Spinnin' Fours 4x4 Club of Southern California

We want to finish Crowbar. There is about a 1/4 mile section above the upper bail out that remains. There will be lots of rock moving and a few big holes to fill with rocks. This portion will be the toughest of the trail, not counting Ballerina Rock. Winching may be needed.

We will come in the upper bail out and work up the 2 or 3 major obstacles that will need to be broken. Above this 1/4 mile section Vince and I have already broken the trail, coming down from the ridge above.

A picture of our route. We need to go up the gap between the two large rocks in the center (about a 10' climb).



This is going to be hard core trail breaking.

Participants must be prepared for body damage and breakage (can you say tools and spare parts?) and rigs must be double locked, low geared, and have large tires (minimum 35's for Toys, Jeeps, and Broncos, minimum 33's for Sammys).

A winch is mandatory.

Everyone is welcome to come and camp with us, but if you don't meet the minimum requirements above you will not be allowed beyond the bailout route. Sorry, but we just won't have the time to spend getting a large group up AND have time to break the trail. Extra hands to help with chucking/moving rocks would be greatly appreciated.

We will have some open seats, let me know ASAP if you want to ride along.

There are great places to wheel everywhere in this area. You don't have to beat your rig on the rocks to have a great time out there.

Vince and I will be leaving at about 8AM on Friday 11/28. We will do some wheeling on Friday but the trail breaking day will be Saturday. We will leave our usual camp on Soggy at 9AM sharp on Saturday.

We may do some light wheeling on Sunday morning, leaving about noon.

Going so far:

Vince
Steve Bennett - 1 seat available
Me - 1 seat available
Steve Prohn - riding with Vince

Directions to Soggy Dry Lake, Johnson Valley OHV area.

From Victorville, exit the I-15 at Bear Valley Road, head East. Pass out of Victorville and enter Apple Valley. Continuing East, intersect Hwy 18 and head toward Lucerne Valley. In Lucerne Valley (the last gas if coming from this direction) stay on the same road, which becomes Hwy 247 as Hwy 18 turns South toward Big Bear.

Head East out of Lucerne Valley for about 13 miles and watch for Bessemer Mine Road (at approximately milepost 31.5). There will be a large BLM Johnson Valley OHV Area sign on the right.

Turn left on Bessemer Mine Road (well graded dirt) and head North for about 3.5 miles to Soggy Dry Lake.

We camp on the left side of Bessemer Mine Rd, just before the lake bed.

Here is a map of the area:



Click here for a larger version of this map (79k), suitable for printing.

For more information about the trails click here:
http://www.spinninfours.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=695

Looking forward to it! \:D/

Not yet, but it should happen. I will try to remember to let you know.

If we are successful in finishing this section then a "first complete run of Crowbar" MUST be done! \:D/

Maybe I might be ready for the full run, we'll see though.

Yea, yea, it's been so long since you've been out wheeling that all your trucks probably have dead batteries, rotten tires, and varnish in the tank!

He can't even find them from the weeds over growing them. I think you can see the snorkel of the Mog and that's about it.

Yeah I actually fond another old bronco in the weeds when I was cutting them.

Isn't it amazing what you can find out there?

Mark,
All I can say is WOW! Wish we could be there. Be sure and let us know when you will be doing an official "Full" run up there and we will try to join you. But...it looks like it will be a while for me....Knee surgery on January 20th. No wheeling for 3 months! How about the end of April??? When is the Tin Bender Jambo? Maaaaaaaabe then!

Hey Bryan! Thanks for checking in.

Sorry to hear about the knee surgery! I know it has been bothering you for many years. All the best with that.

Hey Brian sorry to hear about the surgery but it should be better now. I've seen a few write ups on the San Diego 4 Wheelers, thanks for the kiosk at Superstition.

The Kiosk turned out really NICE! The original Kiosk has lasted like 30 years, so we hope this one does as well. It is "Beef" so, I hope so. You all should try to make a trip out to Superstition...the trails are getting better every year. Superstition 11 is Jan 17-18! Come on out! We would love to have all of your club members there! Bryan

Outstanding photos! :clap: Some of those should be on a magazine cover! Thanks so much for posting them. We should be seeing the Moose photos (taken mostly by Ron) soon...





Probably... first I need to spend some $$$ to repair my transfer case (see below for more).





Maybe Fred can get some "Trail Rated" stickers to cover up his new body damage after doing Upper Crowbar?





No, we were too worn out from breaking trail. It will take at least one more trip to break the last 1/8 mile before we can plan a "First Full Run" of Crowbar.





More outstanding pictures! :tbsup: Thanks! Also evidence (as if we needed any more) of how crazy the Cooper brothers are... starting Crowbar at 1:30 PM, 2 rigs and 5 (?) kids, and oh by the way, it is DARK at 5PM!

:screwy: :tbsup: :bow: :chug:

Trip Report, Breaking Upper Crowbar, Thanksgiving 08:

Vince, Skip (Steve Prohn) and I arrived at camp mid morning on Friday and headed off to do Shaft Canyon.

As we approached the trail we met 2 other rigs, a long wheelbase Sammy on Toyota axles and a 2nd generation Toyota pickup on full width 1 ton axles.

These guys were from Northern California (Santa Rosa) and said that they did Riffel Canyon on Thanksgiving. They got to the top but it was dark and they couldn't find the way off, so they went DOWN Riffel in the the DARK! Also, they didn't winch the insane waterfall 2/3 of the way up, they just drove it and used straps to keep the front end down!

We invited them to join us.

We did Shaft Canyon as a warm up. It only took us about 30 minutes to do Shaft, so we then did Lower Shaft Canyon.

The first waterfall was a little washed out at the bottom and for the first time we needed some rocks stacked to get up it.

The 2nd obstacle (let's call it "Vince's Nemesis") was well stacked with rocks. We all scrambled right up (including Vince!).

The last obstacle (let's call it "Mark's Nemesis") gave no one any big problems. I even managed to do it without flopping!

We were back in camp by about 3PM.

That night we had a hard time getting the fire started because:

1) I chose dense wood.
2) The previously mentioned dense wood was WET.

Shortly after we finally got the fire started I got a phone call from Ron and Robbie. "Where are you?" Ron asked. "At Soggy" I replied. "So are we, but we can't find you." Ron said... They were about 200 yards away and couldn't see us it was so dark!

Saturday morning Steve Bennett arrived at about 8AM and we were off for Upper Crowbar at 9AM.

My transfer case was making some noise on Friday, but driving around the lakebed it was fine. A slight whine, but not bad.

As we headed up the mountain I realized that my transfer case was making a lot of noise when I descended (engine braking) but not much more than a whine going up hill. Just before starting in the upper bailout we stopped to check the noise. It had degraded to loud grinding and banging noises like teeth on a gear breaking off!

The noise only occurred in low range. Hi range 4x4 and 2x4 were fine... well, my day was done (or at least my Truck's day was done).

We parked my truck just before the upper bailout route gets difficult. Ron parked his truck there as well.

Robbie and I walked in and Steve and Vince quickly drove to the end of broken trail.

There is a huge "diff grabber" rock right in the middle of the crux of the first obstacle we needed to do. Last year Steve and I managed to move it a few feet downhill, but it was still blocking the trail in a BIG way.

Skip (Steve P), Robbie, and I went to work moving large rocks (well, Skip moved the biggest ones) on this section while Vince, Steve, and Ron worked on trying to move some huge boulders to fill a big hole on the approach route to the crux.

We filled in all around the larger rocks with every movable rock for a hundred feet around, and then launched more rocks down from the slopes above and used those as filler.

A couple of hours later we realized that the route was, probably, ready for Vince and Steve to drive.

After a lunch break we checked up canyon and realized that we would not be able to break much more trail that day. We (mostly Skip) worked the toughest part before a wide sandy spot where Vince and Steve would be able to turn around.

Skip found a Gekko in the sand. It was making curious sounds as Skip held it in his hand. It didn't even try to get away as Skip took pictures of it. It must have been enjoying the warmth of his hand.

Vince and Steve ascended the reworked waterfall in excellent style and with a minimum of stacked rocks. They then worked up to the wide area, turned around, and headed back down.

This section of the trail is now difficult, but possible with some careful driving. The final 1/8 mile above this point will have to wait for another trip.

We got back to camp at about 4PM and enjoyed a great shared dinner and a roaring fire.

At about 6PM the Cooper brothers drove into camp! Phil and Ron had started Crowbar from the bottom at about 1:30 PM and were caught by darkness before reaching the lower bailout. They somehow found their way off of the mountain in the dark. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that they had all their kids with them!

The Cooper's hung out and enjoyed the fire for a while and then headed home.

Soggy Dry Lake is quiet as Johnson Valley goes, but is still too noisy at night. We had some noisy neighbors that partied until 3AM each night. Sunday at about 3:30AM some guy in truck or buggy with a BIG motor blasted all around the lakebed for a couple of hours.

Sunday morning Vince, Skip, and I headed home.

Steve, Ron, and Robbie went East toward Melville Dry Lake to scout for a quieter campsite. They found a great spot that is about half way between Soggy and Means. We must try this the next time we go out. Steve got GPS coordinates and good driving directions.

Traffic was not bad at all on the way home, even for Steve who didn't leave the lakebed until 3PM.

It was a great trip! Thanks to everyone for their help breaking this new section of Crowbar. Skip and Robbie did the heaviest moving/lifting. We could not have done it without them. Ron assisted where possible, but also took a bunch of photos with his and Steve's cameras. Vince and Steve also moved a bunch of rocks, as well as putting their rigs in harm's way. I did what I could with what little strength I have. We all wore ourselves out, and that is what really counts!

Thanks again everyone!

Mark Matthews

Thanks for the write up Mark, I saved that part for your enjoyment.

Phil is missing something on his FJ? You may find it SHOCKING! HaHa!

Good eye. Just after I winched up the waterfall Ron noticed my right front shock tab had broken at the axle. I need to extend the upper shock mounts. The shocks bottom out in the whoops If the bump stop compresses to far. I broke the one off the left lower a couple of months ago. I took the shock off at the top of the water fall so it did not get damaged. I welded the shock mount and installed the shock on sun.

I thought the pictures my nephew shot turned out great. Am I crazy, or were the two big rocks at the squeeze not near that tall before. I think there is a picture from a previous trip still up on the board. I will take a look. There were a few areas that seemed much more difficult than last time.

This Thanksgiving

Last Thanksgiving

Going back and looking at pictures of last year you can tell the rains washed away alot of sand. There are alot of places that the rocks are much larger to get over now. Also, I noticed that because the rocks are taller, some spots are tighter than before. I rubbed my side bars hard a few times and last year I never touched the upper part of my body.

I agree Phil. The sand in that section has washed away a lot. It happens at all the trails. A gully washer rain storm rolls through and changes things quite a bit... some obstacles get harder, some get easier, as sand moves around in the flood.

Here is that squeeze when I first walked the trail in Feb 05. Nothing but motorcycles had ever been through there.

Thanks Bryan.

I dropped the truck off with Yotamasters this morning. I should know what is broken in a few days.

The only hard core wheeling I did was on Friday. On Saturday I was on the easy stuff when the noise got really bad.

We will probably be going back out to finish on New Years weekend.

Thanks Roger, we sure missed you out there!

Eric from Yotamasters called me today. A bearing went out and allowed the counter shaft gear for low range output (I think that is what he said) to move, which took out the 4.7 gearset and the center section of the tcase.

There is no way to tell what caused it. Probably just too much skinny pedal. It was whining in low range all last season.

It will cost me a 4.7 gearset (from Marlin), bearing rebuild kit (from Trail Gear, Marlin is out of stock), shipping and labor. Eric and Jay are throwing in the center section of the tcase from their pile of cores (very nice of them). It should be close to $1,100 total. :ouch:

The truck should be done Friday or Monday.