LandRonB Posted November 16, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Missed it again. The photo I uploaded was from the web/not the actual. Anyways, be on a look-out for the Land Rover Evoque Convertible (similar to the photo except copper color we were told by an eye witness) commercial film in the Lost Coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted November 16, 2015 Report Share Posted November 16, 2015 Bear did. He aired down his LR3 to 18 psi. Wasn't on the trail. We think his truck may have shifted, weight of the vehicle pushed the tire out of the bead due to the downward slope and angle while parked overnight.Ah....18 psi won't work well on an LR3. Too heavy and too short in the sidewall. On snow or sand you might get away with 20, but I normally only go down to 25 for trail work and even then I can compress the sidewall all the way down to the bead sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandRonB Posted November 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Good to know this since I will be taking the LR3 for the 1st time on family camping/wheeling that we've been planning for months now (hence I won't be able to attend the BOD meeting). Anyhoo, when Bear chimes in; will confirm the psi he air downed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Hey everyone! Trista, Grayson and I just got back from Mendocino a few hours ago. It was nice to unwind after the trip in our favorite inn on the coast before coming home. Thank you Brenton and Ron for leading the trip. It was very nice having a small group and getting to camp on the beach and at the barn. I aired down to 20 psi for the beach and I just left it there for the trails. sorry about the upside-down pics. I can't figure out why it does that with my iPhone pictures. The others are from my Nikon. Gate keeper video:https://youtu.be/p1YCOsf9wdU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco2Guy Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 The Lost Coast 2015 trip was definitely a memorable one. It was my first time being Trail Leader for it and my previous two outings (2010 & 2014) helped prepare for that. There were four trucks in attendance; I had the D2, Ron brought his D2, Barron (with Trista and Grayson) in the LR3, and Connor in his LR3. It was interesting having so few rigs on the trail, as our outings seem to typically get in the range of 10-12, or more! Barron and Connor met up on Friday afternoon to make their way to Usal Camp. Since it was the first time for both of them it was good that they rode in together. Finding the exit off Hwy 1 onto Usal Rd. can be tricky if you're not looking for it. They setup camp along the edge of the trees overlooking the beach, getting there about 20 minutes beofre sunset. That's not a bad backdrop to have while setting up camp. In previous years the group stayed in the open field or nestled among the trees before getting to the beach. I left after work and arrived around 8:30pm. It took a little bit of scouting to find where they were, but aided by Barron's roof rack lighting I quickly found the two LR3's and their owners. I said hello to Barron and family, and made introductions with Connor, who joined the club about 3 weeks prior to the trip. We sat around the campfire until eventually we headed to bed for the night. The next morning was a bit quiet, and slow as we listened to the roar of the waves hitting the beach. The waves were massive, probably 10-15' early in the morning. There was an offshore wind that really helped push the face of the waves up high, and the ocean spray rolled back on itself as the waves would break underneath on the shore. Ron's plan was to meet us around 10:00am so there was no rush to break camp. Barron, Trista, and Grayson went for a walk on the beach and after 30 minutes Connor and I decided we might as well get out there and have some fun. We let Barron know over the radio and he went back to get his truck. The shallow depression in the middle of the beach was empty this year so we could drive just about anywhere. After taking some pics, Connor headed down the sand while I made the loop back towards camp to splash in some puddles. About halfway back, Connor called out that he was stuck. I was going to make the entire loop when Connor said that the waves were getting very close to his back wheels. I made a quick u-turn and headed back his way. When I got to his truck, Barron had already arrived on the scene and attached a recovery strap to his truck, but he was having a hard time getting enough momentum to pull Connor out. A good technique for sand recovery is to travel back and forth, driving over your tracks to compact the sand. Unfortunately it wasn't helping and Barron became stuck as well. I was going to get the winch ready except the only problem was that the recovery strap between Barron and Connor was under tension, and couldn't be removed from the D-shackle. I had doubts about winching a 2 car train of bogged down LR3's out of the sand. With some more shoveling Barron was able to get out of his ruts and clear the path between my D2 and Connor's truck. At this point time was really of the essence as we spent about 10 minutes trying to use Barron's rig to extract Connor's. Any of the bigger waves were lapping at Connor's rear tires. Out comes the winch line with my truck parked pretty far away. It was a little too far away. I stopped when I thought I was on the last layer of rope. There was only half a layer so the D2 had to be moved forward a bit. With synthetic line you should leave one complete layer of line wrapped on the drum. With so much line spooled out, the winch made quick work to free the LR3. Barron was happy because he was part of the recovering team (instead of the recoveree) and Connor was happy because he was no longer stuck and didn't get swallowed by the ocean. Just as were all smiling and laughing that everything ended ok, Ron showed up on the beach. After some chit chat and intros we all headed out towards the Sinkyone Ranger Station around 12:30pm. The trail wasn't very wet, but we had lots of puddles to go through along the way. Barron said he really wanted to use his chainsaw but there has never been an opportunity for that in all the years of doing the Lost Coast trip. I called the Mendo DoT and talked to the head maintenance. About an hour into the trail I called out over the radio "BEAR, we're going to need your chainsaw." To which he replied "You better not be joking!" There was a tree about 20" in diameter that had fallen into the middle of the trail. You could see tire marks right along the berm where people had driven around the tree. The tracks were very close to the edge and you could see that the trail started to expand in this direction. It was a good chance to use TREAD Lightly! principles in action and make sure the trail wasn't eroded any more. As the group pulled up together we went to work assessing what we would do. Barron had to change the chain on the saw, while I prepped the tree with a tow line and pulled some winchline out. During this time a white Toyota FJ appeared and he came to watch the fun. Once we knew where the cut was going to go and where the log was ultimately going to end up on the side of the trail, Barron went to work. After a few minutes of cutting, both from the top and the bottom, all was going well until the bar got pinched in the tree. At that point it was time to see what the winch could do. The front wheels were choked and while there was some good initial movement, the log started piling up too much dirt in front of it. As the line would take on more tension, you could hear the tree starting to split more and more. There also wasn't a lot of line spooled out so the winch had to work a little harder. A snatch block would have helped, but some quick shoveling by Ron cleared the pile of dirt and we were back to winching. After a few more seconds the tree snapped, fell to the ground, and Barron got the chainsaw free. Once he was clear, the log was dragged off to the side of the trail. There were about 3-4 other clearings that took place, but they were handled with some elbow grease. There are many puddles on Usal Road. While most of them are shallow and short, there are some that are deep and long with dropoffs upon entering them or dips in the middle. Others just get deeper on one side as you travel through them. On one of the longest puddles, Ron called out that he got hung up and needed a quick pull from Connor (his first recovery!). This was also the first recovery that took place on Usal Rd. during any Lost Coast trip. Maybe it was the trail's way of saying goodbye to Ron as Trip Leader. The rest of the ride to Four Corners (the end of Usal Rd.) and the trail down to the SInkyone Ranger Station were uneventful. We were once again greeted by Sophia, the camp host, and she asked if we were part of the Range Rover group. With a puxxled look on our faces we inquired as to what she was talking about. She said earlier that morning there were people doing a photoshoot with a new Range Rover. We thought that it was for the new diesel model coming out next year. Since the group was so small we got to camp at the barn near the Ranger Station, another first for the Lost Coast trip! With about 45 minutes left of sunlight we all pick what the sleeping arrangements would be. Between the four rigs, we covered pretty much every option. I took the room in the barn and slept on my cot. Barron setup the Oz Tent RV4 (borrowed from Don:) in the entryway, Connor slept in his truck, and Ron was in the Tepui RTT. We ate dinner and reminisced about the day's travels and how different this trip was compared to the previous ones. Neither Ron or I were expecting it. We had anticipated just another repeat of before so it was good to know that this trip still has some surprises. After eating and enjoying the campfire the rain started to roll in. It was on and off for about 30 minutes and then it just started to come down, so we moved the party inside the barn. The wind really started to pick up, as did the rain, but we were content to listen to it and the waves crashing below. During the rest of the night it rained like crazy and the wind was blowing really hard. It was near impossible to really fall completely asleep, especially when you wonder if the barn is going to collapse on you because of the creaking. The next morning, Sunday, we get packed up to head to Shelter Cove. But before leaving we took a short hike to see the heard of Roosevelt Elk Sophia mentioned when we arrived. She said the heard was about 30 strong and were making their way down the hill grazing along the way. We passed around a couple pairs of binoculars to observe the elk but had a hard time spotting the bull. A few minutes later we turn around and head back to the trucks. Before we could leave, Barron had to fill up a front tire. It had lost some air over night from its low pressure and being parked off camber. There appeared to be a leak on one part of the bead, but a quick shot of compressed air from his CO2 tank did the trick to stop it. The trail was in good shape the whole way back to Four Corners after the rain. At Four Corners, we aired up the tires since this marked the end of the dirt section of the trip. We made our way to the Inn of the Lost Coast for some delicious breakfast/lunch bagels. Once again we are asked if we are part of the Range Rover group. Huh? After talking to the staff it turns out that a group came over from the UK with "the only vehicle in the world and not yet in production". It turned out to be the convertible Range Rover, set to debut in 2016. The crew was filming a commercial at the same location/time as our trip but, we missed them by 20 minutes. Looking back we realize that what looked like a large moving truck was actually the transport for the Rangie. We never did get a chance to catch up with them, but we're pretty sure they noticed the group of four LR's making their way into town. It was raining on and off all morning, but by the time we made our way down to the lighthouse for the obligatory lineup shot, the sun started to make an appearance. The next stop was Garberville for some fuel and decide what to do next. The plan was to go to Ft. Bragg and visit Glass Beach, but Ron was going to head home, Barron was going to stay around the area, but not visit the beach. Connor was interested in seeing it but would do whatever the group wanted to. Visiting Glass Beach on Sunday adds about 2-3 hours to the trip and it seemed like a good idea to just make our way home. Barron split off 101 South at Hwy 1, retracing the route towards Usal Camp but continuing south to Ft Bragg. Ron split off to go home and Connor and I stopped at the In-N-Out in Novato. It was nice to get home in the eralier part of the evening to have some time to decompress from the trip and get ready for the new week. Over the course of the trip I started thinking what could be done differently next year to change things up a little. What I came up with is this. On Saturday run Usal Rd from south to north (as usual) and camp at Wailaki/Nadelos or Sinkyone if the group is small again. Instead of going up to Shelter Cove on Sunday morning, we would turn around and run Usal Rd. backwards and end up at Glass Beach. This would double the amount of time on the dirt and make getting to Ft. Bragg in one swoop without retracing our steps. The next year we could repeat the trip from this year, stopping at Shelter Cove and bypassing Ft. Bragg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco2Guy Posted November 17, 2015 Report Share Posted November 17, 2015 Tom, can you make a SmugMug link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAR Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Hey guys on our way back down hwy 1 we saw a Prius coming out of usal rd. I just chuckled to myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoDavis Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Brenton, Ron, and Barron, Love the pics and especially Brenton's write-up! I completely enjoyed myself aside from Saturday's beach debacle. I cannot overstate how stressed I was that the sea was going to claim my truck! The weather was wonderful, the company awesome, and the food at the end hit the spot. I certainly learned my lesson and will now be running super swampers and a 40" lift if I even hear the word "sand" or "beach" . I don't have much to add to the write up besides the trip being a great intro to the group, and a largely stress-free weekend of driving. It was interesting for me to spend a few days actually using the low range on the 3, and I was happy to notch my belt with my first recovery! I suspect Ron purposely high-centered himself to make me feel better about the beach incident . Next time I will recruit a dedicated photographer to document any further trips I am a part of. Will try to find the few photos I took over the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandRonB Posted November 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 Hey guys on our way back down hwy 1 we saw a Prius coming out of usal rd. I just chuckled to myself. Funny. Probably turned around when the driver saw the huge water puddles on Usal Beach or washed up trails beyond Usal Beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandRonB Posted November 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 The Lost Coast 2015 trip was definitely a memorable one..... Over the course of the trip I started thinking what could be done differently next year to change things up a little. What I came up with is this. On Saturday run Usal Rd from south to north (as usual) and camp at Wailaki/Nadelos or Sinkyone if the group is small again. Instead of going up to Shelter Cove on Sunday morning, we would turn around and run Usal Rd. backwards and end up at Glass Beach. This would double the amount of time on the dirt and make getting to Ft. Bragg in one swoop without retracing our steps. The next year we could repeat the trip from this year, stopping at Shelter Cove and bypassing Ft. Bragg. Excellent write-up Brenton. Like the ideal of running Usal South to North on Saturday, and North to South on Sunday; more trail time especially when the trails are a bit more challenging due to the rain or recent rain. Just have to bring extra fuel or enough to complete North to Sunday on Sunday and then get to the next fuel stop. Thanks for leading the trip and taking over going forward. The Lost Coast has a lot of potential for a venue as as "NCLR Lost Coast Challenge" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted November 20, 2015 Report Share Posted November 20, 2015 I missed the write-up Brenton - well done. Wish I could have made it; the small group made it more interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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