Matino Wash
January 17, 2015
By Mike W.
Attendees:
Mike W. and guest, Jim Robertson
John C. and Nova The Wonder Dog
Bob B.
Sully
Russ M.
With the exception of John C. the group left the Porter Ranch P&R on time and headed out for the trailhead. John C. spent the night out nearby and met us at the Rattlesnake Canyon trailhead. After airing down and loading up, we all headed for Matino Wash.
The weather was perfect. Nice and cool in the morning without a cloud in the sky. It only got nicer as the day progressed.
This was supposed to be a snow run but unfortunately there wasn't a flake in site, not even in the shadows.
After turning into Matino Wash, at our first real obstacle, our only real mishap of the day happened. Sully broke the drivers (short) side front axle shaft at the u-joint. Thankfully, Mr. Sully had a spare with him. We made the quick repair and while we were at it, ate our lunches.
As always, Matino Wash is a lot of fun with plenty of challenges for any reasonably prepared crawler.
Once we exited Matino Wash it was still relatively early in the day so we decided to do some exploring in and around the Joshua tree forest. We followed one trail to the beginning of a mine that went into the side of the hill about 30 feet. We also visited a cabin that was now abandoned but you could see that at one time it would have been a really nice place to have. We also visited an old water well derrick and nearby artesian well. As we drove around the Joshua trees we saw obvious signs that quite a few people lived up there at one time. Most likely a long time ago.
We ran into one other vehicle while up in the Joshua trees; a very nice older couple trying to find their way to Big Bear. They looked to be in good shape and in no real hurry. We said goodbye and they went one way and we the other.
After we finished poking around the Joshua trees we headed back down Rattlesnake for the trailhead.
After we loaded up we said our goodbyes to John C. who returned to his motor home the rest of the group headed for Apple Valley and dinner at Nick's Pizza then we headed for home.
It was a long day but a good day. Thanks for making it so much fun guys!