Pine Mountain Run

[Crinale]

Well my girlfriend and I had a complete day off together, so we decided to do a little 4 wheelin... Filled the 4runner up with gas and hit the trail... started out on Hi-Mountain trail, which is a mostly easy grated dirt access trail with a few badly rutted areas, but nothing that needs 4wd.

Then moved on to Pozo Rd, which is an even easier trail... could do it in my old lowered civic... then we came upon Pine Mountain. Did the short side first which ends at the bottom of the "stairsteps", which is a crazy rock outcropping that would require a seriously modded solid axle F/R vehicle, or even a rock buggy...

View of the stairsteps from the bottom: (no pic does justice to the severity of this trail)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/4.jpg

And the gorgeous view from the trail:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/2.jpg


And a few of the lovely GF (and me) who put up with a full day offroadin...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/7.jpg

From there we turned around and went back to the Backbone trail (Pozo Road), and headed off for the other side of Pine Mountain Trail. I have no idea why the 4wheel book i have rates this side of the trail easier than the short side, as the short side (book rated the short side a 6 out of 9 possible, with the steps rated a 9, and the long side a 5)... I wish i had some action shots of the long side, as this was the first time iv ever encountered a trail that required 4-Low... most of the trails around here are 4hi friendly.

Followed the trail all the way to the stairsteps to find this sign:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/8.jpg
Reads: CAUTION: 'STAIRSTEPS' AHEAD / MOST DIFFICULT / ADVANCED DRIVERS ONLY / LAST TURN AROUND HERE / MODIFIED 4WD VEHICLES ONLY / PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

And one of the view from the top of the steps:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/9.jpg

Getting down to the top of the steps was the easy part... getting back out was a whole 'nother story... Lockers would have proved to be very useful, as i kept getting opposite wheels off the ground trying to get over the rocks... Got lots of pinstriping, but the great thing about white, you cant really see any of it unless you are looking for it ^_^. Didnt break anything, but added a few "modifications"...

(Damage pics taken on Pismo Dunes where we stopped on the way home to eat our picnic lunch we had packed)

Stock T-Case skid:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/11.jpg

Stock Gas Tank Skid:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/13.jpg

And some rock rash on the rear diff:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/Crinale/Pine%20Mountain%204x4/12.jpg

The one damage i didnt get a pic of, since i didnt notice it til today cleaning the truck, the Stock front skid plate is no longer flat... it met a rock quite hard, ill try to get a pic of it tomorrow...

All in all, i didnt break anything, had a lot of fun, and discovered the current limits of my stock 4Runner.

[slosurfer]

Awesome! Sounds like the long side of Pine Mtn has gotten harder. It used to be really easy except for that last little bit to get to the top of the stairsteps. Cool, I haven't done Pine Mtn in awhile! You should hit up Garcia Ridge off of Hi Mtn some day. That one has gotten harder as well, especially without lockers. :)

Yeah, I have yet to see a good pic of the stairsteps that does it justice. One of the scary parts about it is that it is on such a narrow ridge that either way you roll, you are in for a long scary ride.

[Crinale]

Ive done the first part of Garcia ridge, but i havent tried it since i got the 4runner... so i guess i should go out then ;)

All the difficult part was in the last 1/2-3/4 of a mile when the trail gets really narrow... There are some bad ruts, and a couple washed out sections that make it skinnier, plus some pretty big rocks that have fallen onto the trail. Most of the problems i had were because of open differentials... if i was locked even on one axle it probably wouldnt have been that difficult...