my serious exploration to lake tahoe and genoa peak off road trail (pics!)

[LONO100]

the best thing about california is that you can drive in any direction and in three hours, you will find any type of environment you want. urban, forest, mountains, lakes, ocean, desert, beaches, rivers. this is our off road tour of lake tahoe. we only had a day up there, in a few weeks we are going to take a few days and hit way more trails. this one was at genoa peak. if anyone wants directions to go to this trail or beach in tahoe just hit me up. this was in south lake tahoe. we will take way more roading pics next time out.

this was the staging area before we hit the off road trail.

this is a shot of the lake once you come around the mountain. tahoe vets know this view, and you get juiced knowing you are finally there

here's dora at one of the stops up the genoa peak

here's a picture of tahoe from up on a mountain

here's the gf in awe of the view

like a dummy, i forgot to tell the gf to take shots of us climbing, we could've had some cool lightweight crawling shots! well, here's us coming back down

here's a good shot of the lake

coming down the trail was fun, but we were sad we had to go. we actually didnt get to the top because it was getting dark, and we were alone and didnt want to risk getting stuck up there

this is a cool picture of how tahoe gets so beautiful

this is the trail to kiva beach in south lake.

go giants!

my dog wally at the beach

the gf getting some sun

this is the american river. it runs from the mountains down toward the bay

my dog trying to steal some lunch

this is wally on the road. say bye bye tahoe! till next time

hope you guys dig the pics, ill try to post more when i get them on photobucket, and ill take a bunch more on my next trip up to the sierra in 2 weeks.

 

[shawn.m]

fun times! I was just up their with my B2 on the Rubicon. Lots of the fire roads are still closed - interesting you found a open one.

 

[Rick]

Great scenery Love the last shot of the dog looking through the window

 

[Keeper0311]

Looks like a blast man. Great looking Ex.

 

[2004xlmiller]

shoulda hit us up, hahah me n a few friends were down in colfax and then we rode up to bowman lake.

 

[LONO100]

shawn - yeah, my rig isnt quite set up for the rubicon, but my gf wants to get a jeep rubicon that we can hook up so we can take it to some cool places like the rubicon because mine is pretty much a camping/fishing rig.

rick - thanks, that was our favorite picture of the trip. people dont think he's a pit bull because they dont expect one to always have such a smile on his face, but the truth is, just like any dog, if they are taken care of in the right way they will always have a happy demeanor. we are actually getting involved with a group here in the bay area called bad rap that is using balanced pits to change the image of the breed.

keeper - thanks man!

miller - i def would've told the forum, but our trip was more me doing the girlfriend thing instead of a run. but yeah, next time we are going to invite my buddy and then ill def post up a run next time up.

thanks for all the feedback fellas, i enjoy so many of all the forum members pics and stories, i thought id contribute too.

 

[RockRanger]

Looks like a good time. Anytime in the dirt is a good time.

 

[94Eddie]

That looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for sharing. I will look at as many photos of this kind of stuff as you are willing to post.

 

[LONO100]

no doubt! im going to keep posting pics all summer. me and my buddy's summer goal this summer is to visit the sierra mountains, pismo beach, the san juaquin valley, the redwood forests, the santa cruz mountains, and then finish up the summer doing a run throught the mojave desert, all in california, all in one summer. ill keep putting up tons of pics as we make our way.

 

[94Eddie]

Thanks for doing it. I live on the East coast and really like seeing real-life photos from people running around in God's country out West. Until I can get out there myself, I have to live vicariously through others.

 

[shawn.m]

highly recommend doing hwy fort Bragg to the Oregon border Hwy 1 - lots of beautiful scenery

going south on Hwy 1 to San Luis and stopping at Solvang is another great 2 day trip

lots of level 1 trips that you can run in the Sport Trac

I would say avoid the San Joquin valley until November

you can also run across the valley to calveras big trees, Yosemite

basically any place in the Sierras above 5,000 feet in elevation is great.

its a reminder to me to post my stuff also - just take where I live for granted

 

[RockRanger]

no doubt! im going to keep posting pics all summer. me and my buddy's summer goal this summer is to visit the sierra mountains, pismo beach, the san juaquin valley, the redwood forests, the santa cruz mountains, and then finish up the summer doing a run throught the mojave desert, all in california, all in one summer. ill keep putting up tons of pics as we make our way.

When you get to the central valley if you head to the Sierras outside of Fresno there are alot of dirt roads you can cruise around. Over the 4th I did close to 100 miles on dirt roads in the Sierras. I made it as high as 8000 feet and went to 1400 feet all on dirt roads. I was in my bone stock 4wd silverado so it is not hard stuff but was some pretty scenery.

I would say avoid the San Joquin valley until November

you can also run across the valley to calveras big trees, Yosemite

basically any place in the Sierras above 5,000 feet in elevation is great.

I agree about the valley and I live there. All of the above is true.

 

[4x4SportTrac04]

wow looks like a great drive..i just got my sport trac.im so glad i found this forum.now i can find new place to go.does anyone have a web-site link,that list trails for all levels or off roading?

 

[RockRanger]

wow looks like a great drive..i just got my sport trac.im so glad i found this forum.now i can find new place to go.does anyone have a web-site link,that list trails for all levels or off roading?

http://4x4books.com/gtcan.htm These are pretty good books.

 

[LONO100]

94eddie - im just like you. being out here in the west coast, i love cruising the forum and checking out pictures of all of the members all across the country in their rigs enjoying the outdoors. so i guess i live vicariously through you guys too1

shawn - thanks for the tips, is there a thread or any pics or info on the forum of that ft. bragg run? id love to do it. and why avoid san j valley until november? too hot? and yes, palcerville and the rest of the foothils out there are freaking gorgeous. we love going out there. let me know of any trails out there or anywhere in ca that you would suggest doing.

rock - ill have to hit you up about more info on the dirt trails out toward fresno.

04trac - i see youre in woodland. thats not to far from where i live. you can get to genoa and other trails in the sierra in about 2 hours form there. heres a good link.

http://www.norcalttora.com/trails/genoa_peak.php

thanks everyone for all the great thoughts and info. i love this forum! ill post more pics coming soon. ill be in tahoe again, prarie city and blue lakes and markleeville all this month.

 

[shawn.m]

I used to live in Sacramento for years until I moved to the foothills.Not much to see until it rains.

One of the best resources for on road stuff is my brothers web site
http://www.pashnit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24335

lots of resources on the web to look for level 1 trails - research carefully the reviews to make sure that you dont get on a trail that is over your head. I would recommend getting a Ham Radio license as cell phone coverage is VERY spotty. I also do OHV search and rescue in El Dorado County. We rescue a lot of un prepared people.

http://www.visitcarsonvalley.org/plan-your-trip/itineraries-and-tours/active-outdoor.html?catid=70

http://www.trails.com/stateactivity.aspx?area=11688 - zoom in to see trails

 

[LONO100]

thanks for all the great info shawn. im an off road novice, so i never bite off more than i can chew and i always keep in mind the capabilities of my truck and my own skills on the trails. i just dropped in a cb radio in my rig, and i got my buddy who goes on rides out with me to do the same. i may upgrade to getting a ham radio at some point, but i thought i should get my feet wet with the cb stuff first. my truck isnt set up for too much advanced rock crawling, it's pretty much set up for lugging around people, bikes and camping gear, but it's got enough beef to make through some moderate off roading runs.

 

[shawn.m]

my 3 watt hand held FT-270 only cost me $130. a vehicle Ham radio can run less than $200. with my hand held can let me reach out from river canyon at Ice House out to Sacramento through the repeaters.

lot of information here
Dead Link Removed

 

[LONO100]

damn, from icehouse to sac? on a handheld? if i ever get a ham, it will probably be a handheld because i dont know where i would mount a mobile in mt trac. how much is it to get a license to operate a ham?

 

[shawn.m]

$0 to get a ham license - read through the link that I posted. Lots of information