Gorman day run, 05/21

[KingOfTheHill]

Hey Casm.... this trail you guys took... your truck looks to be fairly stock.. is this a body damaging trail?

if you ever want to do it again, let me know, im in... looks like something i could do at least.... lol, we all gotta start somewhere


JOe

 

[nitrogt101]

These trails were perfect for stock or lightly modified. Casm's xj is the stock limited w/ upcountry, mine is the 98 sport w/ about 4" and 31's. A stock jeep does great here, and there are harder trails we didnt hit that are a challenge if you want them. Like I said, we didnt get any shots of the harder parts we went on, it was only 2 of us. But Pronghorn did have some very narrow turns which had to be taken @ full lock and the outside tire was inches from the ledge and inside body getting close to the rocks.

After Casm left, I drove the dry river bed that runs the length of the park. Droped in it at the north entrance, and ended up at one of the camps at the south entrance. Here is a shot of it, would have been a blast in a stock jeep!

 

[casm]

Thanks for the run Casm, despite the herds of bikes and fat kids on quads it was still a fun day! I'll get the picture's up hopefully tomorrow. Already looking forward to next time.

Thanks It was a good run, and glad I got a chance to meet you guys. We'll have to work something out for another location for the next one - not to knock Gorman, but a little change every once in a while never hurt...

For those who weren't there:

- Pronghorn was fun. Great view as always.

- The bikers were a) on trails way beyond their abilities, and b) suicidal. Between the two of us we probably missed being in a head-on with some idiot coming around a blind curve way too fast a half-dozen times.

- Found two kids (ages 15 and 10, roughly) in a broken-down Pep Boys'-issue sand buggy on Homestead with no water, no safety gear, and no idea which campsite their folks were at. They thought they were out of gas, but after we went through the incredibly difficult procedure (grab, twist) of opening the fuel cap, it turned out to be something else. We called 911, who got the Rangers to come pick them up about an hour later.

- Lunatic woman with three kids in her stupid smoke-belching Yamaha quad-thingy-with-a-cheesy-canvas-top was convinced we wouldn't make it through Sterling Canyon, despite all of the tracks on the ground giving evidence to the contrary. Gotta love people (her kid) jumping out in front of you making the 'someone's bought the farm' frantic arm motions to bring you to a halt because they can't judge the width of their own golf cart.

Hey Casm.... this trail you guys took... your truck looks to be fairly stock.. is this a body damaging trail?

It can cause body damage if you're not paying attention in certain places, at least where we were - but like nitrogt101 said, it's fine for stock. Mine has the Up-Country package, and I did whack the skids (and rear towbar) a couple of times; the front diff also took a minor knock on the edge, but nothing fatal. From what I remember of how you described your rig, you should be OK - most of the tough stuff wasn't down to terrain so much as narrowness, etc.

 

[nitrogt101]

- Lunatic woman with three kids in her stupid smoke-belching Yamaha quad-thingy-with-a-cheesy-canvas-top was convinced we wouldn't make it through Sterling Canyon, despite all of the tracks on the ground giving evidence to the contrary. Gotta love people (her kid) jumping out in front of you making the 'someone's bought the farm' frantic arm motions to bring you to a halt because they can't judge the width of their own golf cart.

Wasnt it a "lifted" golf cart? And yeah, it was great having her there to play mom for us telling us "You cant go that way, it gets really narrow." Especially after we had already done the trail once the other way. hasta

Oh, and here is a shot of those retards in the buggy. I'm guessing it was a good 3 hours before they got out of there, they had already been there an hour when we found them, and we didnt contact a (good) ranger until about an hour later.

 

[Captain Ron]

Casm, did we pass you when we were on the way out from Miller? I think that was you. Was dog tired, and still planning on the drive up to Pismo, or I would have stopped.

We "escorted" a couple of guys on a bike and a quad back down to the gate at Lockwood. The Ranger we work with met us there. What a treat to listen to these guys lie about how they got onto a closed trail, and get the 15 minute riot act. Tickets were promptly issued.

We also saw evidence of people still going back to the "wall" on Piru. Besides the fact that Lockwood has been seasonally closed, the trail was long ago rerouted, and It's a no-no folks, don't go there.

Miller, Emigdo, and a couple of other seasonally closed trails will all be open this coming weekend. Yellow Jacket has some new obstacles

Enjoy!

--ron

 

[casm]

Casm, did we pass you when we were on the way out from Miller? I think that was you. Was dog tired, and still planning on the drive up to Pismo, or I would have stopped.

You may well have... Where did we cross? I was pretty well worn out by then too (4hrs. sleep the night before), so was working more on staying awake than playing spot-the-XJ

We "escorted" a couple of guys on a bike and a quad back down to the gate at Lockwood. The Ranger we work with met us there. What a treat to listen to these guys lie about how they got onto a closed trail, and get the 15 minute riot act. Tickets were promptly issued.

God bless their shiny, shiny helmets.

Miller, Emigdo, and a couple of other seasonally closed trails will all be open this coming weekend. Yellow Jacket has some new obstacles

Should be interesting... It's going to be a couple of weeks at least before I've got the time to get back out, but they're on the must-see list.