Trip to Big Bear, CA

[tercel4wdrules]

Well... I just wanted to share some pics from my recent adventure. I would have posted this in the gallery section but since it doesn't involve my Tercel, then I chose to post it here.

I got an offer to go with a friend of my mom's to Big Bear, CA which has our local mountain resorts. It's a 100 miles from LA. I had been yearning to go up here for about two years. I accepted the offer and all I can say is WOW! Since I don't see snow down here in Los Angeles it was a great experience. Not to mention it was 27 F outside according to the thermometer on the car's dashboard. When we left Los Angeles it was maybe 70 F and it was a big difference.

I have some pics to share... I was riding in an '05 Toyota Corolla.

The snow capped mountains were where we headed... Big Bear is nested in between the San Bernardino National Forest.



More views of the San Bernardino Mountains...





This is a picture of the steep mountain passes we had to ascend to reach the highest point. A Tercel would have to be in 3rd gear and moving along at 30-35 mph... this is an estimate, I might be giving less credit than what it can potentially do. This particular Corolla was climbing steadily at 40-45 mph at 2.6-3k rpm. It has a 4 spd auto.



I took this shot from the back window to show the steepness.



Another mountain view...



Getting closer to our destination...



7000 ft... I never had been at this altitude.



What's that I see? Yes, it's snow!! Hooray!










I'm not sure if it's visible, but there's a lake in the background. It's called Big Bear Lake.



I knew I wasn't going to leave this place without seeing a Tercel 4WD and that's exactly what I saw as we were leaving...



There was another sign I saw that said "Chains Required" through a portion of the highway, but 4WD vehicles with snow tires are ok.

I will return with the Tercel sometime soon I hope. I was going to use 2 days to fix my car but then this offer showed up so then I had to postpone it. Overall it was a lot of fun, especially sliding down snow-covered slopes with inflatable tubes.

---

And these are just some pics of another trip I took to the high desert (3000 ft elevation)...






It sucks to be stuck in traffic on Christmas Day on the I-15 North, but nice views though.



I hope everyone enjoys the pictures...

[Mickey_D]

Those are some really nice pictures.

I miss Big Bear. I used to go shooting up at the Nat Forest up there.

[GTSSportCoupe]

Awesome pics! Beautiful country! Thanks for sharing those! I hope to see pic's of your tercel 4wd in those area's before too long.

[takza]

Nothing like a road trip to clear the mind.

[tercel4wdrules]

Awesome pics! Beautiful country! Thanks for sharing those! I hope to see pic's of your tercel 4wd in those area's before too long.

That's right, I now have my provisional permit; it's just a matter of insurance and fixing it up. All of these places I have wanted to go in the Tercel, but it was not in running shape. And coincidentally both trips I took in a Toyota Corolla, both an '05 and our '01 on the trip to the high desert (Oak Hills, CA). The '05 has much better room for longer trips. BTW, everything was rattling on one of the dirt roads, next time I go I'll take a picture of it.

I got a bunch of places on my mind to go with my Terc, just a matter of time... and more patience.

takza: You are absolutely correct! I left all of my stress down at 200 ft above sea level...

I really liked Big Bear and if possible I'd like to buy a house up there in a few years, even if I have to drive 200 miles a day to go to work, but I don't know where I'll be working at so I can't say.

EDIT: Here's a pic of the slide area... this was so much fun!

[tercel4wdrules]

Being that I'm providing a gallery of pics, here are some more of another trip I took to a nice road that goes through the Angeles National Forest. It is Little Tujunga Canyon Rd. It starts off from Lake View Terrace, CA and ends somewhere on the other side of the mountains close to the 14 freeway. With the Tercel this would be an awesome trip rev-matching and double-clutching at every turn.

There are a lot of turns and the road is quite difficult to navigate through and to make it harder, there are motorcyclists trying to run you over because they want to go 40-50 mph and you want to go at a much more sane speed around those sharp turns.

This road is so great because it's close to civilization and when you are going through it, the peace and serenity serves to relax and enjoy the scenery.












Well, this is it, my picture repertoire has been depleted until the next trip, which I hope will be with the Tercel.

[MootsMan]

Cool pics, man !! It's always nice to see other parts of the country, even if just in pictures. I wish I had time to travel the entire continent, and see all the different geographies and experience all the different climates. Those arid landscapes of the desert are so much different than the lush green of the mid-south, here where I live. I remember a trip to Cheyenne, Wyoming once when I was in the auto business, to pick up a stolen 1-ton 4wd Chevy truck. You can see forever out there.....not like here, where there are hills and trees everywhere. I also remember the fun of driving that truck, which was actually a cab-chassis, across the concrete freeways of South Dakota and Iowa...I was jolted by every expansion joint in those roads !!

[ARCHINSTL]

I love Missouri !
I love Missouri !
So - we don't have mountains - or a seashore - or - or - or -
Your pix remind me of my only trip out West, I-44 to I-40 to CA. First time I'd ever seen mountains - Ohhhh, My God ! ! !
And driving down the mountain from Jerome to level ground - at night - the locals were honking at this white-knuckled flat-lander going
30 (max) down that windy, twisty, I'm GONNAfallOFF road....
Thanks,
Tom M.

[tercel4wdrules]

I'll admit I really love the mountains. There's nothing like a nice, twisty, hill-climbing ride.

Where I live there's nothing but flat but getting closer to Downtown LA it gets a little more interesting with some hills.

Good thing that the highway that takes you up to Big Bear (there are 3, but the one I was on is the 330) has a few turnouts and passing lanes as well as legal passing on the left going downhill. At night it must be interesting just like Topanga Canyon Rd. in Malibu was at night one day I was coming down from a trip. It has a lot of turns and is very dark at night making it a little challenging.

I like California... beaches, mountains, and desert... a good selection to choose from.

[keith]

Have you ever driven the Maricopa highway? It goes through the Padres National forest North of Ojai. It is what the Grapevine used to be. In fact it runs parallel to I-5 but a little to the west.

Once when I was on a trip to NAS Lemoore for a meeting, I chose to get a rental car from LA and drive up instead of flying to Fresno and getting a rental from there. I stopped to visit family on the way. My dad suggested that I take the Maricopa back instead of I-5. He told me I could go as fast as I wanted because I would not see a cop on that highway. He was almost right, I almost didn't see that cop I passed at 105 mph.

It was a fun drive though, I got passed by a Supra doing about 130 and a motorcycle that went dot to dot in a couple of seconds. Thats a dot in my rearview mirror to a dot on the horizon in front of me. It lost a little fun when I hit that first turn in the Los Padres forest though, but not the excitement. I was going way too fast when the road turned and I ended up in a slide. I slid right up to the edge of a 2000' drop. From there, the road was like riding the back of a snake, needless to say, I slowed down some.

BTW, the guys that chose to fly to Fresno and get a rental there got to Lemoore only 10 min ahead of me, and I spent about 1.5 hrs visiting family.

Your pics bring back memories of my youth. Things have changes so much since I lived out there. I remember a buddy and I found a neat little road that wound through the foothills between Simi Valley and Malibu. It was a fun drive but very hard on brakes. Its a six lane freeway now. There also used to be a great drive on an closed road just south of Ojai to Santa Paula. It had a gate and lock one it at each end, but you could open the gates at each end without cutting the lock. Back then, on a good day, you could see Condors flying in that valley. Even if you didn't see a Condor, the scenery was spectacular.

[tercel4wdrules]

Have you ever driven the Maricopa highway? It goes through the Padres National forest North of Ojai. It is what the Grapevine used to be. In fact it runs parallel to I-5 but a little to the west.

Once when I was on a trip to NAS Lemoore for a meeting, I chose to get a rental car from LA and drive up instead of flying to Fresno and getting a rental from there. I stopped to visit family on the way. My dad suggested that I take the Maricopa back instead of I-5. He told me I could go as fast as I wanted because I would not see a cop on that highway. He was almost right, I almost didn't see that cop I passed at 105 mph.

It was a fun drive though, I got passed by a Supra doing about 130 and a motorcycle that went dot to dot in a couple of seconds. Thats a dot in my rearview mirror to a dot on the horizon in front of me. It lost a little fun when I hit that first turn in the Los Padres forest though, but not the excitement. I was going way too fast when the road turned and I ended up in a slide. I slid right up to the edge of a 2000' drop. From there, the road was like riding the back of a snake, needless to say, I slowed down some.

BTW, the guys that chose to fly to Fresno and get a rental there got to Lemoore only 10 min ahead of me, and I spent about 1.5 hrs visiting family.

Your pics bring back memories of my youth. Things have changes so much since I lived out there. I remember a buddy and I found a neat little road that wound through the foothills between Simi Valley and Malibu. It was a fun drive but very hard on brakes. Its a six lane freeway now. There also used to be a great drive on an closed road just south of Ojai to Santa Paula. It had a gate and lock one it at each end, but you could open the gates at each end without cutting the lock. Back then, on a good day, you could see Condors flying in that valley. Even if you didn't see a Condor, the scenery was spectacular.

The Maricopa highway? Highway 33? I've heard that highway is spectacular! However, for me to get to it I would have to drive 80 miles to get to Ojai and then commence up the highway. I believe the highway is about 56 miles long with the Angeles Crest Highway being similar to it. Unfortunately, the Angeles Crest Highway is closed 40 miles east at Islip Saddle, but I really would like to ride up there and drive slow to get some Porsche drivers angry... There are so many good roads out there in the Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

105 mph? My goodness... with all of those switchbacks I can't imagine that kind of speed.

Here's picture of highway 33 taken from westcoastroads.com:







You can find pictures of other roads in California here: http://westcoastroads.com/california/

I'd also like to try Highway 138 and 173...

This is awesome, it's a sign on Highway 173.


Other cool roads are Yerba Buena Rd. in Malibu and South Grade Rd. in San Diego County up to Mt. Palomar.

[keith]

I wasn't doing a 105 in the switch-backs. I'm good, but not that good. The Maricopa continues straight up the valley a few miles west of I-5. I went to Lemoore via I-5 and returned on the Maricopa. Its flat and straight until you get to the Los Padres forest. The first turn caught me off guard for some reason. I had slowed down from 105 to about 80, then realize that I had to get a lot of speed off and quick. I didn't quite get enough off and ended up in a slide. There was a turn out there and I slid on the gravel right up to the edge. There was a small stone wall that probably would have kept me from going over the edge if I hadn't managed get the little Honda stopped in time, but the rental company probably would have taken umbrage with me if I had hit the wall, even if I didn't go over. BTW, that was in 85.

In the early 70's (73 to be exact), I was stationed at Lemoore as a TDY for training. I was transferring from Pt Mugu to Japan. Since Lemoore was just temporary, I still lived in Ventura so I would drive back each weekend. I had a fire engine red 60 El Camino. It had been modified by previous owners, one an artist that put in bucket seats from a Riviera, full wood paneling, SW gauges installed in the dash so well they looked factory. The engine was of unknown heritage (348-409 series) but was fast. Only got 6 mpg around town and 11 on the highway at a steady 55. It also only had a 14 gallon gas tank and at the time there were no gas stations from the south side of the grapevine to Kettleman City. 156 miles, it killed me when ever someone went buy me and I wanted so bad to show them what I could do, but hit the throttle once and that meant pushing it to a gas station at the end of the trip.

One day, I helped another guy in the barracks fix the transmission in his Charger. We then drove to Hampton to gas up and on the way back, well picture two guys, one in a 440 Charger and the other in his hot El Camino. Well when we crested the small peak in the highway just before the base, the CHP had a roadblock set up across the highway with their RADARS on. Well the other guy was on the base security force and knew all the cops, so they let us through. He told me later that they clocked us at 130. I didn't think we were doing over 115, but the speedo only went to 110 in the El Camino. I don't know how I got this old.

Boy today they give you ticket for going 66 in a 55, got two of them this summer. No since of humor any more. One cop asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, I told him it was because I couldn't find a slow moving farm implement to hold me up when I really needed one. He didn't get it.

[Typrus]

..... 440..... V-8..... oh... God....

Well, 135 in a VW Passat turbo-diesel is a hoot, I'll tell you that much. Screaming around corners in the mountains, next to suicidal right there. I past a cop as well. He hit his brakes, I hit the throttle (not much left when you're that fast in a stock 1.9L TDI) and he paused then continued on. Guess he didn't think it was worth the pursuit. Heh.


I got to ride in a Camaro convertible... Want to say 69.. That the guy had dropped a 455.. Or was it a 465... In and oh my dear sweet Lord.... The sheer raw gut-wrenching torque............... I've driven things with twice the torque that car had, but the kicker? They were 7500lb diesel trucks. 1200ft/lb and 500HP, give or take some HP.

Man, I was enjoying that ride. Flying down College Ave. at God-knows-what speed. The Terc felt like a tortoise after that ride. (shrug)

[tercel4wdrules]

I remember riding in a Camaro once a very long time ago (for me, I'm still young), perhaps over 11 yrs ago when I was a little kid. Boy, I remember my guts were up to my esophagus as the driver floored it and was speeding to 60 mph...

Even just switching cars is a difference when comparing a Corolla with the Terc, it has almost twice as much torque and then all of a sudden the Tercel seems slow.

I won't be speeding down the 33, that's for sure. I'm barely a new driver and I don't want to be paying more for insurance than I already have to right now with tickets because I "exceeded the speed limit threshold." Besides, last time I was riding in my car and my friend was driving at about 40 mph and did a sharp veer to the right as the road turns to the right and my stock 13" tires were already relinquishing their grip, so I wouldn't imagine what could happen going over 60 mph on turns.

I have figured out if I try to do 55 mph on the freeway, even in the right lane, I'll get run over because most people are going 70 mph in the far right lane. I going to see if I can do 60 mph without being run off the road.

keith, did you ever ride on the 74 (Ortega Highway) down from San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore? I've also heard that this road is fun, but treacherous with motorcycle fatalities occuring sometimes.

[keith]

Typrus, if you friend used a Chevy bib block, it would have been a 454. Depending on configuration, they would go upwards of 550 hp. Stock they ran around 375 I believe. The largest engine from Chevrolet in 69 would have been a 427 good for 350 hp stock with versions for the Corvette and some special orders pumping 420/425 w/ 4v and 430/435 with 3 deuces.

The biggest engine in the Camero that year was the 396 at 325 hp stock. Yanko made versions for Chevrolet rated at around 400 hp. All the stock engines had round port heads. The HP heads were square port but weren't very "streetable". The square ports didn't flow well at low engine speeds, but they delivered at the high end.

Tercel4wdrules, I lived north of LA as a teenager, so I didn't venture much further south than Sunset Blvd. I was stationed at Miramar for 5 months but was newlywed at time and didn't travel much. I did two years at Pt Mugu and that was the last time I lived in Cal. Can't afford to live there now. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have bought a house when I was stationed there and kept it. Once you get past the housing costs, Cal is not too bad on cost of living. Taxes kill there, but not any worse than Virginia or Massachusetts. Tennessee isn't too bad, but the weather isn't as good, but we don't have to steal water from surrounding states.