September 1999
Memorial Day 1999 again brought our annual family Jeep Run
to Hell Hole Reservoir. Hell Hole Trail is
The Trail is rated about 3 on the California Associations' 1 through 5 rating for difficulty.
Counting
many other years in the past, this brings to mind about 7 years worth of
Memorial Days'. The trail in my estimation rates a top 5 in scenery, as it
skirts the northern rim of the reservoir, about 500 feet below.
The
trail is narrow and at places tight enough to raise the "pucker"
factor for the passenger on the way down and for the driver on the way back
out.
The trail is a one way trail down to the reservoir and back
out. The final decent opens to a panoramic view at water level, into a beach
area.
Since the holiday is in the latter part of the summer, most of the reservoir
has been drained, leaving a spectacular beach front to camp in. So much room,
no neighbors, driftwood within arms reach to burn, what else could you ask for.
....The
Trip departed from the Bay Area, with our two rigs, a 70 CJ-5 with a 225 odd
fire buick and the trusty 77 cj-7 with a 310 AMC V8. The "7" was
towing our 1952 1/4 ton jeep trailer.
With the trailer, roof racks and cooler racks on both jeeps, we were capable of supporting our group of seven for about 3-4 days with all the niceties of home. Our family consisted of yours truly, wife Diane, kids Jessica, Ben and Jennifer, Jessica's friend Emily... and of course my buddy Brian.
On the way up, we hooked up with the Siemens,
Jim, Misa and their two little ones Emily and Louis. Jim was a
"newbie" with little rockin' experience, a
lot of adventure, a stock 86 CJ-7 with street gears and a rear ARB.
After a stop in
The first real obstacle was two 5 foot boulders guarding the first downward decent. Being the trail leader, I was first, all was fine, suspension flexed and the low gears whined.
What I did not count on was the trailer snaggin' on a rock ledge, rolling backward and pulling the jeep of a "primo" line.
The Jeep slipped on the boulder and was 30 degrees of a slow roll over, on bad side of the trail. (this was the 500 feet of drop to the Reservoir). As one can imagine, many words to the Creator was spoken in a fast tone. The Jeep finally stops as it slammed into another boulder, which prevented further rolling.
A lil' bit of high liftin' and winchin’, we managed to straighten it and return to flat terra firma. Both rigs following crashed and banged their way through without any incident.
More
boulder crawling downward, no more problems and 3 hours later, we were at the
beach front property. Tents were staked, a community tarp was strung, rigs
unloaded and we were now completely set to do what we all came for..."to
do nothing'".
The first day, we fished and rafted, the second day, we plinked about a 1000
rounds of ammo against the canyon wall, swam, fished
some more, slept, ate... anyway you get the picture. By the third day, it was
time to pack up and run back up. Another Summer had
come to an end.
The trip back out was rather exciting, as Jim with his total gear crawl ratio of 38:1, provided an awesome airborne display. It was more throttle to run up the trail and due to carburation problems, even more throttle was required to crest the boulders.
Jim was a true jeeper and smiled as he banged his way to the top. Wife Misa was a little disturbed about the kids being battered in the rig. Jim being an opportunist, seized the moment to show his wife how lockers all the way around and a crawl ratio of over 100:1 would make life on the trail an enjoyable experience. I was Jims' greatest ally, and acted as a Vanna White, pointing out the various accouterments on my rig and giving prices for each one. By trails' end Misa was sold and authorized over $3,000.00 of upgrades to their family's' jeep.
To make a long story short, the trip was extremely relaxing and quiet. (We never really ran into anyone while we were there).
I found out a week later Jim was spending like crazy his
newfound allotment and smiling all the way to the parts store. Little is known
about his wife's' checkbook and it's content.
Next Memorial Day? Guess where we'll be!!!!!!