Dusy-Ershim
Trail Run
September
14-18, 2000
The Cast:
Hans – Bronco Lani – Bronco Skip – Toyota Pickup Tony L. – Toyota Pickup Tony V. – CJ-5 Ignacio – FJ-40 Cesar – FJ-40 Joe – FJ-40
Sergio – FJ-40 John – Fj-40 Ross – FJ-40
The Trip:
9-14-00 The eleven rigs listed above showed up at the McDonalds in Castaic ready for adventure. After cramming down some tasty McGrub and a few last minute ice runs, we were ready to head north. It was 8:30 pm by the time we started up the Grapevine. All was well until about 11:30 pm. Just outside of Earlimart by Avenue 24 on the 99 highway, Joe’s Cruiser let loose a huge cloud of white smoke. A pile up of near epic proportions nearly occurred. Cars and Trucks were veering left and right with their visibility at or near zero. Luckily, nobody hit anything and Joe was able to limp off the highway. We strapped Joe’s rig over to a nearby Shell/Truck stop to better assess the situation. It appeared that he blew the head gasket on the right cylinder bank. Joe did not want to miss out on this trip so he decided to wait with the Cruiser until his father could drive up to flat tow it back home. He would then consolidate his equipment and jump in Sergio’s Cruiser and continue on. Meanwhile, the rest of the group continued on to Courtright Reservoir.
9-15-00 The main group arrived at Courtright Reservoir around 3:45 am. The ride up the hill and along Dinkey Creek Road was long and very cold. We camped in an open space above the Reservoir and near the trailhead. Everybody was eager to get some sleep before the big day of wheeling in the morning. About 2 hours later, Sergio with Joe as passenger showed up. At 9:15 am, a small group ran back to Dinkey Creek to fill up the groups Gerry Cans with gas. At 11:15 am the group reassembled and headed towards the trailhead.
Mile 0.0 At 11:40 am the group of ten trucks passes through the gate at the Dusy-Ershim Trailhead.
Chicken Rock proved uneventful and everybody crawled up its steep granite face, slowly but surely. Throughout our trip, the weather was warm and clear. The views from atop Chicken Rock were breathtaking.
Mile 4.4 We reached the crossing of Dusy Creek at 1:55 pm. The only trouble we had encountered thus far was a leaking power steering hose on Cesar’s FJ-40. We were making pretty good time, but getting 10 rigs through this trail had a way of slowing things down quite a bit.
Mile 8.2 The group started the seemingly endless climb up Thompson Hill. Things were going pretty smooth until near the very top. I, Ross, was leading the group and was the first to do significant damage to his rig. I tried to take the most interesting line up a shelf of boulders. My tires would not seem to hold the line and my truck slid down onto several large rocks. One was so large that it hit my transmission cross member by the t-case skid plate with a loud crack. While trying to get out of that spot, my front spring hanger bashed hard into some granite. Finally, with a good spot, I crawled out. The rest of the group got through with a minimal amount of damage. Tony V. and Lani needed some strap assistance on some of the loose gravel that wanted to swallow your vehicle hole at times. Almost to the top we passed a couple Cj-5’s winching one of their rig’s that broke a rear drive shaft. Luckily they had a spare.
Mile 10.7 We reached the top of Thompson Hill about 6:15 pm.
Mile 11.1 First camp above Thompson Lake, 7:00pm. Lani treated everybody with some Dutch Oven cooked ribs and cornbread. They were excellent. Ignacio’s tequila wasn’t bad either.
9-16-00 We all thank Skip for neglecting his truck long enough to get his onboard Premier Welder installed before this trip. Without it, a few of us might still be camped out up there on the trail. Not only did he bring his welder, he brought his weldor, Hans. After breakfast, Hans put a nice weld on my front spring hanger, just as a precaution. Meanwhile, Lani was draining the burnt ATF out of his Bronco, and changing the location of his auto transmission cooler. The day before it was running into the high 200’s and causing him some problems on Thompson Hill. While these repairs were going on, Ignacio and Cesar decided to get a jump on the day in order to secure a good campsite at Ershim Lake. They left camp around 9:30am. John, Sergio w/Joe, and I leave camp around 10:00am while Lani finishes his fluid change up. About a mile down the trail we encounter Ignacio and Cesar pulled off the trail. Apparently, Cesar’s problems with his power steering hose had returned. This time it appeared unfixable. Sergio and I gave them some power steering fluid but the high-pressure line just would not hold. Ignacio suggested that we go ahead to get a campsite while they wrestled with the problem. John, Sergio w/Joe, and I took the lead and worked our way towards Ershim Lake.
Mile 22.4 The lead group arrives at Ershim Lake at 2:40 pm. We had no problems that day and it paid off. We were able to get the large campsite right near the lake, plenty of room for our group of ten rigs. We made camp, collected wood, and fished while we awaited the rest of our group to come in. Meanwhile, Cesar had to strong arm his steering all the way to East Lake where a nicely equipped guy in a CJ-7 sold him a high-pressure power steering hose for $20. It fit like it was made for his Cruiser. Cesar was left with a pretty sore pair of arms, but a working power steering system. Ignacio and Cesar got into camp around 5:30pm. Ignacio broke out his onboard shower system and treated the group to a very refreshing hot shower, lakeside. The trailing group got into camp just before dark, around 6:30pm. A nice warm fire and a lot of questions greeted them. Apparently, Lani’s fix to his power steering cooler did the trick. It never got above 200 degrees that day. The delay was due to Skip (aka Sidewall) shredding two tire’s sidewalls, all within 150 yards. A spare and some very creative plugging kept them going. Ignacio cooked up some of his famous carne asada while we all relaxed around the campfire. Ershim Lake is a great place to camp. There are some great sites, the scenery is beautiful and the lake has plenty of jumping Brook trout.
9-17-00 Sunday morning the group leisurely ate breakfast and broke camp. It was decided that we were all going to leave as a group. I gave the underside of my Cruiser the once over before we left camp and I am glad that I did. That crack that I had heard on Thompson Hill did more damage than I had initially thought. My transmission cross member had broke on a weld and the transmission mount had also snapped. Out came Skip’s welding equipment and Han’s donned his mask. The cross member came out great and is probably stronger than it was before. Han’s can sure lay down a mean bead. The consensus was that the break was partially due to poor workmanship. Way to go Tri-County Gear of Pomona. They had my rig for over a month and still turned out crappy product. My opinion is to avoid dealing with Tri-County Gear like the plague. Unless of course you have more time and money than you know what to do with and your opinions are formed by how many times they are mentioned in magazines. Anyway, I digress. The group finally headed out towards Kaiser Pass at about 11:45am.
Mile 27.2 At 2:20pm arrived at Lakecamp Lake for a lunch break. No problems so far this day. Supposedly the only lake along the trail where you can find Rainbow trout. Some pretty nice campsites are located here. Tony L. broke out the sandwich fixings for the group.
At 3:00pm the group headed out from Lakecamp Lake.
Mile 29.6 At 4:00pm the group poses rigs for a picture at what I call Florence Lake overlook. We are almost to Kaiser Pass summit.
Mile 30.2 Ignacio, who had taken the lead gets hung up on his front drive shaft. The spot where his rig was struck was pretty precarious. His left rear quarter panel was smashed into a rock while being high centered on his front drive shaft. It was fortunate however that his rear end was up against the rock. If not, his rig probably would have slid down a steep slope because of the loose dirt near his rear left tire. We attached a strap from his rear end to Tony L.’s truck, and a strap from his right, uphill side, to Cesar’s Cruiser. A couple of stacked rocks and some nervous moments later, and Ignacio was free. Whoever takes the lead also seems to take the lumps.
Mile 31.2 The end of the trail was very near. It was 5:15 pm. We were told that one of the more difficult sections of trail lie between White Bark Vista and us. We were all glad that we would face this section during daylight. All of a sudden Ignacio, still in the lead, stops his rig. His tires were both facing outward, in opposite directions. That is never a good sign. It seems that he had been distracted and hit a rock with his right front tire. The steering arm had been completely pulled from the knuckle. The studs sheared. Damage of this extent had Ignacio contemplating leaving his truck in this very spot, in the center of the trail, while getting a ride home, to return next weekend for repair. Trail Crew resourcefulness showed it self again. Skip rolled his truck up with the welder. Hans once again got out his welding mask and hammer, and Ignacio went to work disassembling the knuckle. It turned out that the upper knuckle bearing and outer wheel bearing were also destroyed. The birfield joint looked like it had seen better days as well, but would probably last. Luckily, I had a knuckle bearing and Tony L. had a wheel bearing. Together we were all able to rebuild the knuckle and weld the steering arm back onto the knuckle. Ignacio was afraid to give it the hammer test, instead he was going to trail test it. All together this fix took over three hours. By now it was 8:30 pm and pitch dark. The good news is that we were all well fed. Tony V. and Lani broke out the chuck wagon and cooked up some Dutch spicy meat (I would not even dare try to spell it), rice, and hot coffee. The bad news was that we now had to face the upcoming obstacles at night. Tony L. took the lead and we headed down the final leg of the trail. This section of the trail was very difficult to follow without the benefit of daylight. Tracks seemed to go several different directions, all appearing to end in a pile of boulders. Tony L. decided to turn left instead of risk the off camber route straight ahead. Rolling is a very sensitive topic to him since his experience on the Rubicon this summer. The left route required his left tires to go over some large boulders while executing the left turn. His right front quarter panel took some damage as he made the precarious turn. After some loud crashes, he made it through. Later it was learned that the loud crashes were his rear drive shaft landing on some large rocks. He would have to drive on the highway home in front wheel drive because the drive shaft was causing an awful vibration over 45 miles per hour. After seeing the left route driven by Tony L., I decided on the straight-ahead route. With some great spotting by Ignacio, we got the rest of the group through with minimal damage. Below, I took the lead and blazed the trail the rest of the way to White Bark Vista.
Mile 31.6 Group arrives at White Bark Vista, 9:40pm
Mile 32.9 Group reaches pavement and airs up the tires, 10:15pm