Thanks to all who trusted me with the safety of their rigs on this run, especially since it was my first as ride leader. It was a long and adventurous day, according to my OnX track we did just under 54 miles of rocky, rutted and muddy forest trails.
In the morning we circled the Eureka Mesa, saw some gorgeous views and took a gnarly detour (which raised a few eyebrows) down to the abandoned Nacimiento copper mines. We all took some time to explore the mines and tailing areas and many in the group picked up some colorful rocks with lots of copper oxidation, to bring home. Unfortunately, Jack spent most of this time working underneath his TJ to replace several broken skid plate bolts.
We broke for lunch a little after noon at a shady campsite along the American Creek trail, where Jonathan discovered he had torn a sidewall and had to change out with his spare. Meanwhile, Baine - Doug and Snow’s overlanding pooch got buzzed by an overhead hawk as we all finished our snacks.
We proceeded down the Fern Foliage trail, and after exchanging glances with a rather large bull, second guessed which was the correct way, and circled back to cross Rte 126. 94 took us towards the girl scout camp, where the road became private and had to take a lengthy detour around, that began with a mile long, steep and rocky climb which put everyone into 4 low and lockers and spotting for some.
The afternoon flew by quickly as we made our way back to 534 / 376 and on to the Gilman tunnels around 5:30 to air up and head home. Special thanks to Jonathan and Jack and Cathy for supporting me as club officers, on the first of hopefully many trips I plan to lead in the future!
