Back in the Saddle

With Wyle E. Back in tip top shape and Joel here it was decided today was THE day!  So, we gathered together the "oh shit" bags, the maps, and hit the road to the Park.
We started on Park Blvd and picked up Geology Trail.  The trail had been recently grated so it was a fairly smooth and quick drive down to Pleasant Valley. We stopped briefly for Joel to have a look around before starting the 5,000 ft ascent up the mountain.  As we turned onto Berdoo Canyon Rd the terrain really began to change.  There was more rock than sand and quite a few sections where the trail was very uneven.  After a few miles on Berdoo Canyon we met a convoy of Jeeps and Trucks coming towards us. Luckily there was enough room on this section of trail for us to wiggle past one another.  One of the Jeeps stopped and chatted with us briefly before we finished out assent.
It was at the top we encountered a minor problem (we later realized the problem was caused by Wyle E's gas cap coming off, blessedly it bounced back into the bed!). As we reached the highest point of elevation Wyle E Stalled but after sitting a few minutes and some tender attention she fired back up and steadily began taking us down into the canyon.  We had some issues with her wanting to stall but letting her roll in first took care of that issue.
As we dropped through the canyon we experienced obstacles that were more difficult than I had navigated before.  But with a deep breath and a "Hell ya" from Joel I was able to crawl down drop offs that were easily over 2 foot, loose rock, and boulders.  I wonder now how I would fair going back up that part of the trail (this will be found out before long I'm sure).  The trail then began to smooth out and turned to pavement...for a moment.  Just as we thought we had smooth sailing to Dillon Rd the pavement disappeared, sheared off to a several foot drop.  It looked like a scene from an earthquake movie, but again I grabbed a handful of shifter and eased my way through.  There were a few more drops, but not as dramatic and then it was just a bumpy ride to the paved road.

The way home was paved the whole way.  We hopped on the 10E and ran down to the Cottonwood entrance and up through the park home.

Hell of day.

Set backs and Plans

Well, the last few weeks have held quite a few set backs for me and Wyle E. First, Trickster had a bad accident meaning I was unable to have a Suicide Sunday two weeks back. Then my poor girl started acting funny. She was dying when I gave her gas, sputtering along, leaking more oil than the norm, all bad signs. I started some of the repairs and then decided to take her to the shop since it was looking like I was going to have to remove the bell housing and what not.  Now, I am capable of doing this work IF I have the help.  But with The Bill's over bearing work schedule it looks like I will be on my own.  Besides, after taking her to the shop and finding out just how much work was needed, I'm glad I did.  Not that it is hard to do as much as intricate and if I didn't do it exactly right I would be tearing her back down and doing it all over again.  And without my assistant here that is more work than I can do on my own. 

BUT NOT TO WORRY!  She is being fixed as I type this blog and I will have her back and running stronger than ever...I'm mildly concerned she may just run out from under me (let's hope).  But with this being done I will be able to be better prepared for my next adventure!!  The Desert Run!  This is a fund raiser for the local search and rescue.  It covers 20 to 30 miles of desert with lots of challenging obstacles!  On the plus side for me it is supervised and has optional routes if there is an obstacle I'm uncertain of doing.  While it is an all weekend event with camping I think I will only go Saturday it's self for the actual run so I don't shirk my other responsibilities.  I plan on hauling Wyle E. up with the Dodge so I can load Annie up with tools and such JUST in case.  I have a feeling this may require a little bit more than my basic "Oh Shit" bag.  I think this is gonna be a great way to meet some other Jeepers and get exposed to the more difficult terran I want to try.  Any 4x4 or ATV can go to the event, so if anyone in SoCal is reading this; hit up the web site and join us out in the Desert. 

The next few Blogs will cover my preparation for the event.  I am REALLY excited!!

She can always make me smile

Sorry there was no blog about driving trails this past Sunday. I had to skip out as my horse injured himself pretty badly. So, I have been quite stressed and exhausted and very much in need of one of my trail days. Yet, I find that just the drive to the ranch perks me up a bit. I don't know if it's the hum of the tires, if it's the feel of the warm wind, or just the knowing that if I chose I could just turn off the pavement and disappear. What ever it is, it works.

Driving that Jeep keeps a small smile in me. I've never had so much fun driving another vehicle and at times I look at my Ram and Z28 parked in front of the house and think "Maybe I'm a little crazy". I don't know many people who would prefer an old 4cylinder Jeep to a supped up sports car or big mean diesel truck, but then I don't know many people as easily amused as I am.

I have some Secret plans in the works for the weekend of the 10'th! They involve my husband and some close friends and a few hours on one of the trails in the park. I hope things work out in my favor so I can share this with them!  I'd say what they are but said people may read this and I hope this little bit of info is enough to drive them nuts!

ANOTHER Suicide Sunday

After running a fever all day Saturday and well into the early hours of Sunday morning I wasn't sure there would be a Suicide Sunday this week.  But around 9 am I started feeling better, installed the CB into Wyle E. and by the time I was finished I was feeling fit and ready for some Jeepin'.  So I grabbed the camel backs and the Oh Shit bags and loaded up the jeep for the planned trail of the day.

As I headed up the mountain into the Park the temperature dropped to a delightful high 90's with a soft breeze top it off.  There was very little traffic for a Sunday and so I could really enjoy the drive to the trail.  As I pulled off on the trail head I watched a 2WD Toyota drive down, I parked for a moment to take in the scenery and let them get well out of my way.  Sadly I did not get pictures of them hung up and losing their air dam as I looked behind me and saw a lowered decked out Honda pulling up (REALLY FOLKS!? the 4Wheel Drive signs posted everywhere weren't a hint?) So I had to hop out and flag down the Honda and send them back up to the main road while the Toyota got out and so no pictures of idiots.  After that I was on my own on the trail.  I didn't see another soul other than pocket gophers, birds, and ground squirrels.  The first part of the drive dropped down into Pleasant valley and a dramatic terrain change as I drove up to the section of desert where it changes from Mojave to Colorado.  Dipping further down into the valley the smells changed and the temperature grew softer.  I stayed in the Valley for a good while just enjoying the scenery and smells and have decided I am going to take a weekend and hike back to the Back Country to camp down there.

Back on the trail and heading up out of the valley the trail narrowed and became much more rocky.  Up on the other mountain side looking back I could see the winding trail I had followed into the Valley.  It was here I came across a road sign informing me if I turned left I would be able to go all the way down to Dillon Rd in Palm Springs and right would loop me around back up to Park Blvd.  I looped back around to the park, this time.  Soon Wyle E. and I will make the long run all the way down the hill.

Looping back across the valley brought me across some amazing Joshua Trees and I knew I was seeing a part of the Desert not many people are able to see and I can't wait to go back and share it with a few other chosen people.

All and all this was a very relaxing and picturesque Suicide Sunday and a few more pieces of me I don't need anymore were left along the trail, if you decide to drive this trail yourself, maybe you will find them.  If you do, you can keep them.

I hope you enjoy the video seeing some of what I saw today.

Preparing for another Suicide Sunday (Geology Tour Rd)

This week has been fairly quiet.  Just driving to work and running around town.  But today is prep day for tomorrow's Suicide Sunday.  Wyle E.'s new CB and Antenna came this week and once I pick up the power drill tonight I will do the install on those tomorrow morning, tune the antenna and be prepared to hit the trails by noon.  I already have the trail picked out for tomorrow.  The park ranger I spoke to said it is about a two hour trip from the looks of the map it seems to be 15 to 20 miles round trip (not including the drive to the trail).  The selected trail is a short loop of a much longer trail that would end up down by palm springs.  My goal is to work up to be able to run that trail.  So, my Oh shit bag is packed, the camel backs are filled and all I have left to do is to install the CB and toss everything into Wyle E. .  Check back soon for the updates from tomorrows Jeepin' adventure!

Highlighted in yellow is the route for tomorrow.

The inconvenience of a CJ is good for you...

Today's adventure isn't anything so exciting as bumping down desert trails, but a bit on an adventure none the less.  I went to work and then....to the Commissary.  Ok, get the confused look off of your face as I explain WHY this is an adventure...look at the picture of Wyle E., she is a CJ5, this means she is just a Lil' thing.  As well as being topless, door-less, well hell, other than a jerry can, a spare, and a bikini top she is down right naked!  BUT I will NOT let this deter me from enjoying a drive in her just to pick up some groceries...

A ratchet strap and a coleman are all it takes for me to get what I need!!
There is a bonus to this as well, while it seems really inconvenient to strap a cooler down in the back of the Jeep just to do a grocery run I have found it is VERY conducive you my diet and exercise program.  I can't buy much if ANY junk food cause it just won't fit.  And lifting the cooler and other household goods in and out of the back is one hell of an upper body workout on a lifted CJ.  AND it's green in the fact that I don't bother to have them bag my groceries, just toss them back in the cart, I'm going to have to arrange them in the cooler anyway.

I've found driving her everyday has encouraged me to keep things much more simple and live for the moment.  She may be inconvenient, but it's worth it.

Jeepin' JT

Everyone's got to start some where

Well, if you are reading this I either gave you the address and begged you to read it, you stumbled across it, or you were looking for something to read about Jeeps.  Regardless of how you ended up here I'd like to thank you for having a read and I hope you stop back to check in.

Let's start at the beginning.  Back in June after buying himself a new GSXR1000 my husband decided he would buy me a birthday present that couldn't be topped and told me to start looking for a Jeep I wanted.  I already knew the model and had a good idea of the year in mind and so I hit the internet running hoping to find SOMETHING we could afford that wouldn't be too much work.  In a matter of days I ran across a CJ5 in Big Bear, CA only about an hour and a half away.  She wasn't exactly what I was looking for, only had the 151 Iron Duke engine and I had my heart set on the strait 6.  However, when I got there and layed eyes on her and drove her I fell in Love.  And so Wyle E. came into my possesion.  I got her home and had to do a bit of work on her; new starter, alternator, motor mounts, some new wiring, nothing big or expensive and she was on the road.

So, here you will find me logging my adventures in my girl.  I drive her everyday and take her off road at least once a week.  So now we are gonna play catch up with this past weekend, pics, and video!

Sundays are now known to me as Suicide Sunday.  This is a day when I go do something new and let adventure find me so as to kill off the remnants of myself I may not want hanging around.  So, this past Sunday I packed up an "oh shit" bag, filled the gas tank and the Jerry can, and headed up into Joshua Tree National Park.  I decided to just do some recon on 4X4 trails and stick to the dirt roads not 4X4 designated.  I started out driving down to Queen Valley Mine (nice smooth dirt trails, but fantastic sceanery none the less) then looped back towards Keys view.  Ran across a dirt trail not on the map and decided WTH! and followed it.  this trail only went about 3 miles before it dead ended, but it was still worth the drive.  Headed back towards Keys View and got distracted by Lost Horse Mine.  This trail was a bit of a steep climb and a pretty windy way, I'm glad I didn't run into anyone coming the opposite direction as the sides were steep and I'm not sure how well we would have by passed each other.
After Lost Horse Mine I hit pavement again and rolled all the way up to Keys View where I talked to a ranger who gave me the low down on the 4X4 trails.  I was VERY dissapointed when I looked at the time and my fuel levals and realized it was time to head back to town, HOWEVER I am now fully prepared for next Sunday to run Geology Tour Road.  Come back to find out about it!

Taken a few weeks back behind the golf course in town.