Jeep Lessons and Mount Baldy

Living in Southern California, there are several cities and points of interest that I've heard by name, but would be hard pressed to locate on a map. Until last summer, Mount Baldy was a mystery location. We always hear about it on the local news, with the "Mount Baldy" weather cam, but where the heck is it?

A series of bad ideas led us to discover Mount Baldy.

It all starts with our Jeep Wrangler and a decision to go topless. Removing the roof isn't easy. Dan installed a winch to the roof of our garage, which helped, but it still took both of us to very carefully take it off. There were some close-calls with the heavy top swaying in mid-air and some swearing, but we managed it. Once it was off, it was going to stay off.

Roof off for the summer, sounds fun, right? When the weather is warm and you're driving around town, it's great. But take that Jeep on the freeway or off-roading and you're in for a miserable ride.

During a scorching weekend in August, we took our Jeep up to Big Bear for a trail event with the, Fun in the Sun 4x4, Jeep club from Orange County. How we ended up with this group is a totally mystery. It's a small club and somehow we got on their mailing list, although we didn't know anyone and they didn't know us. Luckily, they were a welcoming group ( as Jeepers usually are) and we came prepared for their "Hawaiian" ride.

Me, before hitting the trails. Still smiling.

No roof = tons of sunblock. I knew that we would get dirty from the trails. I had no idea that the dirt would stick to the sunblock and provide another layer of protection. I've never been so filthy in my life. Thick, crusty layers of dirt. We had to get the Jeep detailed and it still didn't come completely clean. I know that this is part of the fun in having a Jeep and that most Jeep owners love the mud. I'm not typical.

Me, trying to enjoy my plastic pineapple filled with more dirt than water.

The sun and heat were intense, worse on the freeway, than on the trails. When we headed down the hill, we had to stop because I felt like I was getting sunstroke. I've never sweated so much in my life. I felt beaten-up by the wind and my ears hurt from the noise. Not the fun that I had envisioned prior to removing the roof.

We stopped at a Starbucks in Claremont for drinks and air conditioning. After feeling semi-normal, we got lost trying to find the freeway and saw a sign for Mount Baldy. This turned a wrong move into a serendipitous one.

Miles out of our way, up a narrow, winding road, we found the ski lifts. As it was summer, the lifts were running for campers, hikers and us, tourists. Sixteen dollars each, got us a round trip ticket on the ski lift.

Mount Baldy is also called Mount San Antonio and it's part of the San Gabriel Mountain chain.

The lifts are old with splintery wood, and run up a narrow, rock filled ravine. It's scary. Disaster scenarios flashed through my mind. I don't think I moved, or breathed on the 10-15 minute ride. We kept hearing a rattlesnake like sound, that we final figured out was coming from large, flying insects. This is unnerving as there is no escape from the aforementioned flying insects...except down.

If you can relax enough to enjoy the views, they are very pretty!

As we neared the top, we heard live music coming from The Notch restaurant. They had a band on the patio and multiple outdoor bars. It looked great and we would have stopped for dinner, but it was absolutely jammed, not a empty table in sight. Next time we will plan ahead and arrive early. We walked around and took a quick look, before taking our return trip down the mountain.

One last picture, a panorama that Dan took from the top.

2015 Big Bear Jeep Jamboree - Day 3

On the last day of the Jamboree, most of the snow had melted and the sun was shining. We were ready to tackle John Bull and fingers crossed, our Jeep would manage it with minimal damage. Here's Dan showing off our flag and sporting the red bandana for the red group.

Lined up and ready to go.

John Bull is no joke. To get on the trail, we had to get through the Gate Keeper. One guy in our group said that he thought the Gate Keeper was actually a road block, because it just doesn't look like an open trail. We went slowly and we needed to be winched at the top, but we made it.

Getting through the John Bull Gate Keeper, wasn't necessarily the toughest part. The trail was basically one non-stop obstacle that we slowly crawled our way through. We had gorgeous mountain views as our reward for making the climb.

I'm constantly blown away by the ability of Jeeps to just drive over anything. It's crazy. John Bull put us to the test and we made it through with time to spare. We used the extra hours to go through the Rock Garden, an area that we did on the last Jeep Jamboree with the intermediate group.

The Rock Garden may be much technically easier than John Bull, but it's no less spectacular. The landscape of crunched up rocks makes it feel like we are exploring the moon. It's so unusual and beautiful.

On the way back to the Elks Lodge, we saw our friend Brian's vintage Jeep parked outside of his business, the Le Dolce Vita Tasting Room. Very cool, right?

Dinner for the second night was prime rib and we had cake for dessert.

After dessert, we had the awards ceremony, which the team leaders recognize stand-out individuals in each group. I always like this part, as it's fun to hear the stories from the other teams, especially of new jeep owners that took their vehicle off-road for the first time or old-timers who have been to every jamboree. The community aspect of this event is one of the biggest reasons that we enjoy it. It's just a great group of people.

I won a killer prize in the raffle, something that we really wanted...tubular doors from Rancho and Spiderweb shades. Dan has been very excited to finally take our roof off for summer and we would have bought both the doors and the shades. Thank you to Rancho and Spiderwebshade for the cool prizes and for getting them in the mail so quickly. We love them!

Our second time at the Big Bear Jeep Jamboree was a huge success. We did have some damage, including a puncture and oil leak. The week following the Jamboree, we dropped our Jeep off at Rebel Off-Road for repairs and a bit of a face-life. After much teasing, we upgraded our tires from 33's to 37's. We probably would have had less damage, if we had the 37's before the Jamboree, but it wouldn't have been as good of a story. We like our hard earned battle scars!

2015 Big Bear Jeep Jamboree- Days 1 & 2

The first weekend in May, Dan and I attended our second Big Bear Jeep Jamboree. Learning from last year, we planned to arrive early for the Thursday night check-in. Home base for the event is at the Elks Lodge, located right on the edge of the village. Our vacation home is still under construction, so we booked three nights at the Northwoods Resort, which is just across the street from the Elks Lodge. It's also across the street from our favorite local business, the Le Dolce Vita Tasting room. Our plan for the weekend- Jeep, Wine, Bed. Repeat.

We parked our Jeep Wrangler in the inspection queue and had an hour to kill. The weather was starting to turn cold and we heard rumors of rain and possible snow. Luckily, the Elks opened their doors, so that we could get out of the cold. We had coffee and caught up with friends from the previous Jeep Jamboree.

We were near the front of the line for inspections and as soon as they got started, we breezed through. Last year, we had a brand-new, stock Jeep and went in the intermediate group.. It was a challenge enough with no modifications, but we wanted more. Immediately after the last Jamboree, we took it to Rebel Off-Road and got modified. We wanted to tackle the toughest trails, so we joined the red group.

Advice for anyone who is thinking of doing a Jamboree; some of the groups fill up fast. This year, there were a lot of people trying to get into the beginning groups and some of them had to be pushed into intermediate. The guides are great and they will not allow you to be in a group if your vehicle can't handle it, but to truly get what you want, arrive early to registration. When we finished, the line for the vehicle inspection extended out of the parking lot and wrapped around the block.

We woke up early the next morning to this view from our hotel room window.

Snow in May!!!!

Dan was an excellent husband and he let me stay warm inside the room, while he tackled scraping ice off of the Jeep. The Los Angeles girl in me, actually thought that the event might be canceled. Oh no, the snow only makes it more fun. Snow = Mud.

It was too chilly to have the morning driver's meeting outside, so they held it in the lodge. This is the same room where the evening dinners are held.

Our Friday trail was Mottino Wash and Rattlesnake Canyon, which is only accessible by driving through a privately owned ranch. Luckily the owner is very cool about letting Jeeps access the trail.

We aired down in Big Bear, where the weather was just beginning to ease up.

The landscape and weather changed as we drove away from Big Bear and into the desert.

We saw a cow family!

At first, Mottino Wash didn't seem like a big deal, but very quickly the trail narrowed and the rocks turned into boulders. We had the Jeep with the smallest tires, only 33 inches, but thanks to great guides, Dan's skillful driving and winches, we still managed to make it over all of the obstacles.

We finished Mottino Wash and made it back to the Elks Lodge in plenty of time for the BBQ Rib dinner. The Yellow group, who was doing the same trails as us, but on alternate days, was late returning from John Bull. The snow created problems for them. After our Jeep survived Mottino Wash, we were ready to attempt John Bull, the toughest trail in Big Bear and our destination for the second day of the Jamboree.