RobertDingli Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 Updated original/first post with caravan meeting points for Friday.I plan to join the caravan at Cupertino. Unless otherwise told, I’ll be at the Chevron gas station end of the Trader Joe’s carpark. Cheers, Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil. Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 argh...i'm out too. the D90 has been with colin with clutch issues. and the RRS needs new tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROVRMAN2 Posted July 17, 2018 Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 60/40 chance I’ll be there Friday. I want to check out the pine mountain lookout near there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted July 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2018 @Rupert... would be great to have you join us. The Pin Mountain Lookout is not far from Lakes Pillsbury, ... i'll add that to the list for Saturday after stopping at the lake. @ All participants... we'll be on HAM 146.460. I'll have it on as we caravan to the stops and up to campsite. If you need to reach me Friday morning, txt me at four-zero-eight-8oo-6748 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted July 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 Looks we're clear of fire restrictions at Bear Creek Campground. So, we can burn firewood and use fueled stove at the campsite. Firewood in provided stove (pits). Camp fire permit is not required. Water! As previously mentioned, BYO water for you & your passenger(s) for the duration of the trip. There is no potable water at the camp site. We _may_ find potable water at Pillsbury Lake on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.BlueSky Posted July 19, 2018 Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 Thanks for checking the fire restrictions Cris! It sounds like everyone has checked in for on the trip up to camp... except Theresa and I. Since we are leaving at noon from the East Bay we will be headed up via 680, 505, I-5, and M10 and entering from the east. Barring any issues, we should arrive between 6PM and 7PM. See you all then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elherbinator Posted July 19, 2018 Report Share Posted July 19, 2018 If you guys roll by the ranger station, stop by and grab a free map. They are one of the nicest free ones I’ve seen and lay out all the OHV roads with ski slope style ratings. Definitely worth a stop. I picked mine up on my way to M10 in Stonyford. They usually have them by the board. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.BlueSky Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 If we manage to get to the ranger station before they close we will certainly make sure to stop by! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elherbinator Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 If we manage to get to the ranger station before they close we will certainly make sure to stop by!It doesn’t matter if they’re closed. They have them on the bulletin board outside, so they’re still available on the weekends too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvRovr Posted July 20, 2018 Report Share Posted July 20, 2018 Thanks for checking the fire restrictions Cris! It sounds like everyone has checked in for on the trip up to camp... except Theresa and I. Since we are leaving at noon from the East Bay we will be headed up via 680, 505, I-5, and M10 and entering from the east. Barring any issues, we should arrive between 6PM and 7PM. See you all then!But will you be done with Monopoly by then? 🤣 Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phobucket Posted July 21, 2018 Report Share Posted July 21, 2018 Is anyone coming up bu the East Bay or Alameda? I have a set of seat covers to hand off, but can't make this trip. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 Soooo....I happen to know you guys survived and made it back. I'm waiting for the full trip report! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.BlueSky Posted July 23, 2018 Report Share Posted July 23, 2018 It doesn’t matter if they’re closed. They have them on the bulletin board outside, so they’re still available on the weekends too. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Well shoot. We left before I saw your message and we ended up being a bit behind anyway. We ended up driving right through without stopping. I will say that entering from the East was way better than from the West. With all those switchbacks going up at the west entrance I likely would not have been able to get enough RPM to maintain 2nd gear. It was quite nice leaving through the West though But will you be done with Monopoly by then? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk We finished it last night. I lost.. I will try to get some photos posted up today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertDingli Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Another wonderful trip meeting a completely new group of LR enthusiasts. The drives were scenic although not overly technical. We very much enjoyed the visit to a lake for a swim on a hot and dusty day. Unfortunately, I didn’t take too many pictures but I know that collectively there should be plenty. Thanks to Chris for organizing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted July 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Great turn out for this month's Mendocino trip! We had a total of 6 trucks of various models, vintage and fuel types. The trip started on Friday around 9:45 from San Jose, where I met up with Robert (RobertDingli) & his son Jason in Cupertino. Daniel (gurka), his wife Maria and puppy Benson joined in Pacifica as the 3rd car in the caravan. The group continued north on 101, cutting through traffic in SF - where 146.460 was over-ran by squelch - pretty much all the way to Marin. We ended up dropping to .430 to stay in radio contact. I suspect it was probably another vehicle nearby, though it's odd the the interference was extremely strong. And of course, we hit traffic through the never ending construction south of Santa Rosa. The caravan stopped at a park in Santa Rosa for a quick lunch, where we peppered Robert with questions about his drawer build in the RR. It's a really nice setup, with slide out for the fridge, two - top & bottom drawer filled with camp kitchen stuff, and a hose connected to a water tank - he posted pix of it in a separate thread. We reached Upper Lake just after 2PM...where we filled up the trucks with gas and enjoyed some ice-cream before heading to Mendocino national forest. The road from Upper Lake to the M10 turn-off is paved, though there is no shortage of potholes. A portion of the drive was 8% grade uphill on short switch backs (on throttle for 20sec, hairpin turn, on throttle again,... repeat). And while Robert and Daniel enjoyed that climb under AC, I turned on the heat at full blast to keep the engine temp in check - it topped out at about 3/4 on the water temp gauge and according to the Ultragauge, about 220F. The pair of electric fans got a good workout that afternoon. We finally got the wheels on dirt when we turned off to M10 towards Bear Creek campground. It was mostly downhill switch backs on mix of dirty and clay roads with some nice ruts. As we got closer to camp, we crossed a small stream/creek. Before crossing, Daniel noticed a puff of smoke from under the hood, so he opened the hood to let things cool off as precaution. We were about 5-8min from camp at this point. When we arrived, the first few sites were avail, so we parked and set camp. There were other campers down down the road, but we really couldn't hear them and that was good enough for us. And occasionally, we would see a Mazda 3 or something drive past on the bypass... clearly, a regular vehicle will get you to this site as well. At around 7pm, the sound of diesel rolled in with Miles and Theresa, who had their own adventure coming from the eastern side of the forest. A little later, we hear Rupert on the radio... and apparently, he arrived earlier in the day and set camp down the road a bit - along a nice stream even. The group hung out, made dinner and burn some firewood and chatted about stuff before turning in for bed. Saturday morning, John (foster) rolled in to the campsite around 9:30. Shortly after that, we headed out to the lake. The plan was to get to the east side of the lake by noon, where we would have lunch by the lake, swim and maybe hike a bit... The drive not challenging, typical single lane fire road, up, down and wind around. About 45min from the campsite, and a few miles from the lake, we found the Gaia route dead-ends into a hiking trail. The USDA did a great job planting multiple pylons into ground to keep it foot traffic only. By then, it was around noon, so we just made lunch under the shade while trying to find a way to the lake. Of course, we learned then that the only way to drive to the lake is back track to campsite, up the hills to the pave road and then drive north another 30min. There were talk on 140.460 of mutiny, and leaving bad Yelp reviews for the trail leader. It's true no good deed go unpunished.We finally arrived at the Pillsbury Lake Resort (campground) around 3pm... it has been a long day and was very hot, so the group wasted no time jumping into the water for a couple hours. After the swim, Daniel and family decided to take off because Benson was getting all kinds of leaves, sticks and plant stickers under his paws and hair at the campsite. We bid farewell, and the 5 vehicles headed back to Bear Creek, but not before making a stop at the Pine Mountain Lookout. It's a nice view from the top. There is a cabin you can rent and plenty of room for ground & RTT. There is even cell phone signal (t-mobile)! That evening, more food, more campfire and more stories were exchanged. Sunday morning, the group broke camp and headed back home. Rupert headed east, while John, Robert, Miles and I headed back to Upper Lake en route to the Bay area. All in all, a very fun trip and solid group to hang with... Definitely could have done without the detour, but at least now we know. Here are some pix from the wkend... and link to the rest of them. Enjoy! https://photos.app.goo.gl/KVa7Ykah8wEDbdj58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Nice job Cris! I know how much of a PITA it can be to plan a route via map only. I spent Saturday pre-running some of the routes I had planned for the WNLRR and found a lot of locked gates, intentionally blocked trails, and some trails that simply didn't exist despite being on the map, having an official FS name, and being included in some trail guides! Sounds like you had a mini-Sierra Trek going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROVRMAN2 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Nice job Cris! I know how much of a PITA it can be to plan a route via map only. I spent Saturday pre-running some of the routes I had planned for the WNLRR and found a lot of locked gates, intentionally blocked trails, and some trails that simply didn't exist despite being on the map, having an official FS name, and being included in some trail guides! Sounds like you had a mini-Sierra Trek going. [/quote Are the FS MVUM map also outdated? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROVRMAN2 Posted July 24, 2018 Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Mendo trip. I drove in from the east via Stonyford. It was about 30+ mi. to campsite. The 1st 24 miles was a gradual uphill. Pulling my trailer did not help my mpg. The last 6 mi. was downhill. Travel time was about 1:30hrs. I was worried about fuel getting back and when I got home cleaned the MAF and new air filter. That definitely was a mpg improvement, all the dust deteriorated my fuel efficiency.After the lake we went to Pine Mtn. FS lookout rental. That was nice plenty of parking for 6 vehicles and room inside cabin with 4 cots and a bunk bed. It was a 2 bedroom and had a kitchen sink. Bring Your Own water tho. And they built a clean vault toilet there too.Definitely a place to rent for future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted July 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2018 Rupert, did you find out why you had check engine light and suspension warning? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Well, the check engine light isn't so common, but the suspension light is a given - because LR3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROVRMAN2 Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 Check engine light was due to dirty air filter and dirty MAF. Replaced filter and sprayed MAF, all ok now plus better gas mileage.Suspension light was due leaving on drive mode and turning mode to gravel/grass. I think that confused the electronics. When I stopped and turned off ignition, it reset and light when out.I haven’t read the manual but I’m guessing that I should’ve stopped, put it in neutral, select the mode, then put it in gear and drive on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvRovr Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 No, you can change Terrain Response modes and suspension heights on the fly. Suspension errors just come and go. I regularly get ones that clear themselves, usually for a sensor-out-of-range condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHappel Posted July 25, 2018 Report Share Posted July 25, 2018 No, you can change Terrain Response modes and suspension heights on the fly. Suspension errors just come and go. I regularly get ones that clear themselves, usually for a sensor-out-of-range condition. Yes, you can do pretty much everything on the fly. I regularly shift from low to hi, change suspension heights, and change terrain response modes without stopping. As for the error, no telling what it was if you didn't pull the code but very often they pop up and just reset as soon as you re-start the truck with no lasting issue or obvious causes. I just live with it as a fact of LR3 life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROVRMAN2 Posted August 7, 2018 Report Share Posted August 7, 2018 UPDATE:Cow Mtn is in the Mendo complex fire area.According to Cal Fire Map its in the center of the River Complex. As for Bear Creek Cmpgrd it may be no more. It was on the northern perimeter. I'm sure M10 to Stonyford is gone too. It too is on the northern perimeter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium1330 Posted August 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2018 yikes! I knew about the Mendo fire, but didn't realize how bad it has gotten. Well, maybe after this, the park services will need/want volunteers to help to rebuild. This makes the 700th post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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