I didn't want to hijack the other thread so I started a separate thread here for the wayward X.
Sunday night. I was all set to link up for the Labor Day run to Heartbreak Ridge and Sidewinder. Checklist complete, truck packed, and I look up and there is a puppy Pit Bull milling through my backyard. Wrong way buddy, I lead him to the gate which I had opened to load the truck. Nope, he was adopting my house as his new home. No name tag, no phone number, government services are closed, looks like I have a new Pit Bull until I figure this out. My Jack Russell was THRILLED and and made all kinds of growling sounds just to let me know how pleased she was! No problem, still have time to get some sleep, posted signs on every pole for 2 blocks. I kept "Puppy" outside and kept Sadie the wonder Jack Russell ready to teach that Pit Bull a lesson... INSIDE.
Checked my phone and 2N02/ HWY 38 comes right up, made a hard copy backup, good to go. Right as I start to fall asleep something is trying to rip down the gate. "Puppy" has a new name...Nightmare! O.K. fine, open the gate, tail wagging staring at me. Apparently, Nightmare is a people dog and outside isn't going to tolerate being left outside without tearing my house down. This animal is a damn terrorist!
Think, think, think, O.K., I'll sleep on the damn couch in the den with the crazy animal with the door closed while my recently abandoned wife keeps Sadie with her in the bedroom. Good plan except Nightmare isn't sleepy. Nightmare gets crash course on Lie Down, and Shut the F&%k Up. Getting late but I can still get some respectable sleep before I get up a 0 dark thirty to get up to Big Bear. I just start to doze off and the phone rings. Check the clock, its midnight. Whats that bright light?
Bright light, phone is ringing, and there is a car with its headlights shining straight into the den. I open the front door, at midnight, and a guy is there asking me if I found his dog. Deep breaths, count to ten, don't break into the wealth of choice sarcastic lines I have just waiting to be released. Finally, I just say "Yeah". He apologizes to the point I almost burst out "Just take the damn dog!". I stay cool, he confirms the day-glow color of the dog's collar. Nightmare goes bounding into his car, tail wagging in overdrive. Sensing my state of mind, the guy quietly gets in his car and zooms off. YOU'RE WELCOME.
So I gather everything up and head back to my cherished bed and I don't remember anything else until the alarm on my phone goes off. I'm wrecked. This isn't going to be a good day Tater.
Shower, backpack, food, off I go. I got some chocolate covered Expresso beans just for this kind of occasion and I pound down a fistful of them. Things are looking up, truck has a full tank, radio up loud, making good time. I stop off for gas just off the 38 before the big climb and the Nav shows I am getting close. I get a real coffee because I'm not shaking enough already from the toxic levels of caffeine I got from the Espresso beans. I get back on the road and, in no time, I'm there! 30 minutes early!
Wait a minute. Something isn't adding up. I'm staring at a cliff face and the trail is for hiking only. My head is buzzing. Check the nav, no signal. O.K. it has to be right around here somewhere. GPS...2N01...no signal. Up the hill I go to get a better signal. O.K. GPS...2N02... no love. Nav, still no signal. Map...2N02... way up there? Panic, I go tearing up the mountain...Where is it? Crap, Its just further down the road. I then proceed to rip right past 2N01. Check again. Damn, out of time, I'm going to screw up the whole show. I drive all the way back down the hill until I get enough signal to send the lead a text that I'm stuffed.
O.K., I bought myself some time and I can chase them down once I get my bearings. 2N02, WAIT, no, 2N01! SLOOOOOOW DOWN! O.K., got signal, the lead sent me GPS coordinates, I'll go go with that. Oh, its right freakin' there!
I come tooling up the road I just raced back and forth on and there 2N01 staring me right in the face. Group is LONG gone. I mark it on GPS. If I chase them and I run into technical sections, I'm on my own or worse, I get myself in a jam I can't get myself out of and create an even bigger fiasco. I'm tripping balls on sleep deprivation and toxic caffeine overdose, its time to take stock.
1) Don't screw up the lead's trip by trying to contact him and have him wait around for me to catch up which is a completely unknown probability
2) Maybe a good time to chart out all these trail-heads so i know where the frick I'm going next time
3) Do some exploring, haven't been at Big Bear east before
4) Next time, see if the lead will meet me at a 7/11 or something
O.K., 2N01 goes due east and then 2N02 comes down from the north and crosses on its way southeast to Pioneer town, got it. Where does 2N02 (The trail i was actually heading for before I straightened myself out) start? Sound the bugle, off I go...
I pull onto Pioneertown Rd. and I immediately know something ain't right. I DO find the trail head...
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I don't think I'm going to fit!
Right at this time the guy who lives across the street walk up laughing. "Let me guess, you are looking for 2N02, this entrance has been closed for years, you just need to go back and around to Vale st."
O.K.
His directions turned out to be much more reliable than my nav. There it was, 2N02, I marked it on GPS. Hmmm, well its been a while and the odds of being able to swing down and intercept the group are LONG! Plus, I'm actually having a hell of a time exploring...(forgive some of the pictures, shooting from behind a dusty windshield)
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Hmmm, what else is around here? 2N04, lets find that...
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Which attaches to 2N01...
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And forms a loop, cool. Amazing what you can work out when you can stop and take your time.
