We just returned from a trip to Baja. We were there to watch the Baja 1000. We left Thursday afternoon. Our destination was the bottom of the Summit
road. We arrived around midnight and set up camp in the wash at the base of the summit. We spent all day Friday watching the Baja 1000 vehicles
pounding down the summit road. It was non stop action from about 10am till after midnight. We were only at mile 108 of the course. Saturday morning we
left our camp around 10:30am via the pole line road. We got to the wash just before basket ball hill. It took us about 1 hour to meander through the
wash to get to the base of basket ball hill. The rocks in the wash seemed to be much larger and in greater quanitity than I remember from my April
2005 trip. We found the base of basketball hill and had to stop the vehicles because there were many boulders blocking the narrow entry to the road of
basketball hill. We decided to investigate further while walking to the top. We discovered many sections of the trail were blocked by piles of bolders
not the size of basketballs, but more like beach balls. When we did this trail earlier this year we had no problem such that I've discribed above. We
were pretty much clear sailing back then. We had a dicision to make rather quickly. We were loosing sunlight it was about 4:30. Even though we were a
group of 6 people we felt we couldn't move the boulders without much difficulty and it would have been very time consuming, we opted to turn around
and set up camp back out of the wash area. Decided to take the same route back out instead of moving all the rocks. Since we had to be back home on
Sunday night. We got back to the Summit road and had to follow the Baja 1000 course out to Cohabasco junction. The trail was 10 times worse going out
than it was coming in. The vehicles from the race made the road very rough. It was a long slow ride out. We made it back to the boarder by 4:30pm. I
took several pictures of the boulders that were blocking the trail on Basketball Hill. If you are interested in seeing them, could you please walk me
through how to post pictures here. I'll try to figure it out. Look for pictures to follow.Ken Cooke - 11-22-2005 at 10:12 PM
I gotta see to believe!
This is gonna be the best Basketball experience ever!!
I've got some built rigs that are looking forward to traveling this route in late December, and when I tell them how F-x-ed up this trail is, they're
gonna jump for joy!
My only worry is the remains of the trail, and how massive the damage is there.
To post your picture, click the 'insert an image' button as you reply. The icon will be 4th from the right (with 'B' for BOLD) on the left and
'Insert List' on the right side. Click the 'Insert Image' button, input where the picture is coming from, and hit enter. Pretty easy. Practice a
few times with pictures of donkey's down in Tijuana or fat women in the bar, and we'll know you got the hang of it...
Here's a picture of us in April on Basketball Hill, and in the wash leading up to Basketball Hill. Both of which required some serious tire-placement
abilities. I guess the stakes will be raised in late December when my group returns for more F-U-N!
photos
John M - 11-22-2005 at 10:18 PM
John - the main concern is the size of the file. I think they must be under 50kb to make it.
Once you write your post, and are ready to add the photo, simply go to the bottom of the frame here and in the left column is the word attachment, to
the right of that you'll see the word browse - click browse and locate your photo as you would do to attach a photo to an email for example.
For me initially, getting the size of the photo file was the confusing part. If the file is too large, it has been my experience that you aren't
advised of that, the post just goes forward without a photo in it. Try to keep it as close to 49kb as you can....at least try that. JohnDavid K - 11-22-2005 at 10:31 PM
Here is how to reduce your Baja photos if they are over 49.9 kbs... This will create a duplicate, reduced image in your file... so the original is not
messed up... this is The Neal Johns Method:
I used Windows Picture It in the past... but the last batch (Erle Stanley Gardner Museum Pics) I tried a new way that the great aridologist Neal Johns
told me, and it was easy and in a program all pcs have (I think), 'paint'.
If 'paint' isn't on your desk top, do this (click on):
a) Start
b) All Programs
c) Accesories
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Paint (start here if 'paint' is on your desk top)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) File
3) Open...
3a) then click on the photo to get reduced (double click).
4) Image
5) Sketch/Skew... then change the % down from 100 in both sketch & skew to a lesser number... My photos were taken at normal quality 55-60 kbs.
(vs. HQ or SHQ) and changing the % to around 90% brought the kbs to under 50.
If you are taking HQ images, try reducing to 30%.
Continue to Click on:
6) OK
7) File
8) Save As
8a) now type in a name for the photo or add R to it to indicate it is the reduced one... this is a copy so you don't mess with the original.
9) Save
THAT'S IT!
When you move the mouse over the reduced photo in the files, the kb size will show and let you know if you didn't get it low enough, or too low! In
either case, repeat the steps above... after you do a couple it gets pretty easy.
Neal gets the credit for this method, don't thank me if you like it!
Pics 1 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:05 AM
Basketball Hill / aka Beach ball hill
pics 2 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:06 AM
Basketball Hill/aka Beachball Hill
Pics 3 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:07 AM
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pics 4 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:09 AM
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pics 5 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:09 AM
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pics 6 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:10 AM
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Last pic 7 of 7
john - 11-24-2005 at 09:11 AM
.TMW - 11-24-2005 at 09:48 AM
I expect Ken Cooke and his band of Jeeps to get that mess cleaned up on his December trip. I don't want no rocks hurting my little Toyota.Neal Johns - 11-24-2005 at 01:58 PM
Right on, TW! Jeep people are good for doing grunt work.
Yep, that's what the hill looked like when I named it Basketball Hill many years ago. It looks like the rains came....
A super VW based Manx type buggy put our Jeeps and Toyotas to shame that year. He had 33" BFGs and low gearing, and went up before we cleaned the
rocks up.
It didn't hurt that he was the National Sand Drag Champion.
Pictures
mcgyver - 11-24-2005 at 08:53 PM
Try this free program called Picasa 2 from Goggle, best editing and easy resize I have ever had and I have spent $$$ on photo programs that are
worthless compared to to Picasa 2, it automaticly organizes pictures the way you want.Bedman - 11-25-2005 at 01:06 AM
Hmmm.....? I think I can get my Motorhome up there....
Bedman
How are those boulders ("beachballs"???) getting there-----
Barry A. - 11-25-2005 at 09:26 AM
are those boulders just eroding down the slopes and ending ut there on the "road" naturally??? or is someone messing with the "road"??Al G - 11-25-2005 at 10:05 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by Bedman
Hmmm.....? I think I can get my Motorhome up there....
Bedman
Bedman, if you lead I'll follow!
We may end up as bridgesOMAR.V - 11-25-2005 at 08:45 PM
Nice pics John.
Now I have to go there but I'm not sure when.
How much lift and what size tires does that Cherokee have? I'll be lifting mine in a few weeks 3.5 and 31's but I wonder if it's enough (lol).
Does anybody know if the pole line road is as bad as the Santa Maria mission road (widowmaker)? I want to know if I can make it in the Cherokee with
that lift and tires on both roads. I went to Santa Maria 2 times but did not go down the widowmaker because my Cherokee is stock and I was alone with
my wife (we walked the rest of the way, it's not far).
[Edited on 11-26-2005 by OMAR.V]john - 11-25-2005 at 08:47 PM
barry I find it strange that all thoughs boulders are in the trail. the trail is in a gulley and boulders line both sides of the trail at the top
edges. It must take an awful lot of rain to knock them downjohn - 11-25-2005 at 09:07 PM
Omar my cherokee has a 4.5 lift with 31s. I know I could have finished the trail but time was not on our side. I had people with me that had to be
home on sunday night. Even if we had worked our way to the top of basketball hill the rest of the trail could have been in worse shape. Even when the
trail was in good shape earlier this year it stiil had some nasty rock sections past basketball hill. If you have the time and take it slow the
cherokee you have will make it no problem. In regards to the santa maria trail I did the trip in 2003 in the same cherokee. I also had no problems
going up widowmaker but I did engage the rear arb locker because of some slippage but I think I still could have made it without the lockerDavid K - 11-27-2005 at 10:11 PM
Talked to Baja Ken this morning at El Rosario... he had no problem with the Widowmaker or the bog at the bottom... a deer ramming his Jeep door was
another issue, however!!!Ken Cooke - 11-28-2005 at 08:00 PM
Maybe less ppl will show up on the December Pole Line Run because of the HoRrIbLe conditions!
