Rancho Cucamonga Crew Roll Call

Nice!

 

havent been on tw in a loong time. whats going on Rancho people, saying hello from Fontana

 

Hey guys. Got back from a road trip yesterday and had a great time. Drove up to Danville CA to visit family for a couple o' days. Bay Area Metal Fab was right up the highway, so the day before I left for the Sierra Nevada I stopped in so Jerry could weld on these:

The next day I headed up Hwy 4 and over Ebbets Pass. Did the Leviathan Peak Loop:

After dropping down to 395, I headed south to Bridgeport. Sunset from my campsite was bitchin:

The next morning I headed 8 miles south on 395 and turned onto Dunderberg Meadow Road. This beautiful trail rises steadily into the Sierra, with great view in every direction:


More on the next post.

 

Another shot from the same trail:

A very steep and rocky spur led to this unnamed lake at around 9K feet:

The trail led to Virginia Lakes Road, and just down that road is the Copper Mountain Loop:
This was a long, slow, and occasionally difficult trail through beautiful county. Near the end, the trail was blocked by a fallen tree. There was a rough looking bypass that involved a diagonal descent on loose earth. The truck got away from me, and the new BAMF slider kissed a stump. I figure it paid for itself right there. No harm, no foul. By this time I was really tired and headed down to Lee Vining Canyon for an early camp. My new road shower worked great!
More next post!

 

Next morning I headed down to Mammoth Mountain and an amazing trail called San Joaquin Ridge. It's short but wiry, very steep, and tops out at 10,260 feet with awesome views of the Minarets and ends at Deadman Pass. Best trail of the trip for sure.
San Joaquin Ridge:
The Ritter Range and Minarets:
On the way down the road through the ski area parking lot I saw a Taco with its camper shell rear window blown out by a bear looking for food. I decided that a motel room in Bishop would be a-okay. See next post.

 

Last day of the trip I did a really nice trail out of Bishop called Coyote Flat and its cousin, Coyote Ridge. This trail climbs steeply via a series of rocky switchbacks that had me up on the wheel for sure:
Steeper and gnarlier in person? Yes! I found myself at Coyote Flat at around 9k feet and it was absolutely breathtaking:

I doubled back to the spur to Coyote Ridge. A couple of water crossings later I began the steepest and rockiest climb of the trip, topping out at more than 11k feet;

This was a 48 mile day, much of it in 4lo, and I was relieved to get back down the switchbacks and into a Mexican restaurant for much needed sustenance.

Overall it was a great trip. Truck performed flawlessly, I kept newbie mistakes to a minimum, and a bobcat leaped over the road just after the pictured water crossing. I did learn one important thing: it's a pain in the ass to have to empty out the back of the truck every night so that I can sleep in the back. Solution? Standard shell, PrInSu Toprack, and an RTT. Bam!!

 

Awesome! Glad you had such a great trip, thanks for sharing the pics.

 

Ryan's going away meet

(626 & 909) TW Members

 

^^I'm so jealous of Bruce's Adventures up there

 

Nice Bruce(@Bman4X5)!Looks like you had a great time and i'm a little jealous!We all need to get together ASAP for another trail run!

 

How 'bout Saturday the 29th? We could do Pilot Rock Road or the longer Grapevine Canyon. Anybody in?

 

pilot rock is fun trail.

 

I just got a heavy bumper. I cant off-road until I get new suspension.

 

Now you're just rubbing it in...lol

 

@adriancast
I wanna go back on that trail though..

 

what's grapevine canyon like? as difficult as pilot rock?

 

Certainly not more difficult. The majority is an easy but enjoyable cruise.

 

@Bman4X5, I'm glad you figured out how to post pics. That trip looked awesome.

 

pretty sure i saw you exiting central on the 60 in riverside like around 535 today