Gorman Trip Report
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Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 09:07:08 -0700
From: Barney McNamara
Subject: Gorman - Lockwood Valley Trip 9-27-97
To: Toy4x4@tlca.org
Participants:
"Michael Medart" - 88 Xtra Cab, V6
"Allen Jensen" , - 92 4Runner
"Barney McNamara" , - 83 Short bed
"Leo Divinagracia" , - 2nd gen 4Runner
"Danny Acoba" , - 96 Tacoma Xtracab 4x4 SR5 V6
"Jim Brink" , - 86 Std Cab
We met at the Carl's Jr at the Gorman off-ramp on I-5 near the top
of the Grapevine, just north of LA. This was trip that gathered a
group from around Central-Southern California for a day of trail
riding in some very interesting terrain. It started as a Hungry
Valley SVRA (CA State Off Road Park) trip, but due to the local
knowledge of Mike Medart, we skipped the open, motorcycle-infested :-)
park, and headed into some very nice wooded valleys in the Los Padres
Nat Forest instead. We started by ponying up $5 a piece for a day pass
called an "Adventure Pass", some locals bought an annual pass for $30.
These must be displayed whenever parked in the local forest. I'm not
sure I appreciated it, but it wasn't a huge deal, and maybe they will
use the money to maintain the roads?
We headed out through Frazier Park and into Cuddy Valley, where we
turned off the pavement. We headed up a fairly good dirt road, then
got to a fork where a couple smaller trails broke off. We aired down,
locked up, and started down a narrow trail. It was not too difficult
a drive, no big rocks, but there were a few ruts, and one spot where
a little inspection was required before we could get Danny to push
his nice new Tacoma over a drop. His truck did fine, once he let it
go where it wanted to. This trail led down to a nice campsite with
an old horse corral, I think it was Cherry Creek. We stopped for a
few group shots, then turned around and headed back up to the fork.
We then went down an even steeper trail that led through some very
overgrown brush that may have left a lasting impression on some of
the newer vehicles in the group. After slogging through the sewer
springs, we stopped at another nice campsite and ate some lunch.
I think this one was Salt Creek, and we took a few more pictures.
We went back up the trail, out to the pavement again, and over to
Lockwood Valley. We stopped at the Ranger Station for maps and a pit
stop, then proceeded into the Lockwood Creek area to the trailhead for
the Yellowjacket Route. Mike said this trail used to go right up the
creek, but was rerouted this spring over a ridge, and back down
into a valley over the top. The route is very steep, and when wet
and muddy, or dry and dusty, it would be tough. But today it was not
too soft, and we all made it up and over without a problem. The new
route led down to the old route in the valley, and it is very nice.
There is a series of meadows, and the creek flows through the oaks
and pines. The route through the valley has also been recently
rerouted out of the creek bed and meadows, and notched into the
hillside. Access is still allowed into this area, but it is obvious
the forestry people are trying to minimize the impact on the area,
and return it to a more pristine state. While it is fun to crash
through meadows and creeks, it is more fun to be allowed to drive
into these backwoods areas at all. Thus when we saw that some bozo
had made himself a shortcut right across the meadow, instead of
following the trail around the rocky hillside, we were all annoyed
at the thought that a few people can ignore the obvious, and
potentially get an area closed off. It was a reminder to TREAD lightly
and help keep these areas open by minimizing impact.
We followed the trail out to another campsite where we stopped and
listened to the end of the baseball games in which the Giants clinched
the division and the Dodgers were eliminated. I grew up down south,
listening to Vin Scully, the Dodgers radio announcer, so I was
interested in the game just for old-times sake. We decided not to
tackle anything rougher that day and just head on out, with a few
more Kodak moments along the way. Mike has a couple motorcycle pegs
mounted on the brush guard on the front of his bumper, and we stopped
for a little brush-guard riding on the way out. Only he and I, and the
young friend that Jim Brink brought along, were willing to ride the
thing, and I'm not sure it is one of the safer things to do with a
4x4. But it was pretty silly looking, and was actually quite fun, once
you got to trust the guy at the wheel.
We drove back out, aired up at Frazier Park, and reconvened for dinner
at Carl's Jr. It was a great day, the weather was perfect, the trails
were very pretty (if not real technical.) The company was great. It is
really fun to put faces behind the words you read on the internet. I
left Carls at 7:30, and got home around 12:15. It was a long drive, but
well worth it.
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Barney McNamara JENNY - 83 Toyota Short Bed
( barney@flowpoint.com ) stock 22R motor ; 3" body lift
Santa Cruz, Ca. 8" alloy rims; 31" BFG A/Ts
homepage: http://www.scruz.net/~barneym/barnhome.htm
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