Mademan925's Trip & Trail Journal 2016.....

Big Sur/ Los Padres National Forest 4/2/2016 - 4/3/2016

The wife and I woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday. Bags were packed the night before and the fridge was loaded. Pulled over in the fog heading into the trivalley/ bay area to take a quick photo of the rig in all its glory.



Drove south on the 101 and ran into a 4runner crew headed to Hollister hills offroad park...

Went though carmel valley and snapped a quick picture by the ocean



Started getting hungry around big sur so we stopped at one of the only places in town with a gas station because the truck always needs gas even when its really expensive. The River Inn has a middle of the no where feel. There is no cell service but the general store has some awesome Mexican food and a patch that says you survived the windy highway 1 or the terrible drivers on it.







We found our turnoff highway 1 and started asending the windy one lane road. Took a photo above the clouds





Then we found our trail head. There was also a sign that said no trailers but they don't know what my trailer looks like.



We continued up and up and up






At the top of a ridge we found the perfect spot. Ocean on one side and a valley on the other.

We setup camp with the tepui and new foxwing awning



After we setup camp it was time for a nice cold drink. While relaxing a Tacoma stopped by with some surfer college students that were out of gas and there was no gas station for at least 60 miles. We helped them out but it was a nice reminder that you need to be aware of how far you plan to go and what it will take to get there. If we weren't there they would have had a long hike. In addition they were looking for there friends they had planned to meet somewhere in the area. But they didn't have an actual spot planned. They didn't count on not having cell service. People forget that without cell phones you need a detailed plan and a backup plan.

Can you see Camp?


The view from camp


I started grilling a tritip while the wife watched the sun go down








After dinner we started a fire and turned on the goal zeros


Went to bed when the fire died down. The sun rose early but it felt good to wake up without and alarm



Then we had an awesome breakfast and headed down the mountain



Came across a guy in a Ford Ranger who had almost no engine oil in his truck. He asked if I had any which I didn't but I did have 2 quarts of diff oil. I offered but said I had no idea if it would work. He declined and said he would just wait till someone did have extra oil.


This was a nice short trip while we wait for the snow to melt on some of the more intense trails. Don't worry those trips are coming soon....

 

Journey to Rock Therapy 2016

We departed Saturday, May 28th, 2016 after getting my diff rebuilt on Friday and my hard brake lines replaced on Saturday after it tore. We met up in Livermore with @stroM- and @MJonaGS32 .



We headed out on an 8 1/2 hour drive to Valley of Fire just outside of Las Vegas, NV where we camped that night.



In the morning we headed out early to Zion National Park with @MJonaGS32 on a mission to hike the narrows.




The narrows was a crowded place, but well worth the memories. Plus its always funny to see people in wet suits when they are only a foot deep in water on a hot day.

After Zion we searched for a place to camp in the hills outside of the park.



We found our camp spot for the evening with a good wind block.



In the morning we headed back early with @MJonaGS32 to Zion determined to hike Angels Landing before the park was too crowded on Memorial Day.





After completing Angels Landing in less than the 3-6 hours the pamphlet stated, we headed to Bryce National Park.

At Bryce we checked out 18 miles of scenic overlooks. Definitely worth it to see the view since we had the National Parks annual pass.



Once we had our fill of fantastic views, we headed to our planned coordinates for camp between Bryce and Capitol Reef.



We took the opportunity to sleep in the next day and have a relaxing start before heading to Capitol Reef.

After driving around the park and through the canyon at the end,






@Mrs.Mademan925 had the crazy idea to 4-wheel our way backtracking towards Bryce. @MJonaGS32 agreed it was an awesome plan and we headed on our way not knowing what we would find.







We were worried about how the trailer would handle our off-road adventure, but with @Mrs.Mademan925 behind the wheel, there were no problems and the trailer handled like a champ!

After completing our 4-wheel journey we headed on our way to Moab/BFE camp.
We arrived at nightfall and couldn't wait to set up our camp which we could leave up for the following 5 days and 4 nights.



We woke up early to hit the trails of Moab starting with Trifecta; a combination of 3 of the hardest trails in Moab.












It's always great to get a little help from your friends when you become high-centered.


On the final trail, @RelentlessFab snapped an inner tie-rod completely in half on his 4th Gen 4Runner. Too bad the Tacoma spare I had didn't fit the 4Runner. @jberry813 and @JLee sped through the trail and into town in order to find a spare. Thankfully, a fellow Rock Therapy member had one!



We completed the final trail in the dark, running into a Jeep that was unable to climb the last Waterfall obstacle on their own. @JLee gave him a hand by offering an anchor point to winch from.

We took the next day off enjoying all that the town of Moab had to offer in terms of breakfast and fantastic coffee! We reset with showers, grocery shopping, "wine tasting" and some awesome Atomic Burgers.

During this time I took the opportunity to give the truck a once-over. After many trails I had a torn cv boot and a loose lower control-arm uniball bolt. I patched the cv boot with RTV Silicone (which is STILL holding grease in!) and I used my new @RelentlessFab hi-lift base with my new jack to tighten the lower control-arm bolt.



The following day the wives of @MJonaGS32, @RelentlessFab, and @Mademan925 ran Fins N Things taking all the hard lines.





After the ladies were done quickly wheeling Fins N Things, their husbands took the wheel and ran Hell's Revenge.





Saturday we explored more of Moab to beat the heat and the bugs before packing up and scoring some awesome Trail Toys lights from @SMKYTXN at the Rock Therapy raffle. We left shortly after to begin our long 14 hour drive home.

 

Gold Lake 4x4 6/24/2016-6/26/2016

Its Friday afternoon and Lisa is on her lunch break. We had been texting and trying to decide what to do this upcoming weekend for a while when we come up with the crazy idea to get away and go on a relaxing camping trip to one of our favorite spots- Gold Lake.

I took off from work as soon as I could because our trailer was busy being worked on by the talented @JLee and we had to play Tetris with our plethora of supplies to make it all fit in/on the truck. I installed the @RelentlessFab bedrack and @TepuiTents Grand Sabana plus two kayaks and quickly packed my clothes while waiting for Lisa to get off work.



After Lisa got off work and packed, we stopped at the grocery store on the way out of town and headed up to Gold Lake.

By the time we arrived at the 4x4 side of the lake it was already 12:30am and all the camping spots were taken. After considering our options, we had decided to head on up the trail to find a secluded space to camp in the national forest. On our way back through the camp trail we stopped when a group of young recent college graduates (who happened to be into overlanding and loved the rig) flagged us down. They offered us a large space in their campground (near the toilet and away from the lake) for the night. We thankfully accepted and set up our tent quickly.

The next morning, we woke up and went searching for a new site. Fortunately, some people were packing up and we quickly swooped in on a great spot on the lake! Lisa ran over in slippers, coffee pot and sizzling bacon pan in hand with the dog tied to her waist to hold the spot while I packed up the tent.



Now at our new campsite, Lisa finished cooking our breakfast while I set up camp for the second time. After breakfast we set out on the water in the kayaks.





After enjoying being on the lake and getting a little too much sun, I got out my axial wraith RC car and hit the "campground trails".





We had a relaxing lunch followed by a nice nap in my hammock.



Lisa went for a swim and I chopped wood for our fire that night.








Once we were finished with dinner, we started a fire and pulled out some camping games.



In the morning we woke up to a beautiful view outside our tent. (Much different than the view of a bathroom from the day before.)



I started the morning off by making @Mrs.Mademan925 coffee.



Lisa went out on the kayak again after breakfast before we slowly started packing up camp.





We finished packing up and wheeled out. It was much nicer in the daylight.







We had an easy drive out, stopping by the In-N-Out in Auburn as always.

Sorry for the lack of wheeling on this trip, it was a last minute thing but I promise epic photos on Slick Rock in a couple weeks!

 

Slick Rock 7/8/2016-7/10/2016

The wife and I got off work early Friday and hit the road. We got to camp at sunset and met the guys about a mile into the trail. They had already run the trail Friday with a few issues (body damage, broken cv axle, torn cv boot, broken sway bar, and Blake had been left out on the trail to camp alone for the night since he broke his drive shaft. We set up camp in the dark and enjoyed stories around the fire of the group's tough day on the trail.

The next morning Lisa started making breakfast on the new trailer setup.



I started pulling off a skid plate to remove a sway bar and finding tools for Mike to pull his drive shaft off so we could take it down to Blake who was stuck on the trail.



The group hit the trail around 10am and my wife was behind the wheel of the rig while I hiked, took photos, and spotted.

1st obstacle- The Wall (too high and you tip, too low and you rub the wall)











Then we made it to Blake's campsite



His driveshaft was in rough shape.





The final obstacle- The Staircase. Lisa walked right up.



Another driveshaft broke on the stairs and there was a flat tire, but we all made it through (some with a little tug).



We got back to camp and Lisa started cooking. I grilled a tri-tip while she made mashed potatoes and green beans.



The meal was awesome and the leftovers soon vanished into the crowd.



The sun went down and we sat around the fire discussing the day's trip and the bro F150 that had just driven by camp, headed down the trail.

The morning came quickly and most of the group was packing up to leave. Lisa made breakfast and we enjoyed the view.



Wheeling out of camp on this hard of a trail with the trailer during the day was a blast. The trailer soaked up the bumps and the off-camber spots.





We had an awesome trip and may be headed back soon.

 

Rubicon
9/9 - 9/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8MT6mLckIE

 

another one

 

Should be enough spots

 

Ok to post

 

First log is up

 

All the images are showing up broken on my end Nick...

 

Ok. Ill look into it

 

How about now?

 

Sweet!

 

all pics work for me. Looks amazing! Im headed down that way this weekend for a day trip. Always good to see your trips.

 

Nice! Where is that turnoff? I really want to take the family out to Big Sur and that looks perfect. Can't tell but did it have fire pits or just make your own?

 

Work on my end. So jealous

 

Nice little trip Nick. Looks like a good time! Been wanting to get up to Big Sur for a little bit now. Might be one of the first spots we camp at with my little one

 

Trail head 36.009440, -121.452521

Some of the site had fire pits and some did not. Mine had a shitty one so I broke out the shovel and found some rocks and made it legit.

 

Looks good I'm going up there this week I'm so excited

Cant wait for more trips

 

Lookin good Nick!