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2003 JEEPY: Biggest Sleeper (3x tie) 
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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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Post #392444
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 7/27/2010 12:52:14 PM
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wow great Pictures Looks like a lot of fun
Jeepless in California
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Post #392445
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I want a nickname, damnit!
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Last Login: 4/9/2010 2:32:17 PM
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Post #392446
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Mellow Yellow, 2003 JEEPY: Male Wheeler of Year!
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Last Login: 16 hours ago
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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?
Bob  http://www.jeepaholics.com/rides/view.asp?id=147 Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. <Will Rogers> Fat City Racing 2009 Baja 1000 Class Champions Dust Junkies Racing 1706
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Post #392447
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2003 JEEPY: Biggest Sleeper (3x tie)
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 2:00:51 AM
Posts: 4,827,
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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!! [:D]
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Post #392448
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 6/6/2010 1:46:10 PM
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Wonderful pics!!!
http://guatemalagreen.blogspot.com
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Post #392449
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 4/28/2010 5:54:25 AM
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Awesome pics! I really need to get out there...
97XJ-Locked-Caged-35's
www.RuggedJeep.com
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Post #392450
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Official JA Beer (Bitch) Donator
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Last Login: 7/27/2010 8:41:07 AM
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Looks like a great time was had by all !!![:D]
But C-mon guys...let's see a better, more explanation-filled trip report with some photo captions too !!!!
RigRater: 662RRv1.0 w/ BOA of 24.0 http://www.jeepaholics.com/rides/view.asp?id=1079
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Post #392451
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TEAM JA Competitor - CRCA
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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.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body,but rather to skid in sideways, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO what a ride!!!
www.dustjunkiesracing.com
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Post #392452
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2003 JEEPY Winner: Best Home Mechanic / Fabricator
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Last Login: 13 hours ago
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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.
[img=right]http://www.dehesa4x4.com/mckay/images/mckay_small.GIF[/img=right]
http://www.jeepaholics.com/rides/view.asp?id=3
CJ Makeover http://www.jeepaholics.com/tech/cj7makeover/
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Post #392453
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