The
Trail Crew does Aftershock
By: Phil Aaland
We agreed to meet in Victorville for a run to Johnson Valley (JV) to
take on the Aftershock trail. This was the first time to the Johnson
Valley for most of the Trail Crew members that dared to venture out that
day. We had eight vehicles show up and after fueling up, we headed
for the rocks.
We drove to Means Dry Lake to air down and prepare for the run.
Doors were removed, hubs locked and everything was strapped down.
We had two tow vehicles with us so much of the extra stuff was left behind
in them. GPS settings were checked and we headed for the trail.
Veteran 4-wheeler John Buell led
the group in his fantastic 71 "Chevrolet powered" FJ40 Land Cruiser.
I opted to use the day for shooting video so I was John's passenger.
As usual, the wind was blowing but otherwise the day was very nice.
It wasn't too hot which was great. As those of you who have experienced
the summer heat of Johnson Valley can attest, the sun can get brutal out
there in those canyons. This day was perfect.
The Group arrived at the trail head about 10:00 on Sunday morning.
Before we really got started one of the two Ford Broncos that were with
us developed a small leak in the radiator. We were able to fix it
with stop leak, black pepper and a well placed piece of rubber secured
over the pinhole. This was the first of a number of problems that
are very common to rigs attempting to traverse the rocks that JV offers.
After successfully climbing the first waterfall, the new Toyota Tacoma
that had joined the group decided that it would be best to ride with someone
else and leave the 'Coma in one piece for later destruction. Seven
vehicles moved on.
Aftershock is a canyon that offers a number of challenges as you move
up it. Most of them are very doable with a vehicle that is locked
up and running at least 33" tires. The rigs with us all fit that
category.
There were 2 Toyota FJ40's, a 4-runner, a Toy pickup, two early Ford
Broncos, a Jeep CJ5, . All were piloted be experienced drivers with
very capable spotters for the hard spots.
We got to Depreciation Knob with only one tire punched and the previously
mentioned radiator problem. It took us about 3 hours to get the seven
rigs up the 100 yard long trek called Depreciation Knob. It took
its toll as by the time we got to the top we had experienced two broken
axels, one a burfield on one of the FJ's and the other the right
front axed on the pickup. As it was getting late, we opted to tow
and winch the broken vehicles out rather than take the time to fix them.
The problems happened about 100 yards from the end of the trail and all
the hard stuff was behind us.
We arrived back at the lake bed about 9:30. After airing up and
replacing all the doors, (by now the wind was really howling and it was
a trip to get these doors back on the vehicles. They wanted to act
like sails instead of doors.) We finished airing up and headed
for home it about 10:30, .
What a fantastic day.
Be sure to check out the pictures in the gallery.
Back