TruckTrader
4x4 Whore
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: Covina, CA
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 8:05 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
I checked the forecast this moring and get this - it's supposed to be 106 now!!!! D'oh!
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Vince Martin
I suffer from A.A.D.D. - "Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder"
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
Joined: 14 Jan 2004
Posts: 2406
Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 8:15 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
This one now says 97 for Lucerne Valley...
http://www.weather.com/activities/event ... nav_sports_________________
Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
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Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 5:53 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
OK... confirmed are:
Me
Vince (with Roger)
Erik
Saturday only, meeting at Soggy Dry Lake, ready to hit the trail at 8am sharp so we can miss some of the heat.
Per weather.com, Saturday now 93 Dunno
Others are scared away by the heat Rolling Eyes I guess we are Screwy
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Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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TruckTrader
4x4 Whore
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: Covina, CA
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 5:55 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Not to burst your bubble Mark, but I just listened to the forecast on channel 7 and they also said 106 this Saturday in Apple Valley. So it will be a warm one.
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Vince Martin
I suffer from A.A.D.D. - "Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder"
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
Joined: 14 Jan 2004
Posts: 2406
Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:00 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
POP!
D'oh! I hate it when that happens... Oh well, we will soon find out!
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Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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TruckTrader
4x4 Whore
Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: Covina, CA
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:01 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Well it makes sense, they're calling for over 100 for our area. I imagine it's a few degrees warmer out there!
I hope Roger finishes that mister system for the buggy before then!
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Vince Martin
I suffer from A.A.D.D. - "Automotive Attention Deficit Disorder"
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Rocksurfer
Postmaster
Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 3217
Location: Palm Springs, CA
PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Well I'm not going to say anything because I will be going out to that area the next week. Silenced
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TurtleTruck
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PostPosted: Thu May 19, 2005 8:07 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Fred just called. He and Brian are coming!
Fred is going to flat tow Brian's Sami with his pickup and then drive the pickup to where we drop into the canyon.
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Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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Rocksurfer
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
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Location: Palm Springs, CA
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2005 4:04 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
From what I heard on the radio on my way home today, it's gonna be really, really, REALLY hot this weekend. Even hotter than today. Needles was 107, Palm Springs was 105. Sounds like it is not going to be a good weekend. Now is one of those runs that you wish that you hadn't made an aircompressor out of your A/C.
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
Joined: 14 Jan 2004
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Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Fri May 20, 2005 4:49 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Needles and Palm Springs are LOW desert and ALWAYS hotter... I wouldn't gloat too much if I were you and looking at HDR in a week when it cound be (and usually is) HOTTER.
As for A/C... that wouldn't help much with the top off
As for not a good weekend... I don't know, breaking a new trail with some good friends sounds like a pretty good weekend to me! The heat, no big deal, we are starting early, there is not too much trail to do, and it is a dry heat Mr. Green
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Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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Rocksurfer
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 3217
Location: Palm Springs, CA
PostPosted: Sat May 21, 2005 12:22 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Oh, not gloating I know it may be just as hot the next weekend too. Remember, I used to live in Hesperia and know the heat plus my A/C still is an A/C and does blow real cooooooooool!!! Laughing
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
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Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Sat May 21, 2005 6:21 pm Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Crowbar, final leg of the lower canyon.
We had a great trip!
Attendees:
Mark
Erik
Brian
Fred (riding with Brian)
Vince and Roger were unable to make it due to Roger having tow rig problems Saturday morning… Bummer!
We started early to hopefully miss the worst of the heat. We were fortunate that the temperature didn't go above the mid-90's.
Since Brian had not been to the Fry Mountains before we first took him to the Waterfall start of Crowbar. Fred encouraged Brian to try the waterfall, but Brian was having none of that!
We then took the cross mountain route to the upper valley and retraced our exit route from the last trip to drop into the canyon and proceed up.
Fred had flat towed Brian’s Sammy with his Toyota Pickup. Fred drove his Toy into the canyon, but no further (a wise move).
We moved up the canyon and encountered the usual mix of rocks and sand that has become the signature of this canyon. The crux of this leg of the canyon is a zig-zag to the right then left past some BIG boulders with the only route through pushing your rig into a big rock with a body snatching knob on the driver’s side. This knob was part of the huge boulder and was not going to be pried off with a crowbar!
Mark probed the route and discovered that the only route contained a huge diff grabbing rock. We winched 2 big rocks into position to fill a hole. This gave us enough height under the tires to clear the diff grabber and move into the 2nd half of the obstacle, the huge boulder with the body snatching knob on the left side.
Mark, with expert spotting by Erik, negotiated the obstacle up to the point of body damage, then backed off and MANY rocks were thrown into the route to keep Mark’s 4Runner just off the knob. Even with all of this effort, Mark still sustained a little body damage on the upper rear driver’s side of his bed.
With Mark clear it was time for the Samurais to give it a try. Both Brian and Erik were able to cut into the 2nd half of the obstacle, but still came very close to hitting the knob. Looking at the pictures it is amazing that a 4Runner made it through at all!
Above this there were several obstacles, but nothing to compare to the zig-zag.
We stopped at the exit and Mark and Erik walked up the canyon to check out the VERY difficult upper Fry Canyon. Erik agreed with Mark… Hammer time! It will take a lot of work and MUCH rock engineering to get our rigs up the upper canyon!
We climbed out of the canyon via the exit route that Mark, Vince, and Steve had scouted a couple of months ago… It hadn’t gotten any easier! We made our way out, but just as the difficult portion ended Mark discovered that his passenger side front main leaf had broken!
We immobilized the broken main spring with a chain and bolts and Mark was able to limp off the mountain and all the way home!
Crowbar is now established. The upper canyon may or may not be done by our club. We would have to expend a lot of time to winch and pry enough BIG rocks to break a trail up the upper canyon. At least we have all summer to decide if we want to attempt it next fall…
A first draft photo gallery is here:
http://spinninfours.com/trips/crowbar05_05/_________________
Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
Last edited by TurtleTruck on Sun May 22, 2005 10:25 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Rocksurfer
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
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Location: Palm Springs, CA
PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2005 12:09 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Mark that must have been a nerve racking ride home. Shocked
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TurtleTruck
400 lb Gorilla (Admin)
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Location: People's Republic of California, Southern Sector
PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2005 7:40 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
I thought it would be, but once I got off the mountain and to the highway I was confident that the chain was holding the spring together really well. I just kept it at about 45 to 50 mph, left LOTS of stopping distance and took side roads whenever possible.
If you look closely at the pictures you can see that the spring was against the frame, held in place by the shackle, this worked out really well to keep things stable. The chain kept the whole mess from moving side to side.
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Mark Matthews
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost...
84 4Runner with lots of stuff (TurtleTruck)
86 SAS Standard Cab Toyota Truck with 4.3L Vortec (Hot Rod)
95 Dodge Cummins Turbo Diesel w/Lance 835 (Tow Rig)
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Rocksurfer
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Joined: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 3217
Location: Palm Springs, CA
PostPosted: Sun May 22, 2005 9:19 am Post subject: Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post View IP address of poster
Lucky, is all I have to say, reminds me of the time I drove my 4Runner home with a busted upper Downey A-arm all the way from Santiago to Riverside. Shocked (yes I have lived in Riverside too)
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