Redwood Off-Road Club

Snow Camp Run

May 21, 2006 March

 I spent part of Saturday getting my rig ready for the Sunday run to Snow Camp.  I could hear the familiar sound of a bad u-joint (rear driveline) at the April Centerville Beach run, and of course I waited until the last minute to fix it.  The repair went so well, I decided to go back to the parts house and get some new rear brake drums and shoes and replace them too.  That didn’t go so well!  After a couple of hours, Kat reminded me that we were having dinner with friends, so I had to hastily button everything up without having time to adjust everything.  Oh well, everything should be fine for tomorrow’s run as long as I didn’t have to use my brakes – NOT! 

 On Sunday morning I actually got an early start and headed over to Toni’s café to meet up with everyone.   When I arrived Tommy Valee was already there with his friend Patrick Mcintosh.  Patrick was driving a “bone stock” TJ with street tires!  I ordered breakfast and we talked while we waited for the others to arrive.  In a few minutes the people started to arrive.  Mark Casteel showed up in his ’85 Yoda pickup, and Rocky and Aaron Reel came in Donna’s Jeep.  Dave and Colleen Cole showed up in their very nice looking  red TJ, and Shane Baum and passenger Lonnie Lourenzo came in Shane’s blue Cherokee.  Prospective member Emily Bunnink and Leif (boy friend) came in Emily’s green Cherokee.  Everyone had a good time swapping stories and looking at each others’ rigs, but finally we all got through breakfast and headed up to the top of Lord Ellis grade.  When we arrived, Mike LaFaunce and his friend Aaron Melanson were just unhooking the tow bar from Mike’s ’42 Willys. 

 I think we were about three weeks too late to find any snow, but everyone had a great time.  The road into Snow Camp meanders in and out of the timber so there is a lot of nice scenery.  We eventually got there and had fun traversing the power line trails.  Running the power lines is always a lot of fun, but it proved to be very entertaining and adventurous, to a couple of the “first timers”.   One hill in particular was quite steep and everyone got a thrill not only climbing it, but also having to drive down it.  After a number of successful climbs by everyone, we continued on.  The power lines started to descend down the side of the mountain, so we followed them down until we came to a locked gate.  At this point we retraced our steps a bit and came into a clearing where we could see the road we wanted to get to a long distance below us.  Not a problem, we all dove off the side and headed cross country down the side of the mountain.  I must say it was long and steep and everyone got a rush!  We did some more exploring and found another road that could only be accessed by once again “diving-over-the-bank”.  It wasn’t a very high bank, but I volunteered to try it because there was the potential for body damage and brush burns.  It was a bit more challenging than I initially thought, but eventually I was able to negotiate between the trees and reach the road.  This road definitely got you back onto the power lines, but it would have been too difficult for some of the rigs with open differentials to access it, so I turned around.  I figured I would have to be winched to get back onto the upper road, but I was able to make it under my own power – a win for my trusty Bronco! 

 Everyone was ready to start back, so our first challenge was climbing back up the hill to the power line road.  The climb was long and steep, but everyone made it without any problems.   While everyone was taking a break, Rocky, Tommy, and I tried short cutting the switch backs by climbing up the side of the mountain.  This hill was much steeper than the one we had just climbed.  We all gave it a number of tries, but once we broke through the top layer, we couldn’t get the necessary traction to make it to the top.  For me it was very exciting having to back down such a steep slope and then trying to decide if I wanted to try it again.  As it turned out none of us were able to make it, so we all got back on the road and returned to first hill climb we encountered earlier in the day.  Everyone gave it a try and was successful. 

 As it turned out Mark Casteel decided to try a more difficult (steeper) line that hadn’t been climbed before.  Several of us, including myself had given it a try earlier in the day without any success.  This particular climb started out very steep and about ¾ of the way up it “dog legged” to the right and came back onto the other hill climb.  After several serious tries, Mark proved that his Yoda ruled the day and made it over the top.   What made the climb even more impressive is that he did it with Rocky as his passenger (weight handicap!).  Of course then the rest of us had to give it a try, but Mark was the first and so he has all the bragging rights. 

 The most entertaining (and inspiring) climbs were by Emily and Patrick.  First, I think we were all a bit surprised to see Patrick in his “bone-stock” YJ with street tires positioning himself at the bottom, ready to give it a try.  To be honest, I didn’t think he had a chance, but he was tenacious, and kept trying.  After about 7 or 8 tries he made it over the steepest part and came up just short of the “dog leg”.  From there, Rocky and I gave Patrick some spotting and instruction in finessing the throttle and he sailed up the rest of the way!  (Rocky sat on Patrick’s hood to keep weight on the front wheels).  Go figure, a stock rig, open differentials and street tires – it can’t get any better than that!

 But it did!  Next up was Emily.  Her Cherokee looked to be pretty trail worthy, but the hill was steep, so the exciting part was that she had never done this type of thing before.  At this point, I have to give Leif a lot of credit, because he was sitting in the passenger seat and just had to sit there and experience the whole thing, knowing that he had no control over anything!   After a couple of hair-raising tries, it looked like the Cherokee was going to come flying up the hill in style, but Emily steered it to the right just a little bit too soon and the Cherokee broke traction and spun out.  There they sat, in almost the same spot at Patrick – too far up the hill to back down.  Again Rocky and I offered our assistance.  With quite a bit of spotting, and instruction on using the parking brake, throttle, and clutch simultaneously Emily made it up to the top.  You could tell the adrenalin was flowing in her veins!  I could tell Leif was just happy to be alive! 

 By now it was getting pretty close to 4:00 so we lined up for a group photograph before heading back.  Most of us retraced our path and came back out onto Route 299 at Lord Ellis Summit, except for Dave and Colleen who took the road to Korbel.  Overall it was a great run and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.   Also, a “thank you” to Colleen for taking pictures.

 Happy Trails

Mike Eagan

Below are some photos from the run!