John Bull Warning

[brokenujoint]

i do know that spot actually. there used to be a tree there if you were taking in west to east and a large off camber dip with a big hole right at the climax of the turn next to the tree. i went up there once and i actually had to get out and think about my next move because i had my tj's rear right about 4' in the air. going up it from east to west i never really thought much of it but it seemed scarier going west to east. it looks pretty worn down now and that tree seems to of either met an ax/chainsaw or a few rigs.

[TDS SD]

Was up there yesterday. Only went in about 3/4 of mile from the east end and turned around. Didn't see the crew working on the trail. They had signs posted about fixing the trail. I hope they got done before the rains came. Only had Safri top and no upper doors got pretty wet.

[steelman]

There were a few of us up there yesterday also, and we got to see the crew (the Waywego's) working on removing at least part of if not all of the tree that is in question. They were sweating it out bigtime at about lunchtime. We stopped and chatted with them a little, had lunch, and then they let us go through. I think we had about 8 Jeeps and we all made it through with no problems! :thumbs_up If they were still working later in the afternoon (by about 2:30), then they got pretty wet. Probably felt good for them, and also probably made it an interesting trip outta there.
Good times......gotta love the Bull!

[brokenujoint]

i know that all those trails need to be accessible via fire trucks and rescue crew but i kinda like the fact that bull has/had a tough challenging area. cant keep it to easy ya know.

[FishPOET]

Waywegoes pics of the tree removal.

http://shanlw99.smugmug.com/gallery/1707287/1/84069008

[Mtbikbob]

Waywegoes pics of the tree removal.

http://shanlw99.smugmug.com/gallery/1707287/1/84069008

Looks more like they took a nice working obstacle away. What good is the trail if it doesn't have some areas that require some finesse? Hmmm... if we wanted to be perfectly safe from roll overs, scraping of boulders won't we stay on the highway?
I did not have the pleasure of trying it before the tree was removed, but we were there last weekend and the missing tree obstacle was no more than coasting down the highway.

[brokenujoint]

i very much agree. that was one of the only pucker spots john bull offers. maybe they should go over to dishpan and put a driveway up the water fall. just my thought.

[JeepGal]

Realize that our goal of keeping our trails open also relies on your ability to keep them safe. Personal injury is not an option.

From what I know of this obstacle, there was no choice but to make it safe.

The club that maintains John Bull was not happy that they had to remove the offending tree, but from what I heard, Gregg Hoffman (from the SBNF Adopt a Trail program) gave them no choice. Its either close the trail or keep it safe.

We, at MyJeepRocks, also have an adopted trail up in Big Bear. Youre welcome to come up and maintain it, and get more involved with the SBNF AAT program. Get involved and make a difference.

The next run is coming up very soon

Tam

[FishPOET]

There were 9 rollovers in 2 weeks.

Greg's boss gave him 2 choices. Remove the hazard or close the trail. Saftey is a huge concern to the USFS supervisors. Hazardous fluids from the rollovers is another concern.

How much finesse does it take to run a closed trail?

What caused these rollovers? Lack of driver skill? Ill equiped vehicles for the trail rating? A change in the trail from previous runs?

How many of us at one time or another have tried a trail that was either beyond our vehicles capabilities or our driving skills? Be honest.

We are working extremely hard to keep the trails in the SBNF open. Instead of posting sarcastic comments, perhaps you could get involved with us and help keep the forest open to motorized recreation. At the very minimum you could post constructive criticism about how we might keep the few black diamond trails we have open to those who have the driving skills and the vehicles to safely traverse these trails.

[brokenujoint]

i very much understand the point of keeping a trail safe. i did not know that there were in fact so many roll overs at that spot. the sarcastic comment was in poor taste and i take it back. i suppose ive just seen to many rock stackers and im venting. I enjoy all southern california trails and john bull is a favorite of favorites. i understand that that trail needs to be available for fire crews and to be safe for drivers. i probably took that trail 2 wks before i heard all of this rant about this section and it just didnt seem that hard. perhaps it worsened from some yahoo(s) or mother nature herself. comment striken.

[Mtbikbob]

I meant no offense to anyone in my comment. You can tell by the pictures these guys worked really hard at doing the maintenance. They have my deepest respect. The working man should always be honored. I will endeavor to get involved and do what I can to help.

[RAT]

There were 9 rollovers in 2 weeks.

Greg's boss gave him 2 choices. Remove the hazard or close the trail. Saftey is a huge concern to the USFS supervisors. Hazardous fluids from the rollovers is another concern.

How much finesse does it take to run a closed trail?

What caused these rollovers? Lack of driver skill? Ill equiped vehicles for the trail rating? A change in the trail from previous runs?

How many of us at one time or another have tried a trail that was either beyond our vehicles capabilities or our driving skills? Be honest.

We are working extremely hard to keep the trails in the SBNF open. Instead of posting sarcastic comments, perhaps you could get involved with us and help keep the forest open to motorized recreation. At the very minimum you could post constructive criticism about how we might keep the few black diamond trails we have open to those who have the driving skills and the vehicles to safely traverse these trails.

I agree with you in that more folks need to get involved. These trails are a wonderful thing and I for one don't want to loose them. Making trails less difficult doesn't take away from the experience, but if you feel you need an adrenaline rush everytime you wheel, The Hammers are waiting. I will admit that when I saw the changes made to JB last weekend, I made a few off-hand comments about it in the heat of the moment. So I'm no different in that respect. But I do volunteer, I spend a good deal of my free time in BB on the trails, so I understand what the issues are and what Greg has to deal with. My hats off to him for making this a great and safe place to wheel. Along with all the trail volunteers.
Rat

[sarah]

If anyone would like to join us as part of the SBNF Adopt-A-Trail crew, please see this post.

[GrimJeeper91]

And here's a link with more info:

http://sbnfa.com/ohvprograms.php

[FishPOET]

<snip>Greg has to deal with. My hats off to him for making this a great and safe place to wheel. Rat

I couldn't agree more. I have never met anyone that that has worked so tirelessly to keep our forests accessible as Greg.