Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
The Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
A monthly publication of the Dirt Devils
http://www.dirtdevils.org/
Table of Contents
Presidents Message:
Top 10 reasons to be a Dirt Devils trail leader:
2
Karen and I had a great time on Motina wash and Black
Web site
2
Canyon runs. What a turn out for both run 19 rigs on
Cal 4 wheel
2
Motina and 25 on Black Canyon.
Run reports
2
In March we start out with a popular run Calico. Followed
Black Canyon
2
by the first Adopt A Trail of the year. Try to join one of
Rattlesnake and Matina Wash
3
these runs if you can.
Adopt a trail
4
Members going the HDR in May can register now. The
Run calendar
4
Adopt a Trail meeting place
4
Dirt Devils are leading 3 runs Danny and Jesse will need
help on these runs.
March
4
April
4
We need more members establishing accounts on the
May
4
Dirt Devils web site. See Chris if you need help.
June
4
Thanks Mike Wallace for coordination of the HAM radio
July
4
classes.
August
4
September
5
Officer emails are listed on page 7 in the
Club info section
October
5
November
5
Keep our trails open
December
5
Ray Kleinhuizen
New Members
5
Guests
5
Club info
7
Club membership
7
First aid kit tracking
8
Run report template:
8
DD Trail Ratings
8
Adopt a Trail
9
Cowbells
10
A beautiful sunny day to air down
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
There's a meeting coming up for Ocotillo Wells. Check
with Jesse or Keith for more info.
Top 10 reasons to be a
Cal-4-Wheel is working with an organization that is being
Dirt Devils trail leader:
created nationwide with businesses to advocate for off-
roading. Need to keep in mind that even if something is
10 - You pick the trail (hopefully someone will want to
being created for a different type of off-roading, it will
run it with you)
eventually affect all types. The winners of the Jeep were
9 - You pick the run start time and meet spot
from Sunland. They bought the ticket at Pomona. Had
8 - You write the run announcement
enough money coming in last year to pay the bills with a
couple hundred left over. Next years convention will be
7 - You pick the CB channel (duh 4)
at Rancho Cordova. There is alot of information at the
6 - You conduct the drivers meeting (best if done before
convention. Land issues being fought. Glamis has won
you start the trail)
the 15 year lawsuit but now there’s a new lawsuit trying
5 - You carry the Dirt Devils club first aid kit (hopefully
to close it again. Spent over a million dollars on Johnson
you know how to use it)
Valley to keep it open - and that was just Cal-4-Wheels
part. It does not include what other organizations such as
4 - You pick the bathroom stops (more stops keep you
Corva spent. Two bills in Congress to make Johnson
out trouble)
Valley an open area.
3 - You are the spotter when someone needs help (you’ll
• ODF is an event that is sponsored by Cal-4-Wheel for
get a lot of exercise)
the veterans. They got a recognition by the House and the
2 - You will get unwavering support from all drivers even
state legislation.
• HDR is coming up. Club is sponsoring three runs.
when you are hopelessly lost and confused.
Slash X is offering dinner, ribs, chicken, coleslaw. Slash
1 - You get to ride in front of everyone out of the dust
X is talking about opening for breakfast if there is
(this the only good reason to be a trail lead)
interest. Working on getting more run leaders and games
Web site
Run reports
New site has been up for a little over two months. The
forum has 24 members. Five members have posted
Black Canyon
pictures. Have 114 GPS tracks posted. Had over 900
unique visits.
30 percent were from California. Had
February 28, 2015
some visitors from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Disney
Trail Leader: Ray Kleinhuizen
and Homeland Security. Steve Henry requested to have
Members:
posted that he has rotors for a TJ. A lot of members have
stuff that no one wants and others might. Can start
Ray& Karen Kleinhuizen
posting some things but should be vehicle parts. May
Mike, Ryan & Parker Wallace & Laura
want to put a disclaimer for legal purposes. Make the
Pete Johnson
section so that members can post themselves. Chris will
check into it. • Had 44 referrals, including from
Randy & Donna Huddleston
Quadratech. Put up some technical articles and have
Scott Beggins
referrals for those.
Danny & Linda Ward
Sign up on the forum
Chris Slaughter
please forward your pictures to Chris Slaughter web
master.
Dave & Linda Jones
for Chris’s email address see club info on page 7.
Chris & Alison Johnson
Jim, Megan, Rachael & Margie Ettinger
Cal 4 wheel
Guests:
At the convention, it was decided to remove the word
'club' from the name. New logo to change the name, bear
Mike & Nancy Zeller
will be black and add the website. Cal-4-Wheel has 3,000
Alan & Mathew Mongeau ‘13 JK
members. Sierra Club has over 2 million. Parts of
Alex Ramirez & Jose Gudino ‘13 JK
Cleghorn are closed and barriers were put up. When
being reviewed, there were "options" side-by-side and the
Janet Johansen ‘15 JK
hardest side was closed. When the comment period was
Rob & Carol Abbott ‘01 TJ
open, didn't get enough comments to keep it open.
Spencer Abbott & Maggie Pauro Dodge Dakota
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Steve Myers, 2000 TJ
We headed north from Scouts cove out of the hills than
east to Inscription Canyon. This section of trail had
Al & Mike Ramsden, 2001 TJ
several muddy areas that some folks wanted to play in.
Ryan Smith
Big job cleaning up back home for the playful ones. We
Brent Betker ‘14 JK sport
stopped for lunch at Inscription Canyon a small rocky
canyon with many interesting Indian petroglyphs. After
Alan Betker ‘13 JKU
lunch we headed south to a nice view point on the east
Jay Betker ‘13 JKU
side of Opal Mountain. From here the trail heads south
Tom and Janet Lauterjung ‘13 Rubicon 2dr.
first through the hills then a little east to a place called
Murphy’s Well. Up near the top of a rock pile is a large
Karen and I were having breakfast at the T/A Center as
flat stone with some very impressive and well preserved
the parking started to fill up with Jeeps. By the meet time
Indian Petroglyphs.
there were 24 Jeeps and a Dodge Dakota ready to hit the
trail. We must have been an interesting sight as we
From Murphy’s well we headed back to pavement at
departed the T/A Center headed for the trail.
Hinkley Rd to air up and head home. After airing up the
group started breaking up and heading home. The last
The weather forecast for the day was 40% to 60% chance
group started out and when we hit black top there was Al
of rain and a high of 58F. The day turned out to be very
and Mark Ramsden parked and looking under the Jeep.
nice: no rain, little wind, high in the 60’s. After airing
They broke a weld on the upper control arm bracket on
down on Hinkley rd. we headed to the entrance of
the rear axle. We used plastic tie’s to clear some wires
Black Canyon on Black Canyon rd. The first stop was at
and Mark drove it home. While we are stopped Al points
the canyon entrance to see Indian petroglyphs and one of
under my Jeep were fluid is leaking on the front driver
four ‘Tillman’ signatures. Tillman was an explorer that
side tire. After some inspection we discovered the axle
passed through Black Canyon in 1874, for some unknown
seal is leaking, luckily we home.
reason he left markings on the rocks.
The next stop was the old spring and water trough that
serviced the stage line that ran through Black Canyon.
The next stop was the optional hill climb that was closed
for some reason by the BLM. Seems a little crazy to stop
people from driving on top of a tailings pile.
From here we turned onto Opal Mountain Rd. that runs
south through the hills toward Opal Mountain. This has a
few mild rocky sections and steep but short hill climbs. At
the base of Opal Mountain we changed to a BLM route
and head to Scouts Cove, a manmade shelter carved into
Overall a really fun day exploring the Black Canyon Opal
the side of a hill.
mountain area.
Rattlesnake and Matina Wash
19 vehicles, Rattlesnake was fairly easy, but not Matina.
Tim earned a cow bell on this run, good job Tim.
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
30th
- 5/3 Mojave Trail (E) - Pete
16th - HDR Prerun - Danny W.
23rd - 25th Devils Loop trail (M)
HDR Cal4Wheel event - Danny W.
22th - - 24th Hi Desert Round up CAL4WD event.
Slash X Barstow CA
Dirt Devils will be leading Devils Loop Trail
30th - 6th North Rim run
Run leader: Ray Kleinhuizen
June
2nd club meeting
13th Adopt A Trail - Lead TBD
19th - 21st Forest Fest Big Bear Father’s Day weekend
register is open and generally fills up fast, if you are
interested register online at
Jesse May attended the last meeting at the Corona Sizzler.
http://ie4w.com/page10/index.php
The main issue was that when we do any major work on
6/27 John Bull (D) - Josh
the Adopt-a-Trail, make sure Greg knows beforehand.
There are some clubs that have not notified him. We are
July
not supposed go onto someone else's Adopt-a-Trail and
count that as hours, which some clubs have done that.
7th club meeting
None of the hours have been forwarded onto Angela,
10th - 13th Bishop Ca. trails - Ray
which needs to be done. Will go back through the minutes
24th - 26th Adopta Trail overnight camp at tent peg
and get the information and send it to her. There is a
campground Big Bear
number to be called for fire danger, especially when doing
run Leader Roger
major work. Not a big deal for us as we always go
through Greg for that. Greg will be having another chain
23rd - 26th Jeepers Jamboree
saw class.
31st - 2nd Jeep Jamboree
http://www.jeepersjamboree.com/ Dave Jones will
represent the Dirt Devils on the 31st
Run calendar
August
Adopt a Trail meeting place
4st club meeting
8:30am at Rock Road House
32150 Hilltop Blvd Running Springs, CA 92382
6th
- 9th Sierra Trek near Truckee CAL4WD event.
next to the 76 gas station
http://www.cal4wheel.com/sierra-trek
March
13th - 15th Calico
run leader Ron Webber ron@questbuilding.com
28th - Adopt A Trail (D) - Rick Walters
3/28 - 4/5 Easter Jeep Safari Moab - non club event
April
7th - club meeting
10th - 4/12 Coral Canyon (D) - Danny Ward.
25th - Adopt A Trail - Ray
15th 4x4 Big Bear Clinic (E/M) - Mike
May
22th Adopt A Trail - Roy
5th - club meeting
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
September
Guests
1st club meeting
4th -
7th High Sierra Poker Run CAL4WD event.
near Shaver Lake
Last Saturday of September Adopt a Trail BBQ
11th - 13th Sherman Pass (M) - Danny W.
19th Adopt A Trail - Josh
October
6th club meeting
3th & 4th Off Road Expo Pomona
6th Monthly club meeting
17th Miller Jeep Trail (M) - Pete
Greg Antonowitsch drives around in an ’04 Jeep
24th Adopt A Trail - Lead TBD
Wrangler Rubicon, Greg said his Jeep is unmolested.
Mar ‘15
November
3rd Monthly club meeting / run planning 2016
6th - Black Canyon (E) - Ray
12th - 14th Panamint Valley Days (PVD), Cal 4 Wheel
event
December
1st Monthly club meeting
5th Cleghorn (M) - Joel
New Member
Eric Walberg enjoys traveling the highways and byways
in his 2012 Jeep with a 3” lift, 35” tires, sliders and so on.
Andrea and her son Devin drive a ’96 cherokee
sorry no picture available
Kirk and Jeanne Smith are proud new members.
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Gloria & Rob Ranallo spend the spare time out in Salton
Sea area. The Dirt Devils spent Thanksgiving out in the
Salton Sea area.
Chris Walls drives a CJ7
Ken Hunter drives a 2000 Cherokee with 4 ½” lift and
32’s Feb, Mar 2015 1 run and 2 meetings
Steve Myers putts around in a 2000 Jeep Wrangler with
dana 44 axles, 3 ½” lift and 33” tires he ran The Black
Cyn run an March is his first meeting.
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Marie Callenders. 5711 East La Palma Ave., Anaheim,
CA 92807, 714-779-0600
Club officers
President: Ray Kleinhuizen
kkfusedglass@roadrunner.com
Immediate past president:
Jesse May: jemay.xj@gmail.com
Vice President: Mike Wallace proudpop80@gmail.com
Secretary: Cheryl May: jemay.xj@gmail.com
Treasurer: Emi Webber: emiwebber@hotmail.com
Web Master: Chris Slaughter:
ehooker5529@gmail.com
Adopt a trail chairmans:
Roy Chance: rchance@aol.com
Roger Mauer: rogermauer@gmail.com
Janet Johansen joined us on the Black Canyon run
Newsletter: Ron Webber: webbermail@cox.net
Hospitality: Emi Webber: emiwebber@hotmail.com
Safety Committee: Bill Smith:
Run Coordinator: Rick Walter rick03tj@gmail.com
Emergency response team coordinator: Rick Walter
rick03tj@gmail.com
the emergency response team makes themselves
available to help with our adopt a trail Dish Pan.
Club membership
Membership dues:
Dirt Devil annual club dues
$36.00
Spouse
$12.00
Carrol and Rod Abbott Recently purchased a red 2001 TJ
CAL4WD annual dues
$45.00
Nov, Dec 2014, Feb, Mar 2015
CAL4WD permanent member
$675.00
CAL4WD permanent member 12 installments
$56.25
http://cal4wheel.com/
Accessories
Available at the regular meetings, see Emi Webber.
Dirt Devil Stickers: $15.00.
Short sleeve shirts: $15.00
Long sleeve shirts: $18.00
Sweatshirts: $30.00
Mike and Al Ramsden Mike putts around in a ’01
Hats: $20.00
wrangler with 35” tires and a few other mods sept, Oct,
DD logo magnets available in various sizes for
Nov 2014, Feb, Mar 2015.
$4.50 to $13.50 each.
Club info
Meeting Place
First Tuesday of each month,
6:30pm for Dinner & 7:30pm for the meeting at
just east of Imperial Hwy and north of the 91 Fwy.
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Awards
Run announcement template
Research and/or Pre-run the trail route.
Create and Post a Run Announcement
When emailing the run announcement: Please, use the
words “Run Announcement” in the Subject line of the
message, forward to the webmaster and newsletter editor.
Date/Time and Place for the Run
Description of Run
Difficulty Rating
Run Type: Base Camp, Day Run
Directions to Meeting Place.
EXACT Departure Time from Meeting Place
Required Equipment. Open dif ? Lockers?
Is RSVP Required?
CAL 4 Wheel Drive, new member award
CB Channel channel 4, if to much traffic then switch to 5
and so on.
Newsletter advertising
HAMM channel 146.440
$25 for ¼ page ad, for 3 issues
Camping Location/ Directions/ Details/ Facilities/ Fees.
$50 for a ½ page ad, for 3 issues
Access for motor homes?
$100 for a full page ad, for 3 issues.
Contact Information (Run Leader
A full page ad also gets a Web Link.
Phone Number & email address)
First aid kit tracking
Day of the Run:
FA #1 (red, blue backpack)
Hold brief driver’s gathering before start of run. Include
Mike Wallace
special instructions.
Josh Bleijenberg
Assign vehicle order if there are vehicles with open diffs.
Have vehicle with locked diff in front & behind. (If
Ron Webber November 2014
Ray Kleinhuizen July 2014
possible disperse vehicles with HAM radios near the
front, middle and rear of the line.
FA #2 (Orange canvas bag)
Encourage drivers to learn the name of the person in front
Josh Bleijenberg
and behind his/her vehicle.
Ray Kleinhuizen
Assign Tail Gunner Vehicle
Danny Ward
After returning home forward to the newsletter editor a
Josh Bleijenberg April 2014
Run Report and a few photos. subject line write
Roger Mauer Feb 2014
“Run Report”
FA #3 (Orange canvas bag)
Ron Webber March 2015 Calico
DD Trail Ratings
Rick Walters July 2014
Pete Johnson April 2014
Trail ratings are subjective and weather conditions over
Ron Webber March 2014 Calico
the years can change a trail. An easy trail can become
more difficult after or during rain. The trail leader needs
to be the final judge of trail conditions the day of the run.
If any part of a trail is difficult the trail is rated difficult. If
Run report template:
difficult sections have bypasses the trail may be suitable
Run name:
for less capable rigs or less experienced drivers.
Run leader:
E - Easy (Black Canyon, Mohave Trail)
Date:
M - Moderate (Devils Loop, Miller Jeep Trail)
Number of rigs:
D - Difficult (John Bull, Calico)
Participants:
Members:
(E) Easy trails could include these conditions:
Guest:
Any dirt, sand or gravel road.
The story:
Gentle to mildly steeper hill climbs, mild rocky
Weather:
sections and/or soft sandy sections.
Cow bells earned:
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Four wheel drive may not be necessary all the time.
32150 Hilltop Blvd Running Springs, CA 92382 next to
Pot holes or ruts that require high ground clearance.
the 76 gas station
Water crossings are up to 15 inches deep.
Suitable for full size vehicles.
Low gears may be required on hill climbs.
Recommend 4 wheel drive vehicle
Suitable for most tire sizes
(M) Moderate trails could include these
conditions::
Steep rutted and rocky hill climbs that require careful
tire placement.
Two to three foot ledges to climb and/or steep down
hill drop offs.
Rocky sections that can cause body or rim damage.
Water crossings might have rocks and could be
deeper then 12 inches.
Brush or cactus may touch vehicle.
These trails will require low range gears, high ground
clearance and 4WD.
Skid plates and body protection are recommended.
Minimum 33 inch or bigger tires.
Recommend at least one axle locker.
(D) Difficult trails could include these conditions:
Rocks as big as your tire to as big as your vehicle.
Hill climbs are steep and may require extended wheel
travel.
These trails can have long sections of large rocks that
require careful tire placement. .
Three + foot ledges to climb and steep drop offs.
Body damage is possible and brush may scratch
vehicle.
These trails will require vehicle modifications such as
suspension lifts, body protection and skid plates.
Minimum 35 inch or bigger tires.
Recommend front and rear axle lockers.
Adopt a Trail
The Dirt Devils Adopt A Trail is: Dishpan Springs Trail
(3N34)
Dishpan Springs Trail can be found in the
San Bernardino National Forest near Lake Arrowhead.
The Dishpan Springs Trail is one of the toughest and most
popular trails in the SBNF.
The West entrance:
2N26Y is N34° 16.198 W117° 08.258.
The T6 Bridge:
N34° 16.106 W117° 07.745.
The East entrance:
3N16 is N34° 15.663 W117° 05.116.
Meeting place
8:30am at Rock Road House
DD newsletter mar15.doc
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Dirt Devils Digest
March 2015
Cowbells
Old logo green bell
Josh Bleijenberg Dusy Ersham Sept 2014
Brown bell
Tim Debolt Rattlesnake Feb 2015
Rick Walter adopt a trail 6/27/2014
Josh Bleijenberg Corral Canyon 5/4/2014
Little Blue bell
Chris Slaughter Grizzly
Rick Walter
Mike Wallace
Mike Maneth memorial bell
The cow bell rules are: If you get stuck and are unable to
James Eddinger Claw Hammer 1/10/15.
move under your own power and need the help of a winch
Castulo Olivas
or you get strapped from one of your fellow jeepers then
you have earned the privilege of hanging a cow bell from
your front bumper. You must leave the cow bell on the
front of your rig until another Dirt Devil gets stuck then,
you can proudly hand it over. This starts at the beginning
and the end of the trail, not on the highway.
Old Logo Green
Brown
Little Blue
Mike Maneth Bell
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