High Sierra

[Navy-Jeepster]

Rob

I sent you a PM about the times.
The one day and two day swamp trips will leave, and then they will organize the rest for Bald. I would suspect that they will be headed out about 10:00 am for Bald.
If that is not enough for you, you can run over to Brewer on your own. Their permit does not include organized trips on Brewer. Brewer is pretty easy, except for the last 1/2 mile down to the lake where you get into some rocks.

Hope that this helps.

Todd

[4point]

Thanks again Todd, I might check out Brewer thanks for the info.



Rob

[4point]

What a kick in but, this was great fun. I climbed Hollywood Hill, something I did not know me & my jeep could do. We went to Brewer Lake and did a small rock garden with Russ leading the way. Both me and my son forgot cameras on the Saturday runs. But pics will appear here from others. Russ has a huge camera.

Thanks again Russ for loaning me the CB. Its first on my short list of purchases.

Rob

[mrchips]

THE ROUGHWHEELERS RAN THE DUSY/SHAVER LAKE AREA TRAILS EARLY AUGUST AND HERE ARE A FEW PICS TO ENJOYhttp://picasaweb.google.com/christao...huntingtonlake

[igofshn]

Possibly the first JK over Swamp???



http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v8...p%20lake%2007/

[Navy-Jeepster]

Al

Nice pictures, and good to wheel with you again.

The JK did extremely well on the trail.

It was a good weekend too, and had a good time.

Todd

[Russ Chung]

Al,

Nice pictures of your JK and the Swamp Lake run. Did you catch any fish?

Shhhh, keep it a secret, but unlike the other Cal4Wheel events, which attract hundreds of vehicles, this was a smaller, friendly more casual event. I think that there were about 40 vehicles between the two Swamp Lake runs, and the other runs (Bald Mtn, Brewer Lake, Coyote Lake) had no more than ten vehicles on each run. These trails are just as scenic and challenging as anything at the Cal4WDC Northern district and Southern district events but without the crowds.

I will submit my run reports in a separate post.

Russ

[Russ Chung]

Bald Mountain and Brewer Lake, part 1

Each year, the Central District of the California Association of Four Wheel Drive Clubs obtains permits from the Forest Service to set up an encampment near Shaver Lake, CA and to hold 4WD runs on the Swamp Lake trail and Bald Mountain trail. In addition to the runs covered by the FS permit, individual groups and clubs organize their own runs on the many other trails in the area; those smaller runs do not require permits. This is one of the major fund raising activities for the association. On Saturday, September 1, I participated in the “official” Bald Mountain run, and then got an “unofficial” group together to run over to Brewer Lake.

Bald Mountain is located in the central Sierras near Shaver Lake, CA, about sixty miles northeast of Fresno. The Bald Mountain trail is rated “difficult” in the Charles Wells Guide, however, the organizers of the run billed it as a “scenic SUV run”.

The run leader was Mark Cave, Central District Vice President and a member of the Lock ‘n Load 4WD Club. Six vehicles participated in the run: Mark, driving a brown TJ, his sons, Brian and Fernando in a green XJ, Stan and Lonnie in a green Bronco, MJR member Rob (4point) in a yellow TJ, Lock ‘n Load member Bob in a vintage red Willys, and myself in my khaki TJ.

We approached the mountain from the north. This part of the trail is easy; Mark’s brown TJ is in the lead, followed by Brian’s green XJ and Rob’s yellow TJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070078.jpg[/SIZED]

A view of the central Sierra from the trail:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070077.jpg[/SIZED]

The lookout tower at the crest of Bald Mountain:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070088.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070081.jpg[/SIZED]

Bald Mountain offers great views of the entire area:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070086.jpg[/SIZED]
[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070091.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070093.jpg[/SIZED]

The view of Shaver Lake from Bald Mountain:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070089.jpg[/SIZED]

We don’t know what this helicopter was carrying; Mark guessed that it was part of an operation to clear illegal marijuana plants.

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070094.jpg[/SIZED]

[Russ Chung]

Bald Mountain and Brewer Lake, part 2

We left the top of Bald Mountain and continued down the southeast side of the mountain. This is Rob’s yellow TJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070095.jpg[/SIZED]

Stan’s green Bronco followed by Bob’s red Willys:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070096.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070097.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070098.jpg[/SIZED]

Mark led us to the V-notch. This is Bob’s red Willys climbing the rock:



Next, Mark took us to a steep granite hill known as “Hollywood”. This is Rob’s yellow TJ on Hollywood:



Upon return to camp, we lined up for a group photo. Left to right, my khaki TJ, Rob’s yellow TJ, Brian’s green XJ, Stan’s green Bronco, Bob’s red Willys and Mark’s brown TJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Bald%20Mtn%202007/P1070115.jpg[/SIZED]

We returned from the Bald Mountain run early in the afternoon, so a group of us decided to make an "unofficial" run over to Brewer Lake. The group consisted of Stan’s green Bronco, Rob’s yellow TJ, Brian’s green XJ and myself. Charles Wells Guide lists this three mile long trail as “moderate” except that the last half mile is “difficult”.

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Brewer%20Lake%202007/P1070116.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Brewer%20Lake%202007/P1070117.jpg[/SIZED]

The difficult part of the trail:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Brewer%20Lake%202007/P1070123.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Brewer%20Lake%202007/P1070125.jpg[/SIZED]

We reached the lake and retraced our path to return:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Brewer%20Lake%202007/P1070120.jpg[/SIZED]

[trickcomanche]

Here are a few pix from the two day run into swamp.















































And the rest are here http://s172.photobucket.com/albums/w...%2070/?start=0

[Russ Chung]

Coyote Lake Trail, Sunday, September 2, 2007

On Sunday, September 2, Bob from the Lock ‘n Low Club led an “unofficial” run to Coyote Lake. Charles Wells’ Guide rates this trail as difficult, and “one section, immediately after Red Lake, is borderline extreme…lockers recommended”.

Six rigs participated in this run. The leader was Bob from Lock ‘n Low in a red Willys. The other participants were Scot from Fresno in a turquoise Bronco, Tyson and his brothers, Darryl and John from Porterville in a white TJ, MJR member Masis (Rockzilla) and Kim from Alhambra, CA in a red CJ, Steve Engle, the Central District Cal4Wheel Secretary/Treasurer in a white YJ, and myself with my khaki TJ. Although the trail is only four miles long, Bob wanted an early start because he expected that it would take all day to negotiate the trail (Tyson’s TJ and my TJ have open diffs and we discovered on the trail that Scot’s front locker would not engage).

Bob’s red Willys:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070142.jpg[/SIZED]

Scot’s turquoise Bronco:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070131.jpg[/SIZED]

Tyson’s white TJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070137.jpg[/SIZED]

Masis’ (Rockzilla) red CJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070148.jpg[/SIZED]

Steve’s white YJ:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070151.jpg[/SIZED]

Scot and Tyson on the trail:



Masis and Steve on the trail:

]

Masis (Rockzilla) showing his flex:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070165.jpg[/SIZED]

Early in the run, a group coming back down the trail told us that there was a disabled Jeep just before Red Lake that was blocking the trail. The owner was part of a group that was camped at Red Lake. We later learned that he had gone into town in search of a replacement axle. The group also reported that the section just after Red Lake was badly eroded and they turned around because no one could get through it. We found the disabled Jeep. Fortunately (for us) there was a bypass:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070169.jpg[/SIZED]

Shortly afterward, we arrived at Red Lake:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070174.jpg[/SIZED]

[Russ Chung]

Coyote Lake Trail - part 2

Just after Red Lake, we reached the “borderline extreme” section of the trail. After some effort, Bob’s Willys made it through the section:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070181.jpg[/SIZED]

Then it was Scot’s turn. This is when we discovered that his front locker would not engage:





After several more attempts, Scot finally had to use his winch to get through the obstacle:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070197.jpg[/SIZED]

Next, Tyson tried the obstacle, and also had to get an assist from Scot’s winch:



I was next, and with my open diffs, I also needed an assist from Scot’s winch. However, Scot’s winch shut down because of heat. By this time, our group had been on the obstacle nearly an hour and a half, and only three of the six vehicles had made it through. Instead of waiting for Scot’s winch to cool down, I backed down off the obstacle and decided to wait at Red Lake for the group to return from Coyote Lake. Steve was next and he took his modified YJ through with ease; I was still parking my TJ at the bottom of the hill, so I didn’t get any pictures of Steve on the obstacle. Masis (Rockzilla) was the last of our group to attempt the obstacle, and he, too made it through with relative ease, except that he slashed a tire on a rock at the end of the obstacle:



[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070211.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070212.jpg[/SIZED]

[Russ Chung]

Coyote Lake Trail - part 3

While waiting for the rest of the group to return from Coyote Lake, I went for a swim in Red Lake, and looked at the rock rigs that belonged to the group that was camped there:

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070176.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070177.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070178.jpg[/SIZED]

[SIZED]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/UF92134/Coyote%20Lake%202007/P1070179.jpg[/SIZED]

I also watched one of rigs playing on the obstacle:





Coming back down the obstacle from Coyote Lake was easier than going up. This is Bob’s Willys:



Scot’s Bronco:



Tyson’s TJ:



Again, I missed Steve’s YJ on the obstacle. This is Masis’ (Rockzilla) CJ:



I rejoined the group and we had an uneventful return to camp. It took the group about nine and a half hours to make the roundtrip from camp to Coyote Lake, including slightly more than two hours to get through the obstacle just after Red Lake. On that obstacle, the three vehicles with working lockers made it through without assistance, but the three vehicles with open diffs or malfunctioning lockers required winching.

[Mike]

Hey Russ, I'm having trouble with the vids. They just open like a photo when I try them. Besides that, Great pics and reports!

[Russ Chung]

Hey Russ, I'm having trouble with the vids. They just open like a photo when I try them. Besides that, Great pics and reports!

Mike, Thanks. I fixed the tags. The links should work now.

Russ