The SoCal Desert Rendezvous 2011

Getting ready for the rendezvous!

 

Post Rendezvous write up:

So here I am...all loaded up! For this trip I decided to bring the motorcycle, so a custom bumper had been made, but the van sat a little low with the 300lb motorcycle. To compensate, I put in airbags in the rear springs of the van. It drastically helped!

You can see water out the back of the van as it seems the new water filler pipe I installed wasn't fully sealing! I noticed dripping out of the bottom of the van (NOT GOOD!!). I couldn't get it to seal and I didn't want more and more water to get in the van to avoid a rust issue, so I only filled it halfway and called it good. Besides, that was still about 6 gallons of water for two and a half days in the desert.

I drove out to meet Greg at his cabin in Forest Falls (yes, out of the way). I arrived first so I decided to make a sandwich. Greg ran a little late which meant I had time to make and eat lunch and take a nap. Sorry, Greg! Don't be late, dude! So when he got there, we loaded up the van from his truck and I made him have lunch in the car. 

We arrived in the late afternoon as the sun was just starting to throw a shadow on one side of the camp from the top of the surrounding mountain. We set up and unloaded the motorcycle.

We walked around camp and met some people. I camped next to Jeff whom I've mentioned on the blog before from Mojave AND Big Bear trips. He's got the Toyota Tacoma with the popup camper (and nice heater). He had too much carne asada and offered us tacos and I traded some wine. It was dark by then and campfires were lighting up. We met up at the main campfire and I attempted to make rounds to all the different fires that night to meet everyone for a fireside chat. 

It was then that Zach from Overland Gourmet showed up. He immediately unpacked a 20foot long table with multiple barbecues, cutting boards and table space. He set to work making goat cheese and bacon stuffed mushrooms, followed by a Japanese pork with dipping sauce, followed by grilled peaches with brown sugar!!!!! DID I MENTION IT WAS ABOUT MIDNIGHT!!!

So I had previously asked the Expedition Portal about the "drinking" policy. The rules were stated. I followed them. In fact, I think I didn't bring enough drinks for myself so it was a relatively sober weekend which was great! Although for the one guy that broke the rules....not so great. He was cruising around on a motorized bicycle, pretty intoxicated. He went down pretty hard on accident, but ended up breaking his collarbone. He was put to bed...not sure if the sleeping bag was duct taped up like in the rules though! just kidding! (side note: He posted up afterwards that he went to the hospital and is OK to make a full recovery).

The next morning was pretty windy. I woke up to the van rocking in the wind. As I groggily leaned up from the downstairs bunk, I peered out the windows to see people trying to hide from the wind. I guess now would be the time to fire up the heater and lay back down without struggling in the wind. By the time I got up, the wind had died down to a beautiful morning.

Here is the Syncro Vanagon crowd's U-shape camp:

The Syncro guys were really nice! (Bill, Jon and Seth) They invited me to Syncrofest coming up in mid April. I hope to make it! Bill's van is pretty sweet with what looks to be a custom Westfalia interior and a pop top added.

His pooch is a sweetie as well:

So then it was ADVENTURE TIME! I met up with Justin who was the only other guy with a motorcycle. He was much more hardcore as he had ridden out to camp on his motorcycle via mostly dirt roads. We met up with Tim and Mark. Tim was taking us on the Augustine Pass. This turned out to be a pretty awesome trip lasting a few hours!

 

Everything started out great. I was getting tips on riding, and we had a decent pace. We stopped first at the leftover bombs from the bombing range. Then we continued on to the top of Augustine Pass. After a rest at the top (there was even a clean porta potty!!) we continued on through the pass. Tim had mentioned there wouldn't be a lot of sand...............

Not so much....the wash was a good portion of the trail. Both Justin and I did this 2-3 times. Riding in sand is TOUGH! We were sweating by the end of the wash and happy to get on loose dirt again! We found a cool old mining area.

After that, we continued on. We went through another wash and ended up at the end of it. Crap. Now what? There was a "trail" heading up out the side of the wash. ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I thought to myself. I watched Justin jam up the hill having a tank slappin' good time. I positioned myself. I gunned it. The rise was over 45 degrees of incline and I was spitting dirt like it was going out of style scrambling to the top. I popped up behind Justin who looks back at me and with a big smile he makes a sign of the cross like "Holy Jesus, thank you we just made that!"

After that the rest of the ride was easier although Justin nearly went off the edge of a ridge with me close behind. We got back to the main road and decided that we knew where we were at that point and we opened up the throttles. Cruising at 45mph, we jammed back to camp blasting through sand, loose sandy corners and having a ball!

oooooo, a beer never tasted so good. I even graced the camp with me in my undies (sorry if you missed it ladies) while I showered next to the van. I felt like a new man. We meandered over to the trash pickup where Greg and I submitted a bag of trash. 

I went out with Mitch, Apryl, Derek, Kevin, Robert and Alineh to do some shooting. My wrist was throbbing from riding that day so I couldn't shoot any of the big guns, but I did shoot the .22 rifle which was fun. PING PING PING! Mitch also sold me a handheld HAM radio which will be handy in the van and also while riding and hiking for security communications in case of emergency! Thanks again Mitch!

After that, Zach from Overland Gourmet fired up his Snow Peak gear and started carne asada tacos for the entire camp! Let's just say that all my riding that day gave me an appetite!

Seth's van is pretty sweet in the firelight:

It was a great night hanging out with a group.

The next morning was overcast, but I heard it was pouring rain in Los Angeles. Sounds like we got the better deal!

If you look at the picture above (click on it to see it LARGER) you'll notice on the highest peak there is a boulder. Next to that boulder, you'll see a small figure. That's Greg after hiking from the van to the top of the mountain in literally 15 minutes. He's a machine.

Can you see us?

So off we went, at noon, for home. Greg and I thought it might be good to take the rail home haha CHOO CHOO

But alas, all good things come to an end....

- The Adventure Brigade

More photos to come as I collect them from people. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: I didn't have a camera, so while some of these photos are from my iPhone, thanks to the happy campers from the weekend, I was able to salvage the blog with stolen pictures!