Where did you all camp? I didn't get into the area until about 2:00. I first went up and to the end of Santa Rosa Rd. Great area with some nice campsites. Couldn't find any of you and everyone I asked said they hadn't seen you. I finally found some mountain bikers that said they saw you down at the start of Sawmill Rd. They pushed their bikes up Sawmill and told me there was no way you were going to make it up to the top.

I headed back to Sugar Loaf and checked the board but didn't see any note so I started up Sawmill. Jason - Sawmill has MAJOR pucker factor. Is the Sawmill that old rusted iron thing on a trailer just where water starts coming down the trail at the end of the fire road? No one was there so I figured you guys kept going up. The trail kept getting more and more serious. But I never caught up to you guys so I kept saying "If they made it I can." What an idiot!

I got into some serious trouble near the top on a steep off camber right turn between trees. Whoever had gone up the trail before had seriously chewed it up and it was just thick loose sand. I got buried and started to slide. If I tried to back down the road there was no way I would have stayed on the road and the truck would have just slid down and off the road. I would have had to leave the truck and start walking. You could see where two other vehicles slid off the road and sunk. My only option was to start moving rocks and build a platform off the side of the road that would support me. I then purposely backed "very slowly" straight down, off the road and slid the front end down to where I was perpendicular to the fall line. Of course I had to do all of this while not wearing the seat belt because it was locked from the angles.

Now the big issue was trying to get back onto the road. If I wasn't able to get enough of a "launch" I was going to slide right into the spot where someone else had buried off the road and I would have been done. So "When in doubt GAS IT OUT!" When I got back on the road I was so freaked out I didn't feel like camping and just wanted to get off that fuc**ng mountain. I didn't even take any pictues of the tramatic event.

I got down and started driving home. Figured I saved major bucks from not having to leave the truck and search for help or repair body damage from sliding into the trees or from waiting for someone to rescue me while trapped in a rolled truck so I stopped at that dive Cahulla? casino and contributed $100 to the Indians.

I just finished washing the truck and I'm still a little freaked!
Jason - I would very much like to know how far you have made it up that MODERATE hill climb?
Happy to have the truck in the garage.
Tom