[jonaz]

4th of July weekend, we followed my neighbor with his F250 4x4 diesel, and his father in law in a older Jeep CJ 4x4 up a steep narrow fire trail here in the San Bernardino Mountains. I was warned by the CJ driver, that our Honda probably wouldn't make it, but we were welcome to try anyway. I can tell you that with large rocks, and deep cracks in the road, a CRV or Rav4 would not have made it. Although my neighbor blasted through the trail, his enormous amount of torque actually was a hinderence, and so was the width of his truck when going around corners. Some of the corners were so tight, that he had to make it a 3 point turn. Our Pilot already has scratches, so I was not to worried about adding more (well, the wife was). Yes, we have Bridgestone Duelers 245/75-16 tires, and once we had to use the VTM lock on a really steep section of the trail. There were other 4x4s awaiting at the top, and somebody remarked that this was the first time they had seen any Honda up here. Anyway, our Pilot did a great job, and it really impressed all those who watched it climb the last section of trail.