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It's been a long time coming. Between breaking, building and just plain knowing the limitations of my rig, I finally got out with my buddy, Eric - in his lifted, locked TJ last Sunday. I'm running 265/75-16 Treadwright Guard Dogs with 4.10's on open diffs. We had one day and wanted to make it count.
We started with Dishpan. That first little climb sure is fun! I first tried going left - not! I wound up dropping back a bit and going up the middle with a hard left to straighten back out.
The waterfall was awesome! First I tried going up the center and using the log. My 32's had other ideas. I backed out and tried the left side by the tree. That turned out just as dismal. I finally pulled back up to the middle and put my left tires on the rock fin in the middle of the ruts. It just walked right up and I pulled another hard left to clear the obstacle. Why didn't I do this first?
My only damage came right after the waterfall. Because of the loose sand and uneven surface, I had to keep a little momentum. It came to a stop when I punched my front passenger tire into the rock in the middle of the trail - which bent the mainspring. It's not too bad. I just arched a 2 1/2" spring into a 3" spring. I have other springs to graft in so I'm not sweating it.
Holcomb was a different experience. I've learned that a rig on 32's makes the rock gardens more like super-sized pinball. I managed to find two perfectly YJ sized holes between the rocks. The first was just inside the west entrance. I perfectly double-diffed it. A couple of guys ahead of us - in a CJ-2A and 2dr Cherokee - came over right away to help. A few rocks and a turn of the wheel drove me right off.
My next moment of doofusness was in the second garden. I planted that thing with the front diff 1" below the top of a big rock and both front spring pads resting nicely on top. The rears had just dropped off a good sized rock behind me. Eric and the hi-lift to the rescue! Eric lifted the front and our new-found trail buddies jumped right in to throw some rocks under the fronts. The dumb guy drove out again.
In the last little rock garden, I'm certain all I did was pull up into a wheelie and dance across the tops with the motor singing. Eric had pulled ahead a bit and I needed to catch up. Being open didn't lend itself to going slow.
The dropoff was a lot of fun! There was a group at the bottom with a TJ stuck on the rocks while trying to climb up. Once they were out, they left the way they came. When Eric went down, he showed me a good line to the right. He was even nice enough to show me how slick the rocks are as he slid to the right and bashed a nice scar in his hard top. "Oh BUGGER!" was heard throughout the hills. Bummer. My crossing was less eventful. After I dropped off the rocks, my front end slid left and lined me up perfectly to drive away from it.
Off we went to Gold Mountain. I had tried my tires now in sand, rocks, mud, water and on pavement. All that was left was snow. I found a small patch and had the brilliant idea of going into it a bit to try the traction. (Note to self - remaining snow is still cold enough to last because it's the deepest!) I sunk the front end into a two-foot deep hole. Eric to the rescue again! A quick pull with the strap reversed the effects of my over-stupidness.
Back on the road to Gold mountain. I remembered looking at this eight years ago and having common sense get the better of me. Well, now I can say BTDT! I can't say this trail is over-rated, but running from north to south is far less extreme than the other two. It is however, a blast!
The weather was perfect. We only saw about ten people all day. I guess these gas prices have a (tarnished) silver lining. Thanks go out to my buddy Eric for babysitting me and the guys from Crestline - cool crew. Thanks to MJR AAT for the hard work on Holcomb. And thanks to those of you who have recycled parts running in my YJ as well as those of you who have expanded my knowledge base. Without all of you, this day would definitely still be a dream. Now it's an awesome memory.
We started with Dishpan. That first little climb sure is fun! I first tried going left - not! I wound up dropping back a bit and going up the middle with a hard left to straighten back out.
The waterfall was awesome! First I tried going up the center and using the log. My 32's had other ideas. I backed out and tried the left side by the tree. That turned out just as dismal. I finally pulled back up to the middle and put my left tires on the rock fin in the middle of the ruts. It just walked right up and I pulled another hard left to clear the obstacle. Why didn't I do this first?
My only damage came right after the waterfall. Because of the loose sand and uneven surface, I had to keep a little momentum. It came to a stop when I punched my front passenger tire into the rock in the middle of the trail - which bent the mainspring. It's not too bad. I just arched a 2 1/2" spring into a 3" spring. I have other springs to graft in so I'm not sweating it.
Holcomb was a different experience. I've learned that a rig on 32's makes the rock gardens more like super-sized pinball. I managed to find two perfectly YJ sized holes between the rocks. The first was just inside the west entrance. I perfectly double-diffed it. A couple of guys ahead of us - in a CJ-2A and 2dr Cherokee - came over right away to help. A few rocks and a turn of the wheel drove me right off.
My next moment of doofusness was in the second garden. I planted that thing with the front diff 1" below the top of a big rock and both front spring pads resting nicely on top. The rears had just dropped off a good sized rock behind me. Eric and the hi-lift to the rescue! Eric lifted the front and our new-found trail buddies jumped right in to throw some rocks under the fronts. The dumb guy drove out again.
In the last little rock garden, I'm certain all I did was pull up into a wheelie and dance across the tops with the motor singing. Eric had pulled ahead a bit and I needed to catch up. Being open didn't lend itself to going slow.
The dropoff was a lot of fun! There was a group at the bottom with a TJ stuck on the rocks while trying to climb up. Once they were out, they left the way they came. When Eric went down, he showed me a good line to the right. He was even nice enough to show me how slick the rocks are as he slid to the right and bashed a nice scar in his hard top. "Oh BUGGER!" was heard throughout the hills. Bummer. My crossing was less eventful. After I dropped off the rocks, my front end slid left and lined me up perfectly to drive away from it.
Off we went to Gold Mountain. I had tried my tires now in sand, rocks, mud, water and on pavement. All that was left was snow. I found a small patch and had the brilliant idea of going into it a bit to try the traction. (Note to self - remaining snow is still cold enough to last because it's the deepest!) I sunk the front end into a two-foot deep hole. Eric to the rescue again! A quick pull with the strap reversed the effects of my over-stupidness.
Back on the road to Gold mountain. I remembered looking at this eight years ago and having common sense get the better of me. Well, now I can say BTDT! I can't say this trail is over-rated, but running from north to south is far less extreme than the other two. It is however, a blast!
The weather was perfect. We only saw about ten people all day. I guess these gas prices have a (tarnished) silver lining. Thanks go out to my buddy Eric for babysitting me and the guys from Crestline - cool crew. Thanks to MJR AAT for the hard work on Holcomb. And thanks to those of you who have recycled parts running in my YJ as well as those of you who have expanded my knowledge base. Without all of you, this day would definitely still be a dream. Now it's an awesome memory.
I recently made it into an Offroad Magazine and both pictures they used of me wheelin' were from Big Bear ...can't wait to get back there. I'm not a fan of cold weather so I need to give it a bit longer, but we'll be back! 
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