Central WA Baja

[petew]

BAHAHAHA!

That's fantastic.

[CentralWAbaja]

Back home from my "Holiday SW Desert Tour" and figured i could just post up the experience here in my thread...well because its my build thread

As seems to be the norm in my life things can get a little hectic especially when you try and load up 5 people and two dogs in two trucks/trailers and a car and then try to trek 1300 miles south for a Christmas vacation while the entire west coast is getting hit with storms. The trip south was delayed by us getting about 8" of snow on get away day. So I stayed and plowed snow with the neighbor that would have to be taking care of everything while I was gone. We then got on the road in the late afternoon and what would normally take about 3 to 3-1/2 hrs to go from my place to Portland, Or took about 6 and we held up for the night in a hotel in Salem,OR From there we were catching a beak in the weather as we traveled south through OR when the call came in from my wife that JT had just lost the entire rear wheel off the back of my pops truck that he was driving right in front of her.



Actually we were very lucky in that we had a ton of tools with us, it happened in a construction zone that was not active so we had orange barrels to setup behind and a nice area to work. It was a balmy 39 degrees and compared to what we had left that was T-shirt weather. We broke down 3 miles south of Ashland, OR just as we were headed into the mountain passes. In Ashland we found a tire store and a parts store within a block of each other that had all the needed parts to get us back on the road. (Wheel, drum, brake shoes and hardware, and studs oh and lug nuts ) So a total of 4hrs from wheel off to back on the road Not bad since we did strip a wheel stud installing and had to make a return trip to the parts store Doh! made our way to Lodi, CA for nights rest and would go in the rest of the way to Ocotillo Wells...or so we thought. As we hit the Greater LA area we also hit rain and I mean "Washington Rain" it was pouring and traffic suffered because of it. I then began to look ahead to see what our camping area might be like as far as weather...



As I posted that pic on Facebook the warnings began to roll in that I should be very cautious and heed the flash flood warnings. JT and I traveled out the 78 towards main part of the park crossing water three times on the hwy when I called him and said no way we were going to bring mom in the Jetta in here and honestly having never been into Oct wells I just pulled the plug on it for the night and we stayed one more night in a hotel. SoCal friends were texting me and saying they had never seen that much water in the washes in all their years and that the dirt was going to be amazing but to be careful. Well we headed out and set up camp in the AM, it was still showering a bit so we kinda just hung out



The next morning is when we decided to venture out and check the infamous Ocotillo Wells. JT and Hailey in the Jeep and Luke on a quad followed by Colette and I in the Queen. within minutes the car started sputtering and misfiring I flipped the ignition of and on and it cleaned up, but only momentarily and would begin to do it again. This was also about the time I started to see mud clumps flying off my front tires going forward about 20 feet only to then have me drive under them and have them land on the car, in the car, on my dash and in my lap. NO I was not enjoying myself at that very moment...but it would havev to get worse before it could get better as we tried to find better ground we were running in 6-8" of muck and the car was running just as mucky.








When we got back to camp after maybe 10-15 miles and put a code scanner on the car. 17codes stored so we cleared them pulled the memory fuse and gave that a shot and BAM no more misfiring! So I took Luke for his first ever dirt ride in the car and found a cool little loop that would become my familiar ground over the next couple days. Unfortunately about 10 miles into our ride the car would go into Limp Mode with an early rev limit of 3k. Talk about a fun sucker.

At that point JT started unplugging stuff and plugging it back in just to try and see if the limp would clear up. About that time Colette's sister Rachael and hubby Keith pulled in from San Diego to spend Christmas with us in the desert. I said to Keith that we had just made a couple adjustments and need ed to test wanna go? No helmet for his fat head so we dawned a couple of headsets and would take it easy. Yeah right! Lesson one in a car that has been run in the mud with no windshiled is that said mud on hood would soon hit you in the teeth because of the smile on your face. We did make a decent pass on the same loop I had earlier run with Luke and so the second time around I am getting more comfortable for sure. Car ran flawlessly and it was Rachael's turn. This time we had helmets and I would again step it up a notch on the same loop. Car running good JT and I then make two night passes to adjust the lights. Finally I get to try my lights at speed and I can say I do like them on those roads and washes as we were making 75-80mph passes down a long straight whooped out wash feeling like on the second time we had things adjusted good. Funny how far down the hwy those racer spots will light up a reflector lol.

The next day was Christmas Eve and the girls decided to have a nail salon day in the trailer which cleared the boys for a day of 4-wheeling. JT and Luke in the Jeep and Keith and I in his FJ did some good mud running in the washes and trails



Back at camp it was time to give Rachael and Keith each another ride in the car. This time Keith dawned a dirbike helmet. Rachael was first and I am now pretty comfortable with my loop from our camp on County line rd out to the hwy and down roadrunner trail at freeway speed then hanging a right and twisting out the Ocotillo rd across the San Felipe wash then hitting mid 80mph's on the Wolfe Well road, shutting in down early and flipping a U-turn before the massive flooding that was still out there hauling the mail back down to the San Felipe when I would hang a left down the wash a couple thousand feet and back onto County Line rd and back to camp. The whole way Rachael was cackling in my ears with laughter and whoohoos. Back at camp Keith was ready and said he had his helmet and even though I would not hear him anyway he promised not to cry like a little girl so off we went. about 1/2 way thrigh my loop right before the wash was a camp set up just over a rise that I had hit pretty hard earlier but had decided to back off sooner and respect their camp even though I think it was just a placeholder for later in the weekend as I never seen anybody there all week. Anyway about the time I got out of the gas and was about to crest the hill something ran across the headlight beam (Coyote probably?) and although we were not wired up we both heard each others profanity followed by laughter. Not really shaken by that we blasted out the Wolfe Well again hitting mid 80's even taking on a couple of tapered sand drifts at that speed that were probably 2ft taller then all of the other whoops and tapered down from one side to the other. Back at camp I got out of the car after both of those back to back runs with my hands visibly shaking and not being able to sit down right away..haha I had finally driven my car! My adrenaline was officially pumping. That was kinda cool as i took note of it. Of course JT said if your that comfy lets go do it again and off we went

Christmas morning was your typical Christmas morning at the Rarden's desert home on wheels. Somehow Santa had found his way there and his helper elves had figured out a way to package presents in every cubby of the trailer. did some gift exchanging and I had a doughnut or two for breakfast



And then we all ventured out for another 5hr tour of the Wells. JT and Hailey in the Jeep. Rachael, Keith and Colette in the FJ. And Luke rode with me in the Queen.....course after she went into Limp mode. This time JT only unplugged the cam sensor and we cranked it over and plugged it back in and we were good for the rest of the day. and what a great day it was.

















The 26th of December brought on a new adventure



And yes I cleaned the Queen up for her first Glamis Prom





Good thing too because I had to give a ride to the owner of Absolute Autobody



Oh and these guys were camped in our camp with us also so it was a good thing she was dressed to impress......The ATV rep for Method Race Wheels



He paid me a huge compliment saying that people just do not take cars to this level of detail as he took some pics with his phone and sent them off to Jaime the owner of Method.

Yes I got stuck in the sand...again





But had a blast duning with this group for 3 straight days.



And after the first day of the car being in limp mode upon start up it never missed a beat after that. We did spit the link pin shims and wiped out a set of bushings on day-1 in Glamis necessitating a trip to Yuma AZ for parts and service and did a bit of a rebuild of the links there and in the dunes. Decided that with that day being cut short and the 70+ degree temps we would stay another day in Glamis putting off the next stop of Dove Springs one more day. Hard to bat a Glamis sunset at the sand drags



We would pack our camp and head for Jawbone Canyon/ Dove Springs for a long awaited face to face meeting with JT1967, Baja5, and Busk who had already been in for a day or two ahead of us. I did not take a lot of pics so I will post a few of theirs....and Yes...I got stuck in the sand....again

We rolled in just about dark on the evening of the 30th just in time to unload set up camp and have a cold one with the crew. a quick meet and greet of a few of the rest of the SoCal bajas group that were also camped there for new years. New Years Eve would dawn with sunshine and a plan for a quick ride before Colette and Luke would have to leave for home as school was a calling for Luke come Monday the 2nd. So we set out for a short 5 hr ride Exploring the terrain and some old mines and such.







As we rolled back to camp on that ride we as a group started to kick it up a notch on a smooth graded powerline road. As Joe and Denny began to push into the 80mph range and I started to increase our speed as well is when Colette popped up with the quote of the week for me. You do realize that you are doing 73mph and Luke is 50ft off your rear bumper hanging right with you?" I decided he was way to tired after riding that thing all week and all day (about 300miles for the trip and 65-70 for the day) to be riding at that speed, and the father in me decided to protect him from himself and back it down to about 50. Wasn't a mile or so after that his 450 lost power as he had run the main tank empty of fuel a quick flip to the reserve pick up and we headed for camp where we got Colette and Luke off on their way home just about the time the rains set in for the night once again. We tried to get into the New Years spirit but Mother Nature was having nothing of it and we all retreated to the comforts of our camping rigs. I think I made it to 9:00

The view from the camp on New Years Day revealed that we had indeed been hit with a pretty good storm the night before. The snow capped mountains and all of the standing water would be signs of the cool riding in store for the day. And although I took note of how much landscape reworking had been done by the flowing water overnight I obviously did not take close enough note of it



We packed JT and Hailey up and loaded my personal recover vehicle on the trailer and sent them on their way for home. Little did I know that we could have used said recovery vehicle later in the day

I would spend the day riding in my car solo. This would be an interesting test of reaching the items on the dash as I laid them out. Lights and such are one thing, but I would need to reach that heater control for sure! The plan for the morning was a short ride once again as Busk and his sister had rolled out the night before Shayne from the SoCals group wanted to tag along with the 3 of us left in our camp. We set out and immediately Joe's baja was not willing to play nice. He was in "Limp mode" and would need to return to camp to look things over. While sitting there in camp Shayne asked if I wanted to take a small lap around while we waited for Joe and Denny to diagnose? After about 5 min I said sure lets do that. He had been there before and I had GPS so I knew we could not get lost right? We did fine and only went maybe 10 miles total. As we hit the spot where Luke had run out of fuel the day before Shayne if we should head back and I said sure and that I knew where we were so he told me to lead the way. He sad he wanted to watch the car work anyway, so I kinda jumped on it, tossing it a little sideways up onto a bank to avoid a huge mud puddle and away I went when Shayne said to hold up that he had almost lost it but would need to catch up. So I waited for him at the next turn and we made our way back to camp. Joe's car was running better and they were on the road ready to go. Shayne decided to pass on going back out and I knew I needed to grab more towels from my truck as it was going to be a wet ride for sure. Joe and Denny waited for me as I did so. So the three of us rigs set out on a cool little ride with a variety terrain from rocks to Joshua tree forests. Very cool stuff for sure. Unfortunately Joe's car was still not playing nice. And we were just cruising and taking it easy. Still a fun ride for me but I knew he was frustrated. We decided to make our way back towards camp when we came across a couple of SxS that were broke down on the trail. Not really sure what the deal was there as those guys got out to see if they could help or maybe they did.....honestly I stayed in my heated seats and tried to thaw my toes with the floor heat

As we made our way back to camp we came into a spot that I had seen pics of while researching the area. A pretty big open wash area that is obviously popular for camping. Its one of those spots where start out on the valley floor and there are about 40 lines up onto the plateau above. Joe said we should play on the hill a bit but he would have to just watch with his car running as it was. So Denny and I started taking shots at the hill. Now I did notice there was only 2 established lines up the portion of the hill we were playing on and after a the second time I was at the top and Denny was coming up I ducked down one of the trails less traveled. I quickly realized that the washouts were deeper then they looked from the bottom and I needed to straddle the ravine going down. No problem as it became less and less washed out near the bottom and I was down. Good to go again. The next time up the hill I decided rather then have any more close calls with Denny at the top I would just duck down that same path. As I did so I realized that I was not on the same one I had just went down. this one was much deeper and as I started to straddle it, the washout took a hard right up against the bank. I stabbed the gas and hooked left but it was too deep and I was too late. BAM! I slammed down in the crack and pounded the side of the bank burying the right front tire/wheel. I was positive that I had ripped it clean off as it tore the steering wheel out my hand. Joe came on the radio right away and asked if I was stuck? Shaking out the cobwebs I said "Yeah I think so" I unstrapped and took a minute to look things over. Well I think its all attached still just buried in sand.....again! Doh!









Its a good thing Joe took pics as that story is just not as good without illustrations. LOL You can just see in the last pic that path one more to the left is the one I had come down the previous pass. Opps!

Joe and Denny were quick with a shovel, jack, and some cool headed ideas of how to get my car out of this situation. Basically the digging required to free the front wheel and get the floor pan off the dirt was also what was needed to fill the crack enough that with a little help from a jack I was able to drive back out of the ditch. Amazingly enough no damage to anything but my ego. Thanks Guys!

Back at camp we would try to see if we could get Joes car running better but she was having nothing of it. Iasked if we were ready to pull the plug when Joe decided to jump in with Denny and we would head out for one last ride with just the two rigs. It was a good little capper of a ride as we found some graded roads that we could open things up a little on and test our skills of driving into the setting sun. While out on this final ride we found a group of people showing off their version of firearm safety as they were shooting downrange at a target setup in the middle of the road Seriously people, WTF? anyway we rolled back into camp just about the time it was getting dark. I would load my car that evening and sleep in the trailer on a cot. After waking up at mu normal 4:30 AM I would finish loading and strapping everything down and be on the road by 6:00 or so.

The trip home would be uneventful accept for diving the last 500 miles in snow or on compact snow. Came home to find the my neighbor Tony had taken good care of me plowing out my driveway so all I had to do was unload anything that could freeze in the trailer as it was only about 10 degrees out.

All told we put about 450 miles on the car for the week or so. About 300 of that not in limp mode, yeah!

I learned a few things:

Cover the parker pumpers with a bag at night when raining as moist air into the helmet is no good for anti fog.

The car is very hard to see out of especially belted in tight.

I need more brakes to slow her down better.

Needs a turbo to be a better sand car but the power is awesome right now in the dirt.

I need to look at upgrading the front arms, and spindles if I want to drive it as hard as I now know I will.

The car works really well as far as suspension and is stable and gives a confident feeling when driving it.

Need to add some lights in the dash as it is hard to see it at night

Oh and it is so much fun to finally be driving it!

[DeMinimis]

Excellent!

[no1clyde]

Great story and a great time, happy for you

Ed

[chuckput]

Hey! You're in my car wash! Welcome to El Centro!

[jt1967]

We need to do this again under better circumstances!!! So I just started going over the damage from the trip broke a motor mount, cracked exhaust, Destroyer front brake caliper and I haven't even looked at why it went into limp mode yet loll. I will post the findings on my page soon. Thanks for coming down Daron its been a long time coming

[Leatherneck]

We need to do this again under better circumstances!!! So I just started going over the damage from the trip broke a motor mount, cracked exhaust, Destroyer front brake caliper and I haven't even looked at why it went into limp mode yet loll. I will post the findings on my page soon. Thanks for coming down Daron its been a long time coming

You guys were tearing it up, literally. You guys had a great time, that was good to see. Joe you probably had some metal shavings or maybe somebody was leaning against your Baja while it was in gear.

[TimS]

Need to add some lights in the dash as it is hard to see it at night

Ya know, you are supposed to be looking at the road, not the dash. I would assume this was obvious, but considering your report I feel it needed mention.

Nice story.

[dustymojave]

Sounds like quite an adventure. I can almost see Jawbone Canyon and the outlet of Redrock Canyon at Hiway 14 from my home. I'm really wishing I ran over there for the Eve or New Years even without a working toy.

[CentralWAbaja]

https://youtu.be/5adtM_t4pdc



https://youtu.be/OaDKaaMXenM



Almost got me a Can-am That's how fast it happens when you change directions mid hill without looking.

https://youtu.be/PylBsU6FJnA

[TimS]

Cool videos. You are making me want to try out the St Anthony dunes. It seems like an interesting social atmosphere surrounds the dunes.

Party on daron.

[CentralWAbaja]

Cool videos. You are making me want to try out the St Anthony dunes. It seems like an interesting social atmosphere surrounds the dunes.

Party on daron.

I have only been to St Anthony once and it was on a bike. I missed my group going last year. There is some talks of maybe a 2017 trip. I will keep you posted. My wife asked me yesterday what kind of mountain/canyon running like we did in Dove Springs there was in Idaho? I told her I knew a guy

Glamis is an amazing place on big holiday weekends but once you have done that it becomes way more fun when you have the place to yourself. I do like playing for a day or two as the masses roll in and then watch the chaos vs being a part of it. Like that 3rd video I posted. People just cannot pay attention to their surroundings. I am not saying I have rights to the hill but I had just gone up and down the same line about 4 times in a row without deviating. I try to be predictable as I do my runs up and down the hill. That guy in the Can-Am came into the bottom of Olds and cut across in front of me as I came down the hill. I then turned around at the bottom and made my run back into the hill. Knowing I was closing on him at probably twice his speed I was already anticipating his stupidity based on his actions at the bottom of the hill, so when he did cut left across my bow without even a look, I just laid into the horn. After I turned around at the top he looked as though he was going to drop back in on me. Not sure how I would have handled the 3rd one in a row Anyway when it gets like that I just get off the hill.

[TimS]

If you make it to St. Anthony I will be there. It's only an hour away.

[dustymojave]

Stupid is epidemic.

An old offroad buddy of mine from here in Lake LA moved to St. Anthony several years back. He owned a pizza joint with a bar upstairs in town. I've never been there though.

[jg210302]

CWB, looks like a blast!!!
Do you have a build thread?