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03/01/09 - The club enjoyed another great weekend in the Death Valley area, this time in the Funeral Range visiting Echo Canyon and Chloride Cliff.  Plus a couple of hikes, mines, a stop in Beatty and a whole lot of fun!!!

John lead us from the floor of Death Valley near Furnace Creek up into Echo Canyon to the Inyo Mine where we camped. We got into camp early and folks explored the mine area and others hiked about, including down to the Schwab town site. 

In the morning we got up early and got moving down the east side of the mountains, stopping in Beatty for gas (and jerky) and then on to Ryolite where we looked at the old buildings and enjoyed lunch.  Then we headed up to Chloride Cliff and made camp. Some folks explored the trails and some hung out but all had a nice time well into the night.

On Sunday we got up and made for Monarch Canyon and John took us on a hike down the canyon, past the one stamp mill and on to a wonderful overlook that gave great views of Death Valley from very high up! We hiked back the way we came and enjoyed lunch. We then headed to air up and do the group picture. Before heading back to the asphalt.

Another wonderfully fun and informative run for the club!!!

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02/08/09 - All the weather predictions were for rain and cold for this weekend but, our group being what it is, we kept to our schedule and headed up to Calico! Erik and I arrived at camp in mule canyon at about 6:00 PM on Friday night after having driven through some rain but it cleared up in the high desert. After we setup camp we went down the canyon to Calico road to meet our invited guests Dan and Monica along with their son Dante, friend Ashley and dog Mac, and their 3rd generation Tacoma and a 95 pickup being pulled in their very nice 39 foot toy hauler.

After we got everything squared away we decided to go show them around a little bit so they can get a better idea of what we will be doing seeing as they had never run in the rocks before. After some fun on Phillips, we went back to camp and got a good fire going. A while later Dennis showed up and we all hung out around the fire till bed time.

Saturday morning, it has rained much of the night and rolls around and I can hear the rain falling on my tent! The rest of the group got up and Jose rolled in with his son, brother and a friend. We got Dennis’ Eazy Up set up and had our club meeting and driver meeting out of the rain.

Then we headed out! Monica and Dan didn’t have any armor, sliders or lockers but they wanted to run with us anyway! We started up Dorran, me as Trailboss and Dennis as Tailgunner and got to the first narrow canyon. It was washed out a lot more than we remembered. It took a while to get everyone through but we all worked together and did great. After that we had to pull over to let another faster group through (and a Rhino that got stuck and we dislodged off the rocks).  Then we continued on. 

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until we got to the last waterfall. Dan was getting tugged up the first part of the fall, slid off his line, landed on his driveshaft and it broke in half. He got the broken pieces unbolted, then we winched, tugged and highlifted him the rest of the way up.

We got to the Bismark Mine at the top and stopped to explore and rest for a little while.  Dennis and I wanted to shoot off a few rounds from our hand guns so we walked a safe distance away and set up a few targets. We didn’t realize till we went through a hundred round box that we had scarred Monica and Dan’s dog Mac into the hills! As a team we searched for four hours to find him, some in trucks, some on foot, some in the hills and some in the mines as the sun set and darkness came over the cold desert.

We didn’t know what happened to him and as the hours past we started to feel terrible. He could have fallen into one of the hundreds of mine shafts or ran far away! He was just gone! Everyone was bummed out and stressed! Dennis and I left the group at the Bismarck and went back down the hill to check at camp, and part way back up Doran to see if he’d gone down the way we came. We found nothing. We were almost back to the Bismarck when Erik got through on the radio to tell us they found Mac! It seems Erik had gotten them going and they’d made one last search during which Mac simply trotted over the hill to them!

A big weight off the shoulders of everyone and gloom has transformed into elation! We all know how important our pets are to us, so getting Mac back was a big victory for everyone. We would have looked for Mac all night to find him!  Monica and Dan were gracious and wonderful through the whole day, even when it turned to an almost horrible time because of the loss of their dog. We were very much blessed to have everything turn out so well!

It was now getting late, and with one broken truck we set off the on the longer but easier way back to camp and got there at about 10:00 PM. Jose aired up and headed home, getting in at about 1:30 AM. In camp Monica cooked for everyone and we were invited into their warm fifth wheel to relax and watch a movie Monica had made of their fun in Glamis! Mac got treats, a lot of petting and a bed to lay on after his ordeal. Soon we were all too tired to stay up and everyone went to bed.

The next morning, after a bit of rain through the night, most of us slept in. When we did get up we ate, chilled a while, packed up and headed home after another great weekend at Calico!
 
Damage report: a few scrapes and dents on the naked rocker panels, a new small dent on Erik’s rear quarter, a broken rear drive shaft on Dan’s 95, a new scrape on my bed and a new scrape in Dan’s bed, and some sore paws on Mac the incredible stealth dog!

Another successful and fun SCTC trip! Despite dire predications of terrible rains and cold, it did not really impact our fun much at all. Despite all the calamities that befell our little group, we got through it as a team and it all turned out well! Isn’t that what it is all about?

For Pictures Click Here!

12/06/08 - Another excellent trip by the club on a combination of fun trails that make an excellent day run, Rattlesnake Canyon and Pontiac Loop. Rattlesnake Canyon runs up the back of the San Bernardino Mountains from Old Woman Springs (east of Apple Valley) in the desert and up into the mountains.  In the old days (before the lake) it was a trail on which cattle were moved from summer grazing in Hart Bar Ranch to winter grazing at Old Woman Springs.  Hart Bar is now an equestrian camp while Old Woman Springs is still an active cattle ranch and we ran into a few of the inhabitants.  Pontiac Loop is named for an old Pontiac in one of the washes, but is the rocky trail to the old mines near Onyx Summit (east of Big Bear).  After this we headed west to Big Bear to see the Rose Mine on the way.

Unfortunately we had a few unavoidable last minute cancellations due to breakdowns, work and more. But, little groups are fun and so our little caravan of four hit the trail!  We actually saw cattle in Rattlesnake Canyon, I assume from Old Woman Springs! We made it up the canyon without issue and climbed from the desert to the mountains, with only one u-turn by the King of U-turns, our trailboss for the day.

We then headed over to Pontiac Loop and had our second u-turn on the way as the King of U-turns was too bust waving at a Jeep club to turn onto the trail. We headed up the mountain to the mine with only the last obstacle hanging folks up a little! We had lunch at the top and enjoyed the time to relax and look around.

After lunch we headed back down as we came. We then headed over to the Rose Mine and then over to Baldwin Lake. There was at least one more  u turn someplace as well, plus one “loop” that didn’t count as the trailboss made very clear! Some headed home from Baldwin Lake and some headed to the Sonora Cantina for food and drink, and a lot of laughs.  The cantina gang were all staying up on Big Bear, so the designated drivers took over and soon off to the hotels and to sleep.

Another excellent adventure for the club! For pictures click here!