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By Quinn "Macgyver"
Thomas
Rain, rain, and more rain was in
the weather forecast for the day. I wondered how many people were going to make
it to our Calico trip. Friday night I had several people who were planning to
go, cancel. I talked to others who might make it. When I left my house it was
raining, but this was no problem because I was driving the TJ. My dad, Mike, was
riding shotgun. Rain was no problem because the TJ doesn't leak like my CJ5. It
was also nice to have a heater for a change. I arrived at the Mobil station at
6:00 am. The only person there was Jerry in his 4-Runner. We waited for a few
minutes in case others were going to meet us there. Just about the time we were
ready to leave, Ken drove up in his Bronco. We started off for our 7:00 am
meeting location, Tiffany's. The ride was uneventful, but wet. When we arrived
at Tiffany's, we didn't see anybody there. We ordered breakfast and hoped that
Old El Nino didn't scare everybody away from our first trip of the year. Shortly
after we started eating, David and his wife, Gail, arrived in their Wrangler.
Right after them was Chris in his GMC Sonoma truck, and Pete in his Cherokee.
They all had time to have breakfast. After everyone was finished eating it was
off to Calico! Still raining, we set out for what ever adventure we could find.
Once we got to the top of Cajon Pass, the rain had stopped and the SUN was out!
For the rest of the day we had mostly sun and only a few clouds overhead.
We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 am. After airing
down, we started up the first trail. (Doran Canyon, I think). It was very
interesting, we had six different vehicles taking six different lines. Normally
there is a standard line everybody takes. Not so today. With a TJ, a GMC Sonoma
extra cab, a 4-Runner, an open diff Wrangler, a Cherokee, and an early Bronco,
this trip was interesting! The first rocky part of the trail was no problem. We
all did fine until we got to that big waterfall/uphill climb. You know the
place! There were a lot of loose rocks this time. It made it very slippery. I
had to try about 3 or 4 times to get the TJ up. Ken did a great job of spotting
me up. I'm sure if Heather was there, she could have driven the TJ right up!
Next was Chris in the GMC. His long wheelbase helped out. We had to try a few
different lines to get him
up. Once Chris was up, it was
Jerry's turn in the 4-Runner. We all thought with lockers he should have no
problem. After trying to climb up with every possible line, he finally broke out
the winch! We hooked his winch to the back of Chris' GMC. After we finally got
Jerry up, it was David's turn. His Wrangler is lifted and he has 33's, but with
open diff's he had to work a little! After a few different lines he crawled
right up. And of course Pete and Ken drove right up without a problem. We got
past this obstacle in record time!
After we were up the climb, we
continued to the mines for lunch and some exploring. Lunch was great except for
the "Rambo wan-a-bees" that decided to fire off their guns about 50
feet from us. Once everybody returned from the mines, we headed over to run down
the other trail. (Odessa Canyon, I think. I always get the two canyons mixed up!
I have heard each called a different name from different people!)
On the way down Odessa we were
joined by some old time Jeepers who thought it might be fun to see us
"wreck some vehicles", in their words. With all of our relatively
stock looking rigs, I guess they underestimated the Dirt Devils! Chris' GMC was
the only truck I was worried about, it had a very long overhang in the back. We
were going down some pretty steep ledges. If you have been down this trail, then
you know how steep they are. I knew as long as we were careful, it would be no
problem! Plus, Chris is one heck of a good driver! We continued all the way down
the trail until we got to the part with the two drop offs in a row. The first
was no problem, the second was about three and a half feet straight down. The
group following us gathered next to the obstacle to see some hoped for damage.
They were sure that there would be some. After I went down the drop off,
scraping both of my Boulder Bars in the TJ, I decided to stack some rocks for
Chris. Once a bunch of rocks were stacked, Chris started down, very slowly! I
spotted him all the way down to the bottom without any problem, best of all, not
a scratch! The peanut gallery was disappointed that they didn't get to see any
damage. Everyone else was also able to drive down the drop without any problem.
Only one more major obstacle to go! When we arrived at the last rocky section,
Chris, Jerry, and Pete decided to go around and meet us at the bottom. This was
no place for a long wheelbase. Huge rocks, a couple of major drop offs, and some
big holes made this section a lot of fun! I went down first. Ken and Mike
spotted me through the rocks at the beginning. Then it was time to slide down
the drop. Because our TJ is stock height, and needs some lift, I had to slide on
my side bars and managed to put another dent in the rear bumper. Next was David,
I spotted him all the way through with no problem. He did manage to touch the
left rocker panel under the flare on the last drop. You can't even see where the
rock touched. Keep in mind that David's Jeep has a 4" lift and 33"
tires, so you can get an idea of how steep the last drop was. Last was Ken. He
crawled his Bronco all the way down! Once at the bottom, Ken decided to turn
around and try to climb back up. Last year he did it easily, but this year it
was much harder.
Most of us had to get back to town, so only David, Gail,
and Pete camped. It was dry when we left for home that night. We had a dry ride
home until we got to the 10 and 15 freeways near home. I guess we left all of
the rain here in the city. I'll see ya all soon. Macgyver.
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