By Terry Grimsley
Summer is in full swing and the heat was on so it was definitely a good time to head to the mountains! I found myself with a light schedule leading up to the weekend so I opted to go up to Camp 58 Tuesday morning. I worked on some small projects on the RV, relaxed, did a few things for Katt, relaxed, put Katt’s shooting range to use, relaxed and mixed in a couple naps until others arrived on Thursday. We had an unusually small group this year but the weekend was full of surprises. The following members, prospective member and guests joined us for the weekend.
Members
Terry Grimsley – Wagonmaster (WM)
Randy & Diane Javonillo
Jerry Bullard, Jessica Burress and Jerry’s daughter, Kristina
Tom Walsh
Prospective Members:
Dennis Kinzebach
Guests:
JB and his crew (old Toyota pick-up, two Gen1 4Runners and a 4D JL Rubicon).
On Friday morning four Jeeps (2 YJ’s, XJ and a JK) departed camp at 9 AM and headed for Gold Mountain. The trail head was empty when we arrived so we immediately started making our way up the trail. The official gate keeper barely slowed us down so up we went. The first major obstacle is the rock slab with the v-notch at the bottom but just before we reached it we caught up to a LC80 Land Cruiser, a bone stock Gen5 4Runner and a 4-door Bronco. Luckily for us they immediately pulled to the side and let us pass. The WM popped up the v-notch barely spinning a tire. Randy had to work a little harder because his tires were a little too hard to start. Both Jerry and Dennis didn’t have any problem.
While Randy dropped some pressure we watched the rigs behind us. Needless to say, I’m glad they let us pass because the struggle was real with that group! We continued our climb up Gold Mountain, across the huge rock outcropping that sounds like you’re driving on broken glass and almost made it to the top before coming to a stop. There was a 4D JL stopped in the middle of the trail in the last obstacle before the top. He was way off line, front bumper against rock and the rear differential had a large rock behind it. He wasn’t going forward or back and to make matters worse he had a broken front u-joint. We attempted to extract the rig but it wouldn’t budge an inch. Once we realized that he also had a broken ball joint it became clear that it wasn’t going anywhere. Fortunately, they weren’t alone as there was another rig with them. We got them connected to Big Bear Off Road Rescue, made sure they had plenty of food and water, exchanged phone numbers, and continued on by using a bypass. We dropped down the back side of the mountain to 3N16 and headed toward Little John Bull but not before stopping for lunch in the shade of some trees.
After lunch we cruised up and down Little John Bull and headed over to John Bull gate keeper. Jerry was aware that his alternator wasn’t charging because his voltage had been dropping all day. We talked about it and decided to push on. Worst case we stop and charge his battery with another rig. I always make it a point to get out and walk the gate keeper because it changes every day. As it turned out it wasn’t much of a gate keeper because you could drive straight up the trail virtually unimpeded. I don’t think we have ever seen it this easy! Everyone cruised through the gate keeper and made their way up the non-stop rock gardens as we made our way to the top.
Like the gate keeper, the trail seemed easier than it has been in the past. Big Bear Forrest Fest was the prior weekend so we wonder if the trail had been groomed to help move large groups through it faster. We don’t know for sure so this was just a theory. Once up top we started making our way through the burned landscape from last years’ fire. About half way across Jerry called out to let us know that his Jeep was dead. No problem, we went back, popped the hoods, connected the jumper cable and started charging.
After about 15 minutes we figured it should have enough charge to get back to camp so we disconnected, dropped the hoods and off we went. So, we thought! Jerry’s ignition key decided that it was done. The key would go in but the lock cylinder would not turn. No matter how much we jiggled the steering wheel, or worked the wheel up and down it was frozen in place. We scratched our heads for a bit and decided to try and hot wire things. Jumping the starter and fuel pump was easy enough but we were struggling a bit on the ignition. I commented “If we just had a car thief with us this thing would be gone in 30 seconds.” Jerry looked at me, grabbed the biggest flat blade he had, punched it into the ignition and forced it to the on position. Problem solved! We packed up our stuff and off we went.
We dropped down the west end of the trail without any hitches, cleared the gate keeper and headed for camp. Less than a mile from camp Dennis called out on the radio that he broke a shock or something. Randy and Jerry continued back to camp and the WM went back to assist Dennis. As it turned out he had only lost a bolt but the end of the shock was only a couple of inches off the ground so it would drag with every bump. I carry an ammo can of nuts, bolts, washers, U-bolts and who knows what else. This ammo can must weigh about 30 pounds so it’s a bear to move around. I popped it open and low and behold the exact bolt, complete with washers and a Nyloc nut were laying right on top. Shocking, I normally need to dump the can out and sift through the hardware to find what we need. Unfortunately, the Fox shocks are gas charged and muscling that thing back in place was no easy task. We even tried using a rachet strap but the strap would slip off before we could get the end in place. We decided to use the rachet strap to shorten the shock so we could continue on to camp since we were less than a mile out. Once back in camp we enjoyed popsicles in the shade and reminisced about our day. Dennis flexed the Jeep to increase the distance between the mounts so the shock didn’t need to be compressed as far and was able to get it back together without too much difficultly. I checked in on the broke JL and they advised that the rig would be spending the night on the mountain. Later that evening we enjoyed a wonderful campfire under the stars.
The plan for Saturday was to run Dishpan Springs followed by Holcomb Creek. Because it’s a long haul over to the west end of Dishpan, we left camp at 7 AM. As we passed through Fawnskin we picked up JB and his crew. We topped off with gas in Cedar Glen and continued to the trailhead just east of Lake Arrowhead and aired down. Once the tires were down we just bounced out way down the unimproved fire roads and made our way over to Dishpan Springs. We normally stop at the Deep Creek crossing but not today, the heat was building way too fast. The first real obstacle is sort of a gate keeper. It was here where the WM dropped his left rear tire into a hole that he couldn’t climb out of. With the tail end of the Jeep up against a three-foot tall boulder the only option was to winch forward and up and out of the hole.
Dennis and JB secured the winch line to a large manzanita tree but not before Dennis lost his footing and tumbled down the hill. Thankfully there was little blood but his ribs took a little beating (thanks for the help Dennis!). It didn’t take much to get the WM out of the hole and the trail cleared. Afterwards we dropped a bunch of large rocks in the hole in an effort to keep the rest of the rigs from suffering the same fate. With a little effort the rest of the group was able to clear this obstacle. We continued on, climbing up rock gardens and through deep ruts and notches.
When we reached the middle rock garden, the toughest obstacle on the trail, we all walked it on foot and picked our lines. Once again, the WM demonstrated what not to do by hanging his diff on a rock that he just couldn’t get away from before even reaching the tough part. After making a mess of nothing he was finally free and heading towards the section of the rock garden that does warrant everyone’s attention. The WM made his way up without much trouble and parked about 50 yards up the trail leaving room for other rigs. After walking back down the trail to help spot the others he found that Randy had already cleared the tough spot. However, not before an unplanned modification to the steering. The driver’s tire was pointing straight forward but the passenger tire was turned inwards about 30 degrees. The WM halted Randy where he was and we inspected things up front.
Thankfully nothing was broken but the tie-rod wasn’t looking very happy as it had a pronounced bend forward. After discussing, we decided that we just need to bend it back. Dennis was behind Randy below the major climb so the WM spotted him up and positioned him strategically behind the wounded XJ. We ran Dennis’ winch line under the XJ and attached it to the tie rod using a soft shackle. We proceeded to bump the winch over and over until the front tires were mostly parallel again. It wasn’t perfect, partly because of how the XJ was sitting in the rocks, but it was pretty good so we packed everything back up, helped Randy get back on to the better line of the trail.
Once Randy and Dennis were up we worked on spotting the other four guests. Three out of the four were geared very well and listened to the WM spotting. The other, a Gen1 4Runner, not so much. Besides not having the gearing he was a terrible listener so he made things much more difficult on himself. Thankfully he didn’t have the horsepower to break anything otherwise he probably would have. He finally made it up but not before almost rolling his rig because he was driving to fast and not listening to the spotters. Fortunately, he was stopped just before disaster struck and his crew was able to get him back on track. We continued on toward Crab Flats with a lot more rocky climbs, deep ruts and notches. End to end this is one of the more challenging trails on the mountain right now but we finished without any issues and stopped for lunch in the shade at Crab Flats.
While enjoying the shade and spinning tales about the days’ antics, the WM noted that three of us (the WM, Randy & Diane and Dennis) would be in Shaver Lake and on Dusy in about three weeks. After today’s trials and tribulations, we all mutually agreed to call it a day and wander back to camp instead of strapping on and riding out another trail. We headed east via 3N16 and delivered our guests to the west end of the Holecomb Creek trail, said our goodbyes, and returned to camp to lick our wounds while enjoying a cold beverage. After relaxing a bit and looking at the XJ on flat ground with its tires still towed-in a bit too much, we decided that we can improve upon our previous trail repair. The WM lined his YJ up behind the XJ and once again we rigged up and used the winch to straighten the tire rod a bit more. By the time we were done it was almost as good as new. Randy reported later that it drove home just fine. Later that evening we enjoyed a wonderful group dinner followed by another perfect night around the campfire.
Although we had a small group this year, we had a lot of fun and we definitely had our share of adventures. Thank you to all for contributing to the Saturday night feast, everything was wonderful and thank you to everyone that contributed to Camp 58. Lastly, thank you to Katt for being a gracious host and sharing his slice of paradise. Happy trails until next year!