Rover Rendevous

Sorry for the lack of writing lately. Life has been busy and it is summer. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the tenth annual Rover Rendezvous in Big Bear, CA. The event is a yearly event hosted by the Southern California Land Rover Club (SCLR). This was my first event of any kind involving this club.

Before I really continue with my tale, I should mention that I took my mother up a few weeks ago thinking I was going to event then. Instead after arriving and not finding anyone else, I finally realized I had the dates messed up. Oh well, sometimes these things happen and at least I got a nice weekend with my mother.

As with most things that I try to do, this one had some early setbacks. My Defender is leaking oil from the transmission from my previous trip and I was feeling uncomfortable that it might be a problem. The 109" has historically been reliable but it's also been neglected the last few years. It also was full of parts for the Range Rover. My last resort was to use a company vehicle but without approval I could not. So it looked like I would be travelling to the rendezvous without a Land Rover.

I phoned my mate Steve who owns British Car Service in Los Angeles. I explained my situation and he agreed to let me ride with him. To make it even better he volunteered a rooftop tent for me to sleep in. So I packed my bags and rode my BMW GSA to the Land Rover event.

Turns out riding a heavily loaded big motorcycle through Los Angeles traffic is hard work. But it proved to be worth it.  It was 107 degrees and I was very hot. I finally arrived to the campground after the two and a half hour ride.

When I arrived Steve, and his friend Mickey were already set up in Steve's sportsmobile, and enjoying a few drinks next to the crackling fire. I quickly settled in, and joined in. After having a couple of drinks, my expectation was to sleep well, but was I wrong. The temperatures dropped to around 30 degrees, and was woken up by the cold. I put all my layers on, but that only helped slightly. The sun finally rose, and I was able to warm up, but unfortunately I hadn't gotten enough sleep. It was really cool though to sleep on the roof of a real Camel Trophy vehicle.

Day 2 started with a nice English bacon, butter on toast breakfast. I had forgotten how nice English bacon is. Thanks to Mickey and culinary talents we were ready for first trail day.

We checked in with event staff to align for our selected trail. It took a while, as the organization, and direction provided was minimal. We finally met our group, and headed for the Horsethief Canyon trail. The 100" while being one of the best vehicles ever made, was never a fast mover. The LR3's easily left us in their dust, but we managed and catch up at the trailhead.

The trail was a bit of an unknown for us. As it turned out it was an unknown for everyone. I would soon find out that the trail leader had never been on the trail either. Steve chose it because it was rated moderate, and he didn't want to damage his very collectible Camel Trophy 110.

The old mining road started out with a slight decent in to the valley. The views are spectacular, and look down onto Joshua Tree National Park. Large basketball sized boulder littered the roadway, but with careful navigation, and slow driving were not an issue. After cruising through the valley floor on undulating sand mounds, the road narrows, and becomes rough once again. After bouncing, and jarring ourselves all the way down, we had finally found a difficult section. I got out to have a look, and see why the convoy had stopped.

Brad, the trail leader, and the driver of the second LR3 were standing at the top of the hill looking down, and assessing the situation. They deliberated, and thought turning around may be the best option. I disagreed, and they trusted my judgement, so I spotted the group through the section. No damage, or rubbing occurred on any of the vehicles. Near the roads end we parked, and ate lunch in the 100 degree heat.

Then the fun started. It turns out that the trail is a dead end. That meant we would have to drive out the way we came, and more importantly back up the difficult hill.

With detailed spotting, and the drivers now trusting my abilities, I got the LR3's up without damage. It was pushing them to their factory limits, but very impressive. The Camel Trophy truck had a problem from the start. Partially too much throttle, and the fact it has a manual transmission made things worse. As it turned out, Steve had put the vehicle in low range, but forgot to engage the center locking differential. This meant it managed to climb out of a very difficult section in front wheel drive.

After driving off the trail, the three of us decided a trip to town for supplies would be a good idea. Four hours and countless drinks later, we had managed to have at least one drink at every Big Bear city bar. I believe that 9 bars. I snoozed in the back on the way back to the barbecue.

The club had an organized barbecue at the campground on the Saturday night. The food was fantastic, and was very enjoyable. They conducted a raffle, and giveaways. People seemed to have a great time, and I managed to get a few good raffle items.

The next morning we broke camp, and headed home. Steve had some business to attend to, and I need to get home and prepare for the upcoming week. The ride home was smooth, and only took a touch over an hour.

All in all, the weekend was really great. I made some new friends, and got to enjoy the wilderness. It reminded me of why I love the Land Rover brand so much. I look forward to the next rendezvous next year. The next club event for me will be the Land Rover National Rally in Moab Utah.

I'll post some pics of the trip as soon as I can.