Well, I finally made it on my third attempt to get to the top of a canyon behind my house. The first two attempts were thwarted by a fence and a ravine crossing I wasn’t comfortable with (as well as time constraints). There was one particular section of the trail that was quite steep and full of loose rocks. I put the Ridgeline in VTM-4 Lock mode and began crawling up the hill. About 2/3’s of the way there was a rock that was too big to go over and the trail was too narrow to go around. I stopped and rolled it out of the way. When I got back in I used the left foot braking technique to get going again. The last thing I wanted to do was roll down hill on this unstable surface. The Ridgeline just crawled right up with out so much as a spin or shutter. I had the engine around 1500-1800 rpm the whole climb. To give you an idea, when I got out of the truck to move the rock I actually slipped a few times.

I can not tell you how impressed I was with the climbing ability of the Ridgeline. It was just a steady, confident climb over loose rock. On the way back down this section of trail, the ABS was working about 40-50% of the time.

Total travel time from my kitchen table was 1 hour and 10 minutes (less than the kids nap). I stayed at the top for about 10 minutes to enjoy the views and called my wife. I brought a mirror with to reflect the sun so she could see exactly where I was.

When I first got up there, there was either a Hawk or Golden Eagle there to greet me and of course the wild horses were in the area.

The last photo shows the amount of scuff marks on the side walls. The stock tires held up very well (no flats) and gave me very good traction. This truck is awesome!

I probably won’t be doing any more off roading until the snow melts; the desert trails are just too rocky for my personal tastes. I have mapped out a trail on the north side of Lake Tahoe that should yield some great trails and amazing view of the mountains and Lake Tahoe. I may attempt one or two more to the south of my house yet this winter where there are more trees and the trails have been less rocky.

I will keep you posted!

more..........

more.......

Last ones.

I almost forgot the side wall photo.

Great shots!

Let us know when you are going to North Lake Tahoe. We will be by Kings Beach the weekend of March 10. We might be up for a little adventure if you're there, although it will be up to my friend since it's his birthday!

RO3

Excellent photos and magnificent scenery nevadagarth! These tires have been impressive so far, I had mine off road at a friends hunting property this past weekend and I picked up some thorns in the treads and some scuffmarks but nothing punctured. I did get to try my RL in some nasty river-sand. I had walked through this dried creek bottom with deep river-sand going into my stand to do some hog hunting Saturday and it was tough just walking in this stuff. I ended up getting a good sized hog that morning and it was either drag it all the way back to the truck on the other side of the creek or drive across the creek and go get it. That decision only took the blink of an eye and I could not believe how easy the RL went across the creek bottom. I found out later that a couple people had buried their trucks in the same creek crossing and they had to get a tractor to haul them out.
I think a couple of these folks will be checking out Ridgelines at their local dealerships in the near future also.:)

Awsome pic's, just from what I could tell from the picture of the bird. It looks more like a Turkey Vulture than a Eagle or hawk. I looking mainly at the wing fold and the long neck. But I could be wrong.

Great shots, garth.

As usual, Garth, we who live in the Las Vegas Valley salute you! Generally, I'm too much of a wimp to risk damaging Honda's truck (mine's a lease)...only place it's been is Death Valley (Scotty's Castle and Titus Canyon), and that's not exactly hardcore 4WD country. Will probably get up to Ely area for the fall Silver State Classic Challenge again. I work Communciations for the race.

We debated ENTERING the SSC with REDA$$ this year, but insurance and lease issues Scotched that.

Also, I'm a little old for that stuff and would probably have to stop and water a bush about halfway through the course...

If someone wants to enter and see how fast his Rigeline will go for 100+ miles on a closed, paved road, see this URL: http://www.silverstateclassic.com/

Would LOVE to cross Death Valley from Tonopah across US 6 to Bishop, then to Gardnerville/Minden on 395 and up to Tahoe. SigOther has never seen this country.

I almost settled in Gardnerville, until I found out WHY they have the street signs up on 12 foot poles. I was looking at property in June and kept asking what, "CHAIN UP AREA" meant, being a Gator boy and all.

Those are some great pictures !! Beautiful!!! How lucky you are to have a trail in your back yard!

Awesome pictures!

Thanks for posting those great pics! Can I come to your yard to play? :D

Thanks for posting those great pics! Can I come to your yard to play? :D
Any time! My Ridgeline would love some company.

I talked a friend of mine into buying a Ridgeline, but he doesn't like to play dirty.:p

Great shots!

Let us know when you are going to North Lake Tahoe. We will be by Kings Beach the weekend of March 10. We might be up for a little adventure if you're there, although it will be up to my friend since it's his birthday!

RO3
Aw man I miss the Wet Woodies at Gar Woods (http://www.garwoods.com/). If you haven't tried the Sunday Buffet, you're missing a treat. Just one thing of the long list of things I miss about the Bay Area / Northern California / Tahoe :(

nice pics Darth

Did you have any problems with the ABS while going downhill?
There was a thread :
http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3700
It talked about having problems with ABS on a steep downhill run.

Where you on D while going downhill, or shifted to lower gear?

MY WIFE AND I LOVE GARWOODS!!!! There is nothing better than enjoying a cold one and great food out on the deck soaking up the sun and looking out onto the lake!



I had shifted to D1 when going downhill; trying to conserve the brakes. I did not have any trouble with the ABS. The truck as a whole performed flawlessly in my opinion.

Nice adventure, Garth. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

Awesome job NG.
Very nice pics. It must have made you feel great to achive the goal at the top. Congrates.

Thanks for sharing your views with us ROCers.
You should try to make it to the AZ/SW meetup in Sedona.
It would be great to meet you and hopefully share a trail with you.

Excellent photos Garth!

Wow... that is some spectacular scenery! Thanks for sharing. The only hills we have around me are landfills and highway overpasses... :D

Aw man I miss the Wet Woodies at Gar Woods (http://www.garwoods.com/). If you haven't tried the Sunday Buffet, you're missing a treat. Just one thing of the long list of things I miss about the Bay Area / Northern California / Tahoe :(


Thanks for the tip on Gar Woods! Looks great. I'll try to convince the others that we should go there for the Sunday Brunch.

Awwww shoot! I just noticed that they only have the brunch on Easter, Mother's Day, and during the summer. Oh well, maybe next time.

RO3