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Pinyon Mountain, California

by Warren Fox

Fantastico!

The 1996 Pinyon Mountain trip exceeded my expectations with a combination of ideal weather, fun and challenging trails, a lively group, superb leadership and beautiful scenery. Since acquiring my first 4x4 almost two years ago, I’ve been to the Anza Borrego Desert a handful of times (I live near San Diego), but this was the first trip to put it all together. As an added bonus, my vehicle make was well-represented, giving me a chance to see in action some upgrades that I’ve been considering. I couldn’t have scripted a better scenario.

The trip started in Temecula, but we joined the caravan in Santa Ysabel and all 13 vehicles finally got together at the Eagle Mine in Julian. We had six Toyota pickups, one Wrangler, one CJ-7, two Grand Cherokees, two Troopers and one Land Rover Discovery. We were to find out soon enough that four of these vehicles had front and rear lockers, and one had just a rear locker. The trip participants were Don and Tracy (‘85 Toyota), David (‘94 Toyota), Kenji and Cindy (‘91 Toyota), Scott and Sean (‘90 Toyota), Warren and Aaron (‘89 Toyota), Mike and David (‘87 Toyota), Phil and George (‘95 Grand Cherokee), Kevin, Adam, and Willie (‘95 Grand Cherokee), Tony (‘92 Wrangler), Eric and Betty (‘79 CJ-7), Bruce, Bruce Sr., Kyle and Jonathan (‘92 Trooper), Donald and Marcella (‘88 Trooper), and Jim and Karen (‘95 Discovery).

The Eagle Mine tour was a chance for us to learn about the history of the mining region and the working conditions of the miners. This mine is open only for tours, while other mines in the area have been reopened for production. We were warned to stay away from the producing mines as the miners might be extra “protective” of their claims. Our underground tour was very interesting and enlightening.

From the mine, we proceeded to the Pinyon Mountain trailhead. It was time for lunch and the ordering of vehicles for the Squeeze and Heart Attack Hill. Those with lockers took up the rear so that they could make a try at going up the hill after we all descended. Jim’s Land Rover with its long-travel suspension was placed between the haves (have lockers) and the haves (still have their money). Once under way, we soon found ourselves at the Squeeze.

The Squeeze, the overhanging rock (the Coyote calls it Rear Window Rock) and Heart Attack Hill give this trip the tough rating. All three are bunched closely together and after surviving all, it’s smooth sailing the rest of the way. We spent several hours negotiating the next mile of trail and then another good hour in the evening reliving our experiences through the videos!

Want to know how tight the Squeeze is? Just ask the passengers of the two Grand Cherokees! Each vehicle grazed the door handles (which protrude) on the right side, and Phil took a small scratch on his rear quarter panel. The post game analysis blames the contact on the 4.5-inch lifts installed on each Cherokee. The driving surface within the Squeeze imparts a tilt to each vehicle, and the lift, added to the tilt, brought the Cherokee bodies closer to the rock. On other trips, Don has directed stock Cherokees through the Squeeze without any problem. All our other vehicles made it through the Squeeze with inches to spare except for momentary contact of the Discovery mirror.

Throughout the Squeeze mini-adventure, Don provided excellent guidance. He started by showing us the multi-colored rock (paint scratches) and the route to avoid this magnet. Then in an act of confidence (or foolishness?) Don took a volunteer (Scott) to drive his pride and joy through the Squeeze while he spotted. Scott calmly picked his way through to the cheers of everyone. But why worry, it wasn’t his truck! Don tried to stop everyone at the tightest spot to get pictures. This worked for the most part, but Eric in his CJ missed the instructions and blazed through without apparently touching his brakes. He looked like he was taking a stroll in the park and fortunately, his narrow width left plenty of clearance.

Heart Attack Hill comes about half a mile beyond the Squeeze, but in between the two is the menacing overhanging rock on the left. Several feet past the rock, the trail pitches steeply to the left. Trucks with open beds have no problem as the cab is past the rock when the whole vehicle leans to the left, but SUVs and camper shells risk the rear end leaning into the rock. Everyone cleared this obstruction without incident except for Scott; he demonstrated that forward motion greater than a crawling pace can be translated into sideways motion of the truck, ouch. Scott put a dent in his A-column at about eye level. Fortunately, this turned out to be our only metal bending of the trip.

OK, now to Heart Attack Hill! Don first made a quick trip to the bottom and back up to check out the intentions of some Baja Bugs at the bottom. I think this was his excuse to drive up the hill. Then he gave driving (diving?) instructions to the group and went down again. We all followed in order and without incident; it was rather anti-climactic (for me at least). But everyone got good pictures and videos of the steep pitch at the top. The Blazer in the newsletter advertisement is actually parked with a wheel in a big hole - it’s not bouncing wildly as the picture may suggest!

Anyway, the real fun began as the lockered vehicles took their turn at climbing the hill. Phil and Kevin in their Grand Cherokees made an easy time of the hill. The Grand Cherokees each have air lockers in the front and a limited slip in the rear. Tony, in his Wrangler, had some wheel spin, but otherwise made the climb. Tony has one locker and one limited-slip differential. Then Kenji with his rear locker managed his way to the top, but not without some tense moments as he had to make several tries at the summit. Afterward, Kenji vowed to install a front locker and stickier tires, therefore this turned out to be quite an expensive trip for him! Then Jim in his unlockered Land Rover took his turn. He made it part way and tried several times, but couldn’t get any further. Finally, Don in his Trooper (rear locker only) made a quick try to convince himself that he wasn’t going to climb the hill.

Our camp was just a few miles past the hill. After our potluck dinner, we sat around the campfire and watched the day’s videos on a large monitor. The potluck was great and the videos were very entertaining! We saw the Squeeze and hill from top, bottom and side angles. It was like watching the instant replays of a football game.

I’m devoting much of this article to the Squeeze and the Heart Attack Hill because I suspect people contemplating this trip would like to know some details. That was the position I was in. But I don’t mean to short-change the second day.

On Sunday, we covered more ground, saw more sights, and tried a variety of trails. The sites included an unmarked Indian settlement, geologic features in Split Mountain and at the Pumpkin Patch, a desert ghost town and the incredible view from Font’s Point. The unmapped cut-across trail provided endless smaller squeezes and hills, but as veterans of the Squeeze and Heart Attack Hill, they seemed tame by comparison. Regardless, this trail was my highlight of the day.

The trip ended at Font’s Point. What a view! The sun was still high, the air warm and visibility good - the perfect ending to a great weekend!

© 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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