In Attendance:
Frosty (Pilot)
Brian P (Co-Pilot)
Curtis T
Lori F
Mike H
Jim G
Brandy D
Glenn H
Martin W (trail gunner)
From Martin:
Last night’s run was very nice. On the return we were going to run German Bar . . . but we saw Road Closed signs and opted to take Foote’s Crossing instead.
A nice lady who lives at the top on German Bar on the South side sent me some information this morning. The closure is due to PG&E’s undergrounding project. They have been working to lay the conduit in the roadway in many cases. However, due to serpentine rock hazmat concerns the line will remain above ground from Cherry Hill north to the river. Currently the road from her house to Bucks Ranch road is impassable due to PG&E’ use of the muddy road. She says they cannot get their 4x4 truck out or to their “Camp” to get wood. She is trying to get PGE to rock two of the hills on the road to make it passable and is hoping things will dry out a bit.
However, Thursday the forecast if for almost 1.5” of rain. I don’t think anything will be drying out much.
From Frosty (main report):
We headed up Hwy 49 to Ridge road. As we where heading out Glenn noticed his amp meter was down to 11 amps so he decided to turn around and head home. We continued up to Forest City. At the bridge we aired down and turned on any accessories lighting and lit up the forest . As we started our night's journey the ground was perfect - some mud puddles, lots of pine needles . We turned right on Sandusky and the adventure began, what was called a mini wrinkle ,rocks were slick and you had to pick your line well. As we day lighted out of Sandusky we took a quick right and then left on to Forest Route 30. The last time we where on this trail was 2 years ago and it was tight and over grown like a tunnel. To our surprise, they have been clearing the forest and both sides of road. It was clean and smooth. We meandered thru seeing many areas that had mining claims and some old buildings, eventually turning on Galloway and making a right on Henness Pass road. We turned left on Hells Half Acre, went thru Allegheny, and, at the mine, there was a sign that the road was closed because of PG&E line work. Then we turned back around and passed a spooky house which was all decorated. Brandy said it was for the four kids that lived in town. We then turned left on Footes Crossing and we came upon a large fallen tree. We all got out and used a chain saw and man power . We stopped on top of the mountain and took in the night sky. The moon was bright. Then we continued on and came to a rock ledge. The ledge was developed by skilled labor ( early 1900's) from Italian, Swiss and Slovenian stone masons. They blasted rock from the face and shaping and fitting the stone to form a rock ledge. It was a dangerous and intricate task of blasting, stacking, and fitting the stone to extend the cliff. It is about a mile long. . We came up on Tyler Foote and crossed the bridge. We stopped to air up on the North Bloomfield side. It was a nice mild evening, weather was around 60 degrees a perfect time for a night run.