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For those of you that didn't know, Bob O (mtbikbob) is turning the big 50 this week. Joy, his lovely wife, put together a huge party with a Wild West theme on Saturday night in their home in Escondido.
Sharon and I attended and had an excellent time (thanks Joy!). Rat Patrol also attended. He has work in San Diego so he was staying in the area. Bob and Joy let us all crash after the party, so we all woke up in the morning with a touch of a hangover, and a forecast for some of the heaviest rain so far this month. So what do you think we did.....? We went Jeepin', of course!
I hadn't ever been to the Corral Canyon area, so we checked on line to see if the area was open and since it was, we loaded up and headed out to play in the mud on the trails.
On the way, we had several bursts of rain, but nothing too extreme. Right as we got to the Four Corners area, heavy rain started. It slowed to a mild rain quickly, so we aired down in the lull.
Hoping for the best, we followed Bob to the Sidewinder trail.
What a cool little trail! There are lots of cool things to see on this one mile long trail. Because of the muddy & wet tires, the Rat Patrol was the only one that made it up the Ledge this time:
From where Kurt is to where Bob is (white Jeep), is VERY tilty before you start the steep climb on the other side:
But compared the things that we tackled later in the day, this wasn't so bad.
For one, we had to come down this:
That can cause scratch-n-sniff seats. Apparently, not everyone has made it though this trail:
Near the end of this short trail, you have two choices to get out:
Bob made it his way:
But Kurt's line just couldn't get traction in the mud. But it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying:
I followed Bob's line, but Mr. Green had his own troubles, but he eventually made it:
So far, the weather was cooperating. We had had only a drizzle if anything at all since starting the trail.
We headed to the entrance to Bronco Peak. With all the rain, the only tracks on Sidewider were the ones we made. When we got to Bronco Peak, it was the same thing:
There are some great obstacles on the climb to the top of Bronco:
At the top there are some wonderful views. These were occasionally highlighted by small patches of sunshine popping through the clouds breifly. Pics of the views are in the Photobucket link at the end of the thread.
Also at the top of the peak, the rest of the trail has this warning:
For a Jeeper, is that a sign of happiness or what?
This sign is serious though, especially in the mud! For several spots just after the sign, it was just point, slide, and pray for the best:
We took a wrong turn and ended up at a trail that headed down the wrong side of the peak from where we wanted to go. We backtracked quickly, but the short side track had some fun stuff on it:
Back on the right trail, things got more technical as we headed down from the peak:
Near the end of the trail, the "top-eating tree" almost got me:
Thanks Bob, for pushing the canvas back away from harm.
It started raining hard again just as we were entering the last obstacle on the trail:
We had excellent luck with the rain and I had a fantastic first run of Sidewinder and Bronco Peak. Many thanks to Kurt and Bob for all the spots to get Mr. Green through this tough trail.
I look forward to seeing the pics from Kurt and (maybe) some video from Joy!
All Sharon's pics can be seen at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...27-08/?start=0
(I apologize that the first 33 pics are in reverse order, the rest are in chronolgical order.)
As for a trail report, both trails were very clean. The Bronco Peak Connector (Trail 3A) needs some maintenance in a couple of places. The heavy rains have uncovered some of the drain culverts that pass beneath the trail. I'm sure that the USFS will want to protect those again with an earth covering.
What an excellent day! It was yet another awesome day on the trail with good friends!
Happy 50th Birthday Bob!
Sharon and I attended and had an excellent time (thanks Joy!). Rat Patrol also attended. He has work in San Diego so he was staying in the area. Bob and Joy let us all crash after the party, so we all woke up in the morning with a touch of a hangover, and a forecast for some of the heaviest rain so far this month. So what do you think we did.....? We went Jeepin', of course!
I hadn't ever been to the Corral Canyon area, so we checked on line to see if the area was open and since it was, we loaded up and headed out to play in the mud on the trails.
On the way, we had several bursts of rain, but nothing too extreme. Right as we got to the Four Corners area, heavy rain started. It slowed to a mild rain quickly, so we aired down in the lull.
Hoping for the best, we followed Bob to the Sidewinder trail.
What a cool little trail! There are lots of cool things to see on this one mile long trail. Because of the muddy & wet tires, the Rat Patrol was the only one that made it up the Ledge this time:
From where Kurt is to where Bob is (white Jeep), is VERY tilty before you start the steep climb on the other side:
But compared the things that we tackled later in the day, this wasn't so bad.
For one, we had to come down this:
That can cause scratch-n-sniff seats. Apparently, not everyone has made it though this trail:
Near the end of this short trail, you have two choices to get out:
Bob made it his way:
But Kurt's line just couldn't get traction in the mud. But it certainly wasn't for the lack of trying:
I followed Bob's line, but Mr. Green had his own troubles, but he eventually made it:
So far, the weather was cooperating. We had had only a drizzle if anything at all since starting the trail.
We headed to the entrance to Bronco Peak. With all the rain, the only tracks on Sidewider were the ones we made. When we got to Bronco Peak, it was the same thing:
There are some great obstacles on the climb to the top of Bronco:
At the top there are some wonderful views. These were occasionally highlighted by small patches of sunshine popping through the clouds breifly. Pics of the views are in the Photobucket link at the end of the thread.
Also at the top of the peak, the rest of the trail has this warning:
For a Jeeper, is that a sign of happiness or what?
This sign is serious though, especially in the mud! For several spots just after the sign, it was just point, slide, and pray for the best:
We took a wrong turn and ended up at a trail that headed down the wrong side of the peak from where we wanted to go. We backtracked quickly, but the short side track had some fun stuff on it:
Back on the right trail, things got more technical as we headed down from the peak:
Near the end of the trail, the "top-eating tree" almost got me:
Thanks Bob, for pushing the canvas back away from harm.
It started raining hard again just as we were entering the last obstacle on the trail:
We had excellent luck with the rain and I had a fantastic first run of Sidewinder and Bronco Peak. Many thanks to Kurt and Bob for all the spots to get Mr. Green through this tough trail.
I look forward to seeing the pics from Kurt and (maybe) some video from Joy!
All Sharon's pics can be seen at this link:
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q...27-08/?start=0
(I apologize that the first 33 pics are in reverse order, the rest are in chronolgical order.)
As for a trail report, both trails were very clean. The Bronco Peak Connector (Trail 3A) needs some maintenance in a couple of places. The heavy rains have uncovered some of the drain culverts that pass beneath the trail. I'm sure that the USFS will want to protect those again with an earth covering.
What an excellent day! It was yet another awesome day on the trail with good friends!
Happy 50th Birthday Bob!
Shoot me a PM/call if you're in North County!
I see how it is....
8s, 35 inch MTRs, Warn 9k rock track 4:1, Vanco Big Brake Kit![/COLOR]
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