Off-Camber Crawlers: Colossal Canines 2013 Nov 16 at the Cove
After a great breakfast prepared by Chip, Suzzy, Scott and others we held a quick driver’s meeting to determine our trail riding groups for the day.
Our small Saturday group consisted of:
Bryan Folts, 99 XJ, tail gunner
Doug Masnick, 92 Forerunner
Keith Robertson, 07 JKUR with Hayden and Jared as passengers
Rich Martinez, 11 JKUR, trail leader, with Jaye and Brooke as passengers
Our goal was to gather GPS data on trails north of camp 6 to help complete the map we began creating a couple of years ago. With this in mind we ran The Loop, Loop 10, Twister, Dynamite and Snake collecting data along the way. We also discovered another loop trail that didn’t appear on our trail maps. All the trails were pretty easy since they were dry. At one point we began up a narrow trail thinking we were on Snake but quickly found ourselves in a tight spot.
We were on a steep hill and after squeezing through some trees, I scouted ahead and noticed the trail getting tighter. So we decided we better turn around. I failed to get into a position to turn around because the trees were just in the right position to prevent me from making the turns I need to make. Doug who was running behind me took a side trail to get above me and attempted to turn around at a different spot. While he was doing so a log that was under his tires gave way and sent him sideways into a tree denting his driver door and breaking the glass. Fortunately it was rolled down at the time so the door kept all the glass contained.
Keith had already turned around and came up to guide Doug getting him turned. Then I had to back down thru some tight areas to turn around at the same spot Keith had earlier.
Finally, back at the bottom of the hill we gathered our group and decided to head back towards Camp 6 to scout another trail. The trail we spotted lead directly into Camp 6 so we decided to pull over and have lunch.
After lunch, we found Snake and took it towards the 101 course/Camp 8. From there we took a variation of Meshmash, Log Bridge and Sissy to make our way down to Mind Spring Trail (Middle Rd). We took Mind Spring north to the start of Trickle and then continued on past Trickle to the trail that connect to Mountain Rd (the upper access rd). Our plan was to stay on that road travelling south until it ended somewhere near Death Valley or V-Trail. Around the Death Valley area, I took a bad line between some big rocks, deep holes and a tree. I ended rubbing my hardtop on the tree a couple of times attempting to make it through. But I eventually found myself in a position where I couldn’t move forward or back without damage of hitting something. So while Bryan started cutting the tree with a hand saw (it was a dead tree), Doug winched my rear end sideways to get me into a better position. This worked so well we abandoned the tree cutting as I was in a position to reverse out of the jam.
Once I was back on the trail, we decided it was best to call it a day and head back to camp.