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By steve - 8/26/2006 11:27:17 AM
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Anyone hear from Danny? he phoned me from the bottom of the hill this morning and said the pass rear brake on the burb was smoking. I told his to take it apart for an inspection - and if it wasn't salvageable then remove the brake shoes and drive it home - I'm thinking he should be OK with just front brakes since the new trailer probably has brakes that work.
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By steve - 8/26/2006 12:36:20 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
I hadn't heard from him. Shit, my cell phone is dead, charger is at work.
Brakes on that thing are fresh.
I'm thinking that he put the emergency brake on while you guys were on your trip and it stuck after being applied for a week.
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By steve - 8/26/2006 12:42:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
It won't move with the e-brake on. Heard any more from him?
Nope, nothing...
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By Robert-R - 8/26/2006 12:58:03 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
Anyone notice that Bill's fender damage never appears in a pic on the trail? Even those at the end of the trail on Friday...anyone want to 'splain how that happened?
Anger Management Candidate:
It was Road Rage!
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By Robert-R - 8/27/2006 12:33:33 AM
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We got back in at 7:30 last night. Talk about tired.
What a great week with great people!!
We put in some long days. The Thompson Hill run was 19.6 miles in 10 1/2 hours which included at least an hour of repairs.
We were at the back of the line-up most the time, so didn't take a lot of pix.
Here's a few:
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By Robert-R - 8/28/2006 12:39:04 PM
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Nice write-ups Bill & Mike!
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By Carl Case - 8/27/2006 6:22:53 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
Carnage was minimal.
Danny lost his rear brakes, possible plugged proportioning valve, not really carnage, more of a shit happens thing.
Jerry, (Danny's dad) tore a lower track bar mount, quickly repaired by Carl.
Bob, cracked frame horn. Failed in same section as a previous repair. Carl repaired.
Mike, broken spring hangar. Carl repaired.
I have a slightly bent tie rod, still steers straight on the highway.
Oh, and Bill's fender...but that's another story!
Last I heard, Bill got an Attorny for his fender.
As for all these repairs... I was just the young Grasshoppa willing to do the work. Bill is the real hero for buying the welder and ALL the gear to safely use it.
My repairs did get me a lot of beer and food
quote:
Originally posted by Mighty five
Man that looks like a fun place to wheel. Where is it southern California?
The Shaver lake area is just north of King's Canyon National Park. Most locals will call that general area the Central Sierra's. It's pretty much right in the middle of CA.
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By Carl Case - 8/27/2006 10:58:16 PM
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Better watch out Bill. Knowing your attorny, you're likely to end up with a stock set of axles from an XJ.
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By Carl Case - 8/27/2006 11:39:26 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by pumpkingpr
Looks like a great time. Do you know if they allow Quads and Motercycles up there? I'd love to go wheelin with you guys again, cep't I'll have to take this:http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ATV/2006Models/Sportsman/Sportsman800EFI/Features.htm
I got the Green one on vacation. Mama's is the Black LE
Those things were everywhere. I figured there would be a lot of bikes too, but I only saw tracks. I only saw "no green sticker" signs on some of the major roads, never even near a trail. Most of the people on quads were hunters.
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By Fnbuggy - 8/28/2006 6:27:34 AM
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Bwahahahaha NASCAR on the Dusy. Looks like a great trip.
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By RockNut - 8/28/2006 11:08:25 AM
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Thanks for sharing all the pics. Looks like a nice place to relax and do some wheeling. The views look spectacular.
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By JeepinScott - 8/26/2006 11:07:44 AM
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The picture of the water rushing out is 'Portal Powerhouse,' I wish I could have been with you guys, I could have set up the $3.00 tour of the bigcreek project.
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By spotter - 8/27/2006 10:52:23 AM
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We had such a great time, looking forward to wheeling with all of you again. As good as the shower felt, I wish we were still there sitting with good friends.
Oh yeah Friday night won at double or nothing poker....ended up ahead after my losing streak all week! Robert R make sure you tell Lynn, she gave me good luck. Thanks Danny, Jerry and Bob!
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By Britain - 8/28/2006 3:18:43 AM
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Looks like a hole lots of fun!
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By kike - 8/26/2006 10:42:52 AM
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Wonderful pics!!!
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By jeffy - 8/26/2006 9:59:23 AM
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Looks like someone will be looking for some tube fenders soon.
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By Sarges 7 - 8/26/2006 9:11:13 PM
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Looks like lots of fun, thanks for sharing.
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By Rugd Jp - 8/26/2006 10:56:59 AM
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Awesome pics! I really need to get out there...
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By YJ Bill - 8/26/2006 9:32:25 AM
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Back around May, Bob Mitchell (Robert-R) and I started talking about plans for a summer vacation. We thought about hitting the Rubicon and Fordyce, but with the price of gas the Shaver Lake area seemed to make more sense as it is quite a bit closer to Socal. We sent out some E-mails and came up with a group of six rigs, plus a couple who weren’t camping with us but wanted to wheel. Bob (Bob91yj) and Machelle Green (Spotter), Danny Smith (YJ Breaker) and his father Jerry, Mike Opper (LTCJEEP) and Carl Case ( Carl Case) were all in. Bryan Putman (Bentyota) and his wife Donita were going to camp in a different area with their club, the SD 4 wheelers, but would be wheelin with us part of the time.
I e-mailed my friend Mark Boren who lives in Clovis and knows the area well. He clued us in on some good free camping areas in the forest that were big enough for our group. Mark also said he would drive up for a day and wheel with us.
Saturday August 19, 0600 hrs: Met Bob and Lynn, Bryan and Donita at our meeting spot just north of Escondido near the I 15. The ride was uneventful until we hit the 210 freeway at Pasadena. I was in front of the group when my cell phone rang. It was Lynn. She said they had a tire blow out on their motorhome. Not only did the tire blow out but it put a 4" rip in the motorhome’s black water tank. Lynn called road service.
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Since there was nothing I could do to help I went on ahead. I arrived at Shaver, found a cool camp area, unloaded my jeep and drove to a spot where my cell would work. Called everyone with directions to the camp and put out a couple of traffic cones to mark the final turn. Bob and Lynn rolled in around 5pm, Danny and Jerry around 10pm and Bob and Machell around midnight. We patched Bob’s black water tank with some epoxy from Napa and it all was good.
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Sunday: Bryan and Donita cruised by our camp at around 9am and wheeled Bald mtn. We meet a local guy in a Toyota truggy and he showed us some of the harder obstacles, Beer Rock and Hollywood Hill. Nobody broke anything. Mike and Carl showed at camp around 6pm ready for a week of wheelin.
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Monday: Bryan and Donita came by our camp at 0800hrs to run the Swamp Lake trail. They brought a couple of fellow Sd 4 wheelers in XJ’s (more on this later). Carl loaded his trials bicycle in Mikes CJ. With a total of nine rigs we headed up too the trail head and aired down. I was assured that both of the XJ’s were locked front and back even though one of them looked real stock with only 31's. The trail started out easy but after a couple of miles it was apparent that the XJ on 31's was locked only in the back and was having a real tough time as the trail got worse. Yikes!
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So the XJ’s turned around, now we had seven rigs, all locked up, smallest tires were 35's and we needed them. Lots of nice rock piles made up the trail. I bottomed out on one and knocked off the glue on oil pan skid that I’ve been running for the last 8 years. Since we were traversing north to south we got the thrill of descending Rooster Rock, a steep off-camber granite slab. We stopped at Swamp Lake for lunch, checked out a mining area and finished the trail by around 5pm.
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Tuesday. An easy day. I put my skid plate in the fire to burn off the old silicon adhesive and reattached it to the oil pan with another tube ( thanks Danny). Bob and Machelle took their kayak to Wishome reservoir. Danny worked on his brake system. It had been leaking fluid badly on Swamp. Bob and Lynn, Bryan and Donita, Mike and Carl hit the Mirror and Coyote Lake trails. Mike pulled into camp around 6 with a broken front spring hanger on his CJ. I pulled the battery out of my YJ and got my ready welder out of the back. Carl welded up the spring hanger with a couple of braces making it stronger than stock. Mike checked the other side, it was ready to fail also with a large crack. Carl worked his weld’n magic on it also, making everything ready for the rest of the week.
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Wednesday: At 0630 hrs we were rolling for Thompson Hill, the most infamous obstacle on the Dusy. 6 rigs total, Bob and Lynn, Bob and Machelle, Danny, Jerry, Bill and Carl, Mike and his step-dad Gene. We new it was going to be a long day as Thompson is just short of the camp area for the normal three day Dusy run, and we were doing it there and back all in one shot. We were making great time, hitting the top of Chicken Rock just a little after 9 am. At the next rest stop Jerry pulled up in his TJ with the front track bar hanging down unattached. The bolt to the frame mount had broken and the mount was severely cracked. Out came the welder and Carl made some more sparks. We found a bolt that would work in my collection and were off. Thompson Hill was more challenging than I remember, even on 37's. Steep and never ending with lots of loose boulders.
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By 1:30 pm we had all cleaned the top of Thompson and were eating lunch. Carl wanted to touch up his work on the Jerry’s track bar mount so out came the welder. As we were kick’n it Bob M notices that his TJ frame is cracked about half way thru between the steering box and the track bar mount. Not a good day for the TJ guys. Carl finished up on Jerry’s and prepped Bob’s frame with the die grinder. I had a scrap of 1/4" that would work for a plate over the cracks. Just as Carl gets started with the weld we ran out of wire. So it was back down the hill with what we got.
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The ride back went real smooth until Bob Green tried to jump a large boulder with Machelle’s Unlimited. Not a problem, out came the high lift.
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Bob M’s frame held. We finished the trail, aired up and were back at camp by 7:30 pm. This made for a 13 hr day. I was the last one back in as I went past camp to the spot where I could get out on my cell. Mark was planning on coming up from Clovis for a day run in his 7, so I asked him if he would mind picking up some flux core wire on his way. Back at camp I discovered that Danny had done the whole run with no rear brakes due to a malfunctioning proportioning valve.
It was one long day, some had said it couldn’t be done but we spanked it!
Thursday: Mark came up with the weld’n wire. Thanks Mark. We hung at camp for a while and told stories, some of them true. Everyone else was pretty wheeled out from Thompson, so myself and Carl, followed Mark as he showed us the back way up Bald Mountain. We ate lunch at the lookout, and checked out Posi Hill. Carl patched up Bob's frame when we got back to camp.
Friday: We had talked of wheelin the north end of the Dusy from Kaiser Pass into Ershime Lake and back. But we scaled it back a little and made Lakecamp Lake out goal. On the way to Kaiser pass we stopped and checked out the Portal Powerhouse.
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We got to Kaiser Pass, aired down and hit the dirt. Bob M lost his front ARB part way up, the plastic nut that holds the solenoid together came off. We replaced it with a spare and were off. It was a real nice ride the rest of the way to the high point on the trail, just over 10,000 ft. We stopped to check the view, hiked around a little, had lunch, took a group photo, but no group hug.
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Everyone agreed that it would be smart to hang a U and get back to camp in time to relax some and pack up before the long drive home. This is where it gets interesting. Bob M and I were doing some side by side rock racing down the trail towards Kaiser Pass. There are places were the trail splits and then narrows to one track between the trees. Anyhow I was gaining on Bob when he did a smooth Robbie Gordon block on me, so I figured the best thing to do would be give him a little Kurt Bush nascar bump. The plan was to just bump his back bumper and spare with my driver front tire, but since my windshield frame blocked the view of the fender it kinda got in the way. Left a little red paint on his 37 spare. Crunched my fender some. I guess I can always blame it on my new paint and the scallops, got ugly!
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Saturday: We all bailed for home. I was up before light and on the road by 6am. Lost a trailer tire in Temecula, a guy in a Civic went by waving, I looked in the passenger mirror and saw pieces of rubber flying in the air. Danny had some more brake problems on his tow rig but everyone made it home safely.
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We had a week of great wheelin and even better people. On our last wheelin day it was decided by all that this was “The Great Trip”.
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By YJ Bill - 8/26/2006 10:36:12 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
We're home, unpacked.
What a trip, good people, good wheeling!
Odd how my 5 seconds of inattention rated two pics, heheh.
Anyone notice that Bill's fender damage never appears in a pic on the trail? Even those at the end of the trail on Friday...anyone want to 'splain how that happened?
Stuff Happens!! 
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By YJ Bill - 8/27/2006 3:09:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Robert-R
quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
Anyone notice that Bill's fender damage never appears in a pic on the trail? Even those at the end of the trail on Friday...anyone want to 'splain how that happened?
Anger Management Candidate:
It was Road Rage!
You were backing up when I hit you........
That's my story and I sticking to it!
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By YJ Bill - 8/27/2006 12:04:10 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Carl Case
quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
Carnage was minimal.
Danny lost his rear brakes, possible plugged proportioning valve, not really carnage, more of a shit happens thing.
Jerry, (Danny's dad) tore a lower track bar mount, quickly repaired by Carl.
Bob, cracked frame horn. Failed in same section as a previous repair. Carl repaired.
Mike, broken spring hangar. Carl repaired.
I have a slightly bent tie rod, still steers straight on the highway.
Oh, and Bill's fender...but that's another story!
Last I heard, Bill got an Attorny for his fender.
[/quote]
Well, my attorny said we would let Bob off easy and settle out of court for a set of prorock 60's.
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By YJ Bill - 8/28/2006 12:07:45 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Carl Case
Better watch out Bill. Knowing your attorny, you're likely to end up with a stock set of axles from an XJ.
Plus he would probably misrepresent the lockers!!
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By YJ Bill - 8/28/2006 12:09:26 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by HopeRocks
Looks like a great trip.....
How about some text.
I'm working on it Steve; but I'm slower than I am smart.
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By YJ Bill - 8/28/2006 12:21:38 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bob91yj
Anyone notice that Bill's fender damage never appears in a pic on the trail? Even those at the end of the trail on Friday...anyone want to 'splain how that happened?
Ok here it is:
Bob M (robert-r) and I were doing some side by side rock racing down the Dusy trail towards Kiaser Pass. There are places were the trail splits and then narrows to one track between the trees. Anyhow I was gaining on Bob when he did a smooth Robbie Gordon block on me, so I figured the best thing to do would be give him a little Kurt Bush bump. The plan was to just ram bump his spare with my driver front but since my windshield frame blocked the view of the fender it kinda got in the way. Left some red paint on his 37 spare. And that's the truth!! For now.
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By Button - 8/27/2006 4:11:00 AM
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looks like hella fun, thanks for sharing!
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By YJBREAKER - 8/26/2006 2:16:20 PM
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12 hours later and I am home and all is well....first pop's tow bar, then the brake on the burb. Brake was stuck on the passenger rear. I'll always remember this trip as the brake trip, lost the rears on the jeep on Sunday, went all week with just the front. Then the burb on the way home.
Phenominal trip, too tired to even unpack, will post some pic's tmrw.
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By Jeepnbeer - 8/26/2006 11:05:28 AM
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Looks like a great time was had by all !!!
But C-mon guys...let's see a better, more explanation-filled trip report with some photo captions too !!!!
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By JakeOrion - 8/27/2006 11:57:23 PM
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Looked like a fun trip. I'll have to hit that up next time.
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By pumpkingpr - 8/27/2006 11:34:14 PM
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Looks like a great time. Do you know if they allow Quads and Motercycles up there? I'd love to go wheelin with you guys again, cep't I'll have to take this:http://www.polarisindustries.com/en-us/ATV/2006Models/Sportsman/Sportsman800EFI/Features.htm
I got the Green one on vacation. Mama's is the Black LE
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By Mighty five - 8/27/2006 5:13:25 AM
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Man that looks like a fun place to wheel. Where is it southern California?
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By Ol Yeller 7 - 8/26/2006 12:32:09 PM
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Looks like a ton of fun...and to think- I was 1.5 hrs. away...WORKING!
I'm jelous.....
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By ltcjeep - 8/28/2006 10:25:43 AM
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So, Carl and I meet up on the 15 north of the 91,
Made great time to Kingsburg where we stopped
At my cousins place, just in time for a real good dinner
A great ¾ way point.
Sunday we got up at about 7:30,
Had breakfast, some visiting, and left at about 1:00
Headed north on the 99, hit the 41 and had a trailer tire blowout.
It was no problem since I had a floor jack, star wrench and 2 spares.
Fixed and back on the road in 10 mins.
We then headed for a gas station that Carl knew of “cheap gas”.
This is where we met a guy with a stock YJ on 40-inch tires.
Who queried us on why his rig was gutless, about an hour later
After Carl and I had repeated the term “gears and axles” for about the
20th time we hit the road.
1 hour later we were at Coarsegold on the way to Yosemite when we realized,
That we had made a small mistake in navigation.
After turning around and heading back down the hill my truck started
To overheat. We decided that it would be better if Carl towed my jeep
Since I had the camper, we stopped a couple of times to let the truck
Cool down, and made it to rock creek road 9s09 at about 6:00.
Bob and Bill had a couple of cones out to identify our campsite.
Monday morning my first run, Swamp Lake
We had a few participants with XJ’s one basically
Stock with a rear locker, he had quite a few issues on this trail
And turned around at about the ½ waypoint.
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Bob on the Trail after the XJ's turned around.
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Picture of the lake, look Hard and you will see Carl,
He went To check out the Snow.
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There was a steep area very much like Chicken rock,
Here Danny with no rear brakes makes it look easy.
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Tuesday a few of us went to Mirror Lake and Coyote Lake
Really nice trails, on the way back from Coyote Lake
My CJ lost a driver side front shackle hanger, Carl watched
As I negotiated the easiest line, we later stopped and attached
My winch cable to the shackle, which kept it somewhat lined up.
Carl later welded it with Bills Ready welder,
The sign entering Mirror Lake
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Brian Posing in his toyota,
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The group at Mirror Lake
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The trail to Coyote Lake
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Coyote lake was Huge.
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Wednesday, up at 6:00 on the road at 6:30 to the south end of the Dusy Ershim Trail
Where we proceeded to the top of Thompson hill
I ran the Dusy last year with 33’s locked front and rear, this year on 36” Iroks
It was definitely harder this year; I would not want to run it on 33’s
With only one trail repair “Jerry’s Track bar mount” we made great time.
Some pictures of Thompson hill
and the group at the bottom
of chicken rock.
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Thursday for some was Bald Mountain, for my guest and I it was
Maintenance on the CJ and the truck.
Fixed a power steering O’ring leak, on board air leak
And removed the Thermostat from the V10.
Then it was Town for pizza beer and Gas.
Friday, started at 9:30 we took 9s09 to 168 which cut off 20 miles
Of paved road en route to the north end of the Dusy Ershim Trail
Or white bark vista which ever you prefer.
During last years run several had commented on how much fun the
End of the trail would be running north to south, Well Its full of challenge
And well worth it for the views, our plan at first was to go all the way
In to Ershim Lake, that changed to Lakecamp Lake then to mount givens
Where we stopped at 10,130ft for lunch.
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We turned around and headed back to camp, “after bill and bob had there NASCAR moment”, Danny and Bill did some extra credit wheeling,
Going down a very steep boulder notch, hope someone has some pictures.
Part of the trail going down.
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Back to camp, to pack
Saturday,
Bill was gone before the sun rose, Bob and Carl shortly thereafter
I left at 7:00 and found my overheating problem was not helped by removing
The thermostat, Bob and Machelle passed me ¾ of the way down the hill,
So I made it to my cousin’s house in Kingsburg, by 9:30, after discussing
The problem with a local radiator shop, I pulled the radiator
For a cleaning, $60.00 and 3hours later I was Reinstalling the radiator,
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I finished everything including a hot shower
And was on my way again at 4:15, home to Murrieta at 9:30 without any further problems.
No question it was a great trip, having a base camp was different than last year
If you haven’t run the Dusy you should, but if you have,
Camping out of a central location is a great idea.
Being able to pick and choose the trails, and still having the opportunity
To camp over night at many different lakes you get a chance for it all
I put over 200 miles on my jeep in 4 days, running some of the most
Rewarding trails I have run to date,
Thanks to all who made this a spectacular event.
Bill, Bob and Lynn, Bob and Machelle, Danny, Jerry, Carl, Brian and Donita
Mike
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By jtgroover - 8/26/2006 9:45:21 AM
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wow great Pictures Looks like a lot of fun
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By ZestyCj7 - 8/27/2006 4:25:52 AM
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Great pics,it looks like it was a great time had by all.
One day I hope to wheel those trials.
What about a total damage report?
Don.
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By bob91yj - 8/26/2006 10:21:57 AM
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We're home, unpacked.
What a trip, good people, good wheeling!
Odd how my 5 seconds of inattention rated two pics, heheh.
Anyone notice that Bill's fender damage never appears in a pic on the trail? Even those at the end of the trail on Friday...anyone want to 'splain how that happened?
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By bob91yj - 8/26/2006 12:33:40 PM
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I hadn't heard from him. Shit, my cell phone is dead, charger is at work.
Brakes on that thing are fresh.
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By bob91yj - 8/26/2006 12:40:26 PM
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It won't move with the e-brake on. Heard any more from him?
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By bob91yj - 8/27/2006 4:42:07 AM
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Carnage was minimal.
Danny lost his rear brakes, possible plugged proportioning valve, not really carnage, more of a shit happens thing.
Jerry, (Danny's dad) tore a lower track bar mount, quickly repaired by Carl.
Bob, cracked frame horn. Failed in same section as a previous repair. Carl repaired.
Mike, broken spring hangar. Carl repaired.
I have a slightly bent tie rod, still steers straight on the highway.
Oh, and Bill's fender...but that's another story!
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By HopeRocks - 8/27/2006 12:21:21 PM
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Looks like a great trip.....
How about some text.
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