Starting Out - Purpose and "The Build"

My family and I bought a 1982 chocolate brown Jeep Scrambler project 2 years ago.  It all started with a friend taking me on a Jeep trip on Fordyce trail. I was hooked. I had always talked about owning a Jeep or Scout with my brothers since we were young.  It had been a life long dream of mine to own a Jeep it just took me a while to get there.  The stock Jeep Scrambler project was, as most projects are, more than I had initially thought.  The Scrambler had a straight 4 cylinder engine, stock axles, and some body damage. The inherited project was a stock Scrambler restoration. A lot need to change in order for me to do what I wanted to do, and go where I wanted to go. To get started on our path to off-roading in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, I did two things.  First, I hit barnes and noble and started to look for trail guide books to see what was available.  Second, I found the local Jeep shop and started the rebuild process.  Thanks to WFO Concepts owned by Beau and Trevor Huiskens, my jeep began to transform. Here is my build:

 - The stock axles were replaced with a Dana 60 front and a 14 bolt rear axel.

 - A spring over modification and shackle reversal was done. 

 - The stock springs were exchanged for larger springs with a two inch lift.  

 - My 31 inch tires were replaced with 17" Raceline Bead lock Rims & 37" Pro Comp MT tires.  

 - We did an engine swap to the stock straight 6 cylinder engine

 - Howell fuel injection was added

 - Detroit rear locker

 - Upgraded gears from the 4.56 to the 5.38 gears front and rear

 - Custom roll cage fabricated by WFO Concepts

 - Poison Spyder front tube fenders

 - Poison Spyder BFH Front Bumper with Brawler Bar

 - Poison Spyder  Rock Brawler Rear Bumper

 - Poison Spyder CJ 8 Ricochet Rockers

 - Poison Spyder CJ 8 Crusher Corners

 - Custom skid plate fabricated by WFO Concepts

 - PRP custom front and two rear seats - total seating for 6

 - ARB Onboard High Performance 12 Volt Twin Air Compressor

 - ARB front locker

 - Smittybilt Security Floor Console

 - Cobra CB radio (19 DX IV)

 - Rugged Ridge D Rings

 - Kenwood KFC 1653 MRG 6.5 inch (2 Way Speakers)

 - Hi-Lift   Jack

 - Pioneer DEH-X6500 In Dash Receiver

 - Yakima Megawarrior Roof Rack

So the build is done, except for the paint job.  Chocolate brown kind of grows on you though. 

So the Jeep is ready, now to find the trails.  

Looking at the Guide books there is one problem.  All the "good" or "well known" guide books are outdated. No guide can tell you what the trail conditions are currently or even in the last 2 years.  They are still excellent resources.  Descriptions of where to find trail heads, what general obstacles you are going to encounter are priceless. However, that is where their usefulness ends. The trails have changed. The trails are changing. Bypasses are present now that were not there before.  Trail routes that were once impassable except by the most capable trail rigs have now become passable to less modi.  Once passable routes have been so dug out that the bypass is now the only way to get by.  Routes listed as open, for example, the Barrett Lake Trail, is now indefinitely closed.  What I needed was an updated trail resource.  I needed someone who had been on the trail, who knew the trail, and who knew the recommended routes who would be able to share with me their knowledge and experience.  This is where the blog comes in. This is the purpose of this blog.  I will be hitting as many trails as I can each year, posting pictures and videos of the trail along with GPS coordinates, of the trail head, trail features, bypasses, camping sites, etc... I will be posting recommended routes with the anticipated level of difficulty. My hope is that this blog will help others discover the off-roading trails that are all around us in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and Mountains in a fun, safe, and better educated way. Check back later this spring for our first two trails.  We will be hitting Fordyce trail and the Rubicon trail. Two of the best know trails that Northern California has to offer.