I did the Crenshaw run after a nice English muffin at King's (9.31) with
my nice new tires. Arrived at the start point and spent an interesting ½
hour trying to get my GPS to run, the mast flux gate was also broke and it
was hot. I decided to buy yet another GPS on my way to the transmitter and
so solicited the location of all known COMPUSAs in the area surrounding
Palos Verde. No body could hear the transmitter(s) for a while then Scott
hears something near 90 degrees and Don on the phone (we are hams but why
use radio when the phone will do?) also says it is horizontal and 90 degrees
is good. He was lying, as you will see later.
Down at the end of the road they hears something maybe still
at 90-95 degrees and a number of us went up the Church parking lot and
heard if on sideband at 90-95 degrees. Just around the corner on
Crenshaw from the start it was FM full quieting at 94 degrees. Quirky
signal bouncing off of San Jacinto. Off we all went.
I got off the 91 in Anaheim and found a COMPUSA and bought another GPS
which worked right away. The message here is don not leave you GPS on the
outside of the car. It will die probably due to humidity (It hadn't rained on
it yet). It was still under warranty so no great lose except for the 3-4
miles on the hunt mileage.
Got a good reading at Green river, meeting Wayne there and
off to the Badlands. Plenty of signal there, all east so continued on
to Whitewater. Here all signals pointed at San Jacinto, but we know
better don't we. Heard a second T (T1). Just from the nature of things
decided to go north on Indian to the 62 an did get the T1 NW and
occasionally got T2, the strong signal to also be to the NW.
Caught up with Scott and Wayne at the Indian/62 junction, but never saw
them again. I went up the 62 heading for Pioneer town.
In Pioneer town I got the T2 due west and T1 was just not there. Ran
into the LOST team searching with no off road and no directional antenna, no
air conditioning (its around 105-110 degrees). It was apparent that T2 was
on Hwy 30 probably at Coon Creek jumpoff. However what became of T1? In my
weak mind I decided that I had passed it and it was down in the Whitewater
area up some little road on the north side of the area opposite San Jacinto.
I went back down 62 and poked around for a couple hours trying to isolate
T2. I finally concluded it was on Big Bear as well. I did get some bearings
on T2 that indicated it might be on Burns canyon between Pioneer town and
Big Bear so I went back up 62, back to Pioneer town and up Burns
Canyon.
About half way up, just after entering the SBDO nat'l Forrest, I run into
a Forest ranger coming down the hill. We chat for about 15 minutes about
what on earth all that stuff in my car is for and he goes on down the hill.
I stomp my number 12 extra-wide down on the clutch and the pedal goes to
the floor and it just stays there, like it was a smashed plum. This is not
good as I am now 10 miles of bad dirt from anywhere and even that anywhere
isn't too good. D id I panic? Not me, I'm too hot and too frustrated with the
hunt so far for panic. I opened the hood and looked in there to see what
was there. I found a motor still running, a lot of wires and pipes and stuff
and buried under the power brake vacuum chamber was the hydraulic clutch
master cylinder. Yes, hydraulic not cable. I went back into the driver
position and with my hand pumped the dead clutch pedal up and down a few times and
LO the thing came back to life. Now I am invincible, cannot be beat by
machine or nature and no wayward transmitter can be hidden for long. Look out here
I come.
I get to the junction of Burns and 1n01 or 2, the one that goes south
to hwy 38 and as the bearings did a lot of crossing to the south I went
on that. Of course there was no Transmitters on that road either. It is
now about 6:30 and I have found nothing. I am low on gas so I go north into
Big Bear and gas up and come back down 38. I pass Mike who is going into BB.
I find snake T. I now have heard 4 maybe 5 transmitters. I run into
Bob/Cathy/ TCAT and up comes Dave and company, the first I have seen of them. Bob
and Cathy claim to have found T3 after getting bearings from Onyx. As I
have never heard a T3, I wonder. I go back to Onyx and thinking I had missed
the turn off I found Pipes Canyon from the top It was closed at the bottom
in Pioneer town, but was also on several crossed bearings so I decided to
go down this road. I went down it for an hour. Not very far, but it took
an hour. It is won awful road. I did a 12 point turnaround The road is
fairly wide, but not wide enough to turn around easily, especially in the dark.
I then found a off shoot of Pipes canyon that goes to the top of Onyx
and there got more bearings that again seemed to point to Coons Creek
jumpoff.
By the time I got down from Onyx, I was pooped and with the iffy clutch,
I decided to go home which I did. Good hide in that you got most of us
40 miles off path with the San Jacinto bounce. I am beginning to hate
hunting in the Big Bear Area.
Bob WA6JPI