Part 3: MogFest 2012 Day 2

20121013

Navigation Links
 Trip Home Page     

 


The Trip

We had a relatively sedate evening and next morning we prepared for another trail run.

The Photos

The photos below are what we saw.


Late the previous evening, Kurt showed up in his MAN 8x8 camper conversion.  This truck is a beast.

Kurt uses his trucks and took this rig to the north slope of Alaska..

Hans and his son came in another camper built by Kurt.  This camper is based on a 1300 chassis.

The trailer-based camp kitchen got heavy use.

There were some Jeeps on the trail as well as the European hardware.

Another 712 Pinz.

This totally restored Mule would do the entire trail and serve as our recon vehicle.

The Mule owner uses his Hummer H1 as his tow vehicle.

Steve and Debra came in their new camper van.

We got the group assembled and then headed out to the trail head.  On the way, we passed a convoy from Fort Irwin.

Our own convoy stretched for a mile or more.

We got on the trail and pulled over to allow trail preparations.

Kevin airs-down his 395/85R20 tires for trail running.

There was some kind of school outing in one of the side canyons and they watched in shock and awe as the trucks wound past their position.

We turned off the main trail into the mud hills.

Each of the vehicles had to attack the steep passes in the trail.

The bigger trucks totally filled up the passes.

The high breakover angle passed were sufficiently narrow that the Jeeps rubbed their sidewalls on both sides of the pass.

On an adjacent trail we encountered another group of 'wheelers running the trails.

The path through the mud hills went up and down through the ravines.

The group assembled on a far ridge to get everybody together.

The balance of the group was behind us as they came over the highest pass.

A luxury view from upon high.

The volcanic portions of the Calico mountains provided a stark contrast to the lighter colors of the mud hills and the bright blue sky.

At our lunch stop, we found a small abandoned mine shaft that was filled with ground water.  This was the only water we saw all day.

The group assembled the trucks for lunch.



After lunch, we headed higher into the mountains to a large complex of tunnels.  Some of these tunnels were actually vertical shafts and were very deep.  Care was needed when walking near the mouth of these tunnels as a slip would likely be fatal.



From the mines, the group descended off the mesa down a narrow rough trail.



One of the 712 Pinzgauers suffered a failed clutch leaving the vehicle in the middle of the trail and blocking the progress of the balance of the group.  The solution was to use the winch on the Pinz to pull it out of the trail to allow the balance of the group to pass.  Then Alan repositioned his 406 to tow him back to camp.



The mule was used as our recon vehicle when we were at the mines.  Note the all-wheel steering.



After waiting to winch the broken Pinz out of the trail, Kevin comes up the hill in his 1300L.



Alan dead-weight tows the 712 Pinz up one of the steeper grades over the pass.



Alan led the group back to camp pulling the broken Pinz on the tow strap.  The Pinz was safely returned to camp without incident.

We had a great trail run but it went a bit longer than planned due to mechanical failures.  But all vehicles were returned safely to camp.  Once back at camp it was cocktail hour.  A gasoline-powered margarita blender was fired up and drinks were made for the group.  After drinks, a catered BBQ dinner was provided to the paying participants.

Navigation Links
Previous Adventure
Top of this Page
  Next Adventure
Trip Home Page  
Bill Caid's Home Page

Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2012, all rights reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.