March Club Run - March14-15, Anza Borrego, day trip with optional overnight. (1 Viewer)

[DirtyRice Joe]

Meeting Time: 8:30 AM, Saturday, March 14, 2020

Meeting Location: Salton City Travel Plaza, 2084 S. Marina Drive, Thermal, CA

Weather Forecast: Current long-range forecast shows low to mid 70’s during the day, and mid to high 40’s at night, with a very low (10-20%) chance of showers. It should be a perfect time to hit Anza Borrego!

Trail Ratings: There are many trails to choose from in this area. My plan is to stick to Easy to Moderate trails. Some trails may have steep climbs and/or tight turns, but all should be suitable for high clearance stock vehicles. That said, if some want to branch off to more difficult bypasses for a more challenging time, that should be possible.

We’ll start off east of Anza Borrego State Park, and head towards AB via the Cross Over Trail, and maybe hit Pumpkin Patch, and then some of the trails around Borrego City. For those who want to make this a day trip, this should be a logical stopping point to get you home by late afternoon, or early evening.

For those who will be camping Saturday night, we’ll head over to Blair Valley for primitive camping (no available water or other supplies, so bring all you’ll need!). I've never camped there, but I've heard that it's absolutely beautiful! The following day, after breaking camp, we can do a few more trails in the area. If we have time, one of my favorites on the way out towards Julian is Oriflamme Canyon.

PLEASE RSVP TO ME SO I KNOW HOW MANY TO EXPECT.
You can reach me at: (949) 769-1744, either talk or text; or via email at:josephroy@cox.net Look forward to seeing you there!

 

[Brentbba]

At the end of Blair Valley, there's a simple 1 mile hike up to the Marshall Smith home, out to wreckage of a military jet, and of course the morteros and pictographs. You might want to check all this out Sunday morning Joe!

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

At the end of Blair Valley, there's a simple 1 mile hike up to the Marshall Smith home, out to wreckage of a military jet, and of course the morteros and pictographs. You might want to check all this out Sunday morning Joe!

Thanks for the tip, Brent!

 

[FJRanger]

We've done it before with the kids; at the time my youngest was 5 or 6. It's a nice easy hike, just lots of rocks.

 

[Brentbba]

I'd consider this trip, but my truck is still w/o it's steering wheel and shift knob! Just got them back from having brand new leather put on by Craft Customs in TX and project for this coming weekend is to install them...assuming it doesn't rain!

Pics here:

FZJ-80 leather steering wheel recovered

Chapel Gate: what did it cost to recover your wheel in England? There is a small company in Florida USA which also does that style stitching. Cost about the same either way, ~ $400 US.

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

Anza Borrego Run Update

Is anyone starting to worry about rain? I was, so I checked the Weather Channel app for both Salton City & Borrego Springs. Both places have an 80% chance of rain for Thursday, as of 5PM today (Wednesday). Both are also expected to be partly cloudy to clear & sunny for both Saturday & Sunday, with highs in the low 70’s & overnight lows in the high 40’s. I think the weather is going to be awesome! Thursdays rain should help to hold the dust down, just like it did for the Cleghorn run.

I’ll be monitoring the weather closely. If things change so that it looks like it might be wise to cancel, I will post updates on IH8MUD Clubhouses and the SoCalTLCA website. See you on the run!

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

I'd consider this trip, but my truck is still w/o it's steering wheel and shift knob! Just got them back from having brand new leather put on by Craft Customs in TX and project for this coming weekend is to install them...assuming it doesn't rain!

Pics here:

FZJ-80 leather steering wheel recovered

Chapel Gate: what did it cost to recover your wheel in England? There is a small company in Florida USA which also does that style stitching. Cost about the same either way, ~ $400 US.

forum.ih8mud.com

Bummer, Brent, I wish you could make it! Best wishes on the install!

 

[oc cruiser 97]

Anza Borrego Run Update

Is anyone starting to worry about rain? I was, so I checked the Weather Channel app for both Salton City & Borrego Springs. Both places have an 80% chance of rain for Thursday, as of 5PM today (Wednesday). Both are also expected to be partly cloudy to clear & sunny for both Saturday & Sunday, with highs in the low 70’s & overnight lows in the high 40’s. I think the weather is going to be awesome! Thursdays rain should help to hold the dust down, just like it did for the Cleghorn run.

I’ll be monitoring the weather closely. If things change so that it looks like it might be wise to cancel, I will post updates on IH8MUD Clubhouses and the SoCalTLCA website. See you on the run!

I'm going to do my final packing in preparations tomorrow night . I think the weather is going to be excellent for this trip. Perfect timing with all the recent storm activity.

 

[AchillesY]

I went on dishpan tail weeks ago. lost my doorstep. new rock slider on its way. is it ok to run this run without rockslides?

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

I went on dishpan tail weeks ago. lost my doorstep. new rock slider on its way. is it ok to run this run without rockslides?

Hi Achilles - In my opinion, t’s always a risk to hit any trail without good armor. However, since all planned trails should be suitable for stock, high clearance vehicles, I think your truck will be fine on this run. Are planning to be there?

 

[AchillesY]

Hi Joe
Thanks for your reply yet need to pass this time. have a great fun and safe home.

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

Hi Joe
Thanks for your reply yet need to pass this time. have a great fun and safe home.

My pleasure, Achilles. We'll miss you!

 

[FJRanger]

Had fun yesterday, wished we could've camped. Hopefully, you guys didn't get too much precipitation. Took some damage to the tail pipe and the long ranger tank. Good thing is the tank is holding fuel, however I'll be inspecting it after work.

Edit, pictures added

 

[Brentbba]

Next time. I can steer and shift again.

 

[FJRanger]

Brent the wheel and shifter look great! That's definitely on the list of things to do sometime in the future.

 

[Brentbba]

Brent the wheel and shifter look great! That's definitely on the list of things to do sometime in the future.

Thanks - very happy with the results. Worth the $450 for both since I decided to keep the truck!

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

We had a great March club run at Anza Borrego! We met at the Arco Travel Plaza in Salton City, where Marc Mason showed up with his friend and neighbor Kevin, in Marc's 80 series; Chris Vermeulen joined us in his FJ40; Nathan Mills brought his family in their 80 Series diesel conversion; and Danny & I were in my 80 Series.

Our first stop was the Calcite Mine trail. Unfortunately, it was a very short stop! The significant rains that we've had recently washed out the trailhead. Since everyone in the group decided they'd prefer to stay shiny-side-up, we decided to pass on Calcite Mine and head to our next trail.

The Cross-Over Trail does just that, as it crosses over south through Ocotillo Wells SVRA. The trail was in good enough shape to go through, and bad enough shape to make it fun for a group of Land Cruisers! We hit a few minor washouts, and a lot of muddy ruts and bogs that caused a bit of slipping & sliding. Fortunately, no one had to get muddy boots as we worked our way through, choosing the best lines we could find. This trail is not just a single trail, but almost a network with lots of offshoots - some of which lead back to the main trail, some of which were washed out, and some of which were dead-ends. Although I will admit I earned the moniker "Wrong Way Roy", we did all end up just where we wanted to be! Kudos to GAIA GPS!

Just a couple of miles west of the end of Cross-Over, we hit the Pumpkin Patch Trail. Again, this normally mild trail offered just enough mud challenge to make it fun. Mud was to be the theme of this trip, as over the day I think each truck picked up at least a hundred pounds of the sticky stuff. If you've ever wondered about adobe & it's structural integrity, I can tell you this mud was super sticky! I'll bet it would make some amazing bricks. Now I understand how some old adobe buildings are still standing! At the end of the Pumpkin Patch trail is it's namesake garden, along with toilets, and enough shade covered picnic tables to allow us to have a nice lunch, while still maintaining our "social distance".

After lunch, we headed into Anza Borrego State Park and over to The Slot, where Chris left us for the day, as he needed to head back home. The rest of us ran The Slot from north & east, until it connected with Buttes Canyon Trail & brought us back south to our starting point. At that point we lost the Mills family, as Nathan needed to be back for work early the next morning.

That left Marc & me to head over to our chosen area to camp, Blair Valley. On our way, it started raining, but luckily only while we were driving. Once we got to Blair Valley the rain stopped. We drove through a beautiful desert valley and found a nice spot to dry camp a short distance off the trail. After setting up camp & cooking dinner, we sat around (6 feet apart, of course!) what we wished was a campfire (no ground fires permitted in the park) to enjoy the peace & quiet, stars coming out and eventually blanketing the sky, adult libations (Danny makes a great Kentucky Mule!), and ever lowering temperatures. The cold eventually forced us to say, "Goodnight", and into our tents for a little warmth.

The next morning, after hearty breakfasts, we drove the rest of Blair Valley Trail to the Pictograph trailhead, and then back-tracked to the Little Blair Valley Trail, which returned us to the highway. These were very mild trails, suitable for any stock mid to high clearance vehicle, but the scenery was beautiful! From there we headed to Oriflamme Canyon.

I have to say, Oriflamme Canyon is one of my favorite trails in Anza Borrego State Park! It's a through trail so you can run it from either direction. We started at the Box Canyon/Vallecito Wash area off Hwy S-2, and then took the trail west and north to the little town of Banner. The trail climbs from about 2,500 ft. elevation up to about 4,000 ft. elevation, so you start off in high desert and end up in forest. The views across the canyons and valleys were spectacular. If you haven't yet done this trail, it's a must-do, in my opinion! There was no snow at the top of the trail this time, but when I ran it last year solo, we went from desert to snow covered forest. This trail crosses the Pacific Crest Trail, so we ran into a jogger, a couple of hikers, and a few other rigs heading in from the Banner end of the trail. Call me lazy, but I was glad to let my Land Cruiser do the work! This moderate trail had, again, just enough challenge to be fun! After a few miles of trail, and a few obstacles, we popped out in Banner and headed to Julian for a piece of apple pie and the trip home. As they say, "A fun time was had by all"!

link to photos -

Anza Borrego March 2020 Club Run

56 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

Had fun yesterday, wished we could've camped. Hopefully, you guys didn't get too much precipitation. Took some damage to the tail pipe and the long ranger tank. Good thing is the tank is holding fuel, however I'll be inspecting it after work.

Edit, pictures added

View attachment 2240967

View attachment 2240969

Had fun yesterday, wished we could've camped. Hopefully, you guys didn't get too much precipitation. Took some damage to the tail pipe and the long ranger tank. Good thing is the tank is holding fuel, however I'll be inspecting it after work.

Edit, pictures added

View attachment 2240967

View attachment 2240969

Glad you were able to make it! I’m sorry to see the damage to your fuel tank. Does there seem to be any leakage?

 

[FJRanger]

No need to apologize, had lots of fun!

Full ownership here, had a bit of a heavy foot trying to build the boost plus a tank full of fuel making the rear extra heavy.

Thankfully no leak yet.

 

[AchillesY]

My Rock slider ....ROCKS ..
Add an concealed winch just to make myself helpful on the trails run . HOMEMADE BY MYSELF. Ha ha .