Labor Day trail runs

[EricsXJ]

Instead of doing Dusy Ershim, which we haven't budgetted enough days for, we are going to do the Strawberry Creek and Deer Valley trails that we missed earlier this year due to too much snow. Because its a 3 day weekend, in theory we could do 3 trails instead of 2.

First you guys should check out this other right up which shows 3 trails that this group did. http://www.employees.org/~klash/dv/DeerV_00.html And if you didn't read it before, here's the California Jeeper link (read Deer Valley, Pardoes, and Slick Rock) http://www.californiajeeper.com/trail-review.htm They say Slick Rock is a short trail off HWY 4 which is close to where Deer Valley dumps out. It would be easy to camp at the end of Deer Valley or start of Slick Rock and drive home the next day. Or we could try and work in a Pardoes run, but that means back-tracking up to HWY 88. Tom mentioned possibly doing Deer Valley backwards too so that is an option to get back to Blue Lakes and HWY 88 or we could drive pavement. Heres some options for those who want to do 3 trails / 3 days. And remember, if anyone wants to hook up for part of the run, like just one of the trails, you can drive down to join us and drive home afterward for a day trip. I will warn you though it makes for a long day, but both times I did Stawberry and Deer Valley were day trips only.

Option #1
Sat - Strawberry Creek
Sun - Deer Valley
Mon - Slick Rock Road

This is ideal since Strawberry is close to Tahoe and dumps out at HWY 88 near Blue Lakes which is the start of Deer Valley. Deer Valley Dumps out at HWY 4 near the start of Slick Rock... Since Slick Rock is short, that should give us time to get home at a reasonable hour (some of us have work the next day)

Option #2
Sat - Strawberry Creek
Sun - Deer Valley, then hit Slick Rock?
Mon - Reverse Deer Valley (South to North)

This is very possible, but we should probably carry extra gas because doing Deer twice is quite a bit of driving.

Option #3
Sat - Strawberry Creek
Sun - Deer Valley, then turn around and do Deer Valley in Reverse back to Blue lakes
Mon - Pardoes?

Also very doable. I haven't done Pardoes before so not 100% sure but want to go. Same for Slick Rock though...

Option #4
Sat - Fordyce
Sun - Rubicon Tahoe to Loon
Mon - Rubicon Loon to Tahoe, hit Moonrocks on the way home

hardcore only need to apply :)

and lastly for one special person on this board...

Option #5
Sat - run JeepSpeed
Sun - run the Baja 500
Mon - Dakar Rally
Tue - back in time for Pizza Night!
;)

Seriously, if any of you guys want to get out and do some great trails that aren't too difficult but still challenging (you may get some damage) then now's your chance. You can do 1 trail as a day trip, 2 trails and camp 1 night, or 3 trails and camp 2 nights.

[spoon]

What about Barrett Lake? If you guys are heading up that way, you might want to check that trail out. Its more difficult than Strawberry, Deer Valley or Pardoes, but definitely do-able with 33's. Six miles in and six miles out. Should be able to run it in a day no problem. I haven't checked the status of the gate, whether it is open or not, but I imagine that the FS does have it open.

[EricsXJ]

Barrett is still closed (http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/conditions/ohv/) as of July 27th but will probably be open by then. We had it on the schedule for Aug 20th, but I think if we did it then, not many people (on this board) would be up for going to Strawberry / Deer two weeks later. Maybe I'm wrong. We've passed up going to Strawberry and Deer several times this year and I'm going no matter what on Labor Day weekend. Running Barrett with Strawberry and Deer might be an option, but I was under the impression that Barrett was further away so didn't think of combining it with these runs.

[spoon]

Barrett is off of Hwy 50 on Wrights Lake road, just down from Strawberry a few miles. Just thought that I would suggest running it fairly soon since they are so fussy about the gate. The wheeling season on that trail is short so you need to hit it while its open. Chances are if you wait until later in September, you'll get locked out. Barrett would be fun in a rig with 33's. The terrain is no more difficult than average sections of the 'con. Just thought i'd suggest it. You can run Strawberry or Deer Valley pretty much anytime before the snow flies, but with Barrett you got only that small window to hit in the late summer.

[blackwidow]

im up for option 1, 2, or 4

[kairo]

*casts a vote for option 1*

[EricsXJ]

Just throwing this back up to the top so you guys know I / we are still planning on going.

[kairo]

eh, when is labor day, I hope I'm back in town

[EricsXJ]

Dates are:

9/03 Sat
9/04 Sun
9/05 Mon (Labor Day)

Also, the calendar is showing Pizza Night as the Friday just before, 9/02...

[xjmoser]

Is there any interest other than who have already posted?

[cutthroat]

I'm definately in for Sunday and Monday.

[EricsXJ]

Sent you a PM Cutthroat.

We are doing this run so if anyone else is planning on going they should let us know here (or you can PM me).

The plan is to do Option #1 that I posted at the beginning of this thread:

Option #1
Sat - Strawberry Creek
Sun - Deer Valley
Mon - Slick Rock Road

[xjmoser]

Ive got family coming to town so im only doing the sunday (Deer Vally trail) run if anyone wants to go down with me on sunday. We will meet at 5:00am so we can get there early. This will be a all day event so bring food and water. Dont forget the bug spray :D

[Connect]

Yea I like xjmoser's plan, hopefully I'll have new tires mounted and ready to roll, tighten some stuff up and hit the road. Come down for sunday if I'm not already down.

[PizzaJeep]

i vote rubicon all the way... on account of the fact that then youd be able to hang with me an joe the toe along with the canyon crawlers and a couple others

[xjmoser]

i vote rubicon all the way... on account of the fact that then youd be able to hang with me an joe the toe along with the canyon crawlers and a couple others



Boy are you confused about who needs to hang out with who. :rolleyes:

[EricsXJ]

OK - if anyone is planning on running Strawberry Creek with me on Saturday, they need to let me know so we can coordinate departure time and meeting place etc...

xjmoser, Cutthroat, and I think blackwidow, are heading down Sunday morning. Check with Tom on the details of that as he's planning on leaving around 5:00 am for an early start. We'll tentatively plan on meeting at the Deer Valley trail head at 8:00 am and should definitely be on the trail by 8:30 am or so. I will try to get a campsite at Lower Blue Lake but might not with the Holiday weekend. If not, I'll be camping close by, so hit me up on CB Channel 4 (go to 5 if theres a lot of chatter on 4).

Here are the directions to Blue Lakes which is where the Deer Valley trail head is:

Take 395 South to Minden / Gardnerville. (You should probably top off your tank there). Head South on Hwy 88 (which is just before you turn into Minden). At 14 miles you'll pass Woodfords - keep going straight. After another 6 miles you'll pass the turn-off to Hwy 89 on your right - keep going straight. In 1 or 2 miles, there will be a paved road on your Left with a sign to Blue Lakes. Turn here and follow it about 10 miles or so and it will take you directly to Lower Blue Lake. The Deer Valley trail head is right there at the South end of the lake. There should be a small sign there. If you don't call me on the CB thats where I'll be at 8:00 am (unless I sleep in!). :)

[xjmoser]

See-ya sunday. :wave:

[blackwidow]

See-ya sunday. :wave:


Likewise :thumbsup:

[cutthroat]

Moser,
You going to pizza night? If you are I'll bring your spare axles. If not I'll catch you and Blackwidow sunday morning.
I'll take a complete spare steering setup and a spare rear driveline (hack'n'tap style). Shouldn't need 'em but somebody might get all dizzy and go hardcore.

[JOE THE TOE]

Cuttthroat,i Still Have That Axle If You Want To Swing By Thursday & Pick It Up.

[xjmoser]

Moser,
You going to pizza night? If you are I'll bring your spare axles. If not I'll catch you and Blackwidow sunday morning.
I'll take a complete spare steering setup and a spare rear driveline (hack'n'tap style). Shouldn't need 'em but somebody might get all dizzy and go hardcore.



I have to go to carson on friday so I will miss pizza. Sunday will be cool. Gas is gonna be a killer.

[blackwidow]

Gas is gonna be a killer.

This is all I seem to be thinkin about lately. When I get back my jeep is being parked and I am getting a commuter! I saw onthe news today that in Chicago for unleaded gas it is 3.89 and here in Reno they say gas stations are changing their gas price signs twice a day. This sucks!!!!!!

[EricsXJ]

Best thing to do is keep the tank full now, including any gas cans you have. Its better to pay $3 a gallon now vs trying to fill the whole tank on the day of the run at $3.50, or heaven forbid anything higher!

[cutthroat]

I saw onthe news today that in Chicago for unleaded gas it is 3.89 This sucks!!!!!!

Ya bummer huh. CNN just had a clip showing a station in Georgia at $6.09, can you say "g o u g i n g".

Joe what time you get off tomorrow. I would like to swing by before you head to the 'con.

[xjmoser]

Its kinda strange that the prices should go up so fast.

They are saying possibly another 70 cents a gallon by next week. I think they mean tomorrow. I wish there was a smillie for getting bent over......

[cutthroat]

Anyone else plan on taking their domestic units? I think my girlfriend wants to go and my dog would enjoy some exercise chasing bears. Are camp fires allowed down there? If so I have plenty of camp wood.

[JOE THE TOE]

Call Me 287-6447.CUTTHROAT

[EricsXJ]

Anyone else plan on taking their domestic units? I think my girlfriend wants to go and my dog would enjoy some exercise chasing bears. Are camp fires allowed down there? If so I have plenty of camp wood.

They are currently under fire restrictions so no campfires are allowed unless in a designated campground. That is why I hope to get a space at Blue Lakes and Alpine Lake. If not, that means no campfire, but you can still use a propane stove with a permit. I did obtain a permit before the Rubicon Trip but it was ruined when the Jeep went under water... I don't know if I need to get another one or not. I wouldn't worry about bringing wood. I'm pretty sure we could find some if needed.

My son will be with me on this trip.

[cutthroat]

Got it no campfires. Do I need a permit for the girlfriend and the dog? :disagree: Kalifornia loves permits.

[Connect]

Hey I want to come down sunday morning from reno, where is the group meeting at, and what time?

[EricsXJ]

Well I'm about half packed. I'll be headin out in the morning. The great thing is I figured out which wheel was giving me the balance problems and when I rotated them and put that one on the back, it now drives like a dream at 65 mph! Just in time for the trip...

Connect, you'll have to contact xjmoser for Sunday or you can just meet us at the trail head - I posted directions a few posts back.

[xjmoser]

Dustin I will be at the shop in the morning 9:00 if you need anything stop by.



We will be meeting at 5:00am :eek: sunday. Havnt decided were yet.

how bout sportsmans warehouse parking lot?



John are you going? You can DO IT :yup:


I may be camping sunday night. Dont know yet.

[Connect]

I'd like to not be the only person going 55mph the whole way but I looked on mapquest and followed it to where I need to go, shouldn't be too difficult if I can't meet everyone. But does it really take 3 hours tom?

[xjmoser]

I'd like to not be the only person going 55mph the whole way but I looked on mapquest and followed it to where I need to go, shouldn't be too difficult if I can't meet everyone. But does it really take 3 hours tom?



With 35s! probly... We will be holding you up......

[xjmoser]

For all you guys that for some reasone passed on a fun trail run. :buttkick:


You guys missed out.........Again.

[xjmoser]

Pics

[cutthroat]

Yeah I had a great time, great trails, perfect weather, close to home (2 hours).

[EricsXJ]

Here's my trip report.

Like the others said, those who thought this trip was too far of a drive, too extreme, or whatever your excuse was, you did miss out on a fun trip, good family atmosphere, great wheeling, unbelievable scenery, perfect weather, and a perfect end to the summer!

Saturday, it was just my son and I doing the Strawberry Creek Trail. We got to the trail head about 10:00am. This trail is pretty easy but still very fun. The hardest obstacle is "Painted Rock". I thought I was going to make it through unscathed this year but did hit my passenger tail light on it, cracking a hole in it. Oh well, it was already scraped and had a broken mounting tab from past wheeling trips, so no real loss there. Here's what Painted Rock looks like after you get past it:

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/strawberry03.jpg

Saw some other wheelers on the trail, including another XJ with a 4.5" lift. Here's the view of Caples Lake almost at the end of the trail.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/strawberry05.jpg

So after Strawberry we were off to Blue Lakes. We went in the back way which is very easy wheeling with spectacular scenery.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/elephant02.jpg

The mountain to the left is called "Elephant's Back". Strange....

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/elephant04.jpg

In the summer theres usually a good bit of snow still up here but because its into September now all that is left is this:

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/elephant07.jpg

more to come...

[Connect]

Yea I did miss out, I just couldn't get myself up at 3:30 with the promise of 6 hours of freeway driving not to mention the trail.

New trackbar should fix any little issues I got left, hopefully by the end of this week.

[EricsXJ]

We pull into Blue Lakes and as I suspected, all the camping spots were full due to the Labor Day Weekend. Not a problem though - I just started down the Deer Valley trail and found a nice spot about 1/2 mile in. It was neer the creek, where my son and I soaked our feet in the cool water.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/deervalley01.jpg

The next morning I met xjmoser and Cutthroat at the trail head. Tom brought his son, and with Mike was his wife and dog. We started the trail about 8:45am. Deer Valley is also a pretty easy trail, especially with us having 33" - 35" tires and lockers, but still very fun. This group shot was at the second water crossing.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/deervalley08.jpg

This part of the trail gave us a chance to show some flex. Here's Mike's rig.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/deervalley14.jpg

Further down the trail we had some excitement when Mike almost rolled and then got a slight dent in his rear quarter when he cam down HARD off a rock.

I also took some video clips with my digital camera. Not the greatest quality, but good clips to show I think. Here is Tom showing his new suspension and 35's:

VIDEO (http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/deervid03.avi)

more to come...

[DBXJ]

good pics looked fun

[EricsXJ]

So after Deer Valley we headed over to Alpine Lake and the Slick Rock Road trail. Same situation on the campsites, but none of us really cared because I think we all preferred to be away from all the crowds of people. We made our way down the trail and had our pick of 3 to 4 great spots along the river, similar to the picture I posted up above, with small waterfalls and pools along the granite banks. Very few mosquitos also.

We saw some other wheelers pass by and surprisingly enough, even a stock XJ that made it with lots of spotting and taking bypasses.

The following morning (which was today...!) we started down the trail. Here's one tricky spot, but didn't give any of us any trouble.

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock04.jpg

This trail was short, only about 2 hours to run and at the end there was a challenging spot that was alot of fun. I got still shots of Tom and some video of Mike and me. Heres Tom:

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock12.jpg
http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock13.jpg
http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock14.jpg
http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock16.jpg

Tom crunched his hatch backing into a tree but damage was merely cosmetic. Made a good sound though! :eek:

Heres Mike on video in two 1-minute segments:

PART 1 (http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickvid01.avi)
PART 2 (http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickvid02.avi)

Heres me, again with two 1-minute segments:

PART 3 (http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickvid03.avi)
PART 4 (http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickvid04.avi)

Gotta get one shot in of me flexing (thanks Mike):

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock17.jpg

and us screwing around at the end:

http://www.ericsxj.com/slickrock/slickrock22.jpg

We then headed home stopping at McDonalds for the kids... well OK, for us too - that Big Mac sure did hit the spot.

We got home at 3:00 pm today.

Great trip and can't wait to do it again. I really enjoyed Slick Rock, even more than Deer Valley I think.

The end!

[EricsXJ]

Yea I did miss out, I just couldn't get myself up at 3:30 with the promise of 6 hours of freeway driving not to mention the trail.

New trackbar should fix any little issues I got left, hopefully by the end of this week.

6 hours???? Were you planning on going through Sacramento??

[kairo]

Is Tom on 33's now??

Anyways, looks like I really missed out on this one. Glad you guys had fun!

[EricsXJ]

He recently joined the 35" club. :yup:

[kairo]

erkljadsfljafdsljafds;lkj!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

ARGH, you guys and your 35's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:spike:

[Connect]

I was going to drive down with the guys and then head to the sac-auburn area. After I got the tires mounted My dad noticed that the rear end is tracking about 3" off to the right so I wasn't to thrilled about a long highway drive with my new tires. Once I get a new trackbar it should straighten things back out. It actually drives nicely on the highway, I couldn't notice the offset.

Instead on sunday I went up to verdi peak, and on the way back down (around 8 pm) I found an old guy with a quad who had flipped and broken his hip and leg, so i took him back to his camp at boca lake. Turns out search and rescue had been called and they were out looking for him.

[xjmoser]

Yea I did miss out, I just couldn't get myself up at 3:30 with the promise of 6 hours of freeway driving not to mention the trail.

New trackbar should fix any little issues I got left, hopefully by the end of this week.




Ya its much easier to get up whenever and go run Hunter Lake trail or even better go to Moonrocks.........Like every weekend around here. :rolleyes:

[NevadaXJ]

ARGH, you guys and your 35's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aye! Hence why I have thrown in the towel. I can't possibly keep up with my baby tires and my glass axle. I need to win Megabucks or something.....

[Connect]

Ya its much easier to get up whenever and go run Hunter Lake trail or even better go to Moonrocks.........Like every weekend around here. :rolleyes:

Sad but true :)

[xjmoser]

erkljadsfljafdsljafds;lkj!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

ARGH, you guys and your 35's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:spike:


:hyper: :thumbsup:

[xjmoser]

I enjoyed the fact that everyone at the campgrounds were stacked on top of each other and we were able to just head down a trail and camp anywere we wanted.


I Love My Jeep :yup:

[cutthroat]

O man I thought you guys were going to post how easy, fun, beautiful this trail was to lure .... I mean invite more people to come. Disclaimer; Tom and Eric drive the hard lines of these trails for fun, the guy in the rear tries a different line because he got see how everyone did. There was little spotting, no stacking, and minor stops for scenery pics. This trail would be a challenging run for group of rigs with 31's and 32's, or bigger rigs looking for a shake down run/cool weekend with the family. The trails have some established bypasses at the good stuff, careful spotting and good judgement would get you through with a smile.
The Stanislaus Forest is second in beauty to none. As Tom mentioned we had our choice of premium camp spots, the spots that were camped at had less restrictions than the camp grounds, and you get to watch the trail rigs coming and going.
Get to building your junk.

[cutthroat]

Forgot to say thanks again to Eric and Tom for saving me a roll over due to operator error. Eric ran under my stinger to push up, Tom went around the rig and leaned off the rocker for counter weight. I was able to keep the rig running and sllloooowwwwlllllyyyyy make my way out of trouble. My girlfriend and dog were not in the rig during the excitement, I'm sure she was real impressed with "the skills".

[EricsXJ]

Aye! Hence why I have thrown in the towel. I can't possibly keep up with my baby tires and my glass axle. I need to win Megabucks or something.....

One of the things I really like about wheeling, or building your off-road rig, is that everyone (except for some competition rock-racers and maybe some of the buggie crowd around here) do not build their rigs to "compete" against anyone. If you feel the need to compete with the next guy to see who has the biggest or baddest rig, it will be a never-ending battle that you will never win.

You should be building it to compete against the obstacles on the trail or your own driving skills. Why do you think we get out and help each other (spotting) to help the driver succeed when attempting a challenging spot? It doesn't matter if you have no lift and stock tires, or 33's, or 37's, etc. We all get stuck and we all get humbled now and then by the trail. But that makes it very rewarding when you look back at a section of trail and be proud that you accomplished it. When you get stuck, whether it be because of the vehicle or the driver, you use it as a learning experience to build your rig to perform better the next time or you learn to take different lines and how to manuever your vehicle.

Like Cutthroat said, these trails would have been fun (challenging) for rigs with 31" or 32" tires. Its a shame that nobody with those size tires decided to come and try it! First time I tried Strawberry I was on 31's and no lockers and needed help getting through, but it was still a blast and I learned a lot. First time Tom did Deer Valley he was on stock tires (I think) and again, we had fun and both of us learned a lot on that trip.

So don't give up. Keep wheeling and make one modification at a time. You'll eventually get to where you want to be and you'll have a blast along the way!