Robbie's Second Offroad Adventure to Cleghorn: Sunday, December 29, 2019 9am

The trip started out as every trip to Cleghorn begins, stopping at the Chevron on 6^th Street in Norco for gas, rest stop and green tea.  We got to the trailhead about 9:30 a.m. and there were about ten vehicles lined up, so we pulled over on the off-ramp to air down and disconnect the sway bar.  All of the other vehicles were still parked there, so we went ahead and started up the trail.  There was no snow in sight.  As we winded up the fire road we began to see a few spots of snow.  The little play area under the power tower was roped off so we just drove on by.  There were a couple of vehicles stopped there.  They didn’t appear to be doing much.  As we went up in elevation there was more snow and I decided we would just stay on the fire road.  We caught up with a group of three vehicles that were having a little trouble getting up a gentle hill but they made it after a few tries.  It was definitely slippery but I felt confident with my newly- fixed lockers!  I tried to get up the hill four or five times but kept slipping to the right side.  By this time there were four vehicles waiting for me, so I backed down and talked with the lead guy.  He told me he had been to the “top” but the trail ended in snow, so he came back down. He decided to follow me, hoping to get further through the snow.  I tried one more time, staying in fresh snow, and I was able to get through.

At this point we were at somewhere between 4,000 and 4,500 feet and there was a good two feet of snow on the side of the trail.  I went through a few more turns and got to another uphill that was hard- packed snow.  I tried a few times but just could not make it and my seven-year-old grandson was getting a little nervous at this point.  Again, there was a little bit of a line-up behind me, so I backed down and had room to turn around.  I decided we were done for the day.

Four vehicles went up ahead and disappeared around a bend in the road. Next was a Jeep towing a Bronco, which could not get into four- wheel drive.  For some reason they thought they could go up further and turn around at a more open area.  Needless to say, they weren’t about to make it up the hill and there was little to no room to turn around.  By this time there were twenty to thirty vehicles lined up on the trail and most people had left their vehicles to walk up the hill to see what was going on.  The group that had passed me had gone as far as they could, turned around, and was waiting to come back down the trail.  Word was that there was no way to get through and everyone needed to back down and turn around. 

It was about noon when someone from the uphill group said they had made it through from the lake side after starting out at 5:00 a.m.  Everyone I talked with was surprised at how much snow there was.  Finally, the trail was clear for me to head back.  We got back to pavement about 1:30, aired up and reconnected the sway bar.  We were back on the road about 2:00 p.m.  It was quite the adventure.

Lessons learned: 

1. MTR tires are not very good on hard-packed snow, even with front and back diffs locked.  They seem to do very well on fresh snow they can bite into.
2. It is probably best for me to avoid snow, although I do have chains I could have brought!
3. Check the snow elevation and the elevation of the trail you are going on before the trip.
4. My lockers and rear diff all seem to be working properly now.

Thanks for the story! We were curious as to how the day had gone and you satisfied our curiousity.

Richard (Crusader) and I were invited to do a snow run in Big Bear last Saturday, January 4 in Holcomb Valley with some friends and their toyota trucks. Since it was a snow run, we stuck to just the easy road and had no difficulties in the deep snow. There were slippery spots, but nothing that stopped us.  However, one of our friends tried a lesser used offshoot road. We waited on the main road while he tested it out. Sure enough, maybe half mile in he radios us and asks for a rescue. He was stuck at a turn across a ravine, with gravity pulling him off the road everytime he tried to get out himself. So Between Richard's Lexus' winch, and a tree, we got him out. But then Richard's Lexus got stuck too because of accidently backing off the road just enough to get in snow that was too deep and gravity trying to pull him into the shallow ravine. And once again, between our friends truck and a tree, we easily got the Lexus out. It was great fun for the men, and I was secure in knowing that we had the gear we needed to get the job done. Thanks to my husband and God for keeping us safe.

It was a beautiful day driving on the snow in the mountains. We may have to lead one of these easy snow days this winter. Hmmmm. 

Very cool, another great snow run for the books.