Overnighter to Usal Beach

[ccarley]

Hey all,

It sure is difficult to plan a trip anymore. There are so many things in life that "need" to be done, but getting out is high on my list. This trip almost wasn't going to happen, but I'm making it happen!

A few of us are headed to Usal Beach this weekend. A co-worker of mine, NorcalBronco I think is his name here, as well as another co-worker of mine are getting ready to head out early tomorrow morning. I've been prepping my Grand Wagoneer all week: gear oil changes in both axles, heavy duty front diff cover installed, and a new steering damper installed.

I got an extra thick D44 cover from BJ's off road, and I like it because it looks stock, but will help protect the gears. I refilled both pumpkins with Red Line 75W90ns synthetic gear lube; I'm hoping it will help fuel mileage, and the "ns" means it really helps the ol' trac-loc that I currently have in the rear.

I got the new steering damper from BJ's as well; it's their Pro-Comp steering damper that fits the stock mounting location. I painted it (as well as the diff covers) with "cast iron" paint from Krylon; it's a nice dark color that isn't flashy. The steering (after driving it to work one day) is nicer now, and I'm hoping the front tire wear will be better too. The old damper was pretty shot, it was very easy to compress it, and harder to pull it out (a steering damper should have the same damping rate in both directions).

I also picked up a CB radio; it's a Midland 1001z, which is nice & small, and should do what I need it to do. I don't know where to mount it in the Wagoneer yet, since I have factory A/C & a cup / CD holder sitting on the trans hump right now. I also picked up an antenna that was designed to mount on large truck mirrors. That mount won't work for me, but I'm considering mounting the antenna to the rear bumper. So, no CB this trip, but we do have walkie-talkie type radios. I feel better too that I'm not the only person driving!

I'll be taking plenty of pictures on the way, I'll probably have them posted late Sunday or late Monday.

 

[JPFreek1]

Sounds like you're in for a grand time. Enjoy the weekend and be sure to post plenty of pics when you get back!

 

[ccarley]

This morning, around midnight, I woke up to lightening & thunder... then rain. Of course, the Lost Coast is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive from my home, so I'm not worried about it. The rain had come sooner than the weatherman said. Of course, here in Northern Ca, I tend to not trust the weatherman anyway, it's either going to be sunny & nice (summer & fall), or rainy & cold (winter & spring). Sometimes sunny & cold, but not too often.

My wife isn't joining me on this "pre run" for our trip that's planned later this month, so the rain won't be deterring me at all! I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. And again, having another vehicle travelling with me will ease my nervousness about travelling the dirt road, if it becomes muddy.

 

[Cabrito]

This morning, around midnight, I woke up to lightening & thunder... then rain.

Yeah, it woke us up here in San Francisco - Very rare for the kind of thunder we got. It sounded like it was right on top of us. More just a few minutes ago.

Have fun! I'd like to make that trip sometime.

 

[Maximus Ram]

Sounds lie a fun time.
A little rain makes for a nice clean air time.

I , too, woke to a nice light show at around 5 this morning.

 

[dirty Bakers]

I want to go to usal some day and I also own a grand wagoneer, so take so pics for us.
thanks

 

[NorCalBronco]

Hey Guys,

We had a great short trip up to Usal beach this weekend. It was really foggy on the way there, but we woke up this morning to a beautiful day and Elk grazing in the field next to our campsite. Here is a couple of quick pics of ccarley's Jeep and some of the beautiful beach and road:

ccarley got a ton of pics, so I'm sure he will post some when he is done sorting through them all. Enjoy!

 

[Maximus Ram]

Thanks for the pics. Beautiful coast.
We're heading to Santa Cruz next week for a few days. Its not a nice weekend of camping, but its time out of here and some coastal air.

 

[jeepmedic46]

Beautiful coast, and great pics. Grand Waggoneer looks good.:smiley_drive:

 

[inked33]

looks like it was a great trip. thanks for sharing

 

[ccarley]

I finally got through resizing & sorting my pictures.

Saturday, after leaving Santa Rosa around 9:30 or so, we headed North on 101. I want to say around Cloverdale the weather started to clear up, and we had sunny blue skies by the time we hit Leggett. Once on Usal Road however, the fog rolled in, which really wasn't that bad.

You *should* be able to see the ocean there. The road had been graded recently, so it was mostly smooth allowing for an average speed of about 12 mph. Because of the steep uphills & downhills, we chose to use low range to save wear on the engine & brakes of our vehicles. 4WD was not necessary by any means though, we even saw some cars & a motorhome at the campground.

Here is one of the last switchbacks on the way to Usal Beach, you can see the campground down below:

We had a great campsite, backed by trees, and facing the beach.

There were a couple of CJ-5's out putting around:

The Elk were very close to our site in the morning:

And, as you can see here, the sun was shining quite nicely in the morning:

I think I've posted too many pictures already, so here's the link to my online album of what I posted. only about 50 or so are there, out of the 350 that we took with my camera:
http://carleynet.net/familypictures/album38

We had a great time, and I can't wait to go back in a couple of weeks to do it again!

 

[Maximus Ram]

Nice pics.
Makes me even more anxious to get to the coast..

 

[SirCampalot]

Thanks for the great pics!

Do they allow driving on the beach itself?

 

[jeepmedic46]

Awesome pictures, Looks like everyone had a great time.

 

[ccarley]

Thanks for the great pics!

Do they allow driving on the beach itself?

We saw many people driving on the beach. I had heard years ago that driving on the beach was permitted, although the sign says you should not drive on the beach or in the tidal creekbed. The campground "road" leads to a "parking area" at the beach, which has no boundry.

The first time I went to this place, there was no info at the campground, or any way to pay for your stay. The kiosk was empty and the self-pay deposit was welded shut. Nobody official stopped by at all either. The last time I went, a couple of weeks after this trip, we saw park maintenance people as well as a 4X4 fire truck which was patroling the area. The kiosk, on both of my recent trips, had info, and we were able to pay for our stay as well.