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An unusually cold and severe late winter storm brought blizzard conditions to the mountains of Southern California on Friday and Saturday, March 10 & 11. Clearing conditions on Sunday, March 12, 2006 brought seven MJR members (plus what seemed like a million other people) to the Big Bear Lake area to play in the snow. The participants were Erik (Nailer341), Paul (paulhead), Fernando (Jeep Thing), Chuck (Chuck’s XJ), Kevin (KevinofCamelot), Ed (AvNative) and myself (Russ Chung).
Even before we reached the trailhead we encountered our first obstacle: The Caltrans tire chain requirements. According to the Caltrans web site, there are three levels of requirements: R1 – chains are required, snow tires are allowed, R2 – chains are required on all vehicles except four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels, R3 – chains are required - all vehicles – no exceptions. Kevin traveled to Big Bear Lake on Saturday while the R2 requirements were in effect, and his Rubicon Unlimited met those requirements. By Saturday afternoon, Caltrans raised the requirement to R3. The heavy snowfall ended on Saturday night, but when the remaining six MJR members started the ascent to Big Bear Lake on Sunday morning, the R3 requirements were still in effect. This posed a problem because among the six vehicles we only had five usable sets of tire chains. We decided to proceed toward the lake in hope that the requirement would be eased by the time we reached the control point. As we approached the control point, we joined a long line of vehicles waiting to pass through. Many vehicles had pulled over to the side of the road to install their chains. Entrepreneurs were offering to install the chains for a fee ranging from $40 and up.
When we reached the control point, we were told that we would have to “chain up”. After some discussion, Ed (AvNative) decided that he would forego a trip to Big Bear Lake at this time, and the remaining five of us set to work installing the chains. Once we finished installing the chains, we received word that the requirement has eased somewhat; it was still R3, but four wheel drive vehicles did not have to “chain up”; they could get past the checkpoint by showing that they had a set of chains in their possession. We decided that we could travel faster and more comfortably if we did not use the chains, so we removed them and proceeded past the checkpoint. Soon we entered a snowy winter wonderland. This is Chuck’s (Chucks XJ) red XJ at an elevation of about 4,000 feet:
Our group is passing through the community of Arrowbear (elevation of approximately 6,000 feet). From left to right: Erik’s (Nailer341) red YJ, Paul’s (paulhead) gray YJ, and Fernando’s (Jeep Thing) red Rubicon.
Although we had made an allowance for extra travel time due to heavy traffic and chain requirements, it was mid morning before we arrived at Big Bear Lake:
Even before we reached the trailhead we encountered our first obstacle: The Caltrans tire chain requirements. According to the Caltrans web site, there are three levels of requirements: R1 – chains are required, snow tires are allowed, R2 – chains are required on all vehicles except four wheel drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels, R3 – chains are required - all vehicles – no exceptions. Kevin traveled to Big Bear Lake on Saturday while the R2 requirements were in effect, and his Rubicon Unlimited met those requirements. By Saturday afternoon, Caltrans raised the requirement to R3. The heavy snowfall ended on Saturday night, but when the remaining six MJR members started the ascent to Big Bear Lake on Sunday morning, the R3 requirements were still in effect. This posed a problem because among the six vehicles we only had five usable sets of tire chains. We decided to proceed toward the lake in hope that the requirement would be eased by the time we reached the control point. As we approached the control point, we joined a long line of vehicles waiting to pass through. Many vehicles had pulled over to the side of the road to install their chains. Entrepreneurs were offering to install the chains for a fee ranging from $40 and up.
When we reached the control point, we were told that we would have to “chain up”. After some discussion, Ed (AvNative) decided that he would forego a trip to Big Bear Lake at this time, and the remaining five of us set to work installing the chains. Once we finished installing the chains, we received word that the requirement has eased somewhat; it was still R3, but four wheel drive vehicles did not have to “chain up”; they could get past the checkpoint by showing that they had a set of chains in their possession. We decided that we could travel faster and more comfortably if we did not use the chains, so we removed them and proceeded past the checkpoint. Soon we entered a snowy winter wonderland. This is Chuck’s (Chucks XJ) red XJ at an elevation of about 4,000 feet:
Our group is passing through the community of Arrowbear (elevation of approximately 6,000 feet). From left to right: Erik’s (Nailer341) red YJ, Paul’s (paulhead) gray YJ, and Fernando’s (Jeep Thing) red Rubicon.
Although we had made an allowance for extra travel time due to heavy traffic and chain requirements, it was mid morning before we arrived at Big Bear Lake:
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