of the trail and he got up with very little trouble.  After that just
about everyone else took the left route where Bo and I had gotten
stuck and they all made it without problems.  The vehicles with open
differentials did the "go around".

From Bronco we proceeded to Creek Road and Hot Dog Hill.  Again, the
open people went around but everyone else did hot dog without
problem.  We all decided to go around El Hill so proceeded to the
Helicopter Pad above El Hill.  There Frenchie left the group to go to
the Look Out Tower and Suzanne decided to return to camp because she
was not feeling well.  Also at the Helicopter Pad we discovered that
Rod had a broken U-joint so he rode with Gary the rest of the day.
Because of possible paint damage to his new TJ, Karl decided to park
his new TJ and ride with me.

We continued down toward Pirates of the Caribbean and on to the
Desert Overlook.  At the Desert Overlook we stopped for a while to
enjoy the scenery when we discovered that Tim had a flat tire.  He
had gotten dirt in the bead.  We jacked his XJ up, removed the dirt
and re-inflated the tire.  Returning from the Desert Overlook Tim did
a great job with his open differential XJ.  Everyone was impressed
how well it did on the challenging obstacles.  Back at camp we
enjoyed each other's company before several of the day trip
people
left.

Since it was so dry this year we were not allowed to have a campfire
so everyone retired early.

Sunday morning our plan was to go to Bagby's rock and perhaps
climb
Toboggan.  Because of his broken U-joint Rod rode with me and Jan
rode with Suzanne.  Before we left camp a new JustRuns member,
Gaylord, arrived in his ZJ (Grand Cherokee).  We started out by going
up the hill to the east of camp past Dead Cow Road toward the Salton
Sea Overlook.  Along the way we could see the devastation from the
recent fire.  The fire had been stopped right along the road near the
corrals and right at the road on Marshmallow hill.  A large fire
break had been plowed along the side of the road and, fortunately,
that is where they stopped the fire.

At Turning Rock we took the right turn and went to Bagby's.
While
everyone else parked at Bagby's I drove to the bottom of
Toboggan.
Bo, Gaylord, Joe and I decided that we would probably have to winch
everyone up so we decided to return the way we had come.  Near 4
Corners we came upon a group that had one vehicle down with a broken
centering pin.  Since they were blocking the road we had to take the
old road back down to Nelson Camp and then to Dangerous Road.  Going
up Dangerous, Bo's steering shaft came loose so we had to stop
for a
while for him to do a quick repair.  Finally back to camp.  Most
everyone left for home that evening except Bo & Robin, Suzanne and
I.  We stayed the night and left mid-morning Monday.

I'm sure everyone had a great time.  Only one major breakdown so
all
in all it was a success.


Attending:

Roger Mullins
Suzanne Mullins
Bo & Robin Neece
Bill & Dot Bowman
Bill Bachman
Joe & Rachel Branch
Darwin Rappold
Aaron Porter
Crista Porter
Gary Leibitzke
Tim & Family
Frenchie La Chance
Mark & James Heil
Karl Keating
Rod & Jan Sherrar
Gaylord Van Brocklin

Perhaps the mystry is solved.

One of the members called me and told be he thinks he might have
deleted messages by mistake.  He's not sure.

In order to make the site friendly to all members I generally make
everyone a "Moderator" once they join and give some information about
themselves.  This gives everyone all the priveledges.  As such
everyone also has the ability to delete stuff. Please be careful
about accidently deleting messages.  We still have the problem of
reaching a file size limit however so I recommend saving email on
your own computer.



Roger

Tim,

I don't know what happened.  I can only guess we reached a storage
limit or something.  There are only two options for the eGroup
setting for messages.
We have to choose one or the other.
1.  Delete older messages when storage limit is reached.
2.  Bounce new messages when storage limit is reached.

I will check to see if the Delete priveledge can be controlled.
Being a FREE service Yahoo has its limitations.  If one wants to keep
all the messages I strongly recommend that one keep it in a folder in
one's own email.


Roger

Ok who deleted the messages
Now we are missing the Los Coyotes run report and other stuff??
Thanks
Tim

Leader:  Jim Davis
Date:    Sunday Sept 15th
Time:    8:30 AM
Place:   Mobil Station at Interstate 8 & Greenfield (El Cajon)
CB:      14
Level of difficulty - Low - Medium
Recommend min 31" tires & limited slip diff


We'll drive to the Texaco Station at the Jacumba offramp.

Looks like we have enough to go back to Jacumba this Sunday.  We can
go on North side where Roger was going to take us before time ran
short.  Lets meet at the Mobile station at Greenfield and I 8.  It's
on the south side of the freeway.  Meet at 8:15 and leave promptly at
8:30.  Hope to see some of you new members this week.  We had a great
time last week.

Gaylord, we can meet you at the Jacumba gas stations arround 9ish. 
Not sure how long it takes to drive it.




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I have posted a Flyer for the Truckhaven Run in the Files section.
The file is in Adobe Acrobat format.  You will need a copy of Acrobat
Reader software to view the file.  Acrobat Reader can be downloaded
for FREE at www.adobe.com.

If you cannot view the file, below is a text version of the
information in the flyer.

I hope you can make the run!

Roger 619/579-7120

--------------------------------------
Truckhaven Run


Leader:     Roger Mullins (619)579-7120  mullinsr@...
Date:         Oct 11th (eve) 12th & 13th 2002
Time: Saturday run will depart camp at 9:00 AM SHARP
Location:    Truckhaven
Directions: From Borrego Springs take S22 east.  As you approach
the Salton Sea you will see a large microwave relay tower and
building within 100 feet of the road on the north side of S22.  At
1.2 miles east of the tower, turn left (north) on a dirt road.  Camp
will be a few hundred yards north of S22.

I will arrive Friday night and will have a flashing white light to
mark camp.  (Look for a JustRuns sign on S22.)

Vehicle/Driver Skill Level:  - All levels will enjoy Truckhaven



The Truckhaven Badlands offer some of the best 4 wheeling in the
west.  The terrine is ancient sea bed that has been lifted and tilted
toward the east.  Most of the seabed is dried mud which has been
heavily eroded over millions of years.  There are some areas of river
rock.  There are steep hill climbs and narrow notches that provide
exciting trails for all levels of drivers and vehicles.  Virtually
every route and obstacle has alternates that allow novice drivers and
stock vehicles the opportunity to stay with the group while watching
others try the more difficult obstacles.

Thank you Gaylord and Tim for the great pictures.  I had a great time
and would love to go back to that area this coming weekend.  Anyone
interested.  I have both days available.

Jim Davis

I created an album in the Photos section.  If you took photos please
post the best ones in this album.

Roger


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Hello All,

Just wanted to give all you guys a link to some of the photos from
the day. We had a great time and are looking forward to our next run.
Here is the link:
http://community.webshots.com/user/tslaby
I will add the photos to the group album tommorow. To tired now and
i'm off to bed.
By the way that was my wife's jeep. Mine was at home sleeping.
Thanks again!
Tim S

P.S. Thanks for the good spotting Roger!... Shilona :-)

I created an album in the Photos section.  If you took photos please
post the best ones in this album.

Roger

Jacumba - In-Ko-Pa
Run Report
Sept 8th 2002


We had a great turnout for this "Spur of the Moment" run.
With only one day notice 9 vehicles arrived at the Mobil Station by
8:30 to start the run.

We left the station shortly after 8:30 and drove I8 east to the gas
station at the Jacumba exit.  From there Tim took the lead.  We took
Carrizo Gorge Road south to Hwy 94 then east to the turn off for the
microwave tower road.  We climbed the mountains using the well
maintained microwave tower road.  Before reaching the tower we turned
left toward the Elliot Mine on a road that is not maintained. At this
point Butch noticed that his U-Joint was rubbing on his skid plate
under some conditions so he stopped to remove the plate.  While we
were waiting for Butch  to remove his skid plate, a few of us played
in a rock pile for a few minutes.  There should be some good photos
of that once they are downloaded.

After visiting the mine we returned to the microwave tower road for a
distance until we turned south east onto more challenging roads.  The
road we took finally took us to the border fence.  This road has had
very little traffic recently and has several relatively challenging
obstacles.

At some point, Tim traded places with his wife Shilona who was
driving off road for the first time.  The obstacles we encountered
along the fence and after we turned back toward the north west were
not easy and given her experience level and the fact that her XJ is
open on both ends she did a SUPER job.  (I think she is ready to
drive her own Jeep.  They already have another XJ for her which we
should see on the trail soon.)

We had no breakdowns and only had to give one vehicle a little push
when it high centered.  This trail could be a lot more challenging
had we done it from west to east instead of the way we went.
We'll have to go back and try the other direction soon.

After returning to Hwy 94 we took Carrizo Gorge Road looking for a
Geocache that we had coordinates to.  When we got withing 1/2 mile we
realized that it would be a difficult hike from the road to reach the
Cache so we decided to call it a day.

Several of us took pictures which should be posted in the Photos
sections shortly.

Attending:
Tom & Scott  CJ
Jim & Lee  TJ
Butch & Joan  TJ
Gaylord   ZJ
Shilona, Tim, Ayden, Alex, Xira  XJ
Bill & Dot  YJ
Mark & James  YJ
Suzanne  YJ
Roger  CJ


Special Welcome to Tom & Scott, Butch & Joan and Jim's friend Lee!
We hope to see you on the trail with us soon.

If you missed the run you missed a super day.  With the cloud cover
things remained pleasently cool all day.  With a fun trial and good
company everyone had an enjoyable day.

Truckhaven Run


Date:           Oct 12th & 13th 2002
Time:         Saturday run will depart camp at 9:00 SHARP
Location:    20 miles east of Borrego Springs off of S22.
Facilities:     Primitive Camping.  Motor Home and Tents OK.
Equip/Skill     All levels

(From Borrego Springs take S22 east about 20 miles.  As you approach
the Salton Sea you will see a large microwave relay tower and
building within 100 feet of the road (north side).  At 1.2 miles east
of the tower, turn left (north) on a dirt road.  Camp will be a few
hundred yards north of S22.)

I will arrive Friday evening and will have a flashing white light to
mark camp.  (Look for a JustRuns sign on S22.)

The Truckhaven Badlands offer some of the best 4 wheeling in the
west.  The terrine is ancient sea bed that has been lifted and tilted
toward the east.  Most of the seabed is dried mud which has been
heavily eroded over millions of years.  There are some areas of river
rock.  There are steep hill climbs and narrow notches that provide
exciting trails for all levels of drivers and vehicles.  Virtually
every route and obstacle has alternates that allow novice drivers and
stock vehicles the opportunity to stay with the group while watching
others try the more difficult obstacles.

Any Questions call Roger Mullins 619/579-7120

Hey......If you have photos of the Los Coyotes Run why not share them
on the JustRuns eGroup under Photos.  I have created an album named
LCIR Labor Day Run 2002 for you to post them in.

Roger

Hello, all,

I just thought I'd post about my experience to smugglers cave and
surrounding areas. The trip started at 1:15 pm leaving Spring Valley.
We packed about 4 1/2 gallons of water, juice etc. Drinks are very
important in the heat. We arrived at the Jacumba off ramp about 2:10
pm, We followed old hwy. 80 until we saw the turn by the little map
board. We asked a couple of other off-roaders how to get to
smugglers, they told me go left. So off we went. (We = Me, The Wife
and my three kids).
The Trail starts pretty easy, kind of steep for a mile winding up and
around the mountain then the road splits off. To the right is the
microwave tower and another road that splits off that road (more on
this trail soon).
So at the first fork we stayed left and headed down the other side
of the mountain. This is where the trail starts to get interesting.
Deep ruts and some serious flexing, back tire off the ground about 2
1/2 feet but we made it. Sounds hard going down, but it was easier
coming back up. This was actually an easier part of the trail. We
then continue down and around a few other obstacles and up to the
point where you see the trail going up to smugglers cave. I forgot to
mention we ended up going with the other two vehicles that we met at
the entrance. The first was an 85' Toyota Pick up, Winch, 35" MTR's
lockers front and rear 4.88 gears and two transfer cases. This thing
just crawled right up the center of the trail like it was nothing.
Well the next vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee 4.5" lift. He went up next
and tried to avoid the deep ruts and rough road. He made it with a
little wheel spinning. Then It was my turn 3" lift. I followed the
other cherokee's path and made it up with out problem. Quick note: It
looks worse than it really is. So now we are at the plateau and it's
time to go the rest of the way up. There is one tight spot (Squeeze)
and then you make a hard right and go up a steep mountain trail and
'walla' your at the top. There were 2 other jeeps already up there.
We explored the mine and a few other deep holes in the mountain. For
those that already know, the 2002 toyota tacoma is still stuck down
the cave, stripped. Ok, about 45 mins. later time to go back down.
Only a little hairy going back down. Then we, (me and the other two
vehicles) decided to go do some more wheeling. So we wheeled all the
way back to the microwave tower road. We took the other split to the
left and stayed left not not following a trail we see to our right
going up the mountain to the west of us.
We have never been there, can't find it on the map but it looks well
established. Let me tell you this trail is rough. A few good size
drop-offs and rough terrain made it very challenging. there is a
steep hill climb that is rough and did require some good wheel
spinning to get up. Then on the other side of this hill it gets rough
again going down hill. You have to pass through a sharp 90 degree
angle that will require you backing up to get the right approach to
go through and down rough rocks at the same time. Then a few other
small challenges and up a steep loose sandy and rock filled hill, 1st
gear low range and some wheel spinning and we were all up. The guy in
the toyota boasted about 2nd gear in double low range. Ok one last
obstacle and we're almost done.
The time is now 7:35 pm. There is a steep semi drop off about 3'
high with a cliff to the left about 40 feet straight down that we had
to pass. The toyota made it slow and steady and then the other
cherokee went for it. He scraped his transfer case skid and muffler(I
think) and cushioned the drop with his trailer hitch. Ok now my turn.
The wife and kids want to get out for this part. Everyone's watching
and I went for it, I scraped my T/C and used my rock rails for
sliders. No problem, I am through. We figure our way out to the road
which is smooth after this part. (8 pm) Switch back to 2 WD and
reconnect the front sway bars. We exchange phone numbers with our new
friends and headed home. I have photos and will try to post some
soon.
All in all it was a very good learning experience.I would like to do
this run again some time. Special thanks to my new friends Jack and
Noel for the great spotter work during the hard spots and to my wife
and kids that kept telling me, "You can do it!!!"
This trail is probally a walk in the park for some of you guys. I
hope I didn't make it sound harder than it was. I am still kinda' new
to off roading. Hope you guys found my story entertaining!
Hope to meet you guys soon at LCIR,
Tim
Shilona
Alex
Xiara
Ayden

Friends,

Several have expressed an interest in going on this run.

Here are the preliminary plans:

Depart San Diego on Wednesday (11/27) after work. Some of use will
convoy up but... not everyone can leave at the same time.  So, we
will select a camp spot, in or near Death Valley, that is easy to
find in the dark. That way those who must depart San Diego later can
arrive at any time.

Depart that Wed. night camp site on Thursday morning at a reasonable
hour, say 9AM. (Suggestions???)

So far I have no place for the Wed. night campsite/meeting place and
I have no schedule for places to visit in the park but am getting
suggestions from people who are familiar with Death Valley.

Roger