Trail Report: Another Snow run Report

[RAT]

Chuck (dirtman13), Mike and Sharon (Mr. Green), Shannon and I ran up to Big Bear to play in the snow Saturday, knowing full well that the BIG storm was a-comin. It actually was pretty intense but as usual, nothing like the weather services predict. There was a lot of snow on the Northern peaks of Johnson and Lucerne Valleys which made the scenery nothing short of spectacular. Winter in SoCal ROCKS sometimes.
We loaded up at Mikes house and drove around to Lucerne Valley to avoid the madness on the 18. I can't imagine what it was like Saturday night due to the fact Caltrans closed the 38 at around 2PM Saturday afternoon. The 18 going up out of Lucerne was an easy drive but they made everyone install chains, no exceptions.
So we made it to the trail head for Jacoby Canyon and set out to spoil some virgin snow...
Trail head:


Bright and Sunny, for now.


This is Tahoe kinda snow. Powder to die for.


Lucerne in the clouds


Snow cactus


First water crossing on Jacoby


Just kept getting deeper

Angels!


Somewhere under there is an axle


There were deer sighted on Jacoby, I think Chuck got some pics. The wind was howling at the top of Jacoby and the temperature soon started falling as the storm front rolled in.

Yes, that rut is deeper that ozzi is high. he is a wierd dog; he went along licking the edges of the tire tracks. Like dog like owner I guess...


Cont...

[RAT]

Cont...

It started snowing hard as we were making our way to the Pigmy Cabin for lunch, we were plowing through 3-4 foot drifts and it was getting deeper as we went;

North side of gold Mountain/3N16




so we decided to cut our losses and avoid having to resort to cannibalism at the cabin, and turned around to head into BB for some hot chocolate and a warm fire at Thelma's.
There was one casualty; A tire cut on a hidden rock.


The Jeeps were laminated with a thick layer of ice,


the axles were completed packed in snow and ice, winches dissapeared under loads of ice and snow, and everyone had some of the biggest smiles I've seen in a long time. Definitely a great snow run.

[Mitch]

Sweet snow run! The 1" we saw in the desert doesn't quite compare. LeAnne saw you guys in Lucerne gasing up. Might have to head out that way in a bit. Thanks for sharing.

[Mike]

It was great time! I have always wanted to go play in deep snow like that. Chuck and Kurt are great snow plows. It was like following CalTrans for Mr. Green!

Here are some of my pics:

Heading up Hwy 18:


A sign of happiness!:


Climbing up Jacoby Canyon:












Reaching 3N16:


Deep Virgin Snow on 3N16:


While plowing up 3N16, the snow got deeper and it started to fall steadily:






At 2.9 miles from Jacoby Canyon, it finally got too deep to press on:


So this part of 3N16 didn't get explored on this trip:


At this point, we turned around:


And just in time it seems, this was the visibilty at the Doble Mine:


After lunch at Thelma's, the snow rolled in again for the drive back down the 18:


I had a fantastic time playing in the snow. I have some videos that I will work on and try to get posted soon.

[MrBash]

Aewsome! That's a lotof snow

[Roger]

Were you guys the first up Jacoby? There were no tracks in the new snow other than yours?

[Mike]

Were you guys the first up Jacoby? There were no tracks in the new snow other than yours?

Yep! No one beat us to it. The snow was two feet deep in places on Jacoby. We were stopped on 3N16 by snow that was over 4 feet deep. Chuck was leading at that point and he is on 37's. His tires are lower than the snow and you know that he had to be above the dirt at this point:


I got some video on my GoPro along the 3N16. This is the YouTube version that I put together:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgTFeh3xC6o

I have more video. I'll see if I can work it into a better clip.

[Mitch]

Mike,

I dug the pictures from Kurt, but wholly crap your pictures rock! What a different perspective. Most awesome trip guys. I wanted to drag Scott there yesterday, but his friend Bobby was stock with 31's. After seeing chains and 35's & 37's we would still be stuck on the trail with our little rigs

Thanks for sharing the great pictures

[1 Bad F N Z]

Damn, you should of called me, Kevin.

[dirtman13]

What an awesome day. I didn't get a whole lot of pictures but I did get a ton of video. I put most of it in this video. Hope you like it.

[neilbyrd]

That was a pretty cool video, hard to tell where the trail was sometimes. What trail did you guys take? I noticed none of you guys took your tops of to enjoy the warm weather.

[curtis]

Great video Chuck. Also some great pictures Mike and Kurt. Almost makes me want to put on my top, but I think I will just wait for warmer weather. LOL

[dirtman13]

Thanks guys.

That was a pretty cool video, hard to tell where the trail was sometimes. What trail did you guys take? I noticed none of you guys took your tops of to enjoy the warm weather.

We took the back side up the mountain to Jacoby Canyon then ran a little of 3N16 before we were stopped by about 4' of snow.

[troyboy162]

great pics and videos! whats the size tires on your trail breaker? looks like a nice tall narrow tire

[RAT]

Chuck, that hit to the rock looked way worse from inside your Jeep that it did from my prespective. That camera does some really nice vid. What an awsome day!