SC4x4G Cougar Buttes Run
September 2010
Attendees: Bob & Kathi, Richard, Mike & Pamela, and Tom & Lawana
Believe it or not, September in the high desert isn’t always sweltering hot. Our September trip to Cougar Buttes was marked with warm days (high 80s/low 90s), cool nights, and no wind. We planned this trip to coincide with Victor Valley 4 Wheelers’ annual Fun In The Desert Run. We thought we’d play it smart and camp near the Bullfrog / Cakewalk trailheads so we could join in as the run passed by. Anyway, that was our plan.
This was the second trip out for Bob’s Purple Jeep and really its first full-on trail test. Our ill-fated mud run Superstition Mountain doesn’t really count as the new rig never got a chance to stretch its legs. Richard’s CJ7, Mike’s TJ Rubicon, and I in SuperCJ rounded out our group for this trip.
Saturday morning found us sipping coffee and, in usual fashion, lollygagging about when the Victor Valley run passed our camp. Oh well, another plan gone awry. We finally loaded up and headed over to the Bullfrog / Cakewalk trailheads. We started off on a hybrid of both trails and, after finally admitting we were lost, we pulled on to Cakewalk for the duration of that trail. Cakewalk is a 3 rated trail and is sort of Moab-esque; lots of big boulders, plenty of bite for the tires, and great vistas. The official run passed us on their return leg as we were about half way through. Guess we were pretty far behind them after all. After finishing Cakewalk, we headed over to the granite quarry near the Cougar Buttes competition area. 10’ x 20’ granite slabs, a huge pile of granite rubble, and a few equipment footings are all that remain to be seen. We understand much of this granite was used in Los Angeles to construct buildings in the 20’s and 30’s.
A full moon and a very bright Jupiter in the eastern sky helped light up our campsite that night. This was the perfect warm summer evening to end a good day of wheeling.
On Sunday, we played around a while, went over to Chicken Hill and to the trailhead of Hammerdown. Since we needed to leave in about an hour, we reserved Hammerdown for another trip. While getting ready for the always needed poser shot, Mike high centered his TJ in a notch so we all joined in a little extracting. Soon the temperature passed the 100 mark. We decided it was too hot and packed up for home. Great trip, and a good test for the Purple Jeep. We’ll be back.
Tom
