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TRUCKHAVEN TREK '97

by Mark Hinkley
Photos by Jeff Johnson

EDITOR'S NQTE: Mark Hinkley is a long time participant in the Coyote's black diamond events. Kim, his computer-graphics salesperson wife, and 18-month-old son, Hunter, are no newcomers to 4-whelling either. His knowledge, experience and on-board equipment help bring 'em back alive time after time.

As part owner of the OFF ROAD GENERAL STORE, along with Don Gilgan, he built most of the trucks on this outing. They specialize in detailed, creative modifications. At 34, it's hard to imagine he established Hinkley Construction, residential remodel specialists, more than 10 years ago.

This was the first year the Truckhaven Trek required at least one locking differential. This requirement alone was an indication of the severity of the terrain and the fun we were about to have. About half the group arrived at camp on Friday night and Big Red met the rest Saturday morning in Borrego Springs. By 10 a.m., everyone had arrived in camp, set up their tents and gathered for a pre-trip briefing. About halfway through the briefing, Hunter Hinkley (18 months old) fell down the steps of Don (Hollywood) Hamilton's new motorhome. Hunter survived the first rollover of the weekend with only minor body damage. As soon as such issues as safety and what to do if you became separated from the group were covered, we aired down our tires, shifted into 4WD and hit the trail.

Big Red was in the lead and I ran tail gunner for most of Saturday. The run started off nice and mellow. There were small hill climbs and lots of twisty stuff. Everyone was doing fine until Kevin Struss pushed a tire off the rim in one of the tight twisty sections. This was quickly inflated (we later learned not inflated enough) thanks to Ray (Grizzly) Abrahamson and his big compressor.

Just a few hills later, as Red was sliding sideways across a ridge top, Alan Alosio and Kevin both pushed tires off rims at the same time. At this point everyone was scattered around an area of hills and ravines. It looked as if everyone was going to run into each other.

After airing up the tires we were off again, but in a few directions. I ended up with half the group following me in one direction while Red had the rest going in the same general direction but a couple of ravines away. We rejoined Red's group just as he found a nice blow-sand hill climb. This hill tested the ability of many trucks and drivers. I even heard over the radio someone gave up on it because he was afraid he was going to break something if he played in the soft sand. Everyone tried the hill, and different drivers tried various strategies to conquer it. Some, like Elliot Saul ten, just put the hammer down and blasted right up and over. Others started slow and tried to build up momentum as they went. This worked for some, but not all.

Ken (Poolman) Tichy was the most determined, as he was going to make it to the top no matter what it took. He did end up making it. It was then my turn and of course I had to go as slow as I could. About fifteen minutes later (to some it felt like a week) my forward momentum was so low it was getting ridiculous. So after backing up a little, I finally blasted to the top.

Lunchtime was upon us and we had a nice place at the top of a hill. The weather was great and we were all glad we weren't in the rain back home. As we packed up after lunch, Red and I looked over the next hill and we recognized a ravine called Better Than Sex Notch. This is one of the best spots Red and I have been through in the Truckhaven area. I wish I could say we led the pack here deliberately, but like most of the really good stuff in the maze of hills, washes and ravines that make up the Truckhaven Hills, we just stumbled across it.

Red led the way down the notch with the rest of us eagerly following. JoAnne Gagnon was driving Paul Bredehoft's Explorer down the notch. As she negotiated the last turn, her tire just came right off the rim. This could not have been driver error, so it must have been her husband, Darrion's, fault. This tire took a little longer to fix because of the awkward position the truck was in.

With a little time to kill, Red's passenger for the weekend, Jeff, produced a Frisbee. We felt like we were in the commercial where the people are playing Frisbee from one mountain to the other mountain. We were literally throwing the Frisbee from one hilltop to another. You had to watch where you jumped because you could easily end up falling off a ridge on real quick. This ended up being much more fun than one would have thought. We even videotaped it.

As soon as the tire was fixed, Dusty Dog (Jim Lockwood) had the fifth flat tire of the day, and out came the Frisbee again. After reseating Dusty's tire, we were off again. As we drove up the second part of Better than Sex Notch, both Alan and Mr. 4wheeler (Phil Klien) caught a little air under the same front tire at the same time. Too bad nobody caught it or video.

The next good hill got everyone's attention. It was straight up with a tight left turn at the top, then straight down again. I watched Poolman, who though he was going to roll over, stick his am out as if he could hold his up Cherokee. He then realized the folly of this tack pulled his arm back in, turned the truck downhill, let off the brake and continued down the trail without rolling the truck. Later, back at camp, we heard this hill was a close call for several other drivers a well. By now the afternoon shadows were getting long, so we headed back to camp for the night.

We all enjoyed the potluck dinner. After stuffing ourselves, Poolman produced warm brownies topped with ice cream from his motorhome. With the campfire going, the tales of the day' events were fueled by Hamilton's and Tichy's margaritas. Red brought out the TV and we relived the day's adventure via video. Who says camping has to be "roughing it?"

The next morning, we headed out again, less Elliot and Mr. 4wheeler with Cathy. They left on Saturday night. Our first stop was a hill with several routes up.

After warming up on the small climbs we worked our way over to what we call Competition (Comp) Hill. We played here for a while; Red went up first and made it fine. Then the hill got ugly as the next trucks dug the holes a little deeper. One by one, Comp Hill rejected the trucks. Bob Fried man got high centered on the steep hill, so Red had to pull him back down. Next victim was Kevin in his Grand Cherokee. Poolman was next. He also high centered, and took some great advice to free himself, so he didn't end up on the wrong end of the tow strap. Brad Cristea gave it all he had, but also to no avail. Then Darrien gave it a good shot, but also ended up at the bottom. I fired up my red Cherokee and went right up, making it look too easy (lots of wheel speed).

At this point, both Hollywood and Grizzly announced it was time for them to head for home. They said goodbye and got lined up with Comp Hill. Hollywood went right up but Grizzly bounced and broke the pinion shaft in his rear differential. For reasons too complicated to get into here, he needed to be towed back to camp backwards. This was a new driving skill for Grizzly especially when I started to pull him too fast.

His wife, Cindy, was waiting back at the motorhome and came out to greet him. Imagine what she must have thought: not only was he coming in on the wrong end of a tow strap, but his CJ was pointing the wrong way! Her first words, delivered in a chilly tone, were, "What did you break this time?" That was my cue to rejoin Red's group back in the twistys.

While I was gone, Red took the group to Lunch Loop. This is a short loop trail with an 8-foot, almost vertical dropoff, followed by two much smaller ones. We have eaten lunch there many times, hence the name. I caught up with them just as Paul's Explorer broke its arm. The radius arm broke right at the front axle, making for a tough fix.

Many people in the group were amazed as both electric and air grinders appeared to prep the truck for the final surprise, my onboard welder. In less than an hour, Darrien had it back together and on their way back to camp. Thank goodness for truck welders. This saved a lot of repair time.

At this point, a few more people decided to call it quits and headed back to camp. Struss, Red, Dusty, Brad, Bob and I were all that was left. We headed up this great hill climb which would lead us right to USGS Station Dusty (section 15 on USGS 7.5" topo, Seventeen Springs). Being this close, we could not pass it up.

We started the climb and everyone did great until Dusty Dog. He took a couple of shots at it and finally got up the hill. Next was a nasty off-camber climb with a right turn ending up on a narrow ridge. This is all worth it when you see the view from the top. You get an good perspective of the whole area from up there.

After the decent from USGS Dusty's point, we headed for some more twistys. On the way we found a steep downhill with a turn half way down. The hill was mainly soft sand. Red went first, because I did not want to. He went right down with no problem. I went next, also with no problem. Next in line was Bob. His son Robert must be wise beyond his years as he opted to get out to take pictures with a camera that had no film in it. Dad was on his own for this one.

Bob tried a little different line than we did. This proved to be disastrous. As I watched in my mirror, I saw Bob roll the Green Hornet onto it's top. We had a rollover. Bob got on the CB right away to say he was fine.

After getting hanging Bob out from his seat belt, we had to remove the ice chest, its contents and everything else that was not strapped down from his front window area. I bet next time he will throw those bungee cords away and get some real tiedown straps.

So now we had a green Cherokee acting like it was a dying turtle, with all legs up and no real easy way to right it. The next hour was spent using three winches and a few straps to right this turtle. Bob was in good spirits, but started to wonder what his wife was going to say. The only thing that prevented the Cherokee from just driving away after the extraction was a lot of lost tranny fluid. This took all the ATF we had plus two quarts of 10w30 motor oil in the tranny. We then drove back to camp, packed up our gear and made it home.

It was a weekend trip to remember!

© Harry Lewellyn

Ecological 4-Wheeling Adventures
P.O. Box 12137
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
voice: (949) 645-7733
fax: (949) 645-7738
email: info@eco4wd.com

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