Rattlesnake Cyn Run

[jeep-noob]

i got lost and didnt make it trailhead until 930AM
Woohoo!! great day for me

i started on the trail and saw the guy with the classic white bronco coming back from heating issues and then turned around myself not knowing if i would cath up and fearing the desolate desert alone

[Mitch]

Hey Noob

Sorry we missed you. This was a fun run today with 15 rigs making the full trip. I wondered where the white 71' bronco went. After Rattlesnake Canyon most of the rigs went on to Heartbreak Ridge(Open trail) while 3 of us went back on 2N02 as planned. I hope that everyone made it back from the side trip. As I was getting to the pavement at Holcomb Lake the sky opened up with a non stop downpour with a lightning and thunder show that was awesome! As I watched the lightning strikes for a few minutes I thought I'd better get down the hill before the flooding started. The temp went from 60' in Big Bear to 101' in Lucerne in my 20 minute drive! I bet that there are some large mud puddles after that storm.

Thanks for a fun run.

Mitch - great88

[Desert Jewel]

Sounds like a great run! Would have loved to have been there in the downpour...although after a couple minutes without my hard top I'm sure I would have been soaked! Now I want to go play in the mud tomorrow!!!!!!

[Nipple Twister]

Thanx everyone.....

...for such a great day. Glad to hear the Bronco made it back out ok and everyone got thru with no damage except Max....broken tie rod but had it fixed in short order.
Had a great day meeting everyone, the person who I was suppossed to meet in BB stood us up so I'm sorry I missed the trip thru Heartbreak.:angry:

[Mike]

Trail Report - Rattlesnake and Heartbreak Ridge

We had a big group at the start of the trail, 16 vehicles. It was great to meet everyone. I definitely had a great time with a fun group to wheel with.

Rattlesnake Canyon

I'm glad that I wasn't the first one to the trailhead, because it is pretty much just another trail into the desert. It was easy to find with all the Jeeps parked at it though:


We cruised around the ranch at the begining of the trail. Our big group seemed to catch the attention of the natives:


As we headed into the canyon, the terrain was typical Mojave desert. The were a few dusty spots, but in general, it wasn't too bad:


The terrain started changing as the canyon narrowed. It became rockier and low brush and trees were more abundant.

We found several optional play areas along the way. This one was my favorite:



Maxwell went back and tried a different line and made it look easy:


All in all, the trail itself is pretty mild, but the scenery and the optional play areas make this a very nice trail:


Maxwell broke his tie rod on one of these play areas:


But the spot that it happened was pleasant:


As we reached the top of the canyon, we had lunch in a nice shady spot and then finished the trail out to Burns Canyon Road (2N02). To get there, we passed through a Joshua forest and could see some thunderheads forming back towards Big bear:


Heartbreak Ridge (2N61Y)

Although there is some controversy as to whether we should be driving the Heartbreak Ridge trail, the trail is clearly still designated with two different postings and an Adopt-A-Trail posting as well:



We had several folks with us that had not run the trail before. It is a great little trail and everyone seemed to enjoy it. My favorite spot is the rock garden near the South end of the trail:






Near the end of the trail, we took 2N89Y up Yocum Spring to where it intersects 2N01. It is a cool short cut, but I didn't get any photos.

It was getting late for me. I needed to be back at my house soon, so I said my goodbyes to a great group of folks and headed out to the 38 on 2N01.

Heart Bar Peak (1N38)

Well, I almost made it in time, but I just had to check out what the Heart Bar Peak trail looked like. It is the last Black Diamond trial in Big Bear area that I haven't driven yet. So when I saw the sign, I thought that I would just take a "quick peek" to see how tough is was and then be on my way.

At first I thought that the forest service had trouble making up their mind how to rate the trail:


Especially since the sign at the trail head only had a Blue Square:


The trail is pretty mild as it winds up the peak:


There are some excellent views:


The brush had been trimmed and maintained recently, so I made very good time. I was about to give up on finding any challenging parts of the trail, when I found this sign:


Soon after this, the trail has some very tight turns and then a series of three steep, VERY loose rock climbs:


The steepness wasn't too bad, but the looseness of the rocks was tough. Mr. Green spun and threw rocks all the way to the top, which is only about a 3/4 of a mile from the Black Diamond sign:


From the top, I could see a storm moving through the valley:


I took care going back down the loose slopes and then made a quick retreat to the paved road. I caught a small part of the rain as I passed through the camping areas along the 38:


An another excellent day wheeling and another Black Diamond trail explored!

All of my photos can be see at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...25-07/?start=0

[dirtman13]

Great report and pictures guys. Looks like you had a good time. Sorry I missed it. If I can shake this cold I might be going next weekend with some buddies. I’d like to do Heartbreak before they close it. Leave it to Max to take the hard lines.

[jeep-noob]

just curious how you were able to repair the drag-link on the fly, did you have a replacement part?

[Mike]

Max7 can probably better answer this, but the tie rod end sheared in such a way that it could be threaded back on a little if the other side was threaded out. The tires angled in slightly for the rest of the trail, but he was able to "baby" it through the run. He went to Quinn's shop afterward and replaced the tie rod.

[Max7]

just curious how you were able to repair the drag-link on the fly, did you have a replacement part?

I had originally welded a D60 drag link "sleeve" onto my stock link because I kept bending it so violently. Right where the weld joined the two is where it sheared. I hit a rock, and it snaped like a frozen fish stick. Luck had it that there was still about 1/2 inch of thread engagement left on the side that sheared. So by unthreading the other end of the drag link a little and rethreading the "broken" side the 1/2 inch, I was able to get by with the rest of the group and do the rest of the trail. I just had pretty excesive toe in. Once we finished the trails Quinn of "All J" up in Big Bear lent me his spare Currie drag link which I installed at his shop. What a great guy! :thumbs_up
Thanks to all who pitched in to help... It was fun!
Best, Max7-

[Lead Dog]

What a great day it was! Here are some of the pictures I took!



















And after this I woke up saturday and did the Bull for the first time!

[brokenujoint]

just got back from Big Bear and tried to run Rattle snake canyon ... CLOSED

3n16 and most related trails such as john bull are open as of Nov 8

John bull was pretty fun. got to watch a 4 door JK TRY to get through. tough times. John bull was a little harder than usual (i've probably ran it maybe 10 or so times)after the entrance after the 2nd set of rock gardens. i ran it backwards this time as i think its more fun that way....

[Mitch]

Kevin,

I just called the Discovery Center and 2N02 is said to be open from Baldwin Lake east past Rattlesnake Canyon. Email me if you want to verify what road/trail you were on.

Mitch