Cow Mountain in May

[TigerDan]

An indesicion has finally been made...:D

The Cow Mountain trip will be the weekend of May 10th/11th, that Sunday being Mother's day. I'll be doing some pre-runs along with Disco-X and possibly Granny and Cambo, invstigating the best places to camp, etc. We will stage in Lakeport and head into the Cow Mountain Area from there. Motels are available in Lakeport for those who do not wish to camp, and I'll check on room rates.

Lakeport is a little over two hours from the Bay Area or Sacramento so doing it as a day trip is not outside the realm of possibilty for those who can't stay the full weekend.

Chime in here if you're going to make it...

[wineryrover]

Should work for me, I'll plan on that.

[Jantiz]

I'm considering perhaps making that one. Wife is flying east to spend it with her mother, so another solo trip for me. Could we get a little more info for those of us who have never been there before? Trail difficulty, mods, equipment required, stock LR3s welcomed :D ?

Also be aware that the home page post still says the trip is on April 19, which is probably why there isn't much of an interest shown yet. Unless there's something about Cow mountain I don't know and should !!!!!

[PCRover]

Also be aware that the home page post still says the trip is on April 19,

Where did you see this?

[Jantiz]

Right on the home page: Pasted message below:


Trip Description:

Gather in Lakeport, California on Saturday morning, April 19th and depart for South Cow Mountain OHV Recreation Area

[PCRover]

Thanks! I corrected it.

[TigerDan]

I will have more info available soon. I plan to do a pre-run next week and will take pics at that time and will give more specifics then. In the meantime, here's some info from the web:

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ukiah/cowmtn.html

First time I've looked at the BLM site for a while...good thing we changed the original date as it seems the OHV area will be closed to the public on on April 18th-20th due to a motorcycle enduro race...

The following link is to an excellent article from a dirtbike magazine on Cow Mountain, replete with pics of the area:

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=331846

And from the Calif. Assn. of 4-wheel-drive clubs Inc.:

http://www.cal4wheel.com/JRaudy/cow.html

Google Maps: (Zoom in for more detail)

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=39.053718,-122.988939&spn=0.11,0.18&q=39.053718,-122.988939(Cow+Mountain)

The area is as easy or as difficult as we want to make it. Depending on the number of people who show up, we may split into two (or more) groups who wish different levels of difficulty. A single large group can be somewhat cumbersome so smaller can be better. One group may wish to simply have an easy drive on the more scenic trails while another might want some off-road challenge, so I think we can accomodate everyone's wishes.

[Tracktorking]

Looks like Ill be going.

I was trying to plan an Area51 Nevada trip to look for UFO's :eek: but time and money sez otherwise.
At least this should satisfy the camping/wheeeling urges for a bit.

Keep us posted on the details. Ill probably try to drive up friday and camp as well as saturday and leave sunday.

[TigerDan]

I've been fighting to find some time to run up to Cow Mountain, my weekends just seem to be too busy so today after work I blasted up there for a quick couple of hours. Drove up to the Red Mountain campground (with a loop around the Spruce Canyon trail, marked as "Most Difficult").

The campground isn't very big and only has 10 sites. It has pit toilets, concrete picnic tables and firepits in the campsites, and not much else. My GPS puts it at around 3000 ft. in elevation. Nice enough location, probably a bit closer to the Ukiah side of the mountain so folks coming up from SF via 101 may wish to drive in from that side. It's only 12 miles in from the Lakeport side and 4 of those are on pavement. A camp trailer could possibly be towed in, though it wouldn't be a lot of fun. BLM's directions say it's a little over 9 miles to the campground from the Ukiah side. Anybody coming up 101 could save about 1/2 hour by going in from that side rather than driving around to Lakeport.

The campground is free, and first come-first served. I don't know how busy it might be on Mother's Day weekend, there was only one space occupied today. It might be best for me to take the Friday off and try to grab up some sites first thing in the morning along with anyone else who may be up for going in early...any takers?

I didn't get any pics...camera problems. I'm going back this Saturday to run some more trails and check out the Obstacle Course which is located near the campground. I could see it across a ravine but didn't have time to get over there. Looks pretty good from what I could see though. I'll get some pics then, as well as check out the Buckhorn campground (which has only 4 sites but may be a viable alternative).

Anybody still want room rates for Lakeport motels?

I've ordered some maps from BLM but they also have a good map of the area available online in PDF format. You may wish to print out your own copy. The link is here:

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/ukiah_pdfs.Par.b7b72dfe.File.dat/South_Cow_Mtn.pdf

[Tracktorking]

If any Bay Area persons would like to meet up and caravan to either lakeport or Eukea let me know. Im thinking of driving up friday and either hotel or camp friday, definatly camping Saturday night. If everyone wants to drive up Saturday I would do that, otherwise I might go up friday and have a nice 3 day weekend.

[TigerDan]

Lots of pics from today's trip...too many to post them all. (Besides, that might spoil the sense of discovery in seeing the sights in person!)

I'll have to resize them but here are a few teasers. The first is the Scotts Creek staging area, followed by a pic looking back at Scotts Creek road with Clear Lake and Mt. Konocti in the background, and the last is of the Buckhorn campground. I found it empty which sort of surprised me on such a nice weekend. The Red Mountain campground was also empty...sort of. A group of 'Yota drivers were using it as their staging area and parked their trucks and trailers all over the campground, but there didn't seem to be any campsites in use. Being as how next weekend is really more of a restaurant weekend than a camping weekend for most folks, we may be in luck for having the campground to ourselves. I prefer the smaller Buckhorn campground, but the Red Mtn. campground is more open being situated on a hilltop and has some great views.

I checked out the obstacle course as well, but as luck would have it my camera ran out of memory just before I got there so pics will have to come later. It's fairly impressive though. Lots of big rocks and stairsteps, some things I wouldn't even attempt with my Rover without about 8 inches of lift, 44's, lockers etc. and some experienced spotters! I don't think anyone will go away disappointed at not finding anything challenging enough!

Oh, and one other thing...be prepared for a little dust! The trails are pretty dry...:rolleyes:

So, I think it's time we got a count for who can definitely be there, and whether you plan to come Friday or Saturday, and whether you plan to leave Saturday or Sunday. I need to know how many to plan on for camping. I'll be camping both Friday and Saturday nights.

[Tracktorking]

I am planning to drive up friday and camp fri-sat and head home sunday.:D

[wineryrover]

I'll be there Saturday morning, around 9 am. Should we plan on meeting in the Buckhorn campground?

[TigerDan]

I think that would probably be best, Robb. It's easy enough to get to and several of us will already be up there Friday night, so it would save me having to come back into Lakeport and lead folks in. I can post signs at the turnoffs leading to the camp.

[TigerDan]

So far we have four registered with vehicles:

Dan Harris (NCLR087) Trip Leader

Chris Tavenner (NCLR066)

Sam Hoke (NCLR095) (Riding with Chris)

Robb Felder (NCLR037)

Also, Eric Etischer who says he'll have a friend along, and possbly one other vehicle as well. Several other people have said they'd go but haven't confirmed or registered at this point.

[wineryrover]

If a anyone wants to meet in Lakeport and go in together we can do that. But at this point, it looks like meeting at the campsite is best as you will all be there.

Any last minute peeps that want to go Saturday morning and drive up together or meet in Lakeport let me know. Should be a great spot to wheel, looking forward to it!

[TigerDan]

Robb, you might want to meet up with Etischer in Lakeport as he and his companions are planning to stay Friday night in Lakeport and come out to camp in the morning, though I've suggested that he might want to come straight out to camp as it's only about 15-20 minutes out of Lakeport.

For everyone, I suppose directions are in order. I presume y'all can find your way to Lakeport, but depending on where you're coming from, there are shortcuts you can take. Let me know if you want the shortcuts.

From the East Bay, come up 29 from Vallejo (Silverado trail saves some time on that route.) 29 comes right through Lakeport so it's pretty much a no-brainer, but there are a couple of other shortcuts that'll save you about 20 minutes. Take 175 from Middletown up to Cobb, and then Bottle Rock Road back down to 29 just outside Kelseyville. That's the route I always take.

From SF, come up 101. You have a couple of choices here...you can turn off just north of Santa Rosa and cut over to Calistoga and onto 29, then take the shortcuts I referred to above. This is a pretty twisty route, but it's all good road and not too terribly twisty. Alternatively, you can stay on 101 up to Hopland and take 175 over the mountain into Lakeport. This is actually the fastest (for me, anyway) as you stay on 101 for quite a ways, and only hit the very twisty 175 coming out of Hopland. It's twistier than 29, but for a shorter distance. If you want the straightest (and longest) shot, stay on 101 till just north of Ukiah and take hwy. 20 to Lake county, and then 29 into Lakeport.

From the Sac. area, take I-5 to Williams and turn west onto hwy. 20 (There's another shortcut that I can clue you in on that bypasses Williams and saves about 10 minutes) and then just before you reach Clear lake you turn left onto hwy. 53, then at Lower Lake you go right onto 29 and on around the lake into Lakeport.

Anyone who needs more detailed directions (and shortcuts) let me know.

PMs being sent out with my phone numbers.

Se ya up here! Looks to be a good trip!

[RON CT110]

Ok, my Mother's Day gift (nice one) to my wife might be my ticket to a get away ths wknd! :D

Plus, I think my wife can use her "me" time away from our two wild boys and me! :D:D

Robb/Dan, can you PM your cell #; might show up just in time for Saturday nite camp fire or Sunday wheeling.

Will also have my CB channel on 7; what time do you plan on getting up and going wheeling Sunday? Keyseyville is only 2 hrs away from me! Thinking of heading out 6pm Sat nite or 6am Sun morning!

Bringing the CT110 this time!

[wineryrover]

Ok, my Mother's Day gift (nice one) to my wife might be my ticket to a get away ths wknd! :D

Plus, I think my wife can use her "me" time away from our two wild boys and me! :D:D

Robb/Dan, can you PM your cell #; might show up just in time for Saturday nite camp fire or Sunday wheeling.

Will also have my CB channel on 7; what time do you plan on getting up and going wheeling Sunday? Keyseyville is only 2 hrs away from me! Thinking of heading out 6pm Sat nite or 6am Sun morning!

Bringing the CT110 this time!


You've got mail :D

[TigerDan]

Well, it's all over but the shouting...

I went up to Buckhorn Camp Friday evening on my own as Chris and Sam were caught in heavy traffic on 101 and had to detour over to 29, delaying their expected arrival by a good amount. I arrived at about 6:45 and found it empty so I chose my preferred site and unloaded some supplies, then went back up the road to place signs indicating the route to the camp as it's not clearly marked in places. While out on trail I made a few phone calls in a spot where I had a signal showing on my phone and found that Eric and Co. were a little delayed in their departure. I gave Eric GPS coordinates and said he'd navigate to the site by GPS.

Back in camp I sarted a fire, then changed my mind and moved camp to site that was a bit larger and more open, and visible from the trail so that people coming down the road could see the light of the fire and my lantern. My phone rang and I found that I had cell reception in the camp, even though I had no bars showing. Eric was letting me know that they were on the road and projected arrival time by GPS was 11:15. So I sat back and waited...and waited.

A little before ten I heard the sound of vehicles and saw the lights of two trucks coming down the road into camp. Expecting to see Rovers I was surprised when a Toyota and a Jeep rolled into camp. Suddenly I had neighbors, kids with a dirtbike and thumping stereo. (At least they weren't too loud!) They set up camp in the more remote site I had vacated earlier.

But soon enough, Chris and Sam rolled in. They had taken a wrong turn in Lakeport, missing the road into Cow Mountain but eventually found it. We socialized while they set up camp and we had dinner, then settled down to wait for Eric and Co. I talked to them by phone a few times, they were getting in some serious off-roading in the dark as the GPS sent them on an extremely creative route (I still can't even find it on the map!) and they were going down a very narrow track in the middle of nowhere, getting the trucks nicely pinstriped. After doing some backtracking and ending up in Lakeport and refueling, they found their way to camp at about 2:00am. Eric's friends were Alan, driving his Jeep Wrangler and Dennis, Sadam and Mike. They set up camp in the next site and we all turned in.

Saturday dawned clear and comfortable, We had breakfast and set about making ready for the day's wheeling while we waited for Robb. I had wanted to hit the trail by 10:00 and almost on the dot of 10:00 we were treated to sight of Robb's RHD Series III coming down the trail into camp. After a bit more socializing (read: BS'ing) we got on the trail. I led the way and we motored back down Scott's Creek road (the main road through the Cow Mountain area) to the turnoff for trail 17, Spruce Canyon trail. It winds its way down into the canyon with increasing steepness and narrowing, eventually turning to sharp switchbacks, one so sharp that the trail is not recommended for long wheelbase vehicles. We had to each take two or three Y-turns to get around it. Eric did some nice articulation on the inside of the turn which resulted in some nice (I hope ) pics for me. We made it through that small hurdle, crossed the bridge and climbed back out of the canyon. We met a few dirtbikes along the way, both overtaking us and coming the other way but never saw another truck on the trail.

We stopped at the top in several places for photo ops and then pulled over to discuss the situation that had arisen; Eric's belt tensioner had started acting up and he had given it shot of oil and it had quieted down, but it was getting noisy again and he was growing concerned. As well, Robb had to leave by 2:00 so we agreed to take trail 15 back to Scott's Creek road and then proceed to the obstacle course, putter about there for a bit and then head down the hill to Lakeport to solve Eric's problem as well as give Sam and Chris the opportunity to hit the market as Sam had already eaten most of the food they brought with them.:D

At the obstacle course we found that the Mendocino 4X4 club was having a meet with their rock crawlers and had a bit of a course set up. We went on up the hill to the top where they were all staged and Robb promptly showed us how well the Series III performs on two wheels when he failed to see the offside drop at the top that was invisible to him from the right side of the vehicle. That heart-pounding moment behind us, we took a break and watched a bit (none of us were about to wreck our trucks on the bit of course the Mendo club were using anyhow) and then went down the hill to climb back up the trail on a different obstacle hill climb, whereupon I managed to bend my left track rod going over a log with a big hole at one side, pulling the left rear tire forward into the wheel well and the side skirt, tearing it loose. I yanked my side skirt off the rest of the way and drove to the top of the hill with the wheel rubbing, then used a piece of square tubing that Eric had as a prybar to bend my track rod back into shape...sort of. It was now a nice S-shape, but at least not rubbing.

Seeing as how it was now about 2:00, we all decided to take the opportunity to head back down to Lakeport. I had another track rod on one of my parts Rovers at work so I wasn't too concerned about my impending repair job.

Back down the mountain at the Scott's Creek staging area Robb took his leave of us while we took a break and drove through the creek a few times, washing some of the dirt off the trucks...till Alan decided to play U-boat commander and submerged the front end of his Jeep! Alan shut off the engine instantly, thereby avoiding doing any mechanical damage. Eric quickly yanked him out and they set about draining the water out, pulling plugs and spinning the engine to blow out the cylinders and draining the water out of the crankcase. Seeing as how they had things well I hand I told Eric how to get to my work and I set off to take care of my track rod pretzel problem while Chris and Sam headed for the market.

I had my truck fixed in about 15 minutes and was waiting for the others to show when Eric checked in. They had gotten the Jeep started and headed for town when it lost oil pressure so they were having it towed. They brought it to my work and proceeded to change engine and tranny fluids. Chris and Sam headed back to camp to check on things and get the fire started. After a bit, Mike (DiscoX) who now resides up here at Clear lake, having moved from Fresno last month, showed up with his dad. Eric, having fixed his belt tensioner problem, led them back up to camp while I stayed with Alan and Dennis who were knee deep in the Jeep's fluid change.

Eventually it was done and they headed up the hill to Micky D's to use the facilities while I headed back towards camp. My Rover started running rough going up the hill and suddenly there was a loud pop followed by a cloud of steam as the engine simply shut down. In dismay I got out to assess the damage, when the steam cleared I found that I had popped the upper radiator hose right at the water neck. Fortunately there was enough hose that I was able to cut off the damaged portion and reattach it, then filled the radiator with the two gallons of water I always carry which was just enough. I checked and dried a few electrical connections as well as the dist. cap and gave it a try. Somehow, it actually started after a bit of cranking and I stared up the hill agin, nursing it in low range as it was still running a bit rough. I wasn't too far from the top when the hose went so the road soo topped out and it was an easy run back to camp from there. I was a bit concerned however that the Jeep hadn't overtaken me in the 15 minutes or so that I was down. When I git back to camp I was told that they had called in from further down the trail, apparently the Jeep's tranny had blown its guts out all over the trail in a cloud of smoke.

Eric and Sam piled into Eric's Dico and headed back down followed by Mike and his dad who were heading back home, having just come out for a quick trip to check out the area and say hello. The plan was to get the Jeep to the side of the trail to deal with the next day and bring Alan and Dennis back to camp. Sam and Eric soon returned, followed by the Jeep which apparently wasn't terminal after all and had just blown some excess tranny fluid onto the exhaust casing an impressive cloud of smoke.

We had a nice relaxing late steak BBQ dinner and turned in, and everyone packed up and hit the road home around 9:00 the next morning. Ron called in about 8:00 from a little north of Santa Rosa and I apprised him of the change in plan with folks pulling out a bit earlier than expected so he elected to return home.

Although it was a weekend not without its problems, it was still, all in all, a good trip. What trip with camping, Rovers, and good folks isn't? My apologies go out to Ron for his wasted trip.

The Cow Mountain area has a lot to offer and we barely scratched the surface. A bit more wheeling would have been nice, especially a night run. The campground makes an excellent, centrally located base camp and apparently doesn't get a lot of use as most folks seem to prefer the larger, more accessible Red Mountain camp with its close proximity to the obstacle course. I would certainly organize another such trip here in the future, and now have a better idea of what pitfalls to avoid in planning such a trip. Perhaps in the fall...

I have quite a few pics I took but haven't had time to download them to my PC and resize them. I'll post some tomorrow. Eric took quite a few and as many of you know is quite good about being in the right place at the right time to capture one's embarrasments on camera :D so I suspect he'll be posting some pics as well.

Respectfully submitted,

-TigerDan

[sasquatch]

Great summary Dan!! Sounds like a full trip. I think it's great that Jeeps, Toy's or what ever roll with us. Off-pavement is all that matters. I feel pretty lucky to be able to hang with this club!!:D Post pix...soon

[RON CT110]

Excellent write-up Dan; successfull trip I would say, and what's a trip without mishaps and challenges especially when people play the game of U-boat! :D

No apologies needed; It's a good call for me to turn around Sunday considering you have a bent track rod, damaged radiator hose, and folks are tired/packing to go home from the u-boat recovery session; no need to push any luck! Not a wasted trip for me, I took the kids to Discovery Kingdom instead.

Next time, I'd like to hit and suggest Cow Mountain for the MORG (Monthly Off-Road Gathering); Hollister and Cow Mountain is very comparable and equal distance for me. Also makes it closer to folks you Rupert, and folks who live in the Northern part of California.

I want to plan a trip to Lost Coast this year and perhaps to start off with a recce and maybe a stop-over to Cow Mountain. Hope you and maybe Disco X can join me on a recce, and ultimately plan a NCLR tirp!

Post pics!

C yah!

[wineryrover]

Thanks Dan for the great write up. Wow, it sounds like things took a mechanical down turn after I left. Sorry I couldn’t have been there to help, but it sounds like you all had it under control.

As for Cow Mountain, the campsite area, and the trails, I think this is a great spot. Well worth the drive for anyone in the bay area and would be especially fun with a little rain influence. As Dan mentioned, there were so many trails that we barely scratched the surface, and there is something for every level of truck and experience. I think in the future though I will try to keep more of my wheels on the ground. :D

I agree with Ron regarding a MORG at Cow Mountain. If you like Hollister you will like Cow Mountain, and if you have been to Hollister a lot you will like the change of scenery.

[Jantiz]

May I sugest that we officially request a "one time" change of location to Cow Mountain as the location for an upcoming MORG? It seems to be close enough to be a single day trip as the MORG intends to be and a change of scenery once in a while is always a good idea!

[sasquatch]

X2 on change of venue. Chuck can't afford to add to the Hollister Mortality Rate Figures spreadsheet...

[TigerDan]

I was even thinking it would be good to rotate it, one month at Hollister and the next at Cow Mountain, and so on. Give a little more variety and make it easier on folks who can't always make one or the other due to distance.

I uploaded my pics to Photobucket, all of them from the trip so there are a few repetitions and failed experiments in there. I'll try to edit the album later to clean it up but for now, here's what I have:

http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l97/1TigerDan/Cow%20Mountain%20Trip/

[Tracktorking]

Hey guys
I wrote up a good article and pics, you can find it here (http://tractorair.com/cow%20mountain.htm)

Good time and great location.

[TigerDan]

Nice write-up Chris! And thanks for sharing the pics of things I somehow missed, as well as filling in some of the blanks in my report...!

[TigerDan]

Mike (Disco X) and I took a run up Cow Mountain today in the smoke and dust. Scotts Creek is dried up now and the hole that almost swallowed the Jeep is completely visible...it's a good thing he stopped when he did, that's a deep hole! Mike took some pics of my Rover down in it, filled with water there would have been just my roof showing...:eek:

I think Mike will post the pics later...