Miller Jeep Trail
Saturday, November 13
Participants:
Mike and Laura Whittington - Trail leader
Eric Bernocco
Tory Viso with friend, Dan and his daughter Arial
Robb Miller
Bill Cavan
Jeff Lardner
John Cary and Nova the wonder dog
Bob and Cory Boltner
Mike Bourdon
Russ Mukai
DuWayne and Tina Larson
Richard Hunt
About half the group left early to meet in Fraser Park for breakfast at Denny's. The remainder caravanned and arrived shortly after 8:00. From the Flying J, the group headed towards Lockwood Valley and Lockwood Trailhead.
We couldn't have wished for a nicer day with cool weather and clear skies. We all made good progress up the trail as it was probably the smoothest most of us had ever seen before. This was probably due to the late season and light rain the week before, not to mention a large group of vehicles who came through during Point Mugu Four Wheelers' Fright Night event held the last weekend of October.
DuWayne and Tina Larson had no trouble with their semi stock JK Rubicon, the lowest slung vehicle of the bunch.
Our lunch stop was at the base of Miller Jeep Trail next to the Piru Creek crossing. After a relaxing lunch we headed up Miller. Similar to Lockwood Trail, Miller was relatively "smooth" with a sprinkling of rocks to give it a bit of a challenge in spots. Again, we all made good time to the top of Alamo Mountain and the trip back into Hungry Valley.
At Smokey Bear Road and I-5 we said our goodbyes and headed for home.
The only mishap that occurred all day was by a new friend of Eric's. Eric invited a neighbor with a Jeep to come along. Fuel problems with his Jeep prevented him from completing the trip. He thought the problem was due to a plugged fuel filter. The group left him at an auto parts store in Castaic where he waited until it opened. The group continued up the hill for Fraser Park. He got the new fuel filter and installed it then continued on to rejoin the group. Eric last heard from him as we were about to enter the trail. His fuel delivery problem was more than he thought so he turned around and headed for home. His fuel pump gave out three blocks from home! Much better than half way up Miller Jeep Trail.
Until next time...