As some of you may know we had a run at Calico this past Saturday. Was a great time and I had a blast. We met at 8:30am and departed for the trail at about 8:45am. Wally led, with Steve, Nolan and myself following his lead.
Unfortunately as we were airing down our tires at the trail head a large group of XJs from the local Naxja club passed us and started the trail. When we hit the first obstacle, not too far from the trail head we discovered that one of the XJs broke a U-joint on the first obstacle. While working on his U-joint the owner of the XJ also sheared off two of his wheel studs forcing him to leave the trail. Also we got word that another XJ farther up the line broke one of his rear leaf spring shackles (luckily he was clear of the trail and easy to pass). This took about an hour or so for them to tear apart the Jeep, put it back together and get him off the trail.
Once we finally hit the trail Wally made easy work of everything. I made it up most of the obstacle but had to take a strap when my rear diff got hung up. Probably could've made it with a different line but after waiting for the XJs I really didn't want to spend all day there.
After that the trail wasn't too bad until the next obstacle. Most of it was pretty easy to do and only required spotting/creative rock placement in a few areas and tight spots.
The next obstacle was a pretty steep ledge. Upon arriving Wally and Nolan noted that it had changed somewhat and appeared to be harder since some supporting rocks had been removed. Once again Wally had no problem although he did turn his lockers on

. I made it up most of the ledge, might have been able to make it up with a slightly different line, but had to take a strap to get up the remainder. One of my rear wheels was in a pretty deep hole (where those rocks used to be) and one of the fronts was slipping. Steve and Nolan didn't have too much trouble going up this part most likely due to their lockers and experience.
We moved on, spotting some of the mines that are common throughout the area. We reached the next obstacle to find that more rocks had been moved. This part was no problem for the other KJs however without lockers (my trac-lock doesn't do much) I just couldn't keep the traction to go forward. A cool part of this obstacle is the remaining asphalt from the area's mining days. Nolan did get some nice air coming up this obstacle, such a show off

.
At this point things were much easier. We stopped to have lunch, my girlfriend and I explored one of the open mines and we began the downhill and relatively easier section of the trail.
Mostly the downhill part is composed of loose grapefruit sized rocks. It's not really bad, but can rattle the KJ around a bit. Once again we met up with our XJ friends. They were negotiating the final major obstacle, a downhill waterfall that brings Jeeps pretty close to a rock formation just waiting to scrape and dent body panels (and it does). After about 30 min or so the XJs are out of our hair and we get our chance to head down the waterfall. It's not really hard for Wally, but there is alot of concern about scrapping the driver's side against the rock formation. Wally did scrape a fender flare on the rocks but nothing some more durabak couldn't fix. I also scraped a flare on that rock which put a little dent into my quarter panel. Steve got pretty close but managed to steer clear of the rocks although he did get some scrapes earlier on the trail. Nolan had no problems in this part of the trail and I don't think he scraped anything at all.
The remainder of the trail consisted of more loose rocks and a few steps. These weren't major problems but everyone but Wally got some good use of our skids. I did get hung up on my front skid-plate once, but after Steve pulled me back some I was able to take a slightly different line. If I had a rear locker I probably would've been fine in the first place.
This is a fun and exciting trail and I strongly encourage everyone to try it. It's not very far from Orange and LA counties and Steve made it up from San Diego. This is trail is also close enough for the Las Vegas folks to make. It's the hardest and most exciting trail I've been on so far and I can't wait to go back.