Addie, George, Joe, and I got to the trail head about 10:00am.  When I went to unload the Cruiser I found one of my chain connectors had broken and the only thing holding the Cruiser from rolling off the trailer was the e-brake and the tranny.  Wow do I feel lucky.

The weather was beautiful, clear and cool.  My next glitch was a dead battery but a quick jump and we were on the way.  It did take us a little time to find the trail but once we did it was a pretty good one.  We started the middle section first which consisted of a some loose climbs but nothing you couldn't do in a stocker.  We then found the beginning section and it has a few technical sections leading up to a nice lookout called Crows Nest (there's a sign and everything).

Leaving Crows Nest we went down a really steep hill and back to the middle section.  After retracing our initial tracks we ended up at the third section which was a steep, rocky climb.  George put on a good show when he forgot to engage his locker and then almost went over backwards.

After going over the top we went down into a small canyon and my fuel pump started pulsing slower and slower.  A minute later, the engine died.  Apparently the alternator doesn't put out enough power at low RPM to keep up with the ham radio, CB, and fuel pump much less charge the battery.  George jumped me again and it ran fine till we disconnected the cables then it died.

We finally decided to tow the Cruiser back to camp (thanks again George).  When we got back I took the camper battery, strapped it it on the winch and used my jumper cables to connect it to the Cruiser.  The engine started and ran fine so I pulled it up on the trailer.

An uneventful and light traffic drive home was a nice end to the day.

Troubles could have been worse and we had a good time.

Happy Trails,
Warren "Crash" Sternin