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Big Bear Jan 17-18

2K views 16 replies 4 participants last post by  Fjamming 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys,

I going to be camping in Big Bear over this weekend. Would like some guys and gals to wheel with. I think I may have a few trucks from other forums but would be great to have a few more.

I'm going to do a trail inspection (photographing issues) and running some trails. Probably not going to to do any hard trails John Bull/Dishpan unless some peeps who have already run the trail are going. I don't really want to run newbies thru there at this time of the year.

So please let me know of your interested in coming up for the day or overnight.

Cheers
Mark


UPDATE (as of 1-14-08)

Big Bear 17th and 18th Jan

Meet: Vons on the East end of Big Bear on Hwy 18 (Starbucks on site!)

Time:8:30am for 9:00am departure (please gas up before you pull in)

Trails: Easy to moderate (will post up specific trails asap)

Who: Anyone who wants to come from stock to modded. There will be a range of trucks including Toyota, Ford and Jeep. This is actually a combo of three different forum friends.

CB Channel: 4

Conditions: There is likely to be some snow although it is melting quickly at the moment! Bring warm gear!

Duration: both days or single day. I am camping o/n

If coming for Sunday, meet at the same Vons at 9am


PM me for my cell number
 
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#2 ·
This is going to be one busy weekend with events at JV and Big Bear.
 
#3 · (Edited)
From what I heard (read) some of the hard trails in JV are too tough for much else than rock buggies which means (in my mind anyhow) there will be a lot of rigs on the medium trails which I personally do not enjoy.

I think we might have 6 or so rigs up at BB on Saturday. Maybe one or two staying overnight.

I'll post up more details tonight.
 
#4 ·
Thinking of heading up there Sun. with the wife. Let me me know if you guys are still wheelin!
 
#6 ·
Awesome. I'm camping o/n so we could hook up Sunday and run a few trails. By then I'll have a good idea of trail conditions too.
 
#5 ·
So trails will depend upon truck mods and driver experience so lets start off with the easy stuff that should be for any 4x4 vehicle. The main aim of the morning is to check out trail 1N04 which has been adopted by another forum I'm on.

Moonridge Drive to the 2N10
2N10 to Clark's Summit
Summit to 1N54
1N54 to AAT 1N04

to complete the loop

1N04 to 2N06
2N06 to 2N10
2N10 to Moonridge

my guess would be that should take a couple hours with stops along AAT to take photos of possible issues that will be addressed at meeting on 24th (?) by NFS.

Maybe pick up lunch in town and head out to HeartBreak Ridge (Difficult - maybe too tough for stock rigs!) and that would round out the afternoon given that it might take 3-4 hrs to run the trail

or

head over to the other side and do either Van Dusen to 3N16 or Gold Mtn to 3N16
then over to Holcomb Valley (3N16), 3N17, 3N14 to White Mtn (Medium Trail) then head back down to Butlers Peak for a evening (4pm is?) sunset, climbing up to the fire lookout.

Thoughts?

My main concern would be that difficult trails such as Heartbreak might be real tough if there is snow.
I need to check on road closures so this might change.
Unless indicated all trails are rated easy although snow/mud may make it more challenging (fun)
 
#9 ·
Not sure I'll know where I'm camping until I get up there. I'm getting comflicting info on what's open and what's not re trails and this will determine where I end up setting camp. Most likely Holcomb Valley. Maybe we shoud just meet Sunday back in town at the Vons at 9am for those coming Sunday only. Saturday details can stay the same.
 
#10 · (Edited)
There are some nice Yellow Post camp sites out there that you may want to check out. I know you can stop at the Discovery center for a map to camp sites and trail conditions. See you Sunday:)
 
#11 ·
Ya, I already hace maps and have most of the camps memorised from previous trips. I'm just going to go with the flow. Probably going to camp off the 3N16.
 
#12 ·
Ok. We've gone from 9 trucks to 2 "maybe's". I'll do a check on the Vons carpark at 8:30am but if no-ones around I'm going to head around to the Discovery Center for a shortwhile then probably head into Holcomb Valley.

I might head out of Big Bear in the am on Sunday if no-ones in the Vons parking lot by 9am.

Cheers
Mark
 
#13 ·
Hey Mark,
Sorry we couldn't meet up on Sunday. Thanks for the update on the trail conditions. After your advise I decided to run Jacoby in reverse to the 3N16. After that I was planning to see just how far we could go if we stayed on an "easy" trail (3N16).

Jacoby was very fun but short trail. We got to the 3N16 with out incident. At the back side of Gold Mountain we ran into a Jeep and another FJ. Very cool guys, I did not catch their names but I remember they were from West Covina. They had to turn back after getting stuck for 3 hours on the 3N16. I was not ready to turn back so we let them pass and continued on. 15 minutes later we found semi-stuck Jeep in over 1 ft. of snow, eventually he had to winch himself forward. It turns out that this was the same guy (Kevin) that rescued the group from West Covina.

Kevin eventually winched himself out. We tried to follow but got stuck immediately. After a few hours of shoveling snow, installing chains, looking for large rocks to place under tires, we were still stuck. Kevin was kind enough to turn around and back track to winch us out. We continued for a bit hoping the worse was behind, but eventually had to turn back when the man with the winch also decided to head home.

Here is a video of some pics and a small clip. Sorry we didn't take more video, because we were to busy getting unstuck:)
YouTube - Bigbear
 
#14 ·
Gold Mtn was fun in the snow as was Jacoby. We attempted to get thru Holcomb Valley but had to turn back when we came across 10 Jeeps stuck, with big tires and chains. My 34's and no chains (could not be bothered!) would be no match and I don't like winching in the snow unless necessary.

Good fun, but bummer I could not get to camp and stay till Sunday and meet up with ya. Next time!



 
#15 ·
I can't believe there's still so much snow. It's close to 75 degrees this whole weekend. More pics Mark!
 
#16 ·
Ask and ye shall recieve..













 
#17 ·
Nice shots of Gold Mountain and Jacoby :).
 
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