posted by Scotch
Decided to beat the heat and pass on the Anza trip (looked fun tho!), and went up to Big Bear (75degress or so..very nice). Met a few friends (4 jeeps total) up there and the decision was made to hit a trail in Arrowhead. Didn't know what I was in for, figured just a scenic trail with great views and some fun spots...maybe even a chance to test out the new lockers....
As we hit the trailhead, there was a sign with some little black diamonds on it..didn't stop to ponder the significance of that...opps! Then about 1/8th of a mile in, we hit our first big test! Serious boulders, vertical climb... Lots of spotting later we all made it. That start of the trail was by far the hardest obstacle I have attempted! Few stalls, but made it through without getting stuck. Had the lockers on..but quickly realized having the front on while have to constantly change direction between boulders and steep embankments doesn't work! Note to self..use fronts only when going in a straight line!
Pretty much the whole trail was vertical (up n down) and kept in low range. I'm pretty sure there were 3 really tough spots..but all I can really remember is the first and LAST.
The last appears to be more of a dried up waterfall with sheer rock and boulders. There was a ton of traffic backlog..some rhino's had gotten stuck, motorcycles flipping over...some real steel carnage! There were really 3 sections to this obstacle, first a sheer rock face to get over, then crawling on top of boulders, and finally a tight switchback between the "cliff/hill' dropoff, a huge tree, and boulders.
Like the other hard obstacles..i went with rear lockers on (better safe than sorry), and would only use the front lockers as needed/per rock/rut. Serious pucker factor but made it through, again a few stalls, but no damage, no reversing, not getting stuck! That was by far the coup-de-grace of the trail, and way outa my league.
After that, there was one more cool obstacle where you went around a bend..and had to drive in a ditch/V so to speak... get too high on either side and you'd tip in. Times like that I appreciate the wider stance of the JK!
Really an exciting trail, but honestly above my experience level. More luck than competency... If I knew what I was getting into I probably would have decided to try it at some later date after I have a few more treks under my belt.
Asked our appointed trail boss what the name of it was...something called Dishpan he replied... when I got home I looked it up....expert black diamond...yikes! I found this webpage about the trail itself:
http://www.myjeeprocks.com/reports/category/big-bear/dishpan_springs/
I have a few pictures..but we spent so much of our time checking our shorts and spotting, kinda forgot the history part!