SoCal: Cleg/Pilot/Dishpan '12

[sparky]

First off, thank you to everyone who showed up to make this run as enjoyable as it always has been. Everybody left the trail having had a great time. Nobody got hurt and the carnage wasn't anything that can't be repaired (including the hurt ego).

I got to the trailhead a few minutes late and noticed we already had a big line-up for Cleghorn. That only meant that we'd be spending a lot of time getting through 'er.

We started out just a few minutes past 9:30 and made our way to the play area around the power line tower. I can't recall for sure, but I believe everyone except for our pre-runner made it up the steep side of the hill! I knew we couldn't spend much time here so we started up the trail again. Unfortunately, you have to pass by a few closures to get to the permitted bypasses. I briefly went over our policy of respecting these closures even though it's completely apparent that most others do not and have created "bypasses" around the very obvious obstructions.

The ride was smooth for the most part. I had our pre-runner close to me so I could let him know which bypasses he could take and when he had to stay on the main road. He had a great time, still. Especially at the end. The last part of Cleghorn gets more rutted out every year. We had quite the time getting the pre-runner down. With a combined effort from both man and machine, we managed to get him out with only a scratched bumper/hitch (and maybe some soiled shorts). Needless to say, he had a big grin on his face all the way through. We grouped up, said good-bye to a few and got ready to head over to the parking lot by the trailhead to Pilot Rock.

We arrived at the parking lot to meet up with a few guys that had been anticipated our arrival for a couple hours. Everybody was in good spirits, though, knowing that the fun was just beginning. We stopped for a quick lunch break and introduced a new rite of passage into the club. It always helps to have a good attitude and andyisnowskynet wasn't short of that.

As we climbed up the first obstacle, we lost tacoeng to diff problems. They made the decision to turn around in lieu of making the problem bigger. We continued through and made short time of the "X" trail. Another truck parted ways before we started the trek to Dishpan. We opted to bypass the trail up to Pilot Rock in order to save daylight hours. This proved to be a smart move because we would need every last minute of it. The last part of the trail is very appealing to all your senses. The first part of our group even got the chance to see some deer.

We cruised into Deep Creek where yet a couple more trucks were waiting to join the train. They were quite comfortable as Deep Creek is a very scenic place to set out a chair and relax. We crawled up the first set of 'falls and made our way through to the second and more difficult set of 'falls. I've never had an issue making up the face until now. It's changed slightly but my truck was just not having it. I went up the bypass and that even proved to be difficult. Rivethead made it up without even readjusting his line. We pulled up ahead and started walking back to what would be the event of the day.

Scuba tipped over slowly and the first thing he was told was to pull the keys. He got out uninjured and snuffy, j-money, rivethead and myself swung into action to get Scuba's rig stabilized and eventually back upright. With j-money's winch, my gear and rivethead's truck, we succeeded. This is where I preach about being over-prepared. I don't own a winch but I carry a Warn winch kit. We ended up using my kit with j-money's winch. I'm sure snuffy has an extensive collection of winching gear but we made the decision to use mine being that my truck was closer. And who knows, we might have had to use one more snatch block or needed more d-shackles. It pays in the end to have the gear to help yourself and others. After Scuba, j-money and rivethead worked on getting his truck started, a fellow wheeler (who happened to be in a Jeep) lent a hand in getting it through the rest of the 'falls as the sun went down. He had a great attitude and we would've had a harder time without him. We had a quick driver meeting to discuss splitting up the group. Snuffy suggested nobody tackle the 'falls at night and would make sure everybody else got down and out on paved road safely. The rest of us above would continue through to the end. Scuba, rivethead and j-money parted ways as they searched for a good campsite and the Jeep and I made it out ok. Me and my wife stopped by Coco's on the way home since the last meal we had was at 2pm and it was nearing 11. I gave BASEjumper a call and their group had just begun to air up for the long haul back home. I got to my doorstep around midnight and snuffy shot me a text around 1:30 saying he had made it home safe.

It was a very long but eventful day! Like I said before, nothing happened that couldn't get fixed and nobody was injured. Hopefully next year we'll get everybody through to the end. 'Till next time.

See you out on the trails!



http://www.ttora.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187944

[rivethead242]