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SoCalFest Pictures

Flooding or wreck?

Neither. Heavy traffic backs up at the traffic light. Hopefully, when they finish the road improvement, they will bypass Kramer Junction. Nothing specific to stop there for anyway.

David Bricker / SYR - PSR
 
If I can get it from Carol I can put it with that aluminum coolant tank and add it to the toolbox trade.
 
WAAAY COOL. Thanks Carol, Tom and Ryan. It's hard to find a hat that fits right and doesn't give me a headache.
 
Yeah, it's probably the one safe in my Jeep. I'll get it to Tom in case I don't make the 6/10 AAT run. Tom's about 4 miles from me.

Thanks for saving the hat, Ryan!
 
WAAAY COOL. Thanks Carol, Tom and Ryan. It's hard to find a hat that fits right and doesn't give me a headache.

Oh BS you just don't want to have to sew the tinfoil into yet another hat.
 
LOL
 
Finally sat down and processed the rest of my photos. It has been a hectic past few weeks but took advantage of some extra time tonight since I learned I'm not going to San Diego for work tomorrow, after all.

The trip starts as all XJ-centric trips start. With one (or more) trip to the gas station.
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Friday, 2N04 Adopt-A-Trail Maintenance

Friday the folks already up in Big Bear joined me on 2N04 for some maintenance then a quick cleanup of the Arrastre Shooting Area #1. We all had a good day (which was made better by carne and pollo asada, I had brought it up for dinner but since Leadfoot was kind enough to host a BBQ didn't need it).

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Arrastre Creek consistently blows through its designated channel on the trail. This causes sediment and erosion issues. We work to guide it back into its normal channel.

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David and Noah work while Mark, Carol, and I supervise.

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Mazzy making sure Josh's Jeep gets as dirty and smelly as possible.

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Noah finds that shovels work a lot like spatula.

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Most of the people on here know that I'm a proponent of using child labor, here Gianna is working on placing rocks to armor the bed.

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David gazes at the water and has considers how strong a swimmer he is.
 
Saturday - Stocker Run

Saturday morning started out hectic with the difficult runs rushing out early to beat the Jeep Jamboree groups to the trails. I'm happy to say that for the most part we were able to avoid too much of a slowdown.

Since I was leading my traditional stocker run which is mostly on 3N16 (where there is always adequate passing space) we left at the normal time. I don't have many photos along the way as I was too busy doing leader stuff (trying to sound like I know what I'm doing and striking dramatic poses). I did, however, take the drone out after lunch to play around a bit.

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The group

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'lil closer now

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Now from teh other side (I like this one best of all).

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View from above. I really should get up here and fly again a bit higher so you can really see the scar from the Doble Mine.

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Looking out toward Baldwin Lake

After lunch we did our traditional exit, the slightly more exciting Jacoby Canyon. There are a couple of spots there to flex your Jeep a bit, I got ahead of the group so I could take some photos of most of them coming down.

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Peter

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Anak on the right and David on the left taking my line (yes I gestured wildly for him to take it, somebody else had to!)

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David dropping off the table

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I've always liked that rock in the background

After Jacoby we went back to camp to put on warm clothes, eat, and have the raffle. I must say the raffle it the snow was an interesting experience that did make it a little more challenging.

One thing that did not come up this time was people yelling out "rigged!" in jest (I hope!). Mostly because my dad and I had poor raffle luck. Ironically this was the one raffle that actually was rigged.

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Yeah, sorry Mike but it was no coincidence that you won that bag of charcoal!

After the raffle the fire called.
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And this is why:
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We ended up dragging my Easy Up to partially cover the fire, keeping the snow off our backs, then passed the whiskey bottle(s) around until around midnight before retiring to warm bags. It was a good night.
 
Sunday it was time to go back to real life. We woke up to light snow and clear, warm skies. The warm sun really helped motivate me to get out of the bag and make coffee.

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By mid-morning the temperature dropped and some snow started to fall making me glad I had resurrected last night's fire.

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Roxie and Jeremy get warm

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The snow really started to pick up!

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How Dalmatians are made.

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The local plants sure got purty!

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All packed up we said our goodbyes and made our own ways home.

My dad and I opted to take CA38 home. I took point while he followed in his PT Cruiser. We made it out just before chain restrictions went into effect, I only had one dicey moment where the Jeep started to get sideways in a turn (of course directly into two oncoming cars!). With a bit of throttle work I was able to correct it before so much as hitting the center line or even peeing myself.

A few shots from the way down.

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My favorite stretch of 38

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I realized on the way home that I had forgotten to grab a key item at work, I was leaving for Seattle the next day so had to grab it on the way home.

Quite a bit different than Big Bear.
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It's not often I park the Jeep and trailer in front of my building.

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Playing with Pano mode, trying not to get run over by busses.


All in all the weekend was a good time, like always. The delay in photos had to do with my hectic schedule. I packed up soggy snow-riden gear on Sunday, flew to Seattle on Monday, worked until Wednesday, and arrived back at LAX after midnight. Thursday I rented a pickup, loaded up, and was off to Overland Expo in Flagstaff! The tent was still wet but luckily hadn't sat long enough to smell!
 
I didn't take enough pics, and there aren't enough pics from the gold mt run in here. Anyone? Bueller? Especially of the ZJ on stock springs showing how everyone how it's done :D
 
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