From Cleghorn to Dishpan (& more!)

[Mike]

I'm in. I will see you there.

Hey Great dirtman! We'll see you at the trailhead.

I'm looking forward to this. Several folks have contacted me off-line so it looks like we will have 8 or 9 rigs.

We should meet at the Cleghorn exit, but on the opposite side from the trailhead. There is a nice paved and level spot to disconnect and air down on that side.

We will head out around 8:30am. I have a list of who is interested, so if you aren't there at 8:30, we can hang out a little in case someone is just running a little late. I'd hate to leave someone behind that said that they wanted to go, especially since several folks are coming from a distance.

See ya at the trailhead!

[ECV Jeep]

I Survived

:cocktail: Made it home in one piece (barely). Another great trip with great people. Look forward to doing it again soon.

Hey, anyone ever seen a Jeep stand on one wheel and hop three times?

[ECV Jeep]

and yes...........that did scare me a bit.

[RedRhino]

How did the "Black Pearl" do on the trail?

[dirtman13]

How did the "Black Pearl" do on the trail?

You missed it Red Riding Hood. This was a great trip. Thankfully I had atleast two tires on the ground. That water fall climb was pretty hairy. I think my heart is starting to beat normal again. No sure about ECV.

[dirtman13]

I would like to be finished by the mid afternoon so I can head down the hill. Say 3 or 4 PM. I am game to run any of the trails you mentioned. I would just like to be home to take my girlfriend out for dinner. If we start with Cleaghorn, we can see how far we get.-ECV Jeep

How was dinner? :oops: :doh

[FishPOET]

Hey, anyone ever seen a Jeep stand on one wheel and hop three times?

[RedRhino]

For real, nephew. Where are the pics?

[dirtman13]

I think Malachi going to do a ride report then I'll post pics in there. Patience grasshoper.

[WYRD]

had a great run guys, thanks for the invite it was great to meet all of you. I think I need to rotate my tires cus I only used the two I had on the ground most of the time. The waterfall was fun too!

[Materdaddy]

x2 !!!!!

[RedRhino]

I'm intrigued about this waterfall.

[Mike]

Trail Report (Finally!)

Wow! Tough crowd! :whip:

(Sorry for the delay, but I went wheelin' again this morning. I hope Rat Patrol will post that run because he was the only one with a camera. I forgot mine. :bonk: )

We had 9 rigs turn out for the Cleghorn to Craft's Peak run. Of course, I was one of the last to arrive. But we hit the trail at 8:40am and started climbing Cleghorn. Before the day was done, four of the rigs made it all the way to Butler Peak for the sunset! TJRick said that he logged it as 62 miles of off road trails.

The 9 folks were:
Sharon and myself leading the pack in "Mr. Green". Sharon drove Cleghorn end-to-end, and she started with Sharon's Hill:


Danabee (Dan and Jackie):


TJRick (Rick, Debbie, and Max):


ECVJeep (Brian):


Jumpjet (Sean):


WYRD (Shea and Amber):


Dirtman13 (Chuck):


Max7 (Maxwell). He brought his 70's Chevy Truck - just for grins!:


Rat Patrol (Kurt) as the tail gunner:


The theme for the day seemed to be getting tires off the ground. Brian eventually one-upped everyone. Also, there were many "firsts" for the run. First MJR run, first time that I have posted a run, first time on any one (or several) of the trails, and the first time that Sharon had driven ALL (not just parts) of Cleghorn. Surprisingly, of the 8 rigs that went, only Rat Patrol and Mr. Green had been on Dishpan before.

Unfortunately, the carnage started early. Maxwell's truck broke a front drive shaft U-joint. He sadly decided to limp it back home since he was so close to the trailhead.

The eight remaining rigs continued over Cleghorn.
Sean was next to see the Carnage Demon when he had a spring pop loose. With a little work, he was able to repair it and get underway again:




Silverwood Fuelbreak (2N17X)
We cruised around the Silverwood dam to the next trail, 2N17X. Before heading up the trail, we had lunch. Afterwards, we were moving along at a good pace. Even so, we were able to still get a few photos. These are a couple of my favorites:



Pilot Rock Road (2N33)
At the top of 2N17X, we turned toward Arrowhead on Pilot Rock Road. The side trails are not as tough as some parts of Cleghorn, but they have their moments. We got to the V-Notch near the Pilot Rock formation and 5 of the group attempted the climb. All were successful. The yellow Rubicon - fully stock - especially lived up to it's mighty Jeep reputation!:

And Dirtman13's CJ7 did it with flair:


Dishpan Springs (3N34)
Since we had so many folks that hadn't done Dishpan Springs before, as well as, it was starting to get late in the day, we chose to skip the Willow Creek Jeep Trail and take paved roads around Lake Arrowhead. It also let us hit a convenience store to refresh water supplies since the day was much warmer than forecast.

The trip up to the dry falls was challenging and fun. The trail is in good shape with minimal trash. This time, the falls were even more challenging than in my last report. The face has been eroded to a rougher surface and the base has a fairly deep hole that increases the shearness of the climb. ECVJeep (Brian) demonstrated this feature in two attempts at the climb. The first one send him back on the two rear tires before coming to rest:


The second attempt made even Rat Patrol pause as he bounced off the rock face, landing and bouncing on his driver's rear tire before coming to rest like this:


Brian definitely wins the unofficial tires-off "competition".

Even so, TJRick still put on a show as he found a tough spot in the climb:


Failed Attempt at Craft's Peak (2N13D)
After Dishpan Springs, half of our troop needed to start heading home. The four remaining decided to find Craft's Peak for a sunset view before heading for dinner.

We took 3N16 to the Crab Flats staging area and turned onto a little used road designated 2N54. What a great trail! It is an easy-to-moderate run, but the trees and the views are fantastic:


When we reached the trailhead that leads to Craft's Peak, we found that some road construction had blocked the trail:


We also could not find the trail designation sign, so we didn't want to travel the trail since it is (hopefully temporarily) undesignated. Too bad, the trail looks interesting:


Snow Slide Road (2N13) and Butler Peak (2N13B)
Not to be defeated, we decided to try to get to Butler Peak before sunset. We took Snow Slide Road (2N13) toward Big Bear. What a beautiful trail! I know Kurt wants to go back to just spend a day taking photos. This should be on everyone's to-do list for sight-seeing.

We made it to Butler Peak and climbed to the fire watch station:

We caught a nice sunset to end a great day of wheeling:


The four rigs headed into Big Bear and had a tasty Mexican meal together before heading home. I want to thank everyone who went for indulging me in this long and trying day. I loved the trip and the folks on it made it extra special. Thanks again for an excellent day.:thumbs_up

All my photos can be seen here:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...shpan/?start=0

[RAT]

Anytime Mike. Thanks again...
Rat

[dirtman13]

Wow, nice pics. Mike thanks again had a great time.