big bear trails

[cat]

Hey all! I will be in Big Bear for the holiday weekend, just me, my guy and my jeep. Since it is just us I picked an "easy rated" trail and I just want to be sure it is. Also can I do this whole trail in a single day? Roughly how many hours will it be (depending on stips and hikes, etc)? I plan to start with Holcomb Valley to Jacoby Canyon to Lone Valley to Burns Canyon. All these trails link, or so it looks like it on my maps.
I'm open to any suggestions, hints, warnings etc.
Thanx!
CAT

[Old Fart]

Cat,

If by Holcolmb you're referring to 3N93, the beginning of the trail looks like the first set of these pictures:

http://www.myjeeprocks.com/forums/sh...&threadid=1818

If you can make it through that (alone) the rest of the day is pretty easy. Jacoby (3N61) is basically a fire road.

Lone Valley and Burns Canyon I'm not familiar with.

[sarah]

Here's some more pics from the MJR gallery:
http://www.myjeeprocks.com/jeeps/bigbear.php

Have fun, alot of us are going to Moab!

[jmbrowning]

The entrance to Holcomb Creek may be a little challenging for a stock TJ. It's pretty close to the road so you may be able to just scratch it if you don't like the way it looks. Also, you can flag down people off of 3N16 if you get super stuck.

The obstacles are mostly moderate-sized rocks and the risk is mostly of getting high-centered. This can be resolved by bringing along a hydraulic bottle jack (or use the OEM worm jack) and a few lengths of 2x4x8 and an 8"x8" piece of plywood as a base. Jack up the tires (by the axle tubes not the frame/body) and stick rocks under the tires to build a "road" to drive your Jeep off the hi-center. A Hi-Lift jack can also be used but you will probably need better jacking points than the stock tin bumper and rockers.

Take the steps off the Sahara before you go or you will be carrying the remains of them in the back of the Jeep.

There aren't any big stretches of sand or mud on Holcomb Creek where you would lose traction to the point of requiring a tug. You might get a wheel high, but this can be remedied by the rock-stuffing technique and disconnecting your sway bar.

I don't mean to scare you off, but a solo Holcomb Creek adventure would not be my recommendation for a first 4 wheeling trip. It can be done with some grin-filled stucks, if you have experience with self-recovery.

If you think you have limited off-roading experience and are willing to have some company, I recommend posting a time and location for a rally point.

I also recommend the Wells Guide Book for Southern California as a great resource for trails in the Southland. The ratings are very conservative, so you may be able to do moderate trails in a stock Sahara.

If you are new to 4 wheeling, consider also buying the Lewellyn book on learning to off-road. It's basically an Off-Roading for Dummies and a lot of fun to read.

HTH and good luck!

[Old Fart]

Yeah - what he said!

[loop choke]

I don't think she is referring to The creek trail. I have done all of the trails on the Holcomb valley side of the lake and they are all pretty easy.

I may be in the area at the same time. I live pretty close to BB. I you wanna hook up I will be on FRS channel 5 subcode 24. Or call me at 909-615-6468. Since there would be 2 of us, we can do Gold Mountain if you are up for a bit harder run. Let me know.

Jason

[jmbrowning]

Originally posted by Old Fart
Yeah - what he said!

Heh, feeling a bit chatty today I guess

[Old Fart]

Who me, John Moses??

[jmbrowning]

Nah, I was referring to my wordy reply. It's really too bad that our profiles don't actually document the average number of characters per post in addition to the actual post count