Big Bear, CA: New Years Weekend

[hurley37]

So how is everyone feeling today? My toes feel much better now.

[Jeri Lyn]

Let's just say I LOVE the San Bernardino County Fire Dept!
If I can figure out how to insert pictures, I will. Hee hee

Jeri Lyn

[NAILER341]

Let's just say I LOVE the San Bernardino County Fire Dept!
If I can figure out how to insert pictures, I will. Hee hee

Jeri Lyn

come on, Jeri...
you cant just say that and leave us hanging!
email me the pics, and i'll post them for you
tell us the story!!! how was the snow run?

emai to: myjeeprocks@comcast.net

[GrimJeeper]

The Friday snow run was awesome! It sounds like the Saturday run was adventurous.

[NAILER341]

ok, here are the pictures. what is the story? i dont see any firetrucks!

[GrimJeeper]

Those pics are from the Friday run. It was a fun day and without any major issues. The Saturday run was apparently the eventful one. I guess the group was traction challenged that time around.

Thanks for posting those Nailer...

[hurley37]

I wish I would have went Friday instead of Saturday. Looks like Big Bear got quite a bit of snow Friday night, there was alot more on Saturday. :mad:

[sarah]

sweet pics! which trails did you run?

[GrimJeeper]

North on 3N14 from Fawnskin until it intersected with 3N16. West on 3N16 to Crab Flats campground. South to the Green Valley road. The pictures that Nailer posted are in reverse order. The bottom pic was our first stop while the top pic was the final stop at the Green Valley road.

3N14 was plowed until the turn off for Camp Whittle. We ventured on from there following some rather icey tracks. There was approximately two feet of snow with the top 10" being fresh. The rest was hard pack and provided pretty good traction. Some drifts appeared to be as much as three feet in depth. Not long after leaving the plowed section we stopped for a photo op (bottom pic). SAM 15 decided he wanted to be out of the ruts for his pictures and drove onto clean snow beside the trail. When we loaded up to move on SAM discovered he was stuck. It was a good excuse to use his new winch. We continued on along 3N14 and started our decent to the valley on the east end of 3N93. About half way down we came across a truck that was buried pretty good. It had been there a while and was fortunately stopped at a wide place in the road so getting around him wasn't a problem. At the east end of 3N93 the ruts we were following turned westbound onto that trail. From this point 3N14 provided virgin snow for the leader (me). From the 3N93 intersection, 3N14 climbs steadily for about a mile. The go pedal was pressed firmly to the floor for the entire climb. I did pause at the top for a photo op (YJ alone) and to wait for the rest of the group to reach the top. We proceeded north until we reached the intersection of 3N16 where we stopped for a lunch break/BS session (middle pic).

After a quick stop Jeri Lyn took the lead as we proceeded west on 3N16. Again the snow was untouched on this portion of the trail. We again joined up with some ruts at the west end of the 2N06X spur from 3N93. As we continued on we were dropping in elevation until we reached the west end of 3N93. The paved creek crossing was running higher than I have ever seen it and the rock garden at the beginning of 3N93 was a heavily flowing creek as well. At this point we were almost below snow level. From there we started climbing getting back into more snow. We came around a bend to find a tree laying across the road. Fortunately there was enough room to drive under it. The 2nd pic from the top is Jeri Lyn approaching this tree. While decending down towards Crab Flats campground we came across three vehicles going the other way. The leader of that group was an old, but well set up scout. The second was a stock Tacoma P/U that was having a hell of a time (he couldn't get out of his own way). The last was a H2. We did enjoy seing the Tacoma back into the H2. Unfortunately there was no damage, only bruised egos.

After a short break at the Crab Flats campground (to use the facilites) we headed towards the Green Valley road. We were climbing in elevation the entire way and encountering more and more snow. There were a few rutted and slanted turns that provided some entertainment. By the time we reached the Green Valley road we decided to call it a day. We had a great day of wheeling with no mechanical difficulties. That's what I call a succesful run. The top picture is the group posing at the end of the day. Thanks to Jeri Lyn & {I forgot your friends name!} (red TJ), Rick (white TJ) and Guy & Kay (Rubicon) for the fun time. See you all on the trials.

[TJSUPE]

I never thought I would say that I loved Pavement so much after Sat........ Lets just say we needed a little help from our friends.............................

[loop choke]

I ran 2n06X from 3n16 and the rest of Holcomb Creek from 2n06X on sunday. We had a hell of a time going across the off camber icy slope by the log. I love that log. It kept me from going over the side. I used a lot of go pedal and planned my slide into the log, rebounded off of it and charged up the rutted snowy hill. My buddy in his LC got stuck pretty bad and I had to snatch pull him out because I am so light and he is heavy. He blew a tire on a rock because he had to blast through the rest of that section. He would have gotten stuck if he had stopped. It was a very interesting day to say the least.

Jason

[Jeri Lyn]

Okay, let's see if I can narrate the story from Sat.'s snow run in the proper order: TJSupe, myself and Hurley37 met up at the Fawnskin fire station and planned to travel the same route as the group on Friday. (North on 3N14 then cut across 3N16). The snow was completely fresh and very powdery and yes, we were all traction challenged. We had managed to struggle past Camp Whittle when we had to stop due to a man and his family parking(!) their SUV in the middle of the trail to recreate. After spending at least 15 minutes digging/pulling each other out of the snow, and the family moving off the trail, we continued on. By then we noticed we had picked up another Wrangler with two guys in it. Apparently they thought our trail run looked like fun. Less than a mile later, TJSupe and I stopped to wait for Hurley37 and the tag along. As soon as TJSupe and I stopped, we were stuck. And it was only 11:30am. The weather was perfect, very clear with no wind. I had my shovel, which was passed around as we tried to dig out. Dig, move 1 foot. Dig, move 1 foot. Get the picture? Paula, who is TJSupe's fiance, called her twin sister to let her know we were stuck, but okay. At 3pm, I called a friend in Victorville to see if she could find a tow company that did off road recovery. Paula's sister kept calling to tell us the Sheriff's dept wanted us to walk out and leave our vehicles, because they had no one to come and get us, and a storm was predicted for that night. We were stubborn and kept digging. My friends called back and said they'd found someone who agreed to meet us at the Fawnskin fire station who would come out and winch us out. By then it was getting late, so we figured we'd take the two jeeps that still had traction and go back to Fawnskin. (I'm glossing over the hours or so it took us to turn around all 4 jeeps!) Supe, Paula and I climbed in with Hurley37 and the tag along and started back towards Fawnskin. As we rounded a bend in the trail, we encountered a Wrangler, Land Cruiser and a Cherokee charging up the trail. By now it's 4:30pm and getting darker. That group wanted to get out and chat about this and that. I got a bit wiggy and yelled (from the back seat of Hurley37's jeep) that we didn't have time for discussion and they needed to move. Oh well, it was now after 4pm, I had been forced to abandon my jeep, and I was beyond wanting to meet new friends When the jeeps had stopped, we were stuck again. TJSupe, Paula and I started walking out, thinking we'd meet Jeff (the recovery guy) and ride back to get the jeeps. As we were trudging on foot (slowly) south on 3N14, we heard a loud rumbling: up the road was coming the Snow Cat from SB County Fire Staion #49. Apparently, the Sheriff's Dept was tired of hearing from Paula's sister and called the fire dept to come get us with the snow cat. They were great: Didn't call us stupid or any number of adjectives that probably applied . They got Hurley and the Tag Along guys unstuck and we went back for TJSupe's and my jeep. We were towed back to where Hurley and Tag Along had gotten stuck again and the fire guys ended up tow strapping all of us together (plus Jeff, who got stuck coming up the trail to meet us) and pulled us back to Fawnskin. By then it was 5:30pm and completely dark. TJSupe, Hurley37, am I forgetting any embarassing details? (Of course, I won't mention how I left my keys in Hurley37's jeep and they luckily got stuck again or else my jeep would probably still be up on 3N14). All in all, it was a completely different run from Friday's, but I had a blast both days.

Hurley37 has the photos, which he's supposed to post. Good times, good times.

[TJSUPE]

Well, that was very well put!!

Now that the story is out, we should post some pics. Did they even come out being all dark outside?

[Jeri Lyn]

Well, that was very well put!!

Now that the story is out, we should post some pics. Did they even come out being all dark outside?

The pics came out quite well, thank you. I am technically challenged, so I emailed them to Joe (Hurley37) and he said he'd put a link up. The SnowCat ones are a blast. hee hee hee

[JeepGal]

Cant wait to see the pics!

How much did they charge you for the Fire Station Snow Cat rescue?

Glad to hear you made it out OK...with only just a bunch of bruised ego's.

Tam