We made a trip to the Hite Cove, CA ghost town site on the Memorial Day weekend. The participants from this board were:
Me - Axiom 2004.
Vovkus (Vlad) - Trooper 2001.
There were also guys in Montero SR 1997, Montero 2002, and Nissan XTerra 2007 Off-Road edition.
There were families with almost all of us.
The trail is located between Mariposa and Yosemite. The trail is very steep - during the middle 2.5 miles, it drops 2100 feet, on the loose uneven surface (dirt and rocks). The trail is very narrow, there are almost no places to pass, and absolutely no place to turn around until the end. You start the trail - you commit to the very end. There are no barriers, and if you miss your step, you will be dropping many-many-many hundred feet to the valley floor.
Our wives were really "thrilled" by the road, but we managed to calm them down.
We were lucky that we had only one vehicle heading up toward us, and the guy in the pumped-up Tacoma was very kind and creative in letting us to go around him. There were several motocycles, also.
The scenery was wonderful. I'd say that this is the best camping site I've ever been.
We were hiking, exploring the ghost town, eating, swimming, drinking, fishing, talking, having good time overall. Vlad was "radioing" Canada and Florida and others places he could reach.
The place is rather lonely, only some brave ATVs and motocyclists were (seldom) reaching this place. We also saw some hikers across the river. There also were two oldtimers panning the gold.
We heard many times the bear "voice" but we could not see the buddy.
We rescued a young couple on the first night. They were hiking from the highway 140 along the river, and they managed to get lost. In the night, they were cold (no warm closes), no water, no food, no GPS, no map (!!!). Well, brave fellows. They saw our fire across the river, and they swam the cold river to us (together with their doggy). We gave them the food, various liquids, closes, spare sleeping bags, and the place to sleep by our fire.
The Vovkus' dog (boy) was very happy (the couple's doggy was a female one). After the night, the poor boy was unable to stand - so exhausted (you know why).
In the morning, the couple was equipped with water and with the directions, and they went hiking back to their car.
We spent two nights there and we went back on Monday morning. On the way back, Vovkus cut the sidewall of his BFG AT 33" tire. Another problem was that the Montero 2002 after the ascend could not unlock the center differential lock. The guy is still trying to fix it.
So, the following vehicle problems were revealed by the trip:
1) Axiom has not enough room for all the gears and the OME912 coils are not stiff enough to support all the weight I put in the Axiom. I am switching to OME919s.
2) 33" tires are too much for a Trooper with stock gears. The Trooper has to be re-geared. The long ascend was too difficult for the engine and transmission. The air was very hot, and during the slow uphill crawl the Trooper's temperature was rising.
3) Montero 2002 did overall surprisingly great, when aired down. But the gear range is not good for the slow crawling, especially uphill. And this one was the only vehicle in the group having mechanical problems, as I mentioned.
4) Montero 1997 was good overall, with 2" OME lift it was adequate for the task.
5) XTerra 2007 is a good vehicle, even with stupid street tires (when aired down). But the wheel travel is not great on this vehicle, it was obvious. I'd say that the "Off-Road" model name is a stretch, they need to work more on the suspension, and they must put better tires on the model.
The pictures are here:
Vlad's picturesHelena's pictures
