Bundu Trek was in the Big Bear CA area on Labor Day weekend and took an easy one day trip on one of the forest service roads accessible to the public. Most of the trip could easily be done in a moderate ground clearance vehicle in two wheel drive but a side trip to a mining claim definitely required low range 4WD and even a locked rear differential at one point.
As always, we traveled with a minimum of two vehicles. A solo vehicle trip is not a good idea as a simple mechanical issue could leave you stranded for hours until another off roader came along.
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| Our lunch spot before the trail started dropping in altitude and the forest gave way to open brush. |
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| A closed road leading from our lunch spot. It looks inviting for a stroll someday. |
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| The area burned sometime in the last five years or so but it is coming back to life. |
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| Trees gave way to brush and very interesting boulders. |
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| Kind of other-wordly looking! |
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| How that boulder ended up there would have been an interesting thing to see! |
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| Big Bear's version of the Easter Island totems? |
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| We spied a chimney in the distance but couldn't reach it from the trail without doing some brushbusting on foot. Neither of us was dressed for pushing through the brush, nor did we have sticks to warn rattlers that we were coming so we tried another trail that seemed to parallel the location of the chimney. We hoped to walk in through a less brushy area. |
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| I set off on foot to find the homestead site. Look closely in the middle ground and you will see the vehicles and my expedition partner. |
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| From this location a marksman could command the area for miles! Good thing there are no armed bandits skulking here... |
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| The area burned out even more so than our lunch spot but even here the trees are making a comeback. I never did make it to the chimney as I found another ridge ahead of me after climbing the ridge I was standing on. My partner was anxious to move on so I headed back. |
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| Driving up to mine site. Loose, slippery rock and steep inclines |
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| Still climbing! |
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| Almost to the mine |
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| My partner at the end of the road. |
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| Rough Rider parked below |
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| Looking down towards the trail with the chimney and rock face. A long way off! |
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| It looks like this mining operation was a heart-breaker. Two twisted and broken drill bits were stuck in the rock. |
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| I'd hate have have been holding on to the drill when this got twisted like this. Hope the operator wasn't hurt. |
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| Broken bit #2 |
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| Looking down from the rock cracking site. |
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| Time to start back down! |
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