A few Silicon Valley Mog owners had decided to convoy, so first John from Moutain View in his 404 with a custom drop side cargo bed meet me at my place in Sunnyvale.

As we got ready to hit the road it started to sprinkle, before long it turned into a pretty good rainstorm (those windshield wippers work, right?) as we headed down 237 to 680.

Our first stop was outside Pleasanton as we went from 680 to 580 to meet Nate and Nina in his 404 firetruck. By now the rain had stopped and it looked like it would be a nice drive up to Loon Lake.

While we were waiting i noticed a fair amount of liquid on the ground under the engine. Hummm, looks like radiator fluid. Well, i had just opened the valves for the heater core lines as they had been closed for the summer and it looked like it was going to be cold. On inspection it turned out to be the bottom line from the heater core, the short piece of hose that connects two pipes was leaking. Closed the valves, i'll work on it when we get to camp.

We hit the road with the goal of maintaing a speed of 82 Km/H, as we headed down 580 with me in the lead it appeared that the other two Mogs were having no problem doing 82, so moved the speed up to 90 and maintained this speed most of the way.

As we approached Placerville on an incline i felt a slight stumble and sense it was about 240 Km into the trip i switched to the reserve fuel tank and the engine all but died. Before i totally coasted to a stop there was a downhill exit, took it and switched back to the main tank and it started running again.

But, as soon as i switched back to the reserve tank it started running rough and eventually died again. So, switched back to the main tank, added fuel from the 5 gallon spare fuel can and continued on.

The rest of the way to camp was uneventful with the exception of a few times that my Mog's engine stumbled under full throttle. About two thirds of the way up to Loon Lake on Ice House Road we see an odd looking vehicle on the left at an entrance to a camp ground ... That shure looks like a Mog?

Yup it's a Mog, so we made the turn onto the Winch Point Camp Road. As we made the last turn into camp the engine died and wouldn't restart ... Using the starter got over the last little rise and coasted into camp, it was getting dark and wet, so said "i'll work on it in the morning".

Remeber that noise cancelation device i mentioned? Well it work great, you can still hear while driving but after several hours of near continuous driving took'em off and could hear just fine thank you. So, looks like they work great. It ran for about 6 hours on one 9 volt battery, don't know what the battery life is as i plan on changing to a new battery prior to the trip home.

Set up camp, i sleep in the bed of my mog so not much to setup :-) Went to the campfire to meet those that had already arrived and it started to snow. Six inches of snow later and a couple of hours i was ready for bed, man it was getting cold.

Woke up to a sunny snow covered forest on Saturday, with most of the camp planning on going for the first trail run at 11am and i hadn't even looked at the problem my Mog was having so i had all but resigned myself to skipping the trail run and working on the Mog.

And sense it was cold and damp (the sun was now turnning the snow filled evergreens into tree rain) i decided to wait until it warmed and dried up a bit. About 1pm started working on the Mog, good spark from the coil, good spark to #2, not the ignition.

Took out the fuel pump prefilter, shure enough it appeared to be completely pluged with a fine silt (humm, looks like the stuff in the bottom of the main tank), cleaned it with a brush and some gas, put it back in and it started right up.

But, even after it warmed up it wouldn't idle nor run at anything below half throttle. So, let it run, after maybe 15 minutes it started picking up RPM and after almost 30 minutes it was running just fine.

I had been meaning to drain the fuel tanks and clean the fuel tank filter screens, but never got around to it. This combined with no running of the back tank for several months (like only once since a bought it and that before the carb rebuild?).

So, must'ave been contaminant from the reserve tank (back tank on the Swiss Mogs) when i switched over getting into the fuel pump prefilter and the carb. Oh well, was running good now, i'll work on it when i get home.

Replaced the interconnect heater core hose that was leaking so i could turn the heat on as i may need it while driving. Worked fine, looks like all the other heater core and radiator hoses are in good shape (hummm, maybe i should start stocking some spares?).

Dinner was to be provided by the event staff, it was getting dark but the boy's were still not back from the trail run ... Didn't worry to much as with late arriving Mogs and others who didn't go on the trail run good conversation was had, i wasn't all that hungry, and the nice hot campfire felt good (did i tell you that it was cold and wet?).

In the meantime one of the campers was wipping up a batch of Hungarian Goulash (thanks Claus) for the camp, this tided everyone over til dinner was ready.

It was clear from the first night that my lightweight sleeping bag wasn't adequate for the below freezing wet nights, so two of my friends who'd come up in their Land Rover (hi Doug and Reen) were heading into town to pick up some supplies and bought me a nice big blanket.

The boy's got back from the trail a little after dark and got dinner going while the rest started trickled in and warming up by the campfire while telling of the fun had on the trail (hummm, maybe i should'ave worked on my Mog last night?).

A successful day was had by all (i.e. no major problems nor injuries), dinner was good, the blanket augmented sleeping bag was calling.

Had a much more comfortable night of sleeping, awoke to another sunny morning. A bit more snow melting from the trees raining down on the camp but it appeared that there wasn't much more left.

The event staff provided breakfast, had a quick meeting to talk about the original plans for the day vs going on another trail run, also talked about doing the group picture. Several of the Mogs had to hit the road for home so it was decided to take the group photo nearby (vs on the trail which not all would attend) on the way to the days trail run.

Started up my Mog, again as yesterday it took 10 to 15 minutes at anything less then half throttle. So, decided to drive to the group photo op then right back to camp (guess i'll be flushing the fuel tanks when i get home).

Got in line to drive up to the group photo shoot, Mog was idling fine now and the drive up was fine ... Hummm, maybe i should go on the trail run?

The group photo shoot was in the open on a dirt road with the nice warm sun shinning down. The drivers took their shots, then the group shot with the drivers in front of their Mog was taken.

Decided to head back to camp as i wasn't looking forward to a fuel related failure on the trail. I'll just get one or more of the many things i brought parts for done (like 24V to 12V converter installed with CB, backup lights, check the fluids, ...).

Drive back to camp was again fine, the Mog was running just fine. Setup camp again, went to the campfire and kicked back as the sun was shining through the trees ... I guess it was to comfortable, before i new it it was getting late in the afternoon. Oh well, i'll get the work done when i get home.

Just about then a Mercedes bus type vehicle pulls into camp, turns out that it's a Mogless caterer who had some leftover food and wine, "do you want some?". Hummm, let's see, been eating camp food for 2+ days, i could cook my own or have someone else prepare and serve food and wine ... Tough call but i'll say YES.

So, those that stayed behind and a few who had returned early were treated to various hors d'oeuvres (read munchies) followed by racks of babyback ribs with bottles and bottles of red and white wine.

As this was happening various campers brought over steaks to contribute to the feast. Man, the Mogs still on the trail are never going to believe us ...

The first group of Mogs show up from the trail and the caterer starts up round two. This was followed by telling of the stories of the day and a descussion of plans for the next REUINImOggiNg ... And the answer is: Big Bear Mountain in Southern California.

It was getting late, talked with the other two Mog owners who i convoyed up with about convoy back, they thought it was a good idea, so we agreed to try for a 11am departure.

Awoke Monday morn to the warmest day of the four, got breakfast, the camp was looking deserted as many had left or were packed and ready to leave. Packed up, started the Mog and much the same as the last couple of mornings it started right up but ran real rough and wouldn't idle for a good 15 minutes or so.

Decided to gas up in Placerville as i only had the front tank to run of. Said our goodbyes and hit the road by 12:30. When we got to Placerville i fueled up and then checked the engine oil, it was a little over a quart low so added a quart and just as i finished putting the oil in i smelled either clutch or brakes burning smell.

Hummm, turns out to be coming from John's Mog, had a hot right rear hub (break shoe hung up?), wasn't burning nor red hot so we hit the road and would watch his truck carefully.

A couple of hours later on 5 we hit Stockton and as i hit my breaks to slow for merging traffic my foot is slipping and sliding on the floor? I look down and see oil all over the floor and some oil in the middle from under the engine cover.

Just then John goes flying by (he didn't want to use his breaks), i headed for the nearest exit (which was a ways down the road), Nate followed me of the 5, pop the hood, in the confussion at the gas station forgot to put the oil filler cap back on and a couple of quarts of oil had blown out all over the engine bay (but not on the exhaust).

Good thing the Siss Mog's have a chain on the cap. Filled it up with oil, replaced the cap (are you shure you put the cap on i'm thinking as i close the hood), back on the road.

Stopped just outside of Pleasanton to gas up (didn't want to take any chances even though i'm shure i could have made the last 80 mi with no problem), said good by to Nate and Nina, back on the road.

As i got of the E-way and head down the road i live on i hear someone honking at me, turn and see one of the campers that had left the day before and who wanted to buy some Mog stuff from me (hi Claus) and we had agreed to hook up sometime soon ... Well, he followed me home and we completed the transaction (funny how things work sometimes).

All and all a great time, can't wait for next year at Big Bear Mountain.

Again thanks to all who organized the event as i know it's not easy to plan and execute an event like this. Great job guy's.

And, thanks to all the new people i meet and the old one's i meet again for making the weekend a fun one ... See yah all next year (see some of you at the Big Bear Campground (aka Waterford, not to be confused with Big Bear Mountain, in April).

Later, Bruce -----------> http://playground.sun.com/~brutus/
'95 Disco SG -----------> http://playground.sun.com/~brutus/lro/
'62 Unimog-S 404.114 ---> http://playground.sun.com/~brutus/uni/