Day
2 was an organized trail run into the mountains to the north of
Calico.
The photos below are what we saw.
This
fellow got a shelter dog that had suffered the loss of a leg in an
agricultural mower. This collie was a working dog and the
accident ended his work career. The new owners arranged to
get him a prosthetic leg.
The
start of this trail run was also Mule Canyon. Mule provides
the best access to the back country trails and a number of
alternate side routes can taken from the main canyon.
Our
path would take us through the mud hills and some narrow notches.
A
very nice 712 Pinz camper conversion.
We
waited to get the balance of the group assembled. When we
had all-hands accounted for, we headed through the mud hills.
We
assembled the group again on a ridge above the mud hills.
I
was riding with Dave in his 404 ambulance box and we were near the
rear of the group.
There
were only a few rigs behind us on the trail.
From
the crest of the ridge we could see the parking lot at Calico and
had a clear view of the intense warping of the strata.
In
the distance to the south we could see the Yermo valley.
From
the crest of the ridge, we continued up the steep grades further
into the hills above Calico.
A
steep section of the dirt trail was causing some of the Pinzgauers
to spin their wheels creating great clouds of dust.
I
am guessing that the drivers of the Pinz did not use their
differential locks.
The
trail had vestiges of an old asphalt road from the mining
days. A segment is visible just behind the lead vehicle in
the photo above.
The
small
amount of asphalt left did nothing to make the steep portions of
the trail easier. In fact, it prevented erosion and left
high spots creating obstacles on the steep portions of the trail.
This
hole provided challenges for several vehicles.
At
the base of a steep slab, this Land Rover met its match. The
combination of loose dirt and no "lockers" (locking differential)
caused sufficient wheel slip to prevent forward motion.
One
of the jeeps winched the Rover up the slab past the loose dirt.
This
portion of the trail is quite steep.
Even
at the top, the Rover was still suffering traction issues due to
the loose dirt.
It took quite a while to winch the Rover so
the other trucks were already waiting at the rally point.
Once we were all accounted for, we continued on deeper into
the hills.
The group stopped at a large mine site high on the ridge
for lunch. When lunch was complete we headed back off
the ridge into the canyons below. Debris and
overburden from the mining operations are visible on the
steep hillsides. An open tunnel is visible to the left
of the trail by the dark Jeep.
This trail was quite steep and very exposed on the side of
the hill. If you were unlucky enough to be the
passenger on this segment of the trail, it was quite tense.
The return path had a nice view of the Yermo valley and the
solar plant at the base of the far hills.
We hit a tight narrow switchback that caused the group to
bunch up.
The final section of the switchback was both steep and
rough.
The trail was narrow enough to cause the drivers to
instinctively hug the cliff wall.
Our chosen path went through a squeeze that also had some
ledges.
The ledge combined with the Haflinger's stiff frame and
lack of articulation in the suspension caused it to get
several feet of air under the front axle.
Jeeps are quite narrow but they pretty much filled up the
entire notch.
The uneven surface caused all the vehicles to get a good
suspension workout.
This Pinz got air on the front tires. The determined
expression on the driver's face tells the story.
John's VW "Thing" damaged its transmission early in the
trail and was dead-weight towed the entire distance by Joe
O's custom rock crawler. John advised that the repair
was simple and inexpensive, but he did not have the part
with him, so he did the conservative thing which was to take
the "Strap of Shame".
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2014, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.