I spent a lot of time on Saturday putting an Aussie Locker in the front end of Mr. Green (A big thank you to Rat Patrol! I had no more problems after we talked). So when some friends called on Saturday night to see if I wanted go run some trails on Sunday, it was an easy call to ditch my Sunday chores and start packing a cooler!
Jake and Mandy (Cherokee People on MJR) took both of their XJs and I met them in the Arrowhead Village in the morning. Our friend, Robert, and Mandy's dad, Dave, came along for the ride. Dave is thinking about getting a Jeep so he wanted some trail time.
We left the pavement onto 3N34 from Hooks Creek Road and went to the Deep Creek Bridge to air down.
Dishpan Springs (3N34)
The snow that was around on our last trip up Dishpan Springs in February (see thread: Girls Day Out - Dishpan!) had all melted. The trail was clean but we found a little trash in the form of a broken U-joint at the dry falls.
Jake was first up the falls and chose to go straight up it:
But the tricky part is crossing the ruts at the top:
Mandy had driven the trail but had never driven up the falls before, so she took the left line:
Mr. Green and his new front locker made easy work of the climb, but the ruts were tougher:
Lower Larga (2N06X)
After Dishpan, we took 3N16 past the West entrance to Holcomb Creek and over to the Lower Larga trail (2N06X). The gate keeper seems to have settled some over the winter:
But the rest of the trail was like I remembered:
The trail was clear of trash and obstructions.
West end of Holcomb Creek (3N93)
Lower Larga ends at about the mid-way point of the Holcomb Creek trail. We went west so that we could go through both of the trail's rock gardens.
When we got to the first rock garden, we met a troop of vehicles coming the other way. The Unimog that was with them made the rock garden look like nothing more than a gravel road!:
After they cleared the garden, we started up with Dave driving and leading the way:
Jake picked a tough line and got high-centered, but a tug quickly got him going again:
The garden was a good bit tougher than when we last went through it in December. The water was flowing and the rocks were different. Both the new front and the old back lockers were put through their paces to get Mr. Green over the rocks.
The rock garden on the West end was only a little tougher than it was in December:
Edison Road (2N83)
After finding out from a post by FishPOET that there are a couple of black diamond trails near Green Valley, we headed that way to get out. We found Edison Road (2N83) at the Crab Flats staging area.
The trail has a street legal classification that I haven't seen before. Instead of a black diamond, it has "Not Recommended". Now is that an open invitation or what!
The trail is a very short climb to the residential area on Green Valley. Most of the trip is mild but the last section has some obstacles in tough spots. The combination makes the trail very tilty to get through:
All in all, it was a good run with great friends. Unfortunately, Sharon didn't get to go which is just an excuse to do it again! Driving alone, it was tough to get very many photos. Mandy probably has better ones.
All of what I have can be viewed at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...N83%203-11-07/
Jake and Mandy (Cherokee People on MJR) took both of their XJs and I met them in the Arrowhead Village in the morning. Our friend, Robert, and Mandy's dad, Dave, came along for the ride. Dave is thinking about getting a Jeep so he wanted some trail time.
We left the pavement onto 3N34 from Hooks Creek Road and went to the Deep Creek Bridge to air down.
Dishpan Springs (3N34)
The snow that was around on our last trip up Dishpan Springs in February (see thread: Girls Day Out - Dishpan!) had all melted. The trail was clean but we found a little trash in the form of a broken U-joint at the dry falls.
Jake was first up the falls and chose to go straight up it:
But the tricky part is crossing the ruts at the top:
Mandy had driven the trail but had never driven up the falls before, so she took the left line:
Mr. Green and his new front locker made easy work of the climb, but the ruts were tougher:
Lower Larga (2N06X)
After Dishpan, we took 3N16 past the West entrance to Holcomb Creek and over to the Lower Larga trail (2N06X). The gate keeper seems to have settled some over the winter:
But the rest of the trail was like I remembered:
The trail was clear of trash and obstructions.
West end of Holcomb Creek (3N93)
Lower Larga ends at about the mid-way point of the Holcomb Creek trail. We went west so that we could go through both of the trail's rock gardens.
When we got to the first rock garden, we met a troop of vehicles coming the other way. The Unimog that was with them made the rock garden look like nothing more than a gravel road!:
After they cleared the garden, we started up with Dave driving and leading the way:
Jake picked a tough line and got high-centered, but a tug quickly got him going again:
The garden was a good bit tougher than when we last went through it in December. The water was flowing and the rocks were different. Both the new front and the old back lockers were put through their paces to get Mr. Green over the rocks.
The rock garden on the West end was only a little tougher than it was in December:
Edison Road (2N83)
After finding out from a post by FishPOET that there are a couple of black diamond trails near Green Valley, we headed that way to get out. We found Edison Road (2N83) at the Crab Flats staging area.
The trail has a street legal classification that I haven't seen before. Instead of a black diamond, it has "Not Recommended". Now is that an open invitation or what!
The trail is a very short climb to the residential area on Green Valley. Most of the trip is mild but the last section has some obstacles in tough spots. The combination makes the trail very tilty to get through:
All in all, it was a good run with great friends. Unfortunately, Sharon didn't get to go which is just an excuse to do it again! Driving alone, it was tough to get very many photos. Mandy probably has better ones.
All of what I have can be viewed at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...N83%203-11-07/
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