GasMeister's Bile

Mikkel decided to make a last minute shakedown run and put out an invitation to all those that wanted to attend. We had the three major models represented with Mikkel in his H1, Zach in his H2 and myself with my H3. I also had Arthur (abearden) and his gal keeping me company.


As usual, the trail has changed some from the rains since our last time. The v-notch bypass seemed to have lost some of the steepness.


We found a side road that we thought might have taken us to the Dutch Cleanser Mine, but didn't quite make it there.


We decided to head back down LCC. We found a few more challenges on the way.






We were able to get off the trail and reach Boron for dinner at Domingo's around 4:30. We couldn't have asked for a better day. I was the only that needed to be strapped. We had clear skies with temps in the low to mid seventies and no carnage. I even conquered the hill without assistance or incident!

The rest of my pics can be seen here: LINKY

Once again, the SoCal group had a great run on 2N17X. We only had four trucks on this run (H2, H3, H3T and FJ Cruiser). This allowed us to get through the trail pretty quickly and investigate a few alternative routes on the return on 2N17.

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The weather was just beautiful with temps in the mid seventies. Just the occasional wisp of cloud in the sky.


Serge and Stich successfully made it up Subman Hill.


The alternative routes on 2N17 were short but provided some entertain obstacles.








It got a little windy later in the day which brought in some clouds but didn't harm the view from the top.




Portager got a chance to show-off his rock rings on his bead locks.


We wrapped things up early and had dinner about 4:00 at Claim Jumper.

I finally found some time to work on my pics!

All of us met under the freeway on Cleghorn road

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Powerline hill proved to be a good obstacle on the way up.






Articulation hill also provided a lot of quality entertainment (and pucker)






There were plenty of off-camber sections on the trail to provide a good adrenalin rush




We found a great spot to stop and have lunch all together.

Only two trucks continued with us up 2N17X. I had quite a few challenges as the leader on this trail. Just the entry to this road gives you a feel of what is to come.










As night few, things got interesting. I got a few good glamor shots with my WalMart special camera




As usual, All my pics can be viewed here: LINKY

Once again, the troop from SoCal had a great run up Last Chance Canyon. We had a total of ten trucks (one H1, three H2s, one H2T three H3s, one H3t and an FJ Cruiser).

The trail has changed quite a bit since our last run here. It was great watching people take their own track and making good decisions.












However, the infamous hill became my nemesis. I was able to make it up just fine without lockers but did not see a particular spot that caused me to seriously get off-camber and come pretty close to rolling (the inclinometer was at 35 and truck was swaggering). Fortunately, there were some seasoned wheelers that came running to my aid and helped out. I am sure there will be pics posted later and I hope the visitors send us the video they captured.

We had a few minor things happen to rigs on this trip. JRWid had a tierod adjustment loosen up, causing his wheels to turn outword. We were able to get it realigned by eye sight enough to get him back on the trail. Kurt had a minor glitch in his electrical but was able to repair it in the parking lot after dinner.

After a brief visit to the Burro Schmidt Tunnel, my friend Stitch separated from the group to get home early while the rest of took Last Chance Canyon back out.










We wrapped up the night with dinner at Domingos in Boron.

Once again, the SoCal chapter of H4O had a great time wheeling. We met up in Bishop, California for a weekend of mountain climbing.

I met up with Zach and WarMongur to do one last prerun up Wheeler Ridge. When we were up there last month, the trail was blocked by a small avalanche. Fortunately, all the snow was melted away and we were able to reach the outlook spot on the crest.

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Saturday started off with a good sized group, one H1, five H2s, three H3s and one H3T. We aired down the tires in Swall Meadows and proceeded to head up Sand Canyon.




We grabbed a quick bite to eat and did some troubleshooting on mb30sdl's H2 (bad cooling fan). The challenge of Wheeler Ridge Mine Road was waiting for us.




Once we got to the top, the crew was treated to a beautiful view of a snow melt pond.




A little more driving took us to the lookout at the top of the Sierras at about 11,000 ft elevation with a spectacular view of Round Valley.




We started our way back and found a nice playground of rocks and sand dunes just south of the pond.




Even portager and MuDnYrI got in on the fun!




On Sunday, we took Silver Canyon out of Laws to the top of the White Mountains. Three people from the first trip dropped-out but we picked-up a Chevy pickup driven by my childhood friend Chris. On the way up, Zach was the first to spot the bighorn sheep.


The first-timers were quite impressed once we started up the switchbacks.


Once we got to the top, we lined up for a beautiful shot of the trucks with the Sierras in the background.


Next, we drove down to Patriarch Grove to view the oldest living organisms in the world and eat lunch. Unfortunately, MuDnYrI had to depart early to he took his family back down White Mountain Road. The rest of us went down Wyman Canyon where we found many creek crossings and amazingly enough, rain!




We also stopped by a creek crossing where Zach had some fun washing the mud off his truck.


Towards the bottom of the canyon, the scenery changed quite a bit and the landscape looked like something from another planet.


We aired back up once we got to Highway 168 and we started back to Big Pine. From there, four of us turned north to stay in Bishop one more night while the rest of the troupe headed home.

The rest of my pictures can be viewed here: LINKY