Category: Trips & Events

“Epic Trip!”

– Sebastian F.

No write up for this trip, but here’s a group shot from the trip:

You can also see the previous trip’s write up here:

Coyote Flats 2020

This is a regularly planned trip which is usually around the Memorial Day holiday. We had a decent size group camping, and a smaller group for the offroad run on Saturday.

There were 3 rigs in total for the run, and it was a great day on the trail. We started being a group at the trailhead, but they had a dual-sport bike which was having some issues with the terrain and hills and the group let us pass by. After that, we ran into only 1 other vehicle the whole day and no trail traffic at all.

A small group headed to the west end of Johnson Valley to try a new location for the club.  Mark and I arrived in camp midday on Thursday and setup in a location that was away from others, at that time. The valley did fill up with campsites as the weekend progressed. Bryan Slattery arrived as Mark and I took a quick scouting spin around the camp. Dick arrived later and had to be retrieved from the darkness.

Friday morning we started full of confidence and headed straight to Cakewalk trail.  The first five minutes went well until I charged into a v-notch without looking for the best line.  I pivoted on the rocks and slid into a large rock on the drivers side (twice).  I sadly placed some red paint on the rocks and could not get out without Mark and his winch.  I later reviewed many You-tube videos and discovered that I approached this area exactly opposite from the preferred line.

We continued bouncing around the east end of the buttes to find a nice high view of the valley.  We then played at the east end for a while and Dick found a rock to high center his flat fender.  After using the High lift jack, Dick had a wild ride getting off the rock. We all determined it was time to head back to camp to eat lunch and decompress.

We took a cruise on Friday afternoon and found a trail that started easy and then proved to be more difficult than expected.  We pushed through with minimal damage and then sat and watched others create more damage. Once again I checked the you-tube videos and identified this trail as Hammerdown in reverse.

Darrell and Emily arrived Saturday morning and we all headed out for a quick spin around the entire Butte area.  That afternoon a few went for a tour of the valley and headed north-east to review the open sections of the King of the Hammers race course.  

After we returned home I watched more You-tube videos and recognized a number of locations that we stumbled upon and did not know.  We drove around Chicken Rock a few times and probably should have started there to build confidence and check off a requisite trail. There are also a number of V notches that we drove past without checking off the standard tourist list.  I had fun and will go back again in the future. Next time I will consult the internet to determine which are the “really important” rocks, prior to arrival.

Written by Tim G., SB4WD Club 2021 Club President

Hi Everybody !  

Although it’s taken me quite a while to get the wrap-up for the 2nd group’s TDS adventure, here it is.  But before I begin, here is a quick addition to the first group’s story:  Ken, Skylar and Paul went to the Pumpkin Patch…AND, Once Again, we had a Raffle Winner – Paul won a $100 gift certificate.  

Well, despite the weather predictions of cooler temperatures and breezy to windy days, the the 2nd group had a good sized group too !!   Because I wasn’t there to personally relate all the fun they had, I’ll do my best based on conversations I had with those who went.  I am sure there are hundreds of stories that will be shared, here are some of the highlights:

First and foremost – No one got hurt and everyone made it home safely !

The second group out to TDS this year had a great time !  Bryan Slattery got out there first on Wednesday at about 2:30pm, with Kirk, Brian F. and George, hot on his heels, rolling in about 3pm, so they were able to camp at the plateau.   Brent and his son Brian made it to camp about an hour later.  Dick got there about 4:30 or so and everyone took their time setting up camp, ate and had a campfire.  Darryl, Emily and her friend Amanda got there early Wed evening.  Tim and Maureen pulled in about 9pm and completed the Wednesday arrivals.  The second group  basically had the desert to themselves, so they didn’t need to put up the rebar, caution tape “gates” or taped off perimeter.  

Corey and his dad Brian, showed up Thursday morning.  Corey with his Jeep and his dad pulling in with a fifth wheel.  Bryan K. got there about noon on Thursday and if I’m not mistaken, Larry also got there Thursday.  Art pulled in late on Friday, but left on Saturday with an issue with his trailer.

The second group was kept mobile and having fun with 13 off road rigs – some built for the “wild” and some pretty much stock, as well as 2 dirt bikes and a Land Cruiser.  Here’s who showed up: Brent and his son Brian, Kirk, Brian F., Bryan S., George, Dick, Tim, Maureen, Tom, Terry and their friend, Corey and his dad Brian, Brian K., Darryl, Emily and her friend Andrea, Larry and Art.  Hope I didn’t miss anyone!

The weather although cooler, was great for wheeling every day – mid 60’s Wed. – Fri. warming up to the mid 70’s Saturday.  Nighttime temps were in the 40’s.  There was a variety of weather…sprinkles a bit on Wednesday afternoon and a steady drizzly rain during the night Wednesday night, but nothing to make the ground muddy. There were steady breezes every day that turned into the normal desert “afternoon to sunset wind” a couple times, but nothing that wasn’t tolerable.  There were quite a few tent campers, but no tents were flattened this year, with the exception of Brent’s privacy shelter.  The winds calmed down in the evenings, so everyone got to relax around nice campfires every night.  Thanks to everyone who brought firewood!!!!

Because it wasn’t the normal TDS week, things were very very quiet, with light traffic on the road for the first couple days with a bit more traffic on Friday and Saturday as a few more folks came into the area to camp and play.  Basically, the second group had the desert to themselves.

Journeys were made to the familiar places and on Thursday everybody headed out together.  But after reaching Fonts point the group split up with some heading back toward camp. Some of them made to the Ocotillo Wells training area, and some folks made it to Fish Creek wash, SandStone canyon and again cross country back to camp.

Of course there was plenty of toolin’ around by everyone.   Playing around in the gullies and hills due north of camp, thru the trenches and into the various washes. On 

Friday, I think was the trip to the Calcite mine, and after that, everyone went up and across the plateaus and down the other side to play in the Telephone Booth area.  The Ash Rock formations at “signpost” were empty of the normal crowds that sit there waiting for rigs to go up it. Just like the first group experienced, the second group had the same conditions at the “Rock Buggy” waterfall area on the north side of Telephone Booth.  It was a real challenge this year…the sand at the base had gone down what seemed to be 2 or 3 feet lower than we all remembered where it was last year. Tim and Bryan K. have rigs that are really set up good and they made it up the middle waterfall with relative ease. C-Clip hill is a scary challenge for plenty of folks, but Dick, Tim, and Bryan K. scrambled up it again this year.  Bryan S. gave it a heck of a shot, but alas, didn’t make it.  

There were Night Runs on Friday night and Saturday night.  From what I know, the only breakage/damage happened to Bryan S’s rig – with a scraped and dented door that happened on the Friday night run.

Camp disbanded Sunday morning with folks saying their good byes and leaving at various times. The winds for the drive home Sunday were pretty strong in places and the traffic was heavy for some, but the good news was that everyone made it home safely!!

All in all, it was a great week for the second group!!  Everyone was respectful, ate good, no one ran out of liquids, and everyone had fun.  Most importantly, no one got hurt !!  Thanks again: To those who brought firewood, To those who shared their supplies, To those who helped each other on the trails and To those who provided their mechanical skills when repairs were needed…Kudos to everybody !!!

I’m speaking for everyone when I say that, “we look forward to next year and hope that we can all get together again.”  (and maybe before then too)

Till then, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Count Your Blessings !!!

Happy Trails,

Jeff

Hi Everybody !  

Well, we had a great gathering again this year despite the fact that we ended up going in two groups and although there are surely hundreds of stories we will all be sharing, here are some of the highlights and things:

First and foremost – No one got hurt and everyone made it home safely !

Well the first group out to TDS this year had a great time.  Steve and Trevor got out there Tuesday around 2pm and were able to get the plateau for us.  Jeff also got there on Tuesday a little after 4pm. We set up camp and ate and had a campfire.  Armando and Drew came and dropped off his toyhauler and left to come back on Thursday.  Wednesday morning we put up the rebar and caution tape “gates” and perimeter, which worked out well, as it kept other wheelers passing around us and not thru us.  

We ended up with 18 off road rigs with 3 of those being “slightly modified stockers” that stayed to the easy stuff.  We had 22 adults and 6 kids that camped with us and 5 others that came for a day and left…so we had a great group. Here’s who showed up: Steve, Trevor, Jeff, Briggs, Paul, Paul’s wife and their 2 grandkids, Ken, Skylar, Armando, Rene, Eric, Tim, Austin, Hanna, Donald, Mary, Randy and his two boys, Drew and two boys, Joe, Joe’s son and Joe’s daughter.  Jason, Chris, Garrett and two lady friends came Sat. wheeled and left Sat. after the night run.  Hope I didn’t miss anyone.

The weather was great every day – 75, 73, 80 and 84 Mon thru Sat.  We had mostly calm to a slight breezes every day that thankfully blew the right direction and kept the dust away….for the most part.  We only had a couple hours of WIND and that was Saturday night right around sunset, and fortunately it came up quickly and died away just as quickly.  We had nice campfires every night, so thanks to everyone who brought firewood.  

Tuesday before sunset Steve and Trevor went to play in some of the little grooves and hills for a bit just across the road from camp, and came back within about 20 minutes because Steve’s fan chewed into his new aluminum radiator.  We ate dinner and had a campfire. 

Steve left early Wednesday morning and drove the couple hours to his house and brought back a couple spare stock radiators and fan setups.   He had the replacement radiator and fan installed by early afternoon.  It sprinkled off and on that morning and got steadier in the afternoon…nothing heavy, the ground didn’t get muddy or anything and we wheeled from 3:30 to 6 with our windshield wipers on.  We got back to camp and by then the sprinkling was quite steady and it was dark and so we called it a night.  Briggs got to camp about 2:30 am Wednesday.  

Most everyone got to camp on Thursday and so I lost track of who came when and where everyone wheeled…sorry about that.  Folks went on day runs and about 8-10 of us did sunset into night runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday’s wasn’t too late…maybe 11ish, but Friday nights’ run got back around 1 or 1:30am and Saturday’s got back before midnight…and of course, we sat around campfires those nights.

I do know that a backcountry trip was made to what we thought was what was left of “Twin Palms” and then on to the Radio/Microwave Tower on S22 – it’s the one that is visible to the west from camp.  Also numerous excursions were made straight out of camp and across the riverbed to play in that area.  Some folks got their first “behind the wheel” chance to practice driving over there. There were at least few times that a group went over to the Obstacle Course to try what they dared to try.  Rene led one group over there Friday afternoon and unfortunately cracked his T-Case open coming up “Byron’s Crack”  but his group strapped him back to camp safely.  He was ready to call it “game over” and just chill at camp for the rest of the weekend….but we talked him into pulling it and going home to get and rebuild his spare T-Case.  Trevor jumped right into action and in less than a half hour he and Rene had that T-Case out and Rene was on the road.  

Other “breakage” happened:  Trevor broke a rear axle Friday but he seems to break one or two every year…and he carries spares, ATV and gear oil and had it changed out in a couple hours and was ready for the evening/night run…and was good to go for the rest of the week.  Randy busted his front driveshaft during a night run on his Grand Cherokee, on the harder bi-pass at Rock Buggy, but he smartly was carrying a brand new one…and had it changed out in short order and was ready to keep on wheeling.  Saturday afternoon, Steve’s swing away tire carrier bolt broke while trying to climb a difficult ledge in the gullies, dropping the whole spare tire, hi-lift jack and carrier on the ground.  We loaded it into Austin’s Toyota and brought it back to camp.  Lastly, upon checking their rig Sunday morning Jeff and Briggs saw that they had gear oil puking out of the left front axle housing, so at least their rig made it till the end of the week. 

Besides the normal playing around in the gullies and hills due north of camp, every day and every night groups of us trekked up and across the plateaus and down the other side and headed to the Telephone Booth area to play. The Ash Rock formations at “signpost” were fun to go up again…we did that a couple times but we didn’t sit there waiting for rigs to go up it…had too much else to do.  Besides, there weren’t any of the “big rigs” out there when we passed by.  But on one of our  Rock Buggy – the waterfall area on the north side of Telephone Booth was a real challenge this year…the sand at the base had gone down what seemed to be 2 or 3 feet lower than we all remembered where it was last year.  Jason was able to climb right up it with his diesel powered Samurai and both Trevor and Rene were able to do it with just a touch of help…a couple guys pulling sideways on their winch cables was all it took to keep them from tipping over…so they made it up too.  

We disbanded camp Sunday morning with folks saying their good byes and leaving at various times. The winds for the drive home Sunday were light and the traffic was heavy for some, but the good news was that everyone made it home safely!!

I am sure that there are more tales to tell, and I’m sorry if I missed yours.  But all in all, it was a great week!!  Everyone was respectful, we all ate good, no one ran out of liquids, and we had fun.  Most importantly, no one got hurt !!  Thanks again: To those who brought firewood, To those who shared their supplies, To those who helped each other on the trails and To those who provided their mechanical skills when repairs were needed…Kudos to everybody !!!

I’m speaking for everyone when I say that, “we look forward to next year and hope that we can all get together again.”  (and maybe before then too)

Till then, Stay Safe, Stay Healthy and Count Your Blessings !!!

Happy Trails,

Jeff

On Thursday July 23 at 7:30 AM the group met at the Casitas Pass turnoff to gather for the convoy to Bishop. I rolled in to find Kalvin and his wife Natalia waiting in their Mojito! Green JL Rubicon; they were soon joined by Kirk in “Blackie” and Darrell in his yellow TJ (that I have come to call “Trusty the TJ” in my head). Kalvin and his family were trying to coordinate with another family and planned to join us later in Bishop once they got their plans firmed up. We exchanged mobile numbers and looked forward to meeting later in the day. 

In addition to Kalvin’s two vehicles, Darrell’s daughter Emily planned to join us later in Bishop as well. So Kirk, Darrell, and I hit the road and arrived in Bishop at 1:15 pm after a couple of stops for gas. After fueling up again, we headed to Browns Town campground to find the Tinkers and await Emily’s arrival in her black-on-black JL Moab., (Emily arrived only an hour behind us, despite having left 2 hours later than us!) 

Unfortunately, we learned that George and his wife would not join at Coyote Flats, as they had already made the run earlier that day and understandably decided that it was too far to do it as another day trip. At 2 PM, we said goodbye and the four Jeeps headed West to find the trailhead. Within a couple of miles, we were at the start and aired down in the hot dry air of the high desert. 

The climb up to Coyote Flats starts on a gradual sandy wide road, but quickly turns to a rutted, rocky and steep climb up to about 8,800’ 

After the climb and a couple of creek crossings, we were greeted by sweeping vistas of the high meadows. 

After 2.5 hours, the 4 Jeeps rolled into our camp area just after 5 PM and began setting up camp. 

There was even a latrine – all that was needed was to “decorate” a bit with a blue tarp and voila! The Teepee Toilet! 

The following morning, we made an attempt to hike to Baker Lake but could not find the trailhead. Eventually I found the lake and radio’d back to camp that the fishing was pretty good! 

Late Friday afternoon Kalvin and family and friends arrived with tales of a a double-breakdown (or should I say “brake-down”?) in Fillmore requiring two replacement front calipers at two different locations. Then a harrowing account of their 5 hour journey up to the camp site. All were ready for some relaxation time at camp! 

Saturday morning was time for some exploration by Jeep, and Kalvin and son David joined Kirk, Emily, Darrell, and I to head out across the upper flats to scout around. The weather was perfect and the relatively easy trails led us to some incredible vistas. Unfortunately while heading out, Kirk lost his rear passenger side shock mount, so we pulled off the trail for about 45 minutes while Kirk removed the shock and its broken mount. For the remainder of the trip, Kirk got used to the boat-like ride of driving uneven terrain without a rear shock… 

Lunch Stop at Coyote Lake 

After the lunch break we headed toward Coyote Ridge. Some decided to stay in the beautiful valley and enjoy the sights (and take great photos!) while Kirk and I headed to the top. 

The view from 11,500’ 

Video clip of the view from the top: 

After the visit to Coyote Ridge, we re-grouped and headed back toward camp, which is when we had our second incident of the day – Darrell blew out a sidewall on his Jeep just before the creek crossing. Kirk helped him swap the spare and air back up quickly with his PowerTank and we were back on the road, headed across the long meadow. 

The road across the meadow is long and sandy, punctuated with enough rocks to make you slow down every 100 yards or so. 

At the end of the main “lower” meadow is a bridge crossing that connects up to Sanger “upper” Meadow: Video 

We rolled back into camp around 4 pm and settled back with cold drinks and folding chairs for the rest of the evening and had a nice big fire with the abundant pine wood found around the camp. 

Sunday morning Kalvin and family packed up to head down to lower elevations and in search of lakes with trout while Darrell, Emily, Kirk, and I loaded up our packs and took the hike up to Baker Lake for some alpine lake fishing. 

Unfortunately the fishing was slow, but the scenery was fantastic. 

After a couple of hours we headed back to camp for a lazy afternoon of taking turns shooting cans off a log with a .22. Good ol’ fashioned fun! 

And in case you’re wondering, Emily is one helluva shot! She managed to hit a 3” pine cone off the top of a can at 25 yards, shooting offhand! 

After the hike, we spent a wonderfully relaxing afternoon at camp shooting cans off a log with a 22 and hanging out (for what it’s worth, Emily can hit a 2” pine cone off the top of a can at 25 yards off-hand!) 

The lazy afternoon turned into a lazy evening of cooking, enjoying cold beverages, and checking in on each other’s dinners. 

Monday morning we all decided to pack up and head home and we’re on the trail by 9 AM for the (surprisingly) arduous journey back down the mountain. 

Credit to Darrell for most of the amazing photos!

Written By: Brent C.