Miller Night Run Trip Report.
June 14, 2014
The annual night run up Miller Jeep trail didn't get much traction this year. Only 2 days to go and I only had 3 firm and 1 maybe vehicle. The night before, it turned out to be just 3 of us. It was Mike Sidlinger, Shaun Singer and I.
We met at the Park & Ride at 6:30pm and after brief hellos, safety checks and waivers submitted we hit the road. I was leading and the traffic was light and we quickly transitioned from the 405 to the 5 freeways. Just as we merged onto the 5 I noticed Shaun exiting onto Roxford Street. I pulled over and Mike fell in behind me. Just as I stopped my phone was ringing. Shaun was calling and he indicated that his clutch went flat and would be unable to continue. Bummer.
Mike and I decided to press on. All was smooth to Frazier Park. We stopped at the Flying J for a quick 10-100, and then it was off to the trail head. We were keeping it tight, or so I thought. I made the left onto Lockwood Valley Road and looked back to be sure my tail gunner had my 6, he was missing. I stopped in the road thinking that he was waiting for traffic before turning. 30 seconds…. 1 minute…. 2 minutes. Something is wrong. I turned around and went back to the intersection. No Mike, Damm! I told him “never leave your wing man Maverick” I tried the radio, no contact. I went to backup comms. No Cell signal! I am still waiting at the intersection. Did he miss the turn? Unknown. I wait and 5 minutes go by and it’s time to do something. I head back towards the Flying J. I round a bend an there is Mike on the side of the road with his hood open. That’s not good.
I pull up behind him and put on my flashers. He tells me he was driving along and it just died. We check the obvious things. Battery is good, engine is cranking. I pull off a plug wire and no spark. All the wiring looks good and we have fuel. I give it all on my mechanic magic, but nothing. I few locals come out and offer assistance and encouragement. Mike decides that we will leave it overnight and he will come back the next day and retrieve his dead baby. We tow his Jeep off the main road to the parallel side street. We transfer all his gear to my Jeep and we put our tails between our legs and head south for home. It was such a beautiful night to go wheeling. Temps were in the low 60’s, and a full moon was soon coming up, but it just wasn't to be. I guess in a way it was good Mojo. We could have been half way up Miller and had a double break down.
Mike and I had a nice ride home telling war stories all the way. I dropped Mike at home and went on my way and I got home about 10:30. The next day Mike retrieved his Jeep and a few days later I helped him troubleshoot it. We narrowed it down to the HEI distributor controller inside of the cap. Mike got a new one and its up and running.
Let’s not forget Shaun. He called AAA and got his Jeep towed. It turned out that he has leaking clutch slave cylinder. Now he gets to drop his first Jeep tranny, but not his last I’m sure.
Miller Jeep Trail we will conquer you next time!