Elherbinator

If you’re tight for space, don’t feel like you need to bring all the tools. Pretty much everybody brings the basic stuff, so you’ll be able to borrow a lot of stuff. No need to have 45 ratchet and socket sets. Spare axle shafts are the most common parts needed. Other than that fluids are always handy to have. Steering components tend to get abused on trail. When we get closer to the event, it’s a good idea for the like vehicles to coordinate and split up the duty of carrying rare spares like fuel pumps, alternators, driveshafts, etc. The easiest way to coordinate is to start a separate thread on the forum for Classic drivers for the Rovicon and figure it out that way. No need to have 10 driveshafts getting carried around. July would be a good time to start that conversation. Should have registration completed by then.

It is on the 20/21. Had to make the change due to Mothers Day

Because it isnt

Throw back to Rovicon 1 to get you in the mood for rock crawling season. So many of vehicles from year 1 have turned into every year staples of the event.

The only issue I recall Rene having is his rear springs popping out of place. That will definitely be an issue on Hell Hole if it was an issue on Slick Rock. And just a heads up, Rovicon registration is not transferable.

The June MORG info is in the calendar and is the weekend of June 9-11 at Hell Hole Jeep Trail. There is also a more in depth description of the trip in the member forum. MORGs are open to non members on a one time basis as a way to check out the club and see if joining is something they would want to do. Sounds like you already have some familiarity with the club. I am leading the June MORG, so if you have any specific questions about the trip or trail, please feel free to DM. Keep in mind that it is a difficult rock crawling trail. Probably not suited for the late model Discovery you have. We may also run some more overland type build friendly trails in the adjacent areas if there is enough interest.

Sites 04, 05, and 06 are good options adjacent to our group and are still available

Since Hell Hole is on my mind… Andrew from the 2020 run. This was in May, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it as wet for this years June trip.

Spots 004, 005, 006, and 009 are left and in close proximity to the group. Grab them quick or you might be SOL

I am not claiming EVERYTHING is a left wing political issue, but many are in Ca and this one definitely is. The impending dam removal is not occurring in a vacuum. It is happening alongside many other dams over many decades and is being pushed by left wing environmental groups, more specifically the Friends of the Eel River. Like I said prior, zero dams have been built in my lifetime while well over 100 have been removed. All while we starve for water and power. If you want to comment on my concerns about this closure you should figure out what the hell you’re talking about first. If you enjoy these “articlficial” lakes you should also understand the precarious situation they are all in. IMO anyone supporting these closures by blindly giving the benefit of the doubt to public institutions closing them is not someone I have much in common with even if we drive the same brand of vehicle. The closing of public lands is an issue any off road enthusiast should care about. That includes our bodies of water too. If you don’t have a problem with the dam removal, then that’s your business. If you feel need to undermine my post regarding the issue, then that’s something else.

So I want announce the June MORG that I will be leading. It will be the second weekend 6/9-11) of June instead the traditional first weekend. This is an excellent trip and good warm up for the summer rock crawling season. I am announcing the plans early because it is imperative that you book your campsite well in advance because it will book up. This MORG will be an overnight and a rock crawling trip. Non rock crawlers can still come and have some fun though. There are plenty of dirt roads and overlanding opportunities in the surround area, not to mention we will be camping at a really nice lake. I will be leading the run down Hell Hole Jeep Trail, but anybody is welcome to plan and lead a run on some of the surrounding trails and forest roads in the area. The plan will be to camp at French Meadows Canpground next to French Meadows Reservoir. This is a popular campground and usually fills up. Reserve your asap if you plan to come. I already reserved spot 011 for Friday and Saturday nights. Here is a link to reserve a spot: (suggested sports to take would be #007-015) https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/232047 It is a nice, developed campground that is walking distance to the lake. The campground requires a modest fee, but has bathrooms and garbage and running water. The lake also has excellent fishing opportunities and paddling. So even if you don’t want to drive the trail, it’s worth it to come hang out and enjoy a weekend camping at the lake. We will be running the trail on Saturday with the plan being to leave camp at 9am SHARP. The trail isn’t long, but you’d be surprised and how quickly we always seem to lose daylight. Getting back to camp at night is not uncommon. Hell Hole Jeep Trail (it’s called a Jeep Trail, otherwise I would not include Jeep in anything) is an out and back rock crawling trail. It’s only about 4 miles long, but it very narrow and steep. The first half of the trail will be dropping down to Hell Hole Reservoir and the second half will be coming back up. Depending on our group, I would anticipate it taking 2-3 hours each way with about an hour long break at the bottom. This is a very rewarding trail that will definitely leave you with a sense of accomplishment when you finish the trail. Body damage is a risk as the trail is narrow, but avoidable especially if you have something short like a D90 or something. The trail involves climbing and dropping down ledges and staircase sections. Minimum vehicle will be rock sliders, a lift, 33” tires, and a rear locker. Independent suspension vehicles can come, but they will need to be built and have a winch. Winching is likely for vehicles that just meet the minimum. I have yet to see an independent suspension vehicle do the trail. It would be an impressive challenge to any driver. Maybe we can convince Don to leave the ROKROVR at home 😉 😂 This is one of my favorite trails to run. This will be my 4th or 5th time leading a run on the trail for the club. I am excited to introduce the trail to folks who haven’t had a chance to run it yet. It is always a challenge for even the most built vehicles and also a good test for the spotters. Please feel free to DM if you have any questions on the trail or trip in general. This is a trip you don’t want to miss and also a great opportunity to test your skills if you’re looking to do other trails like the Rubicon. If you can handle this trail without issue, you’ll be fine for the Rubicon. If you have a lot of issues, it’s a short trail so we can manage any issue and it won’t be the end of the world.

And just for reference, it cost 5-10 million per year to operate Scott Dam. It is estimated to cost up to 500 million to remove it. Don’t think it’s a cost issue

Nearly all lakes in CA are artificial besides a rare few. All are old. We haven’t built a new dam since 1980. This is left wing radical environmentalism. Over 100 dams have been removed in Ca in the last 30 years yet we have nearly constant drought and power issues. PG&E has endless monies. If they run out due to lawsuits, they just charge more or file for bankruptcy like they did a few years ago. PG&E doesn’t follow a normal business model. You can flame away, but this lake has been around for 100 years. An entire ecosystem and economy has evolved around this lake. So if I see you at Shaver or Hell Hole or Loon or any of the other man made lakes we frequent as a club, I hope you do avoid those trips if you don’t care for some of us “flaming away” about how we would like to keep these areas.

I just found out yesterday that PG&E is planning on getting rid of Scott’s Dam which would also get rid of Lake Pillsbury. Besides excellent camping and lake recreation, the lake/ dam also provides: Transfers 62,500 acre-feet of water each year from the Eel River to the Russian River – less than 2% of the total Eel River Watershed. Provides water to help sustain the lives and livelihoods of more than a half-million people downstream in Mendocino, Sonoma and North Marin Counties. Supports groundwater and aquifer replenishment Creates wildlife ecosystems and habitats. Produces enough clean energy to power about 2000 homes. you can learn more about it here : https://www.savelakepillsbury.org/ I donated and signed a petition. Not sure if it’s beyond saving or not, but I think it would be tragedy to see this lake go away. They already are keeping the flood gates open for the foreseeable future and keeping the water at drought levels. This is something happening to many dams in CA for varied reasons. Water and power management certainly is a complicated matter, but I don’t think the state utility leaders have earned the right not to be questioned. Some pics from a trip Andrew and I took there a few years ago. May never see the water like this again.

Bowman Pod Recap is out!!

I would not think that chains would needed, but this has been a very unusual year so we could run into unique conditions. I don’t anticipate any chp style chain controls to run into. If there is very hard packed and slick snow on the trail, then chains will definitely help you from sliding. So my suggestion would be to bring ‘em if you got ‘em, but otherwise don’t worry about it

The revised April MORG is a snow run to Bowman Lake. This is the latest we have run a Bowman snow trip as a club trip, but this is an unusual year. This was the planned March MORG, but it was rescheduled due to too much snow if you can believe it. So the plan at this point is to meet up Saturday morning (4/1) at 10am at the 76 gas station in Auburn (401 Grass Valley Highway, Auburn) From there we will head to Bowman through the Town of Washington and up Gaston Rd. The plan will be to get to the East end of Bowman Lake and camp. We may not get all the way there, we probably won’t get close, but that’ll be the plan. That’s always the plan. If the plan doesn’t work out, then we will find a place to camp along the way. Then we will head out Sunday morning. Those who want to make a day trip out of it can always just pick a point in the day and turn around and head back. So please post up if you’re coming and if you’re going to be camping or just doing a day trip. The weather should be decent for us and the snow should be pretty deep. Bring wood, warm and dry clothes, plenty of recovery gear (kinetic straps if you got ‘em), bring a good sized shovel (small folding types are useless), air for your tires, and the normal assortment of spares. If you have any specific questions you can post them up or DM me.

Due to lack of interest, we are canceling the event. We can still do it as a DiTD if people want, but doing the planned competition doesn’t not look feasible.

Sasha stopped by and did an excellent recap of the trip for the pod. I’ll admit, I was disappointed Jason had to bail just minutes prior to the recording, but such is life. Still worth a listen tho, especially considering that this same trip may be available to members in a few weeks.

Sounds like it was a nice and relaxing trip. If anyone would like to come recap the trip on the podcast, let me know. This is a new trip destination for the club as far as I know, so it would be cool to get a good, detailed run down of how it went.

We may be a bunch of rock crawlers and overlanders, but we car people at the heart of it. Car people like to drive. So we are going to have some fun driving! We are going to have a 2 round go karting competition! The friendly competition will be a 2 round event with the first round being split up between the Bay Area and Sacramento. On March 25th we will be meeting up at K1 Speed in Santa Clara and Sacramento. The exact parameters of the competition will depend on how many people we have who can commit to participating and whether that is enough for us to schedule a private party. “Winners” will have the opportunity to compete in the Final at the K1 Speed in Fairfield in April. Winners of the Final will receive some yet to be determined prizes. Please let us know if you are interested in participating. We haven’t set a time of day because that may be dependent on whether we have a private party or not. So it’s important for us to get a relatively accurate number of participants. Please post on this thread if you plan to come.

Shaver Snow Run Recap podcast is now out. Come listen to our recap of the stuckfest, sendfest, and winch destruction that made up the Shaver trip this year. And please, rate and review us on whatever platform you are listening to us on. We are never going to overtake Rogan without it!

I would guess they would use a standard axle. Looks like a driver side drop Dana axle from the pics.

This is looking like it’ll be a snowpocalypse kind of trip. Tons of snow in the forecast!

Anybody from the trip want to do the podcast and help recap the trip? Podcasts are done in San Jose