[BCBrian]

This meet brought together some of us that had wheeled together before and also some forum members from SoCal who joined us for the 1st time. Hungry Valley rates it's trails much like Hollister Hills with green dot, blue square and black diamond symbols but that is where the similarity ends. On a couple of the black diamond trails we could not figure out why they gave it that rating but Tom made a good point of pointing out that the rating system was set up to apply only for this park and should not be compared to Hollister. This made a lot of sense because while the trails were not as hard as some at HH, they were the hardest trails in this park.

On sat myself, R00, TomR and RikRong ran a total of 70 miles of trails in the park. In the morning we were joined by Nismo43 and Archer37 for the morning run and a shorter run after lunch. They both had afternoon commitments and left at about 2:30.

1st stop on the morning run was the 4X4 Practice Area which is similar to the main Obstacle Course at Hollister.

 

[BCBrian]

Rick wanted to test his newly Titan swapped X so he tackled the cement step climb next.

 

[RikRong]

Ah, there is the attack of the tire shredding fender.

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[BCBrian]

After Archer37 and Nismo43 left for home, the 3 of us went back to camp and then tackled Pronghorn Trail about 4:00. This was a very interesting trail with some challenges that tested us with steep short climbs, tight corners and sudden drops on the trail that were tough to see from the drivers seat.

There is a 'Gatekeeper' obstacle that was similar to the one found in Last Chance Canyon. There were multiple lines to choose from and Tom chose the right hand line and went 1st so he could shoot video of the rest of us on the climb.

 

[BCBrian]

R00 chose the far left line and walked up the solid rock w/o slipping. This line was steeper but had no sand on it like the other lines. Rick ran the right line, like Tom, which had a couple small ledges and required a sharp left turn at the top.

 

[BCBrian]

R00 then surprised us by driving back to the bottom to give the right line a try! This was a very steep decent covered with loose sand on solid rock.... this video should be interesting!

 

[BCBrian]

I really like this shot of the view from the top of the Gatekeeper looking SW. The next obstacle was a sharp right hand turn with a large berm on the outside and a tall wall on the inside. It required steady speed and precise steering to avoid body damage. Fortunately we all made it through safely. When we reached the Powerline Trail summit, we set up for a group shot as the sun was nearing the horizon. After dinner, Myself, Rick and Tom went out for a short nighttime run to the top of Condor Mesa and while I did not get any good pic's, I know Tom did, so stay tuned for his posts.

Next up is sunday's fun.

 

[BCBrian]

Sunday's run included myself, R00, TomR and Barcin.... who was driving a 2WD long bed crew cab with a lift and sliders. The rest of us decided that we would stay in 2WD all day and see what we could do. This was a very eye opening experiment and showed us just what was possible with only 2WD! We ran the entire length of Powerline Trail and then descended East Freeman Trail. As we were coming down Freeman Canyon, we came to Quail Pass Trail which is rated black diamond. I went 1st and made it to the top w/o engaging 4WD, so the others soon joined me at the top. Barcin got some spotting help from R00, Tom and his Dad Ben, who came along for the day.

This was a very tight trail for the big long bed but Barcin did a great job of piloting it up the hill. One of the funnier moments of the day came when Barcin crested the hill on the gas chasing R00 up the trail! He just barely made it up and was not going to stop!!

 

[BCBrian]

The trails in the Quail Pass area are very narrow with steep, short hills with drops and tight turns but with some spotting and recon Barcin made it through every challenge. Overall this was a very fun day and gave me a newfound respect for what can be done with only 2WD. At Hungry Valley 2WD rigs can do a lot of the trails with good throttle control and some spotting.

These are the last of my pic's. Of course, I had to include a shot of our trail mascot Copper!

Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun on this meet. With the addition of some of the harder trails in the adjoining Los Padres National Forest, this area has a lot to offer 4 wheelers besides the 19000 acres of Hungry Valley SVRA. Hopefully we can plan another meet here in the spring when the grass is green, wildflowers are blooming and the temps are more reasonable. Miller Jeep Trail is a test that I would like to take someday.

 

[Barcin]

Wow, it was great meeting all of you at this run! Makes me proud to be part of a great forum with great people. Thank you again for the patience due to my limitations in offroading knowledge and rig capabilities. From the spotting from Tom, to the forewarnings by Brian, to Scott showing me the line I should take, I was very humbled by it all. I genuinely had a great time. I hope to join you guys again soon (with a m226 swap hopefully)!

I have a few pictures I will be posting as well as some great dashcam footage (Including R00 uphill dash!)

 

[RikRong]

It was an awesome day, with an awesome group of guys and gals. I'm definitely looking forward to making it north sometime soon.














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Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[R00]

one of the funnier moments of the day came when barcin crested the hill on the gas chasing r00 up the trail! He just barely made up and was not going to stop!!

run forrest run!!!

 

[tomr]

great Pictures everyone!

 

[tomr]

1st batch from Saturday

 

[tomr]

2nd batch from Saturday

 

[tomr]

3rd Batch from Satuday. This was on the Pronghorn Trail. The last one lets you know to make a left turn if you make to the top of the gatekeeper

 

[tomr]

Saturday evening run. Moonlit night with the Big Dipper in the sky behind our Xterras

 

[tomr]

Sunday, the 2WD day. We hit a couple black runs and all stayed in 2WD. As Brian said, it was really fun to see what you could do with 2WD. I think this led to everyone getting to be a little bit better with our driving skills.

Coming soon, a couple videos including PRONGHORN!!!!!!

 

[RikRong]

Awesome pictures Tom! I hope I didn't make the camera jump too much when I was taping you on Pronghorn.

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[Swift]

Man, you guys put a good amount of work into it! Awesome! You guys tackled some good trails. Amazing you guys went up the "gatekeeper". It's sketchy enough going up/down on a sport quad.

Can't wait to see the videos.