McIver's Cabin Winter Snow Run

McIver’s Cabin Snow Run January 20, 2018 Report prepared by M. Whittington Participants: Tim Ragan Bob Boltner Bob Marshall Jerome Blunck Mike Whittington Prospective Members: Fred Peterson Bob Besch Wesley Sterr (rode with Bob Boltner) Skip Perkins Kenny Lombino Did I say this was a snow run? Well…almost a snow run. We did have a very heavy (and beautiful) frost on all the trees and bushes when we got up into the national forest. This stayed with us through the day…it was cold up there!!! The day started with everybody meeting at the P&R at 6:00. A brief meeting was held to get everyone on the same page and we headed for Mojave to top off the tanks and regroup. After airing down at the trailhead off Hwy 14, we began the trek into the forest on our way to McIver’s. We had one sketchy spot on the switchbacks that was washed out. We all made it through okay until Bob M. I was at the front of the pack and didn’t see, but I heard over the radio he had blown a radiator hose. Turned out, one of the fittings leading into his heater core broke (how does that happen?) and he spewed antifreeze. Tim R. jumped in, disconnected the broken fitting and hose from the radiator side and ran the return line from the heater core to the connection he removed. Add water and go. All good. Did I say that Bob M. was driving his Tahoe? Yes, he took his Tahoe to McIver’s!!!!! As I mentioned earlier, when we got to the top of the switchbacks and through the rest of the trail to the cabin we were treated to the most beautiful scenery you could imagine for this time of the year (except maybe a bit of snow on the ground). A heavy blanket of frost covered everything above ground level. We’ll post a few photos. At the cabin, not much has changed over the years. McIver’s cabin is showing its age of course but you would too if you had been built during installation of the original LADWP aqueduct project around 1910 then moved by a miner (McIver I would assume) in the 1930’s to its present location. While at the cabin, we ate our lunches and enjoyed each other’s company. Thankfully the cabin is in a sheltered area and the wind wasn’t a big concern so it kept teeth chattering to a minimum (Remember… it was cold up there)! After lunch, we loaded up for the trip back down the hill. Other than a bit of damage to the passenger side rear door on Bob’s Tahoe when he chose to get friendly with a tree rather than get a bit of mud on his rig, we all made it back to the highway without incident. We aired up; said our goodbyes and all headed for home. Great day had by all!