Lytle Creek and Cleghorn 4×4 Trails with the 22nd E.G.

Welcome to the latest adventure by the 22^nd Expeditionary Group. This trip was planned do the fact that one of our members is with a child (well his wife is). That being said, he wanted to get out of town for a few days since it is getting close to the due date.

The plan for this trip was to stay close, so we settled on the Lytle Creek area of the San Bernardino Mountains. Lytle Creek Canyon was settle by Mormons in the mid 1800’s due to the abundance of water flowing from the canyon. This area has been known as a recreational playground since the 1870’s, and play we did.

We had decided to meet up Friday night May, 15 at a pizza/pasta restaurant that Steve recommended. Unfortunately some of us got started late and didn’t make it to dinner before hitting the trailhead. So the next meet point was the Jack-in-a-Box at the Sierra exit off I-15 between the 10 and 215 freeways.

We had a nice little group that would be camping for the weekend. Steeevo, BlackX, X_Trippin, Phulcrum, JTthe Geek, and few friends that wanted to tag along. We hit the trail around 9:30pm and arrived at camp in coldwater canyon about 1 ½ hours later. After a few drinks and stories around the campfire we called it a night. The weather was perfect so there was no need for a tent. We all picked a spot on the tarp and fell to sleep looking at the stars.

As dawn broke the next morning we all crawled out of our sleeping bags and started to get ready for the day. As we ate breakfast OZ, another 22^nd EG member, joined us for the day. With him was an unexpected surprise, Greg from PRG Products was out playing with his wife’s incredibly built 2^nd generation Xterra.

We decided that since Steeevo was the local wheeler for this trail we would let him lead us on a day of adventure. The first stop we made was an area called Gobblers Nob on Lytle Ridge roughly 40 minutes from camp. This stop required a hike that took about 10 minutes, but the view was worth it. We hung out there for a few before returning to the trucks for the next leg.

This leg of the trip took us down the eastern side of Lytle Ridge to Cleghorn Rd. Cleghorn road can be reached from an exit off the 15 freeway of the same name. This trail can be as easy or difficult as you want it to be, with the main trail as a forest service road with many harder bypasses. The first part of the road is pretty mundane with switch backs heading up the mountain. After a few miles we came to a flat spot that has a large power transmission line structure that has a short but challenging hill climb. Both, OZ and Greg decided that this would be a nice place to stretch their suspension as a warm up for what was to come.

After letting them play for a few minute we continued up the trail. Another mile or two we came to the first off-shoot. This off-shoot cuts straight up the mountain side instead of using the switch backs that the main road follows. We all made it through this without issue. We then crossed the main trail and followed another off-shoot up the hill side. Most of these side trail can be handled be most SUV’s with a little bit of lift and some good tires.

Finally we came to a rough section of trail that only Steeevo, OZ and Greg were willing to attempt. Steeevo was the first one to tackle this section and made it to the top without incident. Next up was Greg, who managed to scare all of us with his abundant us of the skinny pedal, which was needed do to tire size and gearing. As he climbed the trail he needed to skirt a small boulder the was laying on the passenger side of the trail. As he climb the small off camber hill next to the rock he got a little to high and we all watch wit baited breath as the drivers front tire came off the ground and the truck came unbalanced. Once through that section Greg easily finished the bypass. Next up was OZ who walked through the trail take a different line than Greg or Steeevo. The rest of us then met up with the other 3 at the end of the bypass where we rested and ate lunch. After lunch OZ and Greg had to leave us for other engagements that they had that day. The rest of us headed back towards camp to relax for the remainder of the day and get ready for dinner. After an evening of laughs we called it a night.

The next morning we woke and cleared camp. We back out the canyon and eat of healthy brunch at Jack-in-a-Box. After eating we all split up and headed our separate ways until next time nature calls us out.