Trail Report/Photo Section/GPS CoordinatesBeen offroad with your FJ? Tell us about it and post up any photos or GPS coordinates so others can possibly follow in your footsteps!
Did some exploration of the north side of San Bernardino mountains Saturday morning with a couple of friend. It was late in the week and I wanted to get out and do some casual wheeling and also give the kids a chance to play. It was spontaneous and we were to play it by ear as to where we'll end up wheeling. It's about getting out, taking it slow, and just burn a day in the mountains. So we packed food and headed out with the 2 trails in mind: Luna Mountain Trail and White Mountain Trail. We met up for breakfast around 8am at a Denny's. SoCalOCFJ came with Luara and Alex. CADavebert brought his 6 y/o daughter Molly. I took my 2 kids 5 and 7. We finished up breakfast and headup the I-15 so we can approach Luna Mountain Trail from the Hesperia side.
The trip planning was terrible as the maps did not clearly state where exactly the trails are. The trails either have different names on the map or did not exist on the map at all. Fortunately CADavebert had a GPS and our intuitions were somewhat accurate. There were plenty of back tracking for sure, but it was a beautiful day and we were just glad to be out.
Luna Mountain Trail cuts across Bowen Ranch and Juniper Flats. This area is full of big boulders that tower above the sageland. From the town of Hesperia, take Deep Creek Road south (runs along the Mojave river), and about 5 miles south, you'll see Powerline Road. Follow Power Line Road and it's suppose to become Luna Mountain Trail . PLR runs east-west. It climbs rapidly and though fairly well maintained, certain parts can be a little slipper due to the loose dirt. As you climb, you can see the entire high desert area and also Baldy Mountain in the far distance.
SocalOCFJ on PRL
CADavebert going over the GPS
As it became quite clear that Luna Mountain Trail is probably a myth (to me at least), we found Coxy Trail and took that eastward towards 4n16. We took a break as my boy was getting car sick.
Looking southward. Big Bear on the horizon.
Coxy Trail connected with 4N16 and we took 4N16 north so we can connect with 3N17 (White Mountain Trail). On the way we saw a Ti with Gobi rack parked on the side. The owner must have gone hiking. WMT was suppose to be a moderate trail, but it was a little more challenging then moderate. Maybe it was the storm that swept through recently, but the rocks were sharp, loose, and ABUNDANT! The trail is gorgeous. As it switches back and forth we were afforded spectacular views of both Lucern Valley and the San Bernardino forest.
The trail is very rocky and full of sharp rocks.
Interesting cluster of unknown trees.
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Click for the "Genie" build up
Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out, .
We came upon a downed tree blocking the road. Just when I was about to borrow CADavebert's axe, Alex came over and push the tree over the side . That tree was bigger then my FJ...
I looked back around and found SoCalOCFJ flashing some kind of sign at me.
What the... ok, here it is in a close up. Can you tell what he flashed?
As we gained elevation snow begin to give us some problems. I was ahead and saw a big patch of snow. I got side ways when I tried to move ahead. Tried Atrac and e-locker and neither helped. I'm now on a narrow trail with my passenger rear tire on the ledge. I can't go forward and there's no room to back up. The picture doesn't do justice. Where the outside rear tire is is where the ledge is. I had trouble getting around the FJ.
SoCalOCFJ's pic of Genie from the other side.
Eventually we hooked a chain around the big boulder ahead and use a tree saver to connect the chains. I then hooked up my winch to the tree saver via D-shackle. Whew, out of there . So much for a moderate trail! We decided it's a good place to turn around and have lunch. I'll be back for this trail another day...
We had lunch at Horse Springs campground. It has restrooms, benches, trashcans, and firepits. It's one of the nicer campgrounds in the SB area.
All things must come to an end and so we waived good bye to the campground.
It was starting to get dark (late lunch) and rain seem to be threatening.
We jumped on 4N16 and headed south towards Fawnskin. It was suppose to be 13 miles. At 3N16, the road was closed so we had to take the trail toward Holcomb. Sun is starting to set and we didn't have very good maps of the area (the maps from the ranger station wasn't much help). Thank goodness, CADavebert's GPS came through.
The trail was muddy, snowy, and icy. Starting to wonder if we'll get out soon. Here's CADavebert blasting through the mud puddle at the urging of his co-pilot.
We traveled through the darkness and did end up on the Lake. The closure cost us 1.5 hours. I was glad to have the Lightforce lights. The trip down the mountain was very foggy with maybe a 15ft visibility. The yellow fogs were extremely helpful and doubled my visibility. A slow trail down the mountain, but a great day on the trail!
__________________
Click for the "Genie" build up
Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out, .
haha! Like the picture of Dave. Flashing his "sets" (gang) sign. Dave may look Asain on the outside, but he is all gangsta Mexican on inside. Just wanna give a big shout out to my hommies Dave from MS13 YO!
__________________ PERFORMANCE: Airaid CAI, Gibson Exhaust, Royal Purple Oils LIFT KIT: Toytec/IVD 3" lift, Spidertrax, Camburg UCA's EXTERIOR: Rear Tail lite Guards, GoodYear MT tires, AP Sliders, PIAA Headlights/dome lites, Fourtrex, Hi-lift, TC & Demello Skids COLOR: Voodoo 4x2 AUDIO: Dice iPod interface INTERIOR: ScanGuage II, Ellis Design Black Handles, Battery Clamp, & Shifter. Littlelite 12" map lite. My Build:http://www.fjcruiserforums.com/forum...shockwave.html
Tony, thanks for this. It was a great time. While I love a leisure roll down a fire road (aka, CRUISE), the adventure of this exploration was great. The night time escape through all that snow and mud was unbelievable. Tony and Dave both got sideways at least once, and I got hung up in one big pile of snow, and almost sideways from the deep ice ruts.
Thanks for posting up the pic's. You were right, that one of my rig with the fog is very cool looking. I like the modded pic's, but....it makes my rig look more purpley. Still very cool. could be desktop background soon!
Thanks to Tony, Dave, Laura, Alex, and all the kids. Great LONG day!
You're right. The night "escape" was quite exciting wasn't it? I was really glad that we had gravity helping us on the slippery stuff. It would make for a long long night if we had to do recovery in the muddy, icy stuff.
I'll make you a version that's not as purplish soon.
__________________
Click for the "Genie" build up
Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out, .
haha! Like the picture of Dave. Flashing his "sets" (gang) sign. Dave may look Asain on the outside, but he is all gangsta Mexican on inside. Just wanna give a big shout out to my hommies Dave from MS13 YO!
It says "FJ"!
__________________
Click for the "Genie" build up
Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out, .
It was a great day that included several different terrains on the same trip. The Fjs were impressive as always. Tony & Dave showed their great trail skillz & made it ez for me to be in the tail gunner position. White Mountain trail is impressive & will be even better when the snow clears out in the spring.
Break Time!
The Trail Head
A great trail with nice off camber ascents & high desert vistas
A climb that narrowed towards the top before the snowline
The spot where Tony went ahead to ck the trail & lost traction.A bit of a steep drop.Aired down & locked would not get him going forward- Winched himself n voila!
Time for lunch
Fawnskin 3n16 sundown & headed for Holcomb Vlly before dark. We would still hit some pretty rutty,snowy,muddy stuff that would end up kicking my rig close to an edge of a drop off. It was a perfect day!
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"It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees." ~Emiliano Zapata~
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Last edited by SoCalOcFj : 03-03-2008 at 04:34 AM.
Reason: Pics
Thanks Dave. It was great having you along. It was great to be trailing you and CADavebert-it just seem so in sync. You got some great pics in the gallery. You should post them up!
__________________
Click for the "Genie" build up
Sandoo Blue FJ
Walker Evans 2.5 dia. front shocks, adj. rear reservoir shocks, Pro Links. AP F&R bumpers, AP 1.25" UCA, Demello skid, TMax 9000 Competition winch. Viking Trail Line. 34X10.5X16 Swamper LTB. Trail Gear Sliders, Aeroflow, Lightforce Blitz 240 HID, All Pro Swing Out, .
. PLR runs east-west. It climbs rapidly and though fairly well maintained, certain parts can be a little slipper due to the loose dirt. As you climb, you can see the entire high desert area and also Baldy Mountain in the far distance.
. That tree was bigger then my FJ... 
It says "FJ"!
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