Big Bear Snow Run

[ECHO]

A COUPLE OF BUDDIES AND I WENT OUT TO BIG BEAR SATURDAY FOR A LITTLE MUD AND SNOW FUN. IT WAS MY FIRST TIME DRIVING IN THE SNOW SO WE HIT A FEW OF THE EASIER TRAILS JUST TO GET A FEEL FOR IT. I WAS THE ONLY JEEP IN THE GROUP WHEELING WITH 2 CHEVY Z71S. I MANAGED TO MAKE IT THROUGH WITHOUT GETTING STUCK OR ANY DAMAGE. BOTH OF MY BUDDIES CHEVYS DID GET STUCK IN SOME POWDER EARLY ON AND HAD TO BE TUGGED OUT. WE ALSO RAN IN TO A BIG GROUP OF ABOUT 15 IMPRESSIVE JEEPS THAT WERE RUNNING JOHN BULL. OVERALL IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL CLEAR DAY AND A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THOSE CHEVYS HOW A JEEP DOES IT (WITHOUT GETTING STUCK).

[gotstuc]

Nice pictures. Did a lot of the trails have a lot of snow? I still have stock tires on my JK but never had any problems up there when it was dry. Just wondering if it's time for me to upgrade. If the trails are like the bottom pic, I don't think I'll have any problems.

Thanks!
-w

[ECHO]

Thanks! Most Of The Trails Had Snow But It Was No Big Deal. I Would Say Mostly Mud, Slush ,and Deep Ruts For Most Of The Trail. The Bottom Pic Is The Entrance To 3n16 By Baldwin Lake On The East Side Of Big Bear Lake. My Buddy Went In His Stock Chevy Z71 On 31 Inch Bfg All Terrains And He Did Just Fine. He Only Got Stuck Once When He Tried To Get Crazy And Go Through Some Really Deep Powder. We Saw A Couple Of Stock Tjs And A Tacoma Out There Too.

[RAT]

Jack,
Nice pics. Big Bear in the snow is always a good time, and it looks like they are in for some more this week. So the real question is, where is the picture of you tugging the Chevy out of the snow??
Kurt

[ECHO]

Thanks Rat. To Protect The Identities Of The Unfortunate Chevy Owners, I Will Refrain From Posting Those Pics....for Now....actually I Wasnt Able To Take Pics While Freeing Them From Their Icy Graves And They Didnt Want To Have Photographic Evidence. We Are Going Again On Staurday The 29th Of This Month So Im Sure There Will Be More Photo Opportunities. If Anyone Is Interested In Going Let Me Know. I Havent Had The Pleasure Of Wheeling With The Mjr Folks Yet And Could Use Some More Jeeps To Help Mock The Chevys After They Get Stuck.

[gotstuc]

We Are Going Again On Staurday The 29th Of This Month So Im Sure There Will Be More Photo Opportunities. If Anyone Is Interested In Going Let Me Know. I Havent Had The Pleasure Of Wheeling With The Mjr Folks Yet And Could Use Some More Jeeps To Help Mock The Chevys After They Get Stuck.

I'll be up there. Which trails are you headed up to? I have a stock Unlimited X (4x4, LSD), but tomorrow I'm getting stock-size BFG A/T's. I'm thinking about staying on the normal Holcomb trail since I know it's open, and I've always liked the scenery.

No bashing Chevy for me, since I've explored most of Big Bear with my Z71.

E-mail me: gotstuc@gmail.com

[ECHO]

Well, If....if We Go, We Will Be Right There On The Holcomb Trail. My Company Is Making Some Schedule Changes And Just Suspended 1 Of My Coworkers Leaving My Night Crew Short Handed So We Might Have To Bump It Up A Week. I Will Have A Better Idea Tomorrow Morning. How Familiar Are You With The Area? Know Any Other Cool Areas Close By? It Is Going To Be A Really Nice Weekend Up There.

[Shadly1]

Here's some stuff. Give up on the south side during winter.

[Russ Chung]

I'll be up there. Which trails are you headed up to? I have a stock Unlimited X (4x4, LSD), but tomorrow I'm getting stock-size BFG A/T's. I'm thinking about staying on the normal Holcomb trail since I know it's open, and I've always liked the scenery.

What do you mean by the "normal Holcomb trail"? If you mean 3N93, it's closed due to the Butler 2 fire. If you mean 3N16 through the Holcomb Valley, it's open only to the west end of 3N93. Here is a link to SBNF Road closures

[Shadly1]

I was there last weekend. You can get to 3N16 via Polique Canyon Road(2N09). By this weekend you should be able to take 3N16 from Big Pine Flat all the way to the 18(hopefully). The east end of 3N16 got all jacked up from some guys getting stuck last Saturday. Might be cleaned up, might not.

[VVjeepfreak]

We ran the other half from Silverwood Lake to 173 last Friday. Its was a bit muddy and a little bit of snow.

[gotstuc]

What do you mean by the "normal Holcomb trail"? If you mean 3N93, it's closed due to the Butler 2 fire. If you mean 3N16 through the Holcomb Valley, it's open only to the west end of 3N93. Here is a link to SBNF Road closures

Thanks for the link. Yeah, I meant 2N09 to 3N16 east. I thought that was called the Holcomb trail, but now I see it's called the Gold Fever Trail. My mistake

How muddy do you think it is? I just got some OEM sized BFG A/Ts (damn, they look so skinny, but they're the normal size 245/74/16). I hope they'll work. Snow is a bit easier to get out of. Mud isn't.

[gotstuc]

If anyone is going this weekend, let's meet up. I'm planning to spend the night out there, and having a nice campfire at the Holcomb campground (not sure time, depends on a lot of stuff). Company will be welcomed

E-mail me gotstuc@gmail.com and we can exchange contact info.

I have a RedRock 2007 JK Unlimited with skinny stock BFG AT's, and with a GOTSTUC license plate

[Shadly1]

If anyone is going this weekend, let's meet up. I'm planning to spend the night out there, and having a nice campfire at the Holcomb campground

Is Holcomb campground open in the winter? All I saw were locked gates at the other ones. Make sure you take some pics!

[gotstuc]

Is Holcomb campground open in the winter? All I saw were locked gates at the other ones. Make sure you take some pics!

My friend took the pics so I don't have any to show just yet. I'll get them posted as soon as I get them

The Holcomb campground is open all year. No gates at all. I guess if you can get there, it's all yours.

Basically everything Echo said stayed the same, just less snow. Two or three patches of snow that had me a little worried at first, but I made it just fine. If you were able to stay out of the ruts, you shouldn't have any troubles. Tires being the biggest help. Pulled out two rigs who got stuck (Dodge 2500 and stock Wrangler), who seemed to have stock tires.