Topic: McCain Valley Road

[Brian (#2)]

Hey, first thing I should do is introduce myself I guess.  My name is Brian and I just recently got a 2009 X.  I found this website through another Xterra site and thought it was cool that So Cal had its own club.  Let me preface this by saying the only experience I have off-roading is when my Dad and I got stuck in the mountains of Pennsylvania when I was about 10 years old.  We were the snow in his Dakota 4x4 and we bottomed out on a rock which was resting on his transmission.  Needless to say it was not a good experience, but I had fun. 

I had been looking for a new car for awhile and decided that since there were so many trails around here that it would be something fun to do on the weekends.  My wife has zero off-roading experience and doesn't like to camp outside, but I think I will be able to convince her to go with me on runs.  I picked up Wells' guide as soon as I got my X.  I also saw a couple of people reference it here, so it must be a good start. 

I decided to go on an easy run to get used to my new vehicle so I took a trip out to McCain Valley Road.  The entire road was just like Wells said it was and didn't need 4x4 at all.  However, I used it in some spots just to get a hang of it and to see what it felt like compared to RWD.

Entrance
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New ride 
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This is the end of the road
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A couple of shots of what the trail looks like
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And some of the scenery
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[XterracerX]

Beautiful pics! Welcome to the club!

[Paul]

Welcome to the fray. I use to go out to McCain Valley road years and years ago.

[AV Xterra]

Welcome

[FrankB]

Hi Brian, welcome to the club.

Are you in the San Diego area? There are several of us around here.

Keep an eye on the forums, as soon as it cools off a bit we'll start heading out to the desert. There will be several runs that will be easy but scenic, and that will give you a chance to get a feel for driving in 4WD. 

Nice pics, I hear the view from the Sacatone Overlook is pretty nice, but it must have been pretty hot out there.

[Goldfish]

Welcome Brian. The key to getting the wife interested is to start out slowly with some 1 day trips. My wifes only request was she had some place to go to the bathroom. One 5 gallon bucket w/ a seat,kitty litter and a pop up outhouse = happy wife.

[Brian (#2)]

Yeah, I am in East County.  I stopped at both of the overlooks and the end of the trail to take pictures, but besides that it was too hot.  It would be a nice place to have a picnic when it cools down. 

I have a couple of friends that go out to Coral Canyon about twice a month.  One has a Jeep JK and the other has a modified Samurai.  It would be awesome to go out with a bunch of Xterras though, so I will keep a look out.

Paul's pictures on here actually inspired me to take my camera out and post them up.  I don't have a fancy camera, but I love taking pictures everywhere I go.  The sizes of the photos are reduced to fit on your screen without having to scroll over.  The resolution suffered a bit, but I wasn't sure if there was a size limit to the files.  I have my camera set on the high settings so I think they are about 2.5 MB a piece.

And for the record, my wife's idea of "camping" is in a cabin with running water (and probably a full kitchen because she loves to cook/bake).  If I can get her to go out over one night it would be a miracle, but I will take your advice and start slow.  We both like hiking so it is not the outside part that she doesn't like, just the no bathroom/shower part.

[FrankB]

Brian,

If you are looking for some easy routes you can do by yourself, until we get some runs going again, there are a few routes in the east part of San Diego County that make a nice day trip with great views.

The road from the Four Corners spot in Corrall Canyon up to the top of Los Pinos Mountain is paved, but the view from the fire lookout tower is great. It's one lane, with nice views along the way too. There is a trail down from there back to Corrall Canyon Road which should be easy, but the ranger tells me there might be one iffy spot.  I'll try to get a run scheduled for that trail (Espinosa) in early autumn. You will need a National Forest pass for this one.

Boulder Creek Road, from Descanso up to Pine Valley / Julian is one-lane graded dirt, with nice views along the way.

Pine Creek Road becomes a one-lane sort of paved forest service road a few miles in from Old Hwy 80 near the town of Pine Creek. It runs up a canyon/creekbed route to another one-lane road that becomes a shelf road over a saddle and into the Laguna Mountains and eventually hits Sunrise Highway. It makes for a very nice day trip.

[Brian (#2)]

Thanks for the recommendations.  I might tag along with my friends next weekend in Corrall Canyon and I'll see if they want to try the Los Pinos Mountain loop.  They have been doing the more challenging routes in there but I'll be watching from the sidelines. 

My wife and I actually went out to Blair Valley today.  I thought it would be a good first trip together especially since there were a couple of hikes involved.  There was a nice breeze so it wasn't too hot, plus we had plenty of water in our camelbaks and also back in the X.  My camera died about half way through so I had to settle taking pictures with my crappy cell phone camera the rest of the way.  The views there were stunning...especially up on Ghost Mt. 

Only mishap was that I popped a splash guard while backing up out of a no through way dirt road.  I am thinking about unscrewing the rest of them... :/

[FrankB]

You definitely want to lose those mud flaps.

Blair Valley is very nice. Which hikes did you do?  It must have been pretty warm out there, even at 3,000' elevation.  If you look back through the picture threads you can see what it looks like in cooler months when it is greener out there.

[Brian (#2)]

We did all the hikes: Pictographs, Morteros, Marshal South, and then up Foot and Walker Pass.  It hit over 100 degrees by the time we got out of there, but I am used to the heat.  I saw the pictures on page two, they are a lot better then then ones I took especially since half were with my cell phone.  Plus almost everything was dried up except for the cactus and aloe.  I imagine it is much more beautiful in the spring when all the wildflowers are in bloom. 

There was a non-military jet that was flying super low over the park.  It buzzed us as we were about to leave the trail and then dropped down behind a mountain and into the valley.  I don't know if that was legal, but it sure wasn't nice.

[pacificaX]

And for the record, my wife's idea of "camping" is in a cabin with running water (and probably a full kitchen because she loves to cook/bake).  If I can get her to go out over one night it would be a miracle, but I will take your advice and start slow.  We both like hiking so it is not the outside part that she doesn't like, just the no bathroom/shower part.

Well, then you're pretty lucky, 'cause my wife's idea of camping is staying at a 5 star resort next to the beach or mountains! Needless to say, we don't do much camping!

At any rate, welcome.

Marty