Mazourka Canyon to Saline Valley Mazourka Canyon By: Scott Wood

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760-371-2458 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Past President: Gary Luckeroth 661-803-3418 Matt Gardepe 760-371-3953 Jeff McKnight 760-384-3396 COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BLM ROUND TABLE Bill Maddux, alternate EMERGENCY

1 October 2014 GEAR GRINDERS 4WD CLUB, INC. Volume XXVIII, No. 10 OFFICERS PRESIDENT Randy Schortzmann VICE-PRESIDENT Jack Brown RECORDING SECRETARY Vanessa Zurn CORRESPONDING SECRETARY TREASURER Jim Kenney BOARD OF DIRECTORS Past President: Gary Luckeroth Matt Gardepe Jeff McKnight COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN BLM ROUND TABLE Bill Maddux, alternate EMERGENCY SERVICES Bill Maddux HDMUC REPRESENTATIVE HISTORIAN Karen Schortzmann WEBMASTER Ciegi Shaw NEWSLETTER EDITOR Mazourka Canyon to Saline Valley Mazourka Canyon By: Scott Wood This was a two part run with Scott Wood leading part of the run and Bill Maddux the second half. We met up at the triangle Saturday morning at 7:00 am. In attendance were Jack Brown; George Graham; Jerry Grimsley; Bill Maddux & his son Tom; Bill and Kathy Martin; and Mike Stone & Belinda Minor. We took off for 395 and at Pearsonville, Gary Luckeroth & Suzette Kurtovich, joined our impressive group, making it 7 Jeeps, 1 truck and 7 dogs headed for the Mazourka Canyon trailhead. We arrived at Independence at around 9:00 am to top off our gas tanks and to air down. Our first stop was at the historical marker at the site of the Southern Pacific railroad station of Kearsarge. As our journey wound its way up the canyon, we took a detour to explore Johnson Spring, a small mining site with a well preserved cabin. From there we headed out into Santa Rita Flat with the objective of finding an overlook on to Owens Valley. After following a network of several roads, we finally came to a dead end without finding a view. Jerry found a small spur track to explore. He found the remains of a mill site, but in the process discovered that he had broken one of his leaf springs. Upon leaving the flats and re-entering the canyon, Jerry made the call to return to Ridgecrest instead of pressing on over the rougher parts of the road that lay ahead. CLUB ADDRESS P.O. BOX 32 Ridgecrest, CA IN THIS ISSUE Mazourka Canyon Eureka/Saline Corridor September Meeting Hilites On the Environmental Front Upcoming meetings/events Club Calendar at a Glance CB Channel 1 Airing down on Mazourka Canyon Road. Photo by Jack Brown 1 At the Johnson Canyon Cabin. Photo by Jack Brown

We made it up to Mazourka Peak for lunch at around noon for a nice break to take in the stupendous views offered.

Running short on daylight we picked up our pace and reached Squaw Valley and the location of our campsite at around 3:30pm.

After an hour and half driving, we reached the Death Valley road where we aired up.

I last saw Bill, Tom, George, Jack, Gary and Suzette heading out for what surely was to be an exciting second half. Everyone checking out Marble Bath.

2 We made it up to Mazourka Peak for lunch at around noon for a nice break to take in the stupendous views offered. After lunch, we picked up the barely visible and roughhewn track that lead us over the ridge line and onto Papoose Flat. Running short on daylight we picked up our pace and reached Squaw Valley and the location of our campsite at around 3:30pm. Bill, Kathy, Mike & Belinda opted out of the camp option and pressed on for Big Pine. The rest of us set up camp for the night. The next morning we headed out of camp for Big Pine. After an hour and half driving, we reached the Death Valley road where we aired up. After topping off gas tanks in Big Pine, I had to drop out due to illness and Bill s second part of the trip picked up. I last saw Bill, Tom, George, Jack, Gary and Suzette heading out for what surely was to be an exciting second half. Everyone checking out Marble Bath. Photos by Jack Brown The Tacoma resting on a bed of rocks. Eureka/Saline Corridor By: Bill Maddux Four vehicles, Jack Brown, George Graham, Gary Luckeroth & Suzette, and Maddog accompanied by his son, Tom, left Big Pine in search of Saline Valley. I was in my Toyota Tacoma pick-up, as my Land Crusher transfer case decided to self-destruct. The dirt part of the Big Pine - Death Valley road was in great condition, the best I have ever seen it. The road into Eureka dunes was also in good condition. The Narrows had not changed since last year; looked bad but was easily traversed. The trail on into Steele Pass was in good condition; a recent rain storm loosened up a lot of red clay. First time I have seen that condition. We stopped just over the pass and inspected the Marble Bath. George and Jack were suitably impressed. About a quarter mile below the pass, water had cut the road and left a rock pile below the cut. My son told me to go over the rock pile, but I decided to try to go around it. Big mistake!! Jack ended up pulling me back out and the crew threw a lot of rocks to get my Tacoma out of trouble. There were 3 or 4 more rock piles which caused me problems, but a lot of guidance got me through. The rock pile severely tested the mettle of my skid plates. Some big rocks also rearranged my cross members. There were very few people at the lower Palm Springs. We set up camp at our usual spot and enjoyed a nice warm, comfortable evening and night. George did have a slight problem... he had set up his air mattress and tarp on the ground; a wind came up during the night and transferred a fair amount of sand into his sleeping bag. Sunday morning we left camp shortly after 0800 and stopped briefly at the Warm Springs which was sparsely occupied. We also stopped at the cool pool and found that there were crawdads, tadpoles and gambusi affinis ( mosquito fish) in the pool. A first for that. The south pass road was in very good condition, we made the trip from the Warm Springs to the Panamint Dunes overlook in 1 hour 45 minutes. We stopped at the boxcar, ate lunch and aired up. Uneventful the rest of the way; got home around 1:45. Next month s Show n Shine will be November 14th the 2ND NON-FLEX FRIDAY of the month, 6:00pm at the Pizza Factory. It s cooling off, so whether or not you bring your 4X4 is up to you. Come join us for dinner, talk Jeeps, and spend some time with friends. 2

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4 NAWS COMMUNITY DAY WHEN: October 25, 2014 WHERE TO MEET: Theater/Pizza Factory parking lot, 7:00am Leave at 7:45am to caravan to registration which opens at 8:00am. We should be in the same place as last year on Blandy in front of the roller rink. We will have photo boards, so bring your photos for display. WHAT TO BRING: Your 4X4 rig to display, CHAIRS, water/drinks, snacks you want or need, or buy them from the many vendors that will be selling food. If you have an Eazyup, you might want to bring it, just in case. TRAIL BOSS: Jeff McKnight can be PANAMINT VALLEY DAYS WHEN: November 7-10, 2014 WHERE: Panamint Valley PRE-REGISTER: On the CA4WDC web site: Registration fee: $50.00 BBQ Dinners served up on Saturday night by Casey s BBQ of Ridgecrest: $17.00 OR plan a pot luck for Saturday night. We ll discuss at an upcoming meeting. PVD Run Committee Is: Jim Kenney, Jack Brown, &. TRAIL FRIDAY VEHICLE # LEAVE TIME CB CHANNEL TRAIL BOSS LINE-UP LOCATION PLEASANT 25 8:00am 1 Jerry Grimsley Nadeau Rd. South CANYON So. PARK TO 30 9:00am 8 Jim Kenney Nadeau Rd. South BRIGGS JAIL CANYON 20 10:00am 6 Jack Brown Slate Range East SNOW CANYON 20 10:00am 2 Dick Sims Nadeau Rd. North TRAIL SATURDAY GOLER/MINGLE PASS 25 8:00am 1 Gary Luckeroth Nadeau Rd. South JACKPOT CANYON DEFENSE MINE 25 10:00am 6 Jack Brown Slate Range East SUNDAY INFORMAL NOT PVD SPONSORED If you are trail crew, times above are LEAVE times. Lineup is 30 minutes before and drivers meeting is 15 minutes before leave time. Unlimited 8:30am 8 Jim Kenney Nadeau Rd. South 4

China Lake Blvd. Oct 23 BLM Round Table meeting, 6:30pm at 300 S. Richmond Road Nov 7-9 Nov 19 PVD Club meeting, 6:00 PM dinner, 7:00 PM meeting at Casey s steaks & bbq, 1337 N. China Lake Blvd.

5 Don t forget to visit our members who are in business! Scott & Lynn Wood have all of your pet needs right here in Ridgecrest! BRIAN REED is just a phone-call away for YOUR 4- WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES PART NEEDS at.. CLUB CALENDAR at a GLANCE Oct 22 Club meeting, 6:00 PM dinner, 7:00 PM meeting at Casey s steaks & bbq, 1337 N. China Lake Blvd. Oct 23 BLM Round Table meeting, 6:30pm at 300 S. Richmond Road Nov 7-9 Nov 19 PVD Club meeting, 6:00 PM dinner, 7:00 PM meeting at Casey s steaks & bbq, 1337 N. China Lake Blvd. THIS IS A WEEK EARLY, due to Thanksgiving. Nov 21 Show-n-Shine, Pizza Factory NOTE: The 1 st Non-Flex Friday is during PVD Dec 4 BLM Round Table meeting, 6:30pm at 300 S. Dec 6 Richmond Road Christmas The Grape Leaf ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL FRONT National Public Lands News Get updates & info at: Office located at: 941 E. Ridgecrest Blvd or PROMOTING PUBLIC LANDS FOR RESPONSIBLE MULTIPLE USE 5 September Meeting HILITES The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Jack Brown. We welcomed guest Terry Dean (CA4WDC So. Dist. Membership) & Bonnie Ferguson (PVD Chairman), both members of the Antelope Valley High Desert 4 Wheelers. The minutes from the August meeting were read by Vanessa Zurn and approved as amended. Mail included our Blue Ribbon Coalition membership package. Jim Kenney gave the Treasurer s report. COMMITTEE REPORTS: R/C Roundtable: HR5458 will withdraw land around Cuddyback Dry Lake. Already passed the House. Feinstein will most likely pick it up. TRIP REPORTS: Jack Brown reported on the El Paso night run with 16 vehicles. Gary Luckeroth reported on the Bridgeport Run. 50/50 Drawing: $49 was taken in and $24.50 was won by Don Dunn, who donated it back to the club. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Jim Kenney is administrator of CORVA membership. 2. No info yet on CORVA poker run. 3. Scott Wood announced a need for volunteer on Sat. for the new Dog Park. 4. NAWS Community Day is October 25, Theater Parking lot. 5. Mazourka run over Columbus Day weekend. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Bonnie Ferguson asked for help with PVD runs. Jack Brown & Jim Kenney will be on-site coordinators. Various run & leaders were discussed. 2. We asked for PVD to add insurance for Sunday next year in order to do more runs. Committee t-shirts are $ Terry Dean from CA4WDC encouraged GG to attend some of the Southern District meetings & possibly host one here. The Association Convention will be in Visalia in Sean Dunn made motion to move Christmas party & 2015 meetings to The Grape Leaf. Motion passed TRAIL BOSSES NEEDED OCT 25 NAWS Community Day 10am-4p NOV 7-10 PVD DEC 6 Christmas Party DON T FORGET TO CONTACT Jack Brown to volunteer to lead a run at: brown3178@mchsi.com Or: CLUB WEBSITE Please check the club Face Book page or our website for the latest information regarding meetings & runs at:

Labor Day in Bridgeport

Labor Day in Bridgeport September 2014 GEAR GRINDERS 4WD CLUB, INC. Volume XXVIII, No. 9 OFFICERS PRESIDENT Randy Schortzmann 760-375-5518 VICE-PRESIDENT Jack Brown 760-375-3512 RECORDING SECRETARY Vanessa Zurn 760-793-8450 CORRESPONDING