When: Jan 15-17 2016. Camping Friday and Saturday night with scheduled runs Saturday and Sunday
Where: Johnson Valley OHV
Campsite/Run meeting location: Campsite at Valley Vista Airport (Landers). Daily runs will stage here at 9AM and depart at 9:30 AM. (DO NOT DRIVE ON ANY AIRPORT PROPERTY AT ANY TIME) more info below.
Coordinates: 34.337231, -116.579934
Trip description:
There are a couple of options if you choose to join us for this trip. I will be leading two trails in hammer town. Claw hammer trail on Satruday, and Sedge hammer on Sunday. More on both of these below. There is also staging and testing for the King of the Hammers off-road race at Means dry lake. KOH is run annually and is one of the biggest off-road races on the west coast. I have attached a link with KOH info below if you are not familiar. Last year when we came out around the same time there were race teams out testing their vehicles and making adjustments. We saw a competitor out on the trail and got a first hand up close look at their tube buggy in action. It was really cool! Technically this is not the event itself so it would be informal and I don't have any contacts or connections there so I won't promise anything as far as tours or meet and greets, etc. Instead I will be out on the trails mentioned above. There is also some easier trail options in the area if you would like to go out and explore or put together another option for people. The area has a lot to offer if you just want to come out and camp with some good people and check it out. I have included details about the camp site and lodging options below. Also you can do either of these runs as day runs if you prefer.
Area and trail descriptions:
Hammer town and the trails in this area are HARD! Very HARD! These trails I have chosen are both short and considered to be some of the easier trails for this area, but make no mistake, this is a whole different level. Body damage and breakage is very possible. We had 3 of 5 vehicles use their winch last time we ran Claw hammer but no body got any damage. The time before some of our larger vehicles did take some dings but no breakage. As a result I am going to limit the number of vehicles on these trails to 15 and ask that you RSVP if you would like to join us. I will probably ask you questions about experience and vehicle build as I want to be sure you are prepared for the level of trail we are going to run. Please don't take it personal, I just want to get to know who I'm guiding through. There are a ton of videos on youtube for both of these trails and I would encourage you to watch some to acclimate yourself. I have attached a couple of links below that include a detailed write up on the area as well as some videos that seemed fairly accurate in their representation. Try to picture yourself on those obstacles in your Jeep and ask yourself if this is something that you want to try. That being said, I don't want to scare you, they are REALLY Fun! We have done Claw Hammer as a club run with about 12 vehicles and it went very well. A couple of people turned back but most made it thru unscathed and we finished before night time. This area is like an off-road playground and if you have never been there you should should really check it out. There are continuous talks about closures and limited use of this area and who knows how long it will be open. It is an amazing resource.
Four Wheeler guide to the hammers article with detailed descriptions for each trail:
http://www.fourwheeler.com/events/131-9903-guide-to-the-hammers/
Saturday (1/16/2016): CLAW HAMMER: Meeting at 9, Departing at 9:30 AM. This is the easier of the two trails.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vMFHt3VpXk (sorry for the music)
Sunday (1/17/2016): SLEDGE HAMMER: Meeting at 9, Departing at 9:30 AM. One of the original trails in the area. It has trail signage and mail box to send for help if you get stuck. HAHA
[flash]www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rvN11IyZZQ[/flash]
Difficulty: D+
Minimum equipment: Short wheelbase 33" with lockers. Long wheel base 35" with lockers. Full skid plates highly recommended. Expect me to ask you questions about this when you RSVP...
Camping details:
This is a private campsite owned by one of our members who is gracious enough to let us use it. It is a about an acre of graded, packed dirt with a couple of vehicles and a shipping container on it. It is located next to Valley Vista Airport. The access road to the camp is fine for 4x4 and trucks with trailers, but heavy RVs will want to access by crossing the runway (requires escort spotter.. active runway).. You can put “Valley Vista Airport” into most GPS and it will either come up with a Yucca address or Landers. But it leads you to the right place. About a mile West of Boone Road off 247 is Valley Vista Road. Head south on Valley Vista for 2 miles until you T-bone Quailbush Road at the airport. I will be there and will help direct folks into camp. Camp has the red fire truck, white 5th wheel and brown shipping container. It’s a fun spot, and just a couple miles from the Boone Rd entrance to JV. Again I need to mention this: THIS IS AN ACTIVE AIRPORT AND WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DRIVE ON IT!!!! IF YOU ARE GOING TO BRING AN RV THEN WE WILL NEED SET UP A SPOTTER. OTHERWISE STAY OFF THE RUNWAY!!!!! This is for your own safety.
We are going to get a port-a-potty rental for the weekend and there are no service hook ups or showers here. We will have plenty of space to spread out and will be very close to the trails though. I could also use some help with firewood if anyone has a resource here. It would be greatly appreciated!
I'd like to get an idea of who will be able to make it and we can talk about food for the weekend. Maybe we can do a pot luck? If you are going to join us for day use please be sure to bring your lunch and plan to eat out on the trail.
Hotels in the Area:
Best Western, Yucca Valley (30 min from camp) (760) 365-3555 There are also options closer but they were questionable so I did not include them in my write up.
King of the Hammers Race info: (not scheduled for this weekend)
https://ultra4racing.com/the-inside-line/official-date-2016-nitto-king-hammers/
Hammers trail map: (Dirtopia)
http://www.dirtopia.com/wiki/File:Johnson_Valley_Trails.JPG
Weather: TBD. I know if we have any moisture I do not want to run anything in Johnson Valley. They are hard enough when its dry.
Contact info and RSVP:
Joshua Bleijenberg 562-400-1305
Jbleij (at) gmail.com
Hope you all are having a great weekend! I wanted to check in regarding next week's Dirt Devils run. More specifically the weather, camping rsvps, food, drinks, firewood, and supplies.
Weather: Currently there are no signs of rain for next weekend. Cloudy on Saturday. Mid 50's during the day and high 30's at night. Unless something drastic happens, we are a go.
Camping and arrival times: I will be heading out Friday around 5. That'll put me at the campsite around 8. Brad (property owner and fellow DD member) will be out there starting Thursday. Let me know if you guys think you will make it out to camp and when you think you will get there. Perhaps we can meet up and caravan or grab a bite to eat on the way out of town.
I plan to return from our sunday run and break down camp to head home Sunday afternoon before dark.
I am going to bring firewood for the first night but will need to make a stop in lucern to get more for Saturday night. Space is really my big issue there. Let me know if anyone can bring some additional firewood to help out. It's gonna be cold so I want to have a nice fire to keep me warm!
There will be a port-a potty at the camp site, and there is a container there if we want to store our camping/ jeep accessories while out wheelin. I'll have a propane stove if anyone wants to use it. If you want it, bring it. If anyone wants to do potluck, I'm open for that too. Let me know what you think guys and who thinks they will camp so I know who to look for.
I'll keep the jeep on CH. 4 and 146.550. My Cell is 562-400-1305
Please feel free to reach out if I can help with anything :) Looking forward to it!
Josh
