We all met at the parking lot and pulled out of there *almost* on time. Drove up to the dirt road and aired down. From there we kinda leap frogged our way up as we had a few issues like fuel starvation, vapor lock, etc. But we all made it to the Saran Wrap trailhead. As we headed in, Gary's bronco seems to prefer to run on gas instead of air. We think his problem was that he needs a pusher pump to supply his high pressure pump. Each time it died, we had to get the rear in the air to gravity feed the fuel in. Well his rig died right there just as we began the trail. So I hooked up my winch and thru the snatch block attempted to pull his rig up on the side of the road to get the tank higher than the pump. Didn't work. Some uhh, fool decided against crimping the end of my winch rope to the eyelet that attaches to the drum and my line just spun on the drum. So I pulled up and we hooked my dad's winch (rubicon) to Gary and got him running again. But he thought it best to head home rather than leave his bronco and ride or chance going on. Probably a smart move. During that time, due to burning a bunch of fuel and schedule, 3 of the guys turned around and headed up Eagle Rock. My dad, Joe and I continued on up Saran Wrap. Made quick work of that so I didn't get any pictures although my dad got a few, which I'll get later.
Then we connected down to Eagle Rock and caught up with the group at a particularly difficult section. A group in front of them held up progress and the reason we caught up with them. My dad and I got thru the obstacle and wait for Joe to do the same. But Joe had a little trouble, then all the sudden his axle bracket on the driver side front decided to part ways with the axle itself! Dang, that's going to be difficult to drive! After some thinking, Corey suggested we pull the axle back into place using a winch and then using whatever fasteners we could, pull the axle back into the c-shaped cup of the axle bracket. a couple chains and three ratchet straps later, we got Joe turned around and headed back down the trail. I followed Joe out while the rest of the group continued. Once Joe was confident he could make it down the rest of the way, I split off and came up the Mt. Baldy trail and caught the group at the top of Eagle Rock. After some messing around, most of the guys headed on down Mt. Baldy and headed home.
My Dad and I continued up Mt. Baldy and stayed on it until we came to FS376. We hung there and watched a family on ATV's cross the creek. We headed back in the way we came and explored a few spur roads on the way out. We aired back up where we aired down made our way to Joe's house to make sure he was home safely. After a lot of BS and couple
s, we returned home happy, hungry, and exhausted!At the parking lot:
On the connector from Eagle Rock to Saran Warp:
Joe's big break:
Rock formations along Mt. Baldy:
The lookout on Mt. Baldy headed home:
Poser with my Dad and I:
I had a great time, but felt terrible for Gary with his fuel issues and what he went thru to get to go on this trip. We'll go again soon!
I am excited to see the pictures from the other camera's! Post them here!
J.D.
, so i have to upload them tonight on her computer
