Topic: 16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

[HEVAK]

Hung over wheelin in full effect!! This could, and will get ugly.

[drshankles]

PML+2" Bodylift+33's in the last two weeks preparing for this trip almost there!!! dont think im going to get sliders before saturday tho, so maybe i should stay on the easier trail. what do you guys think?

[Duke562(rmaligie)]

What times everyone leavin for the trail on Saturday ??

[Ghost65]

Had a really nice day pre-running Gold Mountain and Skyline Drive trails yesterday.  NPGTech and Shi819 along with Arch'sX led a collective group of friends and family.

A few photos...

The Group surveys the first obstacle on Gold Mountain...we all commented on how rutted the trail had become:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

Arch'sX made easy work of the bypass:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

NPGTech routes through the byass on the first obstacle:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

Gold Mountain is notorious for rocks:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

GhostX three wheelin':

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

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[Ghost65]

A stock Pro4X negotiates the first obstacle, John did a great job for his first time on Gold Mountain:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

The second obstacle...a bit more tricky for sure:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

Marc's Titan Swapped rig would shine all day, making quick work of the second obstacle:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

This is where things got a "little interesting," GhostX spotting John through the second obstacle:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

The carnage begins...just before the talus slope on Gold Mountain...cracked rear mud flaps:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

[Ghost65]

We leap frogged with this group of lifted and modified Chevy's/4-Runners all day.  Here they repaired a front suspension piece that broke and tore a hole in the passenger front tire...ball peen hammer and some tire plugs and on the way:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

Now for the squeamish at heart, the next set of photos could cause you to turn away.  When The Group hit the talus slope on Gold Mountain, we had high expectations of a smooth follow through.  John, in the stock Pro4X had other ideas:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

GhostX picked up a little "trail debris":

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

[Ghost65]

Fortunately, John had a good sense of humor (and a kind wife):

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

On to the green trail pre-run of Skyline drive:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

This was a nice meandering fire road, with spectacular views along the way.  This was a spot that we all thought would make a nice mid-point photo op/geocache/lunch break/leg stretching point:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

NPGTech wrapped things up by breaking out the Club banner:

16 June, Big Bear, Gold Mountain?

[Ghost65]

It was a very casual day with a good dose of trail carnage.  I took out my Gobi ladder backing into a tree limb negotiating obstacle #2 on Gold Mountain, placing a very nice dent in my roof and destroying the ladder (which we removed).  

John however, in the stock Pro4X, despite some good spotting and over all trail escorting, took the most "damage":
-Torn front bumper
-Broken drivers side fog light
-Dented fender and door
-Ripped out drivers side fender liner
-Crushed and torn trailer plug and mount
He also had the best attitude along with a lightened wallet later with the repairs/mods to soon follow. 

The weather was spectacular, with temps in the mid 60's all day, very sunny, and very dust trail conditions (read dry) all day.

Gold Mountain with four trucks took the group just over 4 hours to cover, hitting the trail around 11am and departing at 3pm.  Skyline Drive was a quick trail with 5 trucks (Shi819 left her truck at the Gold Mountain trail head, wise move).

A great day for wheeling with a good group.

[shi819]

It was a great day of wheeling. Sadly my brother in law's truck is a little worse for wear. Those of you who are running stock vehicles, I would take a look at the pics. The trail is a lot more craggy than it was when people ran it in the past. John and I will be running Skyline Drive at the same time as the others are doing Gold Mountain on Saturday. It's a beautiful 13 mile trail with some fantastic places to take pictures and geocache. While I wish my truck could handle Gold Mountain, I wont be there til I get my Frontier, so dirt roads for me it is .

Please PM me or John and let us know if you are interested in running Skyline Drive with us. We will have the same meet spot/time and it is 2wd capable if more people are interested in joining now. For those of you who have never geocached either, we will be doing some of that as well. Im looking forward to it and seeing all of you this weekend. Will be a blast!

[npgtech]

The weather was definitely a plus this past weekend.  The trails are pretty spread out as far as the challenge level.  Skyline is most definitely 2wd friendly, and Gold Mountian, in my opinon, requires some type of armor, lift and sliders (review pics above).  There will be some "SCCX" club stickers available.  Get with GhostX for pricing and find us this weekend!  Hope to see you all out there!

[LupinOne]

Yup folks, take it from me... the guy with the customized, aerodynamic, ORW low drag modified bumper (besides who really needs fender liners anyway), don't take your stock X up gold mountain.  I was fortunate to have some of the best wheelers with me to guide and help, and still the talus slope still decided to promote modifications.

Funny thing is, while going across the slope with GhostX behind me, I spot this large piece of plastic in my side view mirror and remember thinking "gee, where did that come from?"

[Ghost65]

For those of you unsure about attending the Gold Mountain run based upon capability, we can all meet at the Von's in Big Bear on Saturday. 

At that point Nick and I can take a look at your rig and have a discussion based upon what is best.

We will have Ham operators on both runs, so we will be in touch the whole afternoon.

The Skyline Dr. group will also be doing a little geocaching (if you haven't done this, we can help showcase this fun game, great for kids and adults alike), as well as taking in the sights, and then heading to the Forest Fest to check that out as well. 

Depending on the Gold Mountain groups trail time, we can either meet them at the Forest Fest, or back at the Crab Flats campground.

To all attending, we have made/posted a lot of jokes regarding alcohol consumption etc, the bottom line is this is a family friendly event, and everything enjoyed in moderation is a good thing.

Very much looking forward to seeing everyone next weekend, this is almost a guaranteed good time!

[Ghost65]

PML+2" Bodylift+33's in the last two weeks preparing for this trip almost there!!! dont think im going to get sliders before saturday tho, so maybe i should stay on the easier trail. what do you guys think?

See my above post, come on up and we will get you situated on the best trail for your truck/capabilities. 

[Ghost65]

What times everyone leavin for the trail on Saturday ??

Ryan...we meet at 11am, and depart for the trails 30-45 minutes afterward.

[Ghost65]

Reminder:  don't stress about last minute supplies. 

Part of the reason for the meet spot choice is to make it easy for everyone to grab last minute ice/gum/sodas/snacks/sunscreen etc. at the Vons.