By Steve "Little Buddy" Gardiner

Members In Attendance:
John & Peg Brzezicki - CJ7
Steve Gardiner - Isuzu Amigo
Jeff, Andy, Stephanie McRae - Wrangler

None of us knew what to expect. We though we would be driving dirt roads and reading maps. The first thing on our minds when we got to the rangers station was "where are the bathrooms?"

We met up with Ranger Greg at a little meeting room. There were 10-12 other people, some from 4WD clubs, some from CORVA, some were SBNF Volunteers. Greg outlined the three areas that he wanted to survey. The premise is to compare maps to what is really on the ground to see were the differences are. He had the areas divided into "moderate" and "hard core", he asked if anybody wanted to do the hard core, nobody spoke up. I asked him which areas are most important, he says all of them are important. Well if nobody wants the hardcore, I guess West Coast 4WD will do it. I'm asking Greg about the road, It shows on the map as a "4WD" that's all. He says that he tried to go up it with a guy from Riverside 4 Wheelers and they were not able to get to the top in a Jeep with lockers. I'm starting to think "what if we (I) can't make it?" Oh well we'll go and see.

The rest of the people split into 2 or three other groups. Greg was going to run Rattlesnake Canyon to Yucca Valley with one of the groups. We got a 15 minute map reading lesson (on 7.5 minute maps) and we were ready. Our area was on the Onxy Peak map and the Moonridge map.

Driving down the highway we stopped a couple times to orient ourselves because we figured the turnoff would not be marked. It was not but we found it. At the turnoff the first thing we see is hard packed snow (some call it ice). We were not happy about this since most of the trail was on the North side of Onyx Mountain. Jeff had his GPS, he would mark waypoints as we went. I had the maps so I guess I was trailboss.

Since I was by myself I offered my passenger seat to one of Jeff's kids. Stephanie volunteered immediately. I may still be suffering from a bit of hearing loss but she was good company. And as comforable as the back seat of a Jeep is I'm sure she was at least as comfortable in my passenger seat. This trail runs through a nice forested area. Very scenic. We stopped several times to check the map and make sure we were going in the correct direction. There were several patches of "snow" on the trail and we kept on gaining altitude. Some of the snow was on sections of road with a little side hill to them. Kind of un-nerving but it never got to the point that I thought that we would have any trouble.

Nobody seems to happy about the snow. I could feel the back end of the Amigo sliding a bit, but none of the drop offs were very far, probably a wild ride instead of a rollover. Comforting!

We got to a saddle were the road went straight but it looked like our route went up a trail to the right. We consulted the maps and decided to turn right. The trail started climbing higher. I kept wondering about the hill the Greg said they had problems on, so far there was nothing to concern us and nothing to warrant the "hard core" rating that Greg had given this trail. Finally we got to "the hill". Greg had described thigh high boulders, loose rocks . . . well I think I saw a couple of knee high boulders but I was able to drive around them. Jeff made the mistake of not turning his ARB on before the hill, once he got on the hill he couldn't reach the ARB switch because his seat belts locked him into the seat. We all reached the top. What a view! This peak is marked at 9,465 feet on the map. There is a 360 view. Big bear Lake and Baldwin Lake in one direction, Lucerne Valley in another, Yucca Valley in another, Mt. San Gorgonio and San Jacinto in another. Very nice. But it was cold! This place is "affectionately" called Windy Peak by us at this time. Jeff thought this was the appropriate time to strip down to his underwear and put on some long pants. The rest of us put on jackets if we had them and bundled up. We enjoyed the view but we needed to get out of the cold.

The maps showed the trail turning 90 right at the top of the hill but we didn't see any trails. There were a couple flags on a tree forward. We went that way. We got to a nice place, that was not windy and took a lunch break. After lunch we ran out of road almost immediately. Time to backtrack. There was a faint trail back about a half mile. We went to check it out. It wound down and came to an intersection. Left or right? Let's go left. If this is the intersection on the map we should come to another road, maybe with a gate. A quarter mile farther we ran out of road. John B is saying this trail reminds him of Washington. I think this is not a good thing. The side angle was uncomfortable but not dangerous, but now we had to turn around. We made it.

Now what? The map shows our trail going West at the top of the hill, we decided to go back to the top to see what we could see. At the top the hill just kind of dropped off to the West. John B gets on the radio and says "I found the trail" We go to where he is, he has a trial all right but it is the road we came in on. Back to the top. I notice a "path" between the bushes and trees that goes straight down the side of the hill, that must be the "road".

I think someone made this road by taking a 10' Cat and cutting a path straight down the hill. And nobody has driven on it in probably 8-10 years. There are small bushes growing in the middle of the trail. The trail was steep enough that it was a controlled slide down, but it leveled off after a bit. Jeff was in the lead, he says he lost the trail. I look past were he is and I still see the 10" trail. I start down another steep section but stop when I see a large patch of snow in front of me. It is 3pm now and we don't know if the trail will get us anywhere. With the snow we decide it is time to turn around. Jeff and John hiked down the trail but did not get to the next intersection. The road kept on alternating between steep then level off then steep then level off. Is was steep enough that I didn't think we would be able to drive back if we went down. A good decision to turn back.

John B was now in the lead. We get to the steep section that we slid down and John starts going up slowly. He looses traction, the trail is pretty loose. I radio "do you want to try again or do you want to use the winch?" He choose the winch. "Stay where you are, we will come up and hook you up." We found a good tree to use as an anchor point and John winched himself up. The carbureted Jeep gave him a bit of problems, it did not like running at the angle but he made it up. Next. I figured I would try a bit more gas pedal. I made it to the same spot that John stopped at. We were only about 10 feet from the top of the steepest section. We hooked up the Amigo and John pulled me up. Now Jeff's turn. He is locked at both ends and he has seen two of us not make it. He figures a little more gas pedal might do it. He made it up unassisted.

We cruised down the hill, aired up and cruised home. We had fun, but we need to go back. We will start from the other side and see if we can find the trail from the bottom.

Something we learned is that, no matter what you think the trail is going to be, be prepared for the worst. Between the three of us we had everything we needed, but there was some equipment that was left at home that would have been good to have. If you have room bring it.