2/25 Day Trip - Bee Canyon to Pine Cove Road (Hemet to Idyllwild)

A reminder pic of what a Tundra can fit through:


photo credit to "Jennifer McFly"

 

Pffffttt

Who knows a famous actor might show up

 

Right here we had an incident, where I went into full panic mode and was going to bail on the group lol

 

But we're all stronger because of it. (And the only way to hear about it is to show up at a meet-and-play and contribute to the adventure narrative. Fight Club SoCal Tundra Club)

 

@Sunnier, what is the headcount at now for who might be going? I didn't talk in depth to the Mrs. about it tonight but my 2.5 yr old said he wants to get dirty and go off roading...so that's half the fam on board. Boom.

 

A rough estimate is 4 for sure, with about 3 or 4 tentative. I can say at the last meet, It looked like me, eccracer104, and sunnier were the only ones going for the longest time but in the end we were about 13-15 trucks deep.

 

Awesome. If we do end up making it I'll be sure to bring the drone and camera to capture some shots of the day.

 

So... headcount seems to be a nebulous thing around here. We had about 6 confirmed for our last meet up and had... more than a dozen show up. One of the features of a public forum is never knowing who will show up. (Famous celebrities even!)

I'm kinda keeping track of who's committing, as they do, and I think we have 5-6... so I'm anticipating we might form another full party conga line, like last time.



That said, if we get a big group, we could divide into smaller groups, with one to head out 15 minutes before the other. They haven't yet signed on for this, but a couple guys that have looked in on this thread as "maybes" are well-qualified, with badass trucks, off-road experience, and know-how-- so doing multiple small groups would probably be easy to set up last minute if needed. We'll probably have to tighten up on RSVP'ing when we all "grow up" to real overlanding (see the NorCal Spotted & B.S. Thread for some increasingly impressive bad-assery), but I think these first few SoCal meets are about getting people together, and comfortable getting off pavement.

As for families, I say bring as many as you can fit in your own truck, and provisions to support yourselves.



It matters not how many people; the more the merrier! Seems like inviting our families to join in is a good way to get their support of our new Tundra obsessions, and have our virtual friendships with on-line Tundra buddies seem less "weird".

 

I think it's no more than 1/2 hour from the camp to pavement in Idyllwild, based on reviews I've read, and Google maps info. That help? Also, there's more than one place to camp.

Hi, Tundra Buddy! You think you can come out to play?

 

I found my GoPro charging cable , and even bought spare batteries. Ready to make your trucks look Even BIGGER!

 

checking my calendar, I heard from a jeep friend that the boulder in the video going up that hill is no longer there?

 

I see a cheap HAm radio you guys posted but hmm, are we going to have to air down? if so what compressor are you guys running? If i start spending all this money the wife will kill me lol

 

@fisherman951 I am going to buy a Viair Compressor and @Sunnier also has one and we are both willing to share, just may take awhile to air up but you don't need one this trip.

 

I went up Bee Canyon ~3-4 weeks ago, no boulder in the trail. We had a Tacoma tow a camping trailer up there without issue as well as a bone stock tacoma which also made it just fine.

This trail doesn't require you to air down, there are a few kind of rocky sections that would feel better aired down, but certainly not required.

^ And this. The Tundra community is a bunch of great people willing to help when needed!

 

I still can't believe all the famous people that showed up
Only in SoCal

 

I wouldn't worry about getting a compressor right away if your short on my money. Everyone is super chill and we're all here to help each other out. We'll find a gas station if we have to, worst case senario. The two way radio is a definite must have if possible, but you'll be fine with out one if you can't. Only a little over 20 bucks on Amazon

 

thanks every one, 95% chance ill be there with the wife (still thinking about kids since its our first time doing this kind of thing)

 

The kids will have a blast. Just don't let them get all dirty and jump back in the truck. My buddy's kids got all muddy and jumped straight in the back seat of his truck he was not happy lol

 

I’m brining my kids with the wife as well, first time also

 

Thanks for the advice lol

 

Updated status: Out. Bummer. Next time maybe!

 

Huh. My immediate relief about the one big challenge we'd need to address is... tempered by my disappointment that we won't have this challenge to overcome....

We might air down just so we can pretend we're intrepid off-roaders. And to use our new compressors.



The distance from the top of the trail to a restaurant parking lot is so short, we can probably air back up as we get a table, and take turns in the restroom. I think this will be the easiest of all air-up scenarios. If we park our Tundras in a row with compressors every 3rd truck, we can probably air everyone up in one fell swoop during the first cycle (the one I got has a 30 minute run time).

I vote, no one joining up that doesn't already have a compressor needs to buy one. As long as 2 or 3 of us have 'em, we'll be good to go. No problem if we have to stop and drink a beer, then run a 2nd cycle!

 

At the last meet-and-play, we saw what everyone else had, and kind of prioritized our wish lists. I had already ordered a compressor but hadn't gotten it in time. Others did after the run because, that time, we did 2 runs that were several miles apart, had a great time, and finished up just after dusk. It was dark and cold and felt remote...

and we were danged relieved that @eccracer104 had air and shared it!

This time you can come out without feeling pressured to buy anything. Thats another reason we're doing "easy" runs, so we can all get up to speed in low risk environments.

 

Bonus: @Marty McFly shared with me that, after doing the last meet-and-play, "Jennifer McFly" was very much "more receptive" to him getting a bit of equipment and doing a couple mods.

A great reason to bring the that decides about .

 

This should be, seriously, the absolute most kid-friendly trip we will ever do! With pizza at the end, if everyone agrees that is an acceptable choice. I'm bringing my sidekick, and he is great with kids of any age.

 

This is probably a good question to ask! How old is everyone's kids...

I want to take my boys (ok, maybe my eldest for now) on a future trip. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old.

 

^ This right here!

No shame in starting with the easy stuff as you learn how your truck handles offroad and progressively going to more and more challenging trails!

My gf and I lead a TW group (no first timers but some that were still green) on a trail in Big Bear called "Burns Canyon" which was supposed to be a moderate trail. After a quick getting lost detour and finding our way on the right track we discovered the rain had changed one section called "heartbreak ridge" making it much more challenging. Half our group got scared and wanted to turn around, but there was no room, too late to turn back! We spent 2-3 hours there, I spotted her down the entire hill, she then spotted me down and we alternated spotting each and every truck down.
Two trucks out of I think 12 touched their sliders, but everyone made it down safely, no casualties, and when we got back to camp (after some time to calm the nerves) every single person was so stoked on what they had taken their truck through!

End of the day, having a little pucker factor will help you become a better driver off road! Always a huge benefit going with others to help you through the difficult parts

Tread lightly and leave no one behind!

 

NOOOOOHHHHhhhhhh!

We will miss you, and drink one for you, Homie.

 

I have a 7,3,2

 

10