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10/12/09 – The Southern California Tacoma Club Visited Death Valley National Park for the first time this fall (we return in November), taking on Pleasant and South Park Canyons followed by an optional  trip up Goler to Butte Valley.  Blessed with great weather along the way, the trip went smoothly and was great fun with John in the lead, Dennis at tail and Nick with his Dad and Dana out to enjoy the fun.

Leaving from picturesque Trona on Saturday morning we headed to Ballarat to air down and then went up Pleasant Canyon, stopping at the interesting mines and views along the way. We ate lunch of the trail and then set up camp. Before it got dark we headed into Middle Park and spent some time playing with the burros, of which there are now way more than plenty, and then back to camp to settle in for the night.  It was a pretty chilly night so most were thankful when the sun rose!

We then made our way down the rest of South Park and said good bye to Nick and his father who needed to get home to work the next day. The rest of us headed to Goler. We stopped at Barker Ranch and were very much saddened by its current state after a fire destroyed the main building there earlier in the year.  It made us a bit sad to see it as it is and also remember it as it was. So, we left and preceded up Mengle Pass and down to Russ’s where we’d stay for the night.  Before supper Dana took us over to see some interesting sites along the edge of the valley we’d never seen before and then he headed off to Warm Springs. John and I were then all that was left so we headed down Redland’s Canyon until we could go no farther and then hiked down to a beautiful dry water fall as the sun set. This left us an excellent night wheel back to Butte Valley, supper, showers and sleep.

In the morning John headed back out Goler while I headed out via Warm Springs and headed home with the traditional stop at China Ranch in Tecopa for a date shake.

It was a wonderful laid back trip that was really two trips in one! We saw a lot and relaxed a lot. A success!

The club will return to Death Valley National Park in November with our Racetrack and Saline Valley run.  We welcome guests and people interested in our club. Contact us for more information.

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[09/13/09] The Southern California Tacoma Club’s The Whole Bernardino was one of the most fun runs the club has done this close to home. Spanning the entire San Bernardino Mountain Range from the Cleghorn to Old Woman Springs near Johnson Valley, the group ran every major open trail in San Bernardino National Forest. Two rigs completed every trail and many participants completed most of the trails and took part in at least two of the three days of the run.

The trip started at the Cleghorn exit on I-15 where Jeremy (leading), Sal with Julia and Dennis started the trip west early on Friday morning. Taking many of the ‘bypasses’ to harder parts of the trail to keep this easy trail interesting the group made it though very quickly. They moved on to 2N17X and Pilot Rock (2N33). 2N17X offered its main challenge, a loose, dusty and steep hill climb which everyone climbed without issue with a bit of skinny pedal. At the end of Pilot rock, the group headed north a few miles to hook up with the Willow Creek Trail which was taken to get to Dishpan Springs on the other side of Lake Arrowhead. The notorious Dishpan Springs Trail (Deep Creek) has long been one of our favorites. This would be the most difficult trail of the day and the location of the group’s lunch stop just before the dry fall. After a fun assent of the fall, and terrible noises from Dennis’s rig as what later turned out to be motor mount issues that caused his engine to hit the hood, the group headed across 3N16 to beautiful and historic Holcomb Valley to make camp. Well, Dennis didn’t camp, preferring on this trip to stay in relative opulence at Big Bear Lake, and suffering the expected ribbing because of it.

Day two added Nick with Cortney and Jose with his son Johnny to the group. Jose was our leader for the day with Sal as tailgunner. The group continued east on 3N16 down to Baldwin Lake and then around to the south end of Gold Mountain. Gold Mountain was harder this year than in the past, and that meant more fun.  The group completed the trail and the optional talus slope before heading to the infamous John Bull!  John Bull proved to be interesting to say the least, a group of Jeeps blocked part of the trail at the last main obstacle. One had a burned up clutch. As we took the other side, Jose’s ‘square’ front drive shaft fell out at one point. Sal’s rig had fuel flow problems. Everyone worked as a team and made it up to the top for lunch! But the day was not over. Completing John Bull the group headed west again, but for Sal and Julia who went back to camp. The group headed to White Mountain and ran it, mostly in the dark for some fun night wheeling before running 3N16 east again back to camp.

Day three, the last day, and Dennis wife Ruby joined the fun to keep him from too many u-turns! With the group slightly beaten and only a little battered, with Dennis in the lead and Jose as tailgunner the group again headed east on 3N16 to Jacoby Canyon. This easy but beautiful trail descends a tree lined canyon down to Highway 18. Highway 18 then took the group to Baldwin Lake and 2N02 (with the help of two local women how pointed us away from their ranches and to the trail). This is the Burns Canyon Trail,  the 3N16 of the Eastern San Bernardino Mountains. The group headed past the Rose Mine area and toward Heartbreak Ridge (Pontiac Sluice) and took this trail with its many fun obstacles to the top of the mountain for lunch. Departing with full stomachs the intrepid band descended back to 2N02 and then east to the top of Rattlesnake Canyon where the group turned north and headed down the canyon toward Old Woman Springs. It was here along highway 247 the group aired up, having made it to the end of the end of The Whole Bernardino and headed home.

In the end two participants made it through all of the trails, and one all but one. The rest of the group participated in Saturday and Sundays fun. Along the way there was considerable discussion of doing The Whole Bernardino II as the club’s Big Bear event traditionally held in June with participants doing the parts and days they’d like.

A big Thank You to all who showed up and to those who lead and tailgunned and to everyone who helped all day long and made this a great team effort as well as a fun and successful event for the club!

Pictures can be seen by clicking here!

The Team At The End Of The Whole Bernardino

08/16/19 - A year ago on a trip to Coyote Flats, my wife and I were with John, near the 12,226 foot peak they call the Hunchback. Looking down from the seemingly barren tops of the Eastern Sierras we saw a green valley full of small pristine lakes.  We looked down into this valley for a long time and contemplated how and when we could get down there.  Being too late to attempt it then, we left and headed home, vowing to return.

So, a year later here we were, ready to go! Well that is after night camping in Bishop at Brownstown, and a long drive up in the trucks.  With Sal staying at the top with the rigs, four of us, Julia, Fernando, John and I and all our gear hiked  down the narrow trail from the barren slopes down to the verdant valley of our dreams! The views of Green Lake from different angles as we descended and crossed the mountain switchbacks were wonderful!  We set up camp on the south side of the lake, in a grassy spot with a view up the valley as well as across the lake.   We filtered water to drink from the nearby stream and relaxed enjoying terrific views.

Each person adjusted to the location and altitude in their own way, a nap,  resting on a rock by the shore or by fishing for Green Lake’s elusive trout.  It was a time to relax and enjoy just being is this special place far from the city.

The lake shore is mostly rock on the north shore and white bark pine on the south.  The south west shore was our home and hangout for much of our time and it is where the trail between all the lakes runs.

Later in the day John. Julia and I hiked down to Brown Lake a few miles away.   It was mostly down hill the whole way but we knew that meant uphill for the hike back. We’d earn our supper today! This smaller lake is fed by water from Green Lake that follows under the rocks then through a meadow and into the lake.  We crossed these rocks and then descended into the bottom of the meadow to the lake.  The fish were jumping at the lake and we sat in the grass, snaked and relaxed for a while before going back to camp.

Camp was near the shore of the lake, back a bit on a grassy area.  We had good access to water in a streem, views of the lake, and some protection from the wind. It was perfect!

Once at camp we sat under a tree, far from our tents so our food would not attract bears to where we would sleep, and we cooked our suppers, delicious dehydrated goodness!  Food tastes better when you are camping, any food! We all cooked but for Fernando who climbed back up to see Sal at the top and enjoyed hot dogs! He brought one down for Julia! Fernando was the hill climb speed champion at 23 minutes!

The sun set and  we watched the light paint the mountains that surrounded us.   But, as the sun set, the temperatures plunged! Soon it was time to get into sleeping bags! As we slept it went below freezing but we were all warm in our gear.

In the morning everyone ate and tried to get rid of as much food as they could so as to not carry it back up in the packs. John had Spaghetti!

We’d come for only one night, a sort of exploratory trip, and everyone packed up their gear and prepared for the hike back up the mountain to the trucks where Sal had spent a cold and restless night, a mountain lion having visited in the evening.

Everyone made good time climbing back up, and once back at the top, we were all happy to have had such a great time.  The trip was over so fast but it was great fun and plans for the next trip were made with a vow to return to these lakes again!

John and I took a detour to the Shober mine area. We didn’t find much there but the views of the Sierras were wonderful so we enjoyed them for a bit.  Our original plan was to camp but the call of hot showers and good food was too strong and we headed into Bishop to end on a more civilized note!   John and I were then the dirtiest and most odiferous people in the lobby of the Holiday Inn! Yet, they still gave us rooms!

In the morning we headed south, to home with a few detours along the way, one being the Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery and once home, another successful trip was complete!

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