Took my Cayman off-roading. Accidentally.
12-29-2017, 12:39 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Took my Cayman off-roading. Accidentally.
It's been awhile since I've taken the car on a dedicated driving session so I took advantage of my time off this week and headed down to San Diego on Tuesday. I've recently bled the brakes, added about 800 ml of coolant, topped off the oil, and inflated all tires to 35 psi. Grabbed my camera gear and got on the freeway to--you guessed it--sit in traffic. Checked into the Doubletree where they asked me if I wanted fresh, hot chocolate chip cookies. Yes please.
Had a late lunch/early dinner at my favorite sandwich shop, Mona Lisa's.
Then drove over to Coronado Island and got a shot of the skyline.
And then headed over to Hotel del Coronado which is an awesome place. Rooms aren't cheap (over $400 according to one friend who stayed there) but the atmosphere is fantastic, especially around this time of year where they had set up an ice rink and had fire pits on the beach.
Back to the hotel where I had cookies for "dinner" and planned my route for Wednesday: SD ==> Mt. Laguna ==> Julian for lunch (town was packed) ==> Palomar Observatory ==> home.
Vista point, as they say.
I knew the observatory would be closed but a few friends have driven on S6 and said it was awesome. After driving it, I can confirm it is, indeed, awesome. Got up to 1.04 lateral g's on the way there.
On the way back, figured I'd take a different twisty road down the mountain. What could go wrong?!
So I took S7 and headed towards Nate Harrison Rd. I'm sure Nate was (is?) a swell guy. About 50 ft into it, I noticed the asphalt had been...oh I don't know...neglected. Also, this doesn't seem like a 2-way road.
But surely it won't be like this for all 8 miles, right? Right...things got worse.
Then it started to get more even and became a typical gravel road.
Note the trench in the middle.
But it didn't stay like that. Halfway down, I ran into an elder statesman who was hiking with his dog. Here's the 80-sec video link (warning: I didn't rotate my phone since it was mounted on the vent so you wouldn't see anything if I filmed horizontally). Pay attention at the 10-second mark.
I asked if the road was open all the way down and he said yes, but warned me it got worse and much rockier. He was right:
So now I'm thinking do I make a U-turn and take the long way down, or do I just bite the bullet and make an adventure out of it? I either get stuck, then hike back up (obviously no cell reception) and seek help somehow, or I take my time getting down before it got dark. If the road was really that bad, surely they'd close it down or add signs, right? I only had an hour of daylight left and ended up taking the risk. On a few occasions I had to get out and move large rocks (4") out of the way and I really regretted not getting my passenger window fixed. It's developed this rattle that you only hear on bumps which in this case was every. single. inch.
About a couple miles before the end, I saw a gate that led to a private residence (civilization!) and at that point I began to feel a little better, assuming the rest of the road would be more manageable. And it was.
Got to enjoy the sunset too.
Finally...finally got back to a paved road. I've never been so happy to see asphalt in my life. Also, "locked gate?" I don't remember passing one but I also wasn't paying attention to anything other than the road before me. Towards the end some lady in a minivan passed me and waved, probably laughing at my woeful ground clearance. She was booking it too!
This morning I decided to get underneath and see what kinda damage I caused.
Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. Mostly rocks that got stuck in the plastic fender liner. I've scraped before so a lot of scratches weren't new.
Underbody panels looked good.
Most importantly, the oil pan was unscathed.
I love how meaty the shift linkage assembly is.
With a sigh of relief, gave it a solid wash...
...and with that, we hit 10k miles back in the garage.
Had a late lunch/early dinner at my favorite sandwich shop, Mona Lisa's.
Then drove over to Coronado Island and got a shot of the skyline.
And then headed over to Hotel del Coronado which is an awesome place. Rooms aren't cheap (over $400 according to one friend who stayed there) but the atmosphere is fantastic, especially around this time of year where they had set up an ice rink and had fire pits on the beach.
Back to the hotel where I had cookies for "dinner" and planned my route for Wednesday: SD ==> Mt. Laguna ==> Julian for lunch (town was packed) ==> Palomar Observatory ==> home.
Vista point, as they say.
I knew the observatory would be closed but a few friends have driven on S6 and said it was awesome. After driving it, I can confirm it is, indeed, awesome. Got up to 1.04 lateral g's on the way there.
On the way back, figured I'd take a different twisty road down the mountain. What could go wrong?!
So I took S7 and headed towards Nate Harrison Rd. I'm sure Nate was (is?) a swell guy. About 50 ft into it, I noticed the asphalt had been...oh I don't know...neglected. Also, this doesn't seem like a 2-way road.
But surely it won't be like this for all 8 miles, right? Right...things got worse.
Then it started to get more even and became a typical gravel road.
Note the trench in the middle.
But it didn't stay like that. Halfway down, I ran into an elder statesman who was hiking with his dog. Here's the 80-sec video link (warning: I didn't rotate my phone since it was mounted on the vent so you wouldn't see anything if I filmed horizontally). Pay attention at the 10-second mark.
I asked if the road was open all the way down and he said yes, but warned me it got worse and much rockier. He was right:
So now I'm thinking do I make a U-turn and take the long way down, or do I just bite the bullet and make an adventure out of it? I either get stuck, then hike back up (obviously no cell reception) and seek help somehow, or I take my time getting down before it got dark. If the road was really that bad, surely they'd close it down or add signs, right? I only had an hour of daylight left and ended up taking the risk. On a few occasions I had to get out and move large rocks (4") out of the way and I really regretted not getting my passenger window fixed. It's developed this rattle that you only hear on bumps which in this case was every. single. inch.
About a couple miles before the end, I saw a gate that led to a private residence (civilization!) and at that point I began to feel a little better, assuming the rest of the road would be more manageable. And it was.
Got to enjoy the sunset too.
Finally...finally got back to a paved road. I've never been so happy to see asphalt in my life. Also, "locked gate?" I don't remember passing one but I also wasn't paying attention to anything other than the road before me. Towards the end some lady in a minivan passed me and waved, probably laughing at my woeful ground clearance. She was booking it too!
This morning I decided to get underneath and see what kinda damage I caused.
Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. Mostly rocks that got stuck in the plastic fender liner. I've scraped before so a lot of scratches weren't new.
Underbody panels looked good.
Most importantly, the oil pan was unscathed.
I love how meaty the shift linkage assembly is.
With a sigh of relief, gave it a solid wash...
...and with that, we hit 10k miles back in the garage.
12-29-2017, 12:48 AM
#2
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Very cool and great pics!!!
I take a drive out to Palomar almost once a month and I almost made the same mistake you did. I started looking at the maps online and thought, wow I don’t remember driving this road before. But before I actually finalized the drive I decided to get on google maps and use the satellite feature to see what kind of road it was and I realized it wasn’t paved! Next time you’re out that way please let me know and I can give you some suggestions on roads which are worthy of our cars and have minimal traffic. Better yet we can organize a group drive. Thanks for sharing
12-29-2017, 01:09 AM
#5
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Very cool and great pics!!!
I take a drive out to Palomar almost once a month and I almost made the same mistake you did. I started looking at the maps online and thought, wow I don’t remember driving this road before. But before I actually finalized the drive I decided to get on google maps and use the satellite feature to see what kind of road it was and I realized it wasn’t paved! Next time you’re out that way please let me know and I can give you some suggestions on roads which are worthy of our cars and have minimal traffic. Better yet we can organize a group drive. Thanks for sharing
I usually do look at Google maps but sometimes it's hard to tell when zooming in. I just checked and wouldn't you know it, there's even streetview!
76 was probably my favorite. Smooth surface, nice sweeping curves, and I didn't encounter any traffic.
How's 79?
12-29-2017, 01:17 AM
#6
Racer
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Southeast
Posts: 415
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ive been there in corvettes and porsches. If i find twisty roads on maps i like to explore them (especially on road trips). It has bitten me a couple times. Generally seems to sound and feel worse than it actually is on the car. Anyway a good adventure is usually worth it although at the time not always the most fun.
12-29-2017, 02:27 AM
#7
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
What mistake? That was totally (accidentally) planned.
I usually do look at Google maps but sometimes it's hard to tell when zooming in. I just checked and wouldn't you know it, there's even streetview!
76 was probably my favorite. Smooth surface, nice sweeping curves, and I didn't encounter any traffic.
How's 79?
I usually do look at Google maps but sometimes it's hard to tell when zooming in. I just checked and wouldn't you know it, there's even streetview!
76 was probably my favorite. Smooth surface, nice sweeping curves, and I didn't encounter any traffic.
How's 79?
79 from Temecula going towards Julian is excellent and not much traffic. There are a few areas with tighter turns but most of it is higher speed sweepers and the road conditions are excellent.
My favorite is East Grade Rd off of Palomar and Mesa Grande which is between 76 and 79. There are also some great roads around Julian.
Trending Topics
12-29-2017, 05:56 AM
#8
Excellent Post Kiz.
Everyday an adventure in these great cars !!!
Loving your sapphire and black combo too, looks the business.
Look forward to seeing more adventures soon, especially as my cars are currently hiding in the garage due to the rubbish weather here in the UK :-(
Everyday an adventure in these great cars !!!
Loving your sapphire and black combo too, looks the business.
Look forward to seeing more adventures soon, especially as my cars are currently hiding in the garage due to the rubbish weather here in the UK :-(
12-29-2017, 12:29 PM
#11
Rennlist Member
Great set of photos. Went down a similar road once. A friend in front of me was driving his new GT3. I thought I was going to have to call 911. I was sure he was going to have the big one.
12-29-2017, 10:45 PM
#13
Rennlist Member
Great story.
Great photos!
Thanks for sharing.
My husband would have had a heart attack (except he would have been fine because HE would have turned around at the first sign of “off-roadness”).
What a cool adventure / story / memory with a beautiful car.
Great photos!
Thanks for sharing.
My husband would have had a heart attack (except he would have been fine because HE would have turned around at the first sign of “off-roadness”).
What a cool adventure / story / memory with a beautiful car.
