Hollister trail pre-run, Thursday 18th

[Jantiz]

As mentioned earlier on another tread, a few trail leaders, myself included, will be at Hollister this thursday 18th to pre-run some of the trails for the October event. I'm bringing a couple of M998 (military hummers) with me since I have a class going through advanced driver's training on the following thursday and I need to pre-run the trails with them as well anyway, kinda killing 2 birds with one stone.

A few of the other trail leaders who could take off that day from work should be there as well. I received my Cobra HH Road Trip so I'm looking forward to testing it on site and I'll be bringing my wife's 04 Disco instead of the LR3 to start my own familiarization with the TC and the CDL on those. I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about and I understand first hand the limitations and capabilities of other "stock" Discos that might find their way to my trail run in October.

If anyone else is available to join us, feel free to come out and play. There's always room for more!

[Disco2Guy]

Is should still be able to make it Thursday, even though the gas money is a little tight right now.

[Jantiz]

Yeah, cause it's all going into mods. Look at that list... sheeesh:eek::rolleyes:

[Disco12]

wish I could come.

my disco would fit in well with the humvee's!:D

[Disco2Guy]

To quote Homer Simpson, "It's funny, cause it's true!!". I'm waiting to hear back on a snatch block and rear ladder as I write this...

edit: I Photoshop J Crawler in there for ya;)

[Gotrovr]

nice offer Luis, unfortunately for me I'll be out of town..

[esteban]

I'll be there! I won't be there until most likely around 1pm. I'll give a jingle on channel 7 when I get there.

Steve

[RON CT110]

Have fun guys!

I will be at work while you guys have grins on yor faces this Thursday wheeling @ Hollister during a week day!

C yah!

As soon as I get the details, I will post the trail runs sign-up online for folks attending the Annual Event.

Thanks again!

[Disco2Guy]

I'll be there! I won't be there until most likely around 1pm. I'll give a jingle on channel 7 when I get there.

Steve

That sounds like a good time for me as well Steve, wanna to "meet" up again? By that I mean I'll call you a little sooner and drive a lot slower:p

[esteban]

Sounds good! Call when you're on the way down. I'm picking up a friend and I'll try to coordinate.

Steve

[Disco2Guy]

Will do. If you're not in the area/miss each other we can meet up at the same 76 station in Hollister like last time too.

[esteban]

Ok.

[Disco2Guy]

I may want to head down a little earlier, what's your eta looking like Luis?

[MrVideo]

Hey guys, I have Thursday free so I was thinking of joining in. Turns out that my brother is between jobs & is itching to get out off road with us.

I am planning on leaving Oakland @ 9 AM, picking up my brother in San Jose @ 10 AM and hitting Hollister Hills by 11:30.

Looking forward to seeing the new course :rolleyes:

[Disco2Guy]

Cool Jim!! See you there.

[Jantiz]

I'm planning to leave Oakland around 6 am since it takes longer to get there on M998s. After a mandatory stop at Safeway in Hollister, I expect to hit the trails around 9 am. Planning to be there all day. We'll either stop at the shade trees at Jarrell's gulchor at the shade trees at the original obstacle course for lunch. If you get there at any other time reach me on channel 7. Gonna be trying my new HH Cobra Road Trip!

[esteban]

I'm figuring by the time I get down there it'll be 1, and I'll be ready for some lunch!

[Disco2Guy]

Today was a good productive time. I ran around Bonanza Gulch when I heard Steve over the cb. We met by the tables at the old obstacle course and made out way up to the Top of the World. Without contacting Luis, we literally merged behind the Hummvee's at Fremontia and West Trail, and then I saw him in my rear view in the D2. After eating lunch we decided to get travel times to ensure we can hit all of the planned spots within the 2-3 hour time span.

On the way back to the new obs course to start timing we saw Jim and his brother Kevin enjoying the emptiness of the park. Jim ran around while Steve and I re-wound his winch cable

It takes about 20 minutes from the new obstacle course to the Top of the World taking the route Luis mentioned in another post. Our plan is to hit the old obs course, the new one, and leave Jarell's Gulch/Truck Hill within 2 hours of leaving Area 5. The last hour will be getting to Top of the World and descending, taking West Trail for a quick stop at the quarry before heading back to camp. To get a better idea of where we will be going I am in the process of creating a path of the run using Google Earth. Thanks for the tip Ron!! It's much better now than when it was first released (haven't used it since then).

I will zip, then post the .kmz file (the Google Earth format of the trail) in the Library section. Then, anyone who has installed Google Earth will be able to "drive" the trail using the play tour button in GE. I will detail those instructions and other GE info in another thread.

Luis was able to run everything in his stock D2, with street tires on 18" wheels. Sections of the trail are at the upper limits of what can be done with the stock vehicle, like the end of Hill Climb Return. If this is a member's first time off roading in a comparable vehicle they should consider not joining this run. Backing down a failed climb at Hill Climb Return Hill for a first timer might be too much.

Ok, I'm off to plan out the trail in Google Earth and will be back with details on that. Enjoy the pics.

[Disco2Guy]

First you will need to download and install Google Earth (http://pack.google.com/intl/en/integrated_eula.html?hl=en&ciint=ci_earth&ci_earth=onciint=ci_earth&utm_source=en-cdr-earth4&utm_medium=cdr&utm_campaign=en). Once it has been installed, run it and go to the menu Tools> Options... Click on the Touring tab and slide the Camera Range all the way to the left (150 meters). This will bring the camera closer to the ground for the tour. Hit OK. To the left of the map there is a flyout panel labeled Layers. Check the last option box, Terrain, and the map will go from a flat 2d map to a full 3d version that will let you see the terrain. You are now ready to load the two files that will take you on the tour.

From the main menu click on File>Open and select the files More Difficult Trail.kmz and Destinations.kmz found in the attached .zip file. Expand More Difficult Trail in the Places flyout panel and click the play button. The camera should follow the path from the old obs course all around the park back to Area 5.

You can use the navigation tools on the right of the screen to move about the map on your own. Or, LMB (left mouse button) will pan the camera, MMB (middle mouse button) will rotate, and RMB (right mouse button) will zoom the camera. Another cool feature is time of day. If you click on the rising sun icon on top of the map you can drag the slider to anytime of day to see sun positioning and shadows on the hills, assuming you have the Terrain button checked.

[RON CT110]

Today was a good productive time... To get a better idea of where we will be going I am in the process of creating a path of the run using Google Earth. Thanks for the tip Ron!! It's much better now than when it was first released (haven't used it since then).

I will zip, then post the .kmz file (the Google Earth format of the trail) in the Library section. Then, anyone who has installed Google Earth will be able to "drive" the trail using the play tour button in GE. I will detail those instructions and other GE info in another thread.

You certainly embassed the tool well Brenton; cool!

And good job Luis and the gang on this trail pre-run! Awesome!

[Phil.]

good job on mapping out the trail!

[MrVideo]

Had a chance to run the new course Thursday afternoon and since we were alone on the track, it provided great photo ops. Here are a few of the new obstacles you can look forward to. They also installed winch points around the track. The dirt is fine almost like talcum power that gets all around your rig so beware. ;)