Big Bear 7/31 - 8/2 2008

[Seanz0rz]

Just got home and showered. had a wonderful time with everyone, got to meet a few new people.

ran Gold Mountain on Friday and Dishpan Spring and John Bull on Saturday. we i had a little bit of carnage on Dishpan, a result of some faulty spotting and sandy rocks. nothing too major though, just another scratch.

lots of banged up skids and sliders

Gold Mountain went off without a hitch. however, we did get stuck behind a bunch of stock vehicles, an h3, xterra, trooper, etc. they had no business on that trail and i think were in way over their heads.

Dishpan springs was very fun! Patrick got to use his winch helping out a land rover that could not make it up the main obstacle. shortly after that i tagged the rear passenger door on a boulder. tiny ding and a lot of missing paint.

We started John Bull late in the day, and finished just as the sun went down. took much longer than i had expected, as i have never led that trail before. i luckily didnt do a repeat of May and scrape up my door. i took the much harder line and although i struggled with it, made it after several attempts. i forgot just how fun this trail is.

Big pine flats campground was very nice. the flies and gnats were HORRIBLE during daylight hours. the camp boss was crazy. nuttier than squirrel turds. other than that, a very nice place to stay!

Here are the few pictures Jenn took with my camera. this is the part of john bull that got my door in may, i took the "harder" line to avoid an encore.

my 4Runner trying to eat Patrick:







hopefully you guys can post up better pictures and some video!

had a great time. a huge thank you to those that showed up. you guys are always welcome on any run i ever go on. shame corax is moving soon!

[corax]

I'll get more up soon . . . I still need to unload and take a well needed shower

we i had a little bit of carnage on Dishpan, a result of some faulty spotting and sandy rocks. nothing too major though, just another scratch.

I guess it was the rear door's turn this time, just barely touched to make a scrape and small ding


though I think Sean's heart rate went up a bit more after he adjusted his line got a bit tippy

[Seanz0rz]

boy am i glad i didnt look at those pictures right then, i would have just given up, paid a heli to come pluck me off the trail. i had no idea i was THAT tippy and my back tire was that far off the ground. HAHA. thank god you guys got lots of pictures of that. the one of my door is just spectacular!

[corax]

Much fun was had and we had good luck that there was no breakage or carnage (sorry Sean, that scratch doesn't count as carnage), the water hole at Dishpan was cleaned up a bit thanks to a spare garbage bag that Jenn and Justin had, and after John Bull beer was consumed while we told stories of crazy Amazon women holding up the group and old men being dumped in the desert . . .

Pat winching the rover up Dish Pan, I give the guy in the rover props for trying this open/open. After much wheel spinning and metal banging from the undercarriage he got up though


the group after Dish Pan - JnJ - mine - Sean - Patrick's


going into John Bull - I sat out this run because I need my truck to tow my trailer cross country in a month or so, plus I had the only truck without sliders or a rear locker


flexing a bit on the approach to the first obstacle


Pat coming up the first obstacle



Justin made it look too easy with F/R lockers


Sean near the top of the second obstacle, he almost took out the driveshaft on the rock underneath the truck, but a small adjustment and he made it over with an inch to spare -- I never really understood why they put an "Oh $h1t" handle on the driver side before


Warming up the tires for better traction?

[Marc P]

Looks like fun as usual...sucks I had to miss it.

[YotaGirl]

We had a blast this weekend. I'll post up my pictures as soon as I get them loaded onto the computer.

[elripster]

Great pics! I miss SoCal wheeling already.

Frank

[DHC6twinotter]

wow...looks awesome! Wish I was there.

[chrisyota65]

wish i had my truck but it was fun and every one had a fun time and john bull was fun and it had changed a lol after one year but it is still the same and next year when we go up i will lead the group up john bull

[Seanz0rz]

also, huge thanks to jenn for being the organizer this time. everything went as smoothly as possible!