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Seven Days Five Trails Who is up for it?

Hope you guys can make it. My friend Mike is planning on joining in as well. I did Bald, Mirrior and into Red Lake (half way to Coyote) with him this summer.

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20160910_123236 by Matthew Dresselhaus, on Flickr
 



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This is the schedule I am thinking.

Sunday August 27: Meet at the gas station in Shaver Lake to top off fuel at 7:30 am. Leave at 8am for Dusy Ershim Courtright end. Go over Chicken Rock and Camp at Thompson Lake.

Monday August 28: Pack camp and go Thompson Lake to Ershim Lake and setup camp.

Tuesday August 29: Pack camp and go Ershim Lake to end of trail. Top off fuel/ice in Lakeshore or Shaver. Go to Mirror Lake or West lake and setup camp.

Wednesday August 30: Pack camp and finish or run all of Mirror. Depending on time maybe go in and out to Strawberry. Go to Coyote and setup camp.

Thursday August 31: Pack camp and come out Coyote. Get supplies if needed in Shaver and then run Brewer and Camp at Brewer Lake.

Friday September 1: Pack camp and come out of Brewer and go to the North end of Swamp. Wheel to Swamp Lake and setup camp.

Saturday September 2: Pack camp and Finish Swamp lake. Depending on the time and how everyone feels we could run up to the top of Bald on the way out of Swamp. Air up and head home.

What do you think? This has the potential to hit every trail in the mountains except Spanish. Spanish has been closed the last few years due to a wild fire that heavily damaged the area. I doubt it will be open.

A few things to keep in mind with this schedule.
Every night of camping is at a lake. :)
Currently every camp site listed except West (if we camp there) has a pit toilet available for use. There may be one there by the time this trip happens.
We more then likely will be under camp fire restrictions as we have been the last few years. This means no wood fires or cooking with Charcoal. A propane fire ring and cook stove can be used with a fire permit. I have a propane fire pit I carry with me. I can get roughly 3-5 days out of a 20lb bbq tank. I get it topped off before I leave. Depending on the size of the group it would be nice to have one more fire ring and 2 tanks per ring for the trip.

I will keep adding to the thread as I think of things.
 






Honestly I don't know. I haven't wheeled with a third gen enough to know what they are capable of. The lack of suspension flex would cause for some interesting lines to have to be taken. The trails are pretty tight and more then likely would cause some body damage. I think a well skid plated and equipped rig and an owner who understands that there is a very good chance for body damage could make it. The best answer I could give is for the owner to do as much research on the listed trails and they can make the decision. Maybe more info on the rig and driver and I could give a better answer.


Kinda what I was thinking. Like anything else in the world, independent front and rear have pros and cons. Pumpkins are much higher, but they just flat out dont flex like a live axle. I'll look into it a bit. I would list plates and sliders as a must, same with front and rear lockers. Not sure anyone has run big enough lift to get the right size rubber on a third gen yet. I have no doubt that it would keep up in every aspect of the trails, but the crawling would likely be its death.
 






I doubt it will be pretty when it is done. How well will the CV joints hold up to lockers? What are the available lifts for ground clearance? A 2" suspension spacer or strut and a 3" body lift would make it tough. You are talking about having 12-14" of belly clearance I am guessing? I have 23" of clearance under my belly pan and around 30" at my rockers and still hit them. Mine is smooth and slides off stuff easy. My wife's CJ7 has about 16" and we avoid some of the trails to not beat on it as it sits. We can probably do the trails especially with the gears she has but it would take a lot of work. She is a better driver then a lot of people I run into on the trail.
 












I saw @Stic-o run Swamp with his 99 Explorer before it was SAS'd. I think all it had was a torsion twist and maybe a lunch box locker. It was entertaining when we dropped into that canyon full of boulders. Throw back pictures of Swamp, 2004. Look at my kid, she is 22 now.
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The JP Mobile, pre JP
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I believe this is Mirror Lake, I have always wanted to go back there and camp.
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The local trails over the last 5 years sense I moved back to Fresno have been getting harder and harder. We are planning a slight rebuild of Tracy's jeep to keep up with the trail changes.
 






I'm in like flynn. With one of the two, likely the Ex.

Question... Would we be able to load up or need to drive to each trail?

and where would we park the tow rigs for the week?
 






I'm in like flynn. With one of the two, likely the Ex.

Question... Would we be able to load up or need to drive to each trail?

and where would we park the tow rigs for the week?

Once you unload you won't need the trailer to move from trail to trail. you won't come back past the trailer till the very end. If you google map the intersection of Dinkey Creek Road and Rock Creek Road there is a large parking area on Dinkey Creek Road just before you get to Rock Creek Road. Maybe a quarter mile before. It is on the north side. GPS 37.071572, -119.184987 Once you unload there it is about 15 miles of pavement to Courtright reservoir and the start of Dusy. All of that is at roughly 30 mph. When you finish Dusy you come out on a paved forest service road. 5-10 miles on it to the highway. If you top off with fuel here then you have maybe a mile on the highway till the next turn off. If you need to go to shaver for supplies it is 15ish miles each way on the highway doing 50 mph. You could do 30mph if you need to. Then it is up another forest service road to Strawberry, Mirror, and Coyote trail. They all start and finish at the same point. From there it is back down to the highway. 15 miles to Shaver if needed. If not it is about 4-5 miles of highway to the next turn off. then it is all forest service roads that will connect Brewer, Swamp, and Bald Mountain. From any of these trails when we leave we will come out on Rock Creek Road. Hang a right and be at your trailer in a quarter mile.

If you do not need to go to Shaver and can get what ever you may need in Lakeshore I wouldn't even bother airing up between trails. If you trailer you will do almost half the miles traveled in 4low. Very little highway driving will be done.
 






Depending on the dates, I may do some of some of the trails, but probably not a week.
 












Once you unload you won't need the trailer to move from trail to trail. you won't come back past the trailer till the very end. If you google map the intersection of Dinkey Creek Road and Rock Creek Road there is a large parking area on Dinkey Creek Road just before you get to Rock Creek Road. Maybe a quarter mile before. It is on the north side. GPS 37.071572, -119.184987 Once you unload there it is about 15 miles of pavement to Courtright reservoir and the start of Dusy. All of that is at roughly 30 mph. When you finish Dusy you come out on a paved forest service road. 5-10 miles on it to the highway. If you top off with fuel here then you have maybe a mile on the highway till the next turn off. If you need to go to shaver for supplies it is 15ish miles each way on the highway doing 50 mph. You could do 30mph if you need to. Then it is up another forest service road to Strawberry, Mirror, and Coyote trail. They all start and finish at the same point. From there it is back down to the highway. 15 miles to Shaver if needed. If not it is about 4-5 miles of highway to the next turn off. then it is all forest service roads that will connect Brewer, Swamp, and Bald Mountain. From any of these trails when we leave we will come out on Rock Creek Road. Hang a right and be at your trailer in a quarter mile.

If you do not need to go to Shaver and can get what ever you may need in Lakeshore I wouldn't even bother airing up between trails. If you trailer you will do almost half the miles traveled in 4low. Very little highway driving will be done.

That's awesome news! What about security of the trailer drop off point?
 






We left a tow rig there overnight this year when we did swamp without issue. More then likely there will be other trailers there as well. There are other spots along Rock Creek road that tow rigs can be parked. I have heard of a few break-ins in the past but not many. Probably just as safe as leaving your rig at loon lake on the the Rubicon. There is talk of the forest service adding more parking in the area for trailers. Who knows if or when it will happen. They have been going to install pit toilets at one of the campgrounds and repave the access road "this summer" for the last three years and that hasn't happened yet so who knows what will happen.

I will check around for other options as well. It is definitely the best spot for limiting the backtracking and pavement driving for trailered vechicles. Unfortunately I live in a track home with limited street parking. I could have three tow rigs and trailers left on the street at my house for the week if needed. I am a bit out of the way though. Coming from the south it would add about 30 miles to your route. It would also require a 50ish mile drive on the highway to Shaver Lake and back.
 






I was more concerned with stolen truck and trailer than breaking in.

I think that place will be sufficient for my needs, since it sounds like a pretty chill area
 






I would be interested in doing it. But the trials are too difficult for me
 












I would be interested in doing it. But the trials are too difficult for me

Install the doubler you already have in the Navajo. What you can't make with finesse you can make it with speed. I have seen you do it before.

On another note all the trails except Bald Mountain close November 1 for the year. There is talk Spanish might open next year. Have to play that one by ear.
 












I really wish I had a rig, because I would be in for sure. If for some reason I get one before this happens, I'll be posting back in here.

I could help you out with that......

can make a deal with a c5 trans and doubler too
 



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I really wish I had a rig, because I would be in for sure. If for some reason I get one before this happens, I'll be posting back in here.

Lots of time between now and the run. There always seams to be good deals on pirate and Facebook if you aren't to picky
It would be awesome if you could join us.

I could help you out with that......

None of this talk. You are suposed to be installing the doubler and bringing the navajo yourself. You held it this long. No point in selling it now.
 






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