Craig O and I were joined by Mike and his wife in their Toyota for an easy day of wheelin' and exploring Pipes Canyon and the Onyx mine site. With the recent storms and, having previous experience with snow on this trail, I suspected we might be in for some excitement..........I was not disappointed. Let me say that I am glad I finally installed a winch on my YJ. We used it and Craig's winch to keep the YJ from an undesired exit from the trail.
As a side note, I used to run this trail over twenty years ago when you could start at Onyx summit and end at Pioneer Town for a great meal after a day of wheelin'. This trail was originally an Indian trail and later a commerce route to reach the Big Bear area from the East. Over a decade ago an environmental group (I am being kind here as I do not want to call them what I really think of them) purchased the land along the forest service boundary and closed the trail. How is it legal for any group to buy up land and close an historic route cutting off an access route to OUR National Forest? We have to fight to defend our rights to access OUR public lands!
Thanks to everyone who helped me keep the YJ "shiny side up"! Use this link for a slideshow:
http://s527.photobucket.com/user/MojaveDirtball/slideshow/Pipes%20Canyon%20and%20Onyx%20Mine