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Dusy-Ershim Trail 8-3-25 to 8-7-25
Attendees:
Felix808
@Dirtyjed & Tito the coolest trail dog ever!
@popo_patty
@Snacktime
If you have not heard of the Dusy-Ershim Trail, you are missing out. This tight & twisty trail was cut & blazed in 1956 by the Four-Wheel Drive Club of Fresno. This is one of the most epic / bucket list multi-day adventures that will test the endurance of both man and machine. The trail is located in the High Sierra’s and starts at an altitude of around 8,400 feet and will breach over 10,000 ft. The majority of the trail is at over 9,000 foot level. This thin air will zap your energy, as well as your cognitive abilities along with headaches if you are not accustomed to such elevation. I think our group of 4 were all traveling from basically sea level, so some of us would experience some effects of the elevation change. More on this later.
This is one beautiful trail that is has no shortage of challenges throughout its roughly 33 miles with the number of bypass’s that can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. Nope, this old school wheeling at it’s best. The trail is extremely narrow twisting it’s way between trees and rocks. When I say tight, I mean tight as in just enough room to squeeze through and barley enough room to set up for the next squeeze play. To paraphrase @ popo_patty, one needs to really keep ones’ head on a swivel and the trail is relentless with challenges. Get caught day dreaming and you will find yourself caught up on a large boulder or dropping off an area you didn’t see & getting jarred.
Day 1:
We decided to meet up at Voyager Rock Camp Ground as I was traveling solo and the other three were convoying down.
Upon arriving at the Shaver Lake gas station, my welcome was some idiots pulling out into traffic almost causing a big wreck. Then when pulling up to the gas pump, a Tacoma so considerate was blocking 2 of only 4 pumps. only 2 on each side. and just left the vehicle in the way. After waiting long enough for the other side of the pumps to be clear I pulled around filled up & the Taco was still in the way with no driver to be found.
I headed down the beautiful mountain road towards Voyager Rock Campground where we were going o meet up. Saw a little fawn in the middle of the road, but too slow to get a picture.
To get to Voyager Rock Campground, you have to do a little light wheeling to get into the campground. This campground sits right on Courtright Reservoir and was a great place to camp.
I was the first to arrive at camp after about a 6 1/2 hr. drive. I beat the group by about 35-40 minutes and found a great spot at the end right off of the lake. I would check the radio from time to time & finally caught hold of the group. We previously agreed to split dinners & thought I should probably start getting things ready to start cooking dinner for the group while I awaited their arrival.
I started cooking up the BBQ beans, burgers and corn. No one got sick so I’ll call it a success.
After dinner @Dirtyjed @popo_patty jumped in the lake without being told to.
Then we all pulled up a chair at the lake / reservoir and watched @Snacktime Fish. I think the count was 2.
We sat around watching the bats and stars and even a jumping fish or two. It was so calm quiet and peaceful. It was nice to just leave the world behind for a bit.
Well, it didn’t take long for the altitude headaches to start the next morning. At least for me. Must be something about going from sea level to 8200 feet in one day. So, I started the day early with a shower and some headache medicine to ease the pain.
We planned to run this adventure with the first day being a long full day of driving followed by a short day, repeating this cycle throughout the next 4 days. I don’t think any of us were planning on the longest day starting day 2.
Day 2:
Pulling out of camp at 8:30, I had my usual backing up issues so it took me a bit to get turned around so @Snacktime lead the way to gate keeper to find we need to do a little pioneer work as he was hung up on the fuel tank. Then it was up the steep ascending Chicken Rock. It is a 45-60 degree incline. This is a steep solid granite climb that leads to quite the breath-taking views of the lake & mountains around. It’s a great place for a group shot and even a drone flight.
At the top of Chicken Rock, @popo_patty found himself with a self-venting Roto-pack so we topped him off at the top of chicken rock to minimize fuel loss, as fuel conservation is a factor on this trail & we were unsure how the fuel economy would playout for us.
Not long after @Snacktime had a click to chase down. It looked to be track bar, so a little cinching on it he thought he had it sorted but a little further down the trail he discovered his front driver lower control arm was a little looser than desired, so out came the wrenches & problem solved.
At 5.8 miles in we found the bearded man in the mountain. Quite the amazing feature that I have never seen before as I have always run the trail the other direction and you pass by it never noticing it. It was as if someone had carved this giant face in the mountain.
We rolled a little further and broke for lunch with a better view of bearded man.
As we continued to meander our way through the countless trees and rocks squeezes and numerous boulder fields, and log bridges we found our way to the start of Thompson Hill.
This would leave a lasting impression on all of us as we would spend the next 3 hours clawing our way up this loose, slippery dusty silt laden boulder field that is a mile long hill climb. And don’t forget the trees and rocks that you need to snake through. @popo_patty found himself hung up on his lower control arm. He pulled some cable and he was back under way.
Later I got hung up bad at a section of trail we will call Dirty Name Corner at the lower end of Thompson Hill. After snaking through trees, you have a sharp right hand turn that you need to go high on to avoid a large boulder patch. Getting in the right position can be a hard trick. Needless to say, I didn’t make it. After trying to stack rocks I was making no progress. I tried winching forward, but couldn’t. @popo_patty winched me back with a redirect.
Thompson Hill was a winch fest for all of us at one time or another. Up around 3/4 of the way up the mountain, My steering rack over heated. I waited for my truck to cool down and pulled the battery cable while everyone worked their way up. I don’t know about anyone else but I was pretty much gassed out and trying to catch my breath at the near >9k foot altitude level. The top of Thompson Hill is near 10K Feet.
We continued to claw our way up the loose boulder filled mountain. 5 winches for me. Lost count of everyone else.
I continued to get hung up and my energy was spent causing more problems and hang ups. I said it would be a full day and it most certainly was.
We rolled into Thompson Lake Camp at 7 PM. Completely exhausted after 11 hours on the trail.
@popo_patty was recording a spot and came to ask me a few questions about the days adventures for which I probably gave some incoherent answers to as I was outright spent.
Afterwards, @Dirtyjed @popo_patty made a run for the lake while I made a deposit in the vault and washed up.
@Dirtyjed cooked up some fantastic chicken wings while @popo_patty cooked up some carne asada tacos.
Later @Dirtyjed sparked up his gas fire box and we reminisced about the trials of the day mesmorized by the flames. Before seeing it in action I had my own misgivings about such a setup but after, I was glad we had it. If this the only way to get flames in the field inside of California, it beats the heck out of a chem light on the ground. I came away impressed.
Day 3:
We woke up to an amazing morning. So brisk and clear. Took a nice hot shower and the others were waking up starting breakfast. After breakfast, we conducted some repairs and a much needed once over on the vehicles.
We rolled out just after 9 am the trail starts off where it left off with a patch of large boulders and tight tree squeezes.
@Dirtyjed found himself pulling cable early once the plan of stacking rocks didn’t pan out.
The trail continues through numerous twists through the trees and into a beautiful meadow.
We made a stop at Summit Lake and enjoyed the beautiful views.
@Snacktime casted a line in and @Dirtyjed wadded out into the water / mud.
Continuing on, we came a tight section between two trees and a big boulder square in the middle of the trail. At first, I went right and climbed the boulder and it threw me into the tree sapping up the hard top. I backed off and went left which got me hung up spinning in circles like a merry-go-round. After numerous maneuverings while @Snacktime was laughing at the situation I got myself into I was finally free. Shortly after everyone got past that obstacle, @popo_patty had some altitude issues so once everyone else was through we took a sugar break. My sugar choice at the time was Tang, you know that stuff the astronauts drink. Though I never drew the conclusion until @Dirtyjed mentioned the astronauts drink it dawned on me the altitude doesn’t get any higher than that. Seemed to help me at the time.
We rolled into camp at East Lake at 2 pm. Everyone headed to the lake while I stayed behind and rested. It was nice to have a much shorter day to help recoup after the previous day’s adventure.
@Snacktime made a great BBQ Chicken and rice and noodles pilaf and @Dirtyjed kicked it off with more outstanding chicken wings.
Due to the multiple mirror resets, @popo_patty lent me his spare tripod to use as a mirror reset tool as the tight trees are always folding the mirrors in. Unfortunately, when I got home, I found I still had it. @popo_patty please let me know how I can get this back to you.
Day 4:
We woke up to another stunning morning. We made some deposits in the vault took a hot shower and relaxed. Well at least until it came time to pack up the shower tent. The cognitive deficiencies were abundantly clear as I struggled a good bit of time to get the genie back into the bottle. Then @popo_patty the magician walked over and all of a sudden it decided to fold up as it should just as he walked up.
We started off at about a 1/4 to 8 as we would have a full day of wheeling ahead of us. It wasn’t long before we were back amongst the big boulders and tight trees with a lot of really off camber sections.
We found ourselves in a really tight section with a large rock and a tree. Riding the rock pushes you into the tree, but if not for the tree I would have found myself flopped over. I forgot to check the tip over meter as I had other concerns on my mind.
@Snacktime used a tighter line to the tree and rode it with his rock rails. @popo_patty was having a time of it and sapped his door handles and soft top.
Then @Dirtyjed comes along and drives right through it.
Shortly after we saw 4 cows.
We found our way to Ershim Lake at 10:30 am. It is such a beautiful area as is the whole trail.
We apparently just missed a group as they left pancakes and bacon in a still smoldering fire. Carelessness like this causes Forrest Fires. To quote @popo_patty “Pack your trash and cool your ash”! To give the previous adventures the benefit of the doubt, they may have cooled the ash, but it is a multiple step process. You need to pour water then stir, pour more water and stir. Repeat until no more steam. If you only pour water once, the coals will become insulated and still pose a risk of fire.
@popo_patty took a rubber raft that was docked on the water for row while @Snacktime
tried his luck at fishing.
@Dirtyjed setup lunch and I just relaxed for an hour. I took a look at my passenger rear fender flare and noticed it was about to depart. At first, I ran a couple self-tappers in it but they pretty much pulled right out. Then I drilled them out a little more and zipped them on. Now I have tree and rock feelers. @Snacktime said they would soon be ripped off, but they lasted the test of the trail & one even survived the trip home (still connected but the tail snapped off. During this operation, my cooking utensils container took a tumble out the back. I hadn’t planned on doing dishes during this nice little break, but here I was. I figured the gang didn’t want Forrest Floor seasoning in their pancakes, eggs and bacon the next morning
Shortly after heading back out. I found myself in a real pickle so out came the winch again.
My dash went nuts. Closer examination after the battery disconnected trick failed to work revealed my wheel sensor pins pulled loose on the driver side front. It was also discovered that my driver inside cv boot popped off.
We wanted to move the truck to flatter ground with a bit of shade when we came to one of tightest spots on the trail thus far. You had to squeeze between a large fallen tree on the passenger side and another tree on the driver’s side, while climbing really high on a very large boulder on the passenger side. This would pitch me into the tree. Climbing higher was the only option, but this put the truck on two wheels almost flopping. @Snacktime jumped on my slider to counter and we were on the very edge of going over but just made it.
After that @Snacktime moved a log onto the trail to help with the tight transition and came on through. Next was @Dirtyjed coming in hot as in too fast. He ended up ramming the fallen tree with his headlight. He backed up for another go and he took out a good foot off of the dead tree on the driver’s side clearing the path for @popo_patty. But @Snacktime decided to take off a few more feet making it a breeze for @popo_patty to roll thru.
Once in the shade @Dirtyjed crawled under my truck and fixed the pins that had pulled out from the wire harness side of the wheel sensor & taped them up while @Snacktime was able to clear the codes once Jed fixed the wires. @popo_patty tried to pop the boot back on but no luck all while I stood around in a cognitive daze. And with that and a miracle my truck was working as it should again. I was dreading the thought of having to try to get out of there without the lockers, no swaybar disco. There would be no pretty way to try to drag it out of there. The truck would be so beat up it would be a candidate for cutting it up into a buggy as it would hit every tree on the way out. And there are countless trees. Thank you all for your help!!!
Later I decided to feed my passenger mirror to a large tree as I was trying to squeeze by. While the front side popped off and broke a tab on the turn signal insert, fortunately after fiddling with it a good bit, it snapped back together.
Then we were on our way to camp at Lake Camp Lake. We arrived only to find the whole area is shut down.
Well, that was a bummer but we continued to march. We drove about another 1/2 mile and found a spot to camp higher up on the mountain.
We set up camp while @Dirtyjed made us some fabulous Carne Asada Tacos.
It was a full day of fantastic & challenging 9 hours on the trail.
We all sat around @Dirtyjed homemade fire pit mesmerizing us while a sticker war broke out. Apparently, they by their stickers by the thousands and place them everywhere they can. From broken headlight, broken taillights, chairs, propane tanks, trucks, pit toilets there were stickers placed everywhere.
Day 5:
We woke to another amazing morning. Took a shower and kicked off a pancake, eggs and bacon breakfast. The eggs weren’t so hot being cooked in bacon grease remnants but I ate them.
Then we packed up and I fought a few rounds with the shower tent. I beat up on it so badly, it surrendered the zipper on the bag.
After I finally got everything packed back up, we headed out at 8:30 am.
We made our way through more rocks and trees as we climbed up to Kaiser ridge at 10k feet plus. @Snacktime left @Dirtyjed and @Dirtyjed got stuck good while @popo_patty , @Snacktime and I were at the top of the trail. @Snacktime went back to help winch him out
Making our way down Kaiser ridge, we were having quite the adventure. @Dirtyjed was getting hung up again. He was stacking rocks & winching. @Snacktime went back to help him through it, being he kind of left him behind. Once we were at the top of the highest point of the trail, we looked over Florence & Hunting Lakes a short walk on opposite sides of the trail.
We came to the Northside Gatekeeper & it was an exciting time to say the least. Coming down very off camber and extremely tight large boulders that took a tremendous amount of maneuvering to get everyone through. With all the sawing and stress on my steering, it overheated again. Thankfully pulling the battery & waiting for the group to get through this tight technical section was enough to get it working again. I was told that this is the beginning of the end of my rack & a HOSS 3.0 is in my future.
The bugs were extremely light this time around which was a pleasant surprise. After leaving from Voyager Rock Campground (our starting point) we encountered no one else on the trail. The seclusion in all of the beauty this trail offers is the cherry on top. Not many run this trail and it’s only open around 92 days a year, but it well worth all of the preparations to take on the challenge.
This trail remains a serious challenge for both man & machine. Do not take this trail lightly! Be armored up with quality skids & rock rails as you will use them to the fullest. Running anything less than 37’s and you will be doing a lot of road building. Have a winch because it will no doubt be used. Be in some shape other than round as the altitude can really wear you down. And don't ever go alone.
Don’t try to rush through the trail, take the days. It can be the difference between enjoying it or having a miserable time.
We finished our adventure at Shaver Lake Pizza, which is apparently one of two places that have seemed to stay in business over the years. They make a pretty good pizza. Then we parted ways looking forward to the next time.
It had been 24 years since the last time I ran it. It’s was kind of funny looking back on the last time I ran it with my old local club. I have a VHS tape of the run & a magazine article with plenty of pictures of my wife & I in my XJ featuring us running it in 4WP Off Road Adventures Magazine they use to have. I still have that copy. The trail has changed a little but it was nice to roll through certain areas remembering events that took place on previous adventures.
This time around @popo_patty documented it for his channel and I will have a whole new stack of memories to review when I can’t remember them and it will bring me right back to the great adventure we shared as friends. Thank you all for coming & I look forward to running with you again!
This was an amazing adventure! Those that missed out, really missed out!
Damage Report
Felix808:
CV Boot disengaged
Passenger rear fender flare Zipped back together, though Snacks gave me a replacement.
Passenger mirror snapped apart, but was able to fix on trail.
Pending Steering rack replacement which looks like my year of wheeling is done, but it was so worth it!
@Dirtyjed:
Broken passenger headlight.
Broken Drivers Taillight.
@Snacktime
Fender Flare.
Passenger side inner Tie Rod.
@popo_patty:
Got off light with a broken comm antennae.
Everyone got some full-service Forrest detailing complete with pinstriping & scuffed wheels.
Attendees:
Felix808
@Dirtyjed & Tito the coolest trail dog ever!
@popo_patty
@Snacktime
If you have not heard of the Dusy-Ershim Trail, you are missing out. This tight & twisty trail was cut & blazed in 1956 by the Four-Wheel Drive Club of Fresno. This is one of the most epic / bucket list multi-day adventures that will test the endurance of both man and machine. The trail is located in the High Sierra’s and starts at an altitude of around 8,400 feet and will breach over 10,000 ft. The majority of the trail is at over 9,000 foot level. This thin air will zap your energy, as well as your cognitive abilities along with headaches if you are not accustomed to such elevation. I think our group of 4 were all traveling from basically sea level, so some of us would experience some effects of the elevation change. More on this later.
This is one beautiful trail that is has no shortage of challenges throughout its roughly 33 miles with the number of bypass’s that can be counted on one hand with fingers to spare. Nope, this old school wheeling at it’s best. The trail is extremely narrow twisting it’s way between trees and rocks. When I say tight, I mean tight as in just enough room to squeeze through and barley enough room to set up for the next squeeze play. To paraphrase @ popo_patty, one needs to really keep ones’ head on a swivel and the trail is relentless with challenges. Get caught day dreaming and you will find yourself caught up on a large boulder or dropping off an area you didn’t see & getting jarred.
Day 1:
We decided to meet up at Voyager Rock Camp Ground as I was traveling solo and the other three were convoying down.
Upon arriving at the Shaver Lake gas station, my welcome was some idiots pulling out into traffic almost causing a big wreck. Then when pulling up to the gas pump, a Tacoma so considerate was blocking 2 of only 4 pumps. only 2 on each side. and just left the vehicle in the way. After waiting long enough for the other side of the pumps to be clear I pulled around filled up & the Taco was still in the way with no driver to be found.
I headed down the beautiful mountain road towards Voyager Rock Campground where we were going o meet up. Saw a little fawn in the middle of the road, but too slow to get a picture.
To get to Voyager Rock Campground, you have to do a little light wheeling to get into the campground. This campground sits right on Courtright Reservoir and was a great place to camp.
I was the first to arrive at camp after about a 6 1/2 hr. drive. I beat the group by about 35-40 minutes and found a great spot at the end right off of the lake. I would check the radio from time to time & finally caught hold of the group. We previously agreed to split dinners & thought I should probably start getting things ready to start cooking dinner for the group while I awaited their arrival.
I started cooking up the BBQ beans, burgers and corn. No one got sick so I’ll call it a success.
After dinner @Dirtyjed @popo_patty jumped in the lake without being told to.
Then we all pulled up a chair at the lake / reservoir and watched @Snacktime Fish. I think the count was 2.
We sat around watching the bats and stars and even a jumping fish or two. It was so calm quiet and peaceful. It was nice to just leave the world behind for a bit.
Well, it didn’t take long for the altitude headaches to start the next morning. At least for me. Must be something about going from sea level to 8200 feet in one day. So, I started the day early with a shower and some headache medicine to ease the pain.
We planned to run this adventure with the first day being a long full day of driving followed by a short day, repeating this cycle throughout the next 4 days. I don’t think any of us were planning on the longest day starting day 2.
Day 2:
Pulling out of camp at 8:30, I had my usual backing up issues so it took me a bit to get turned around so @Snacktime lead the way to gate keeper to find we need to do a little pioneer work as he was hung up on the fuel tank. Then it was up the steep ascending Chicken Rock. It is a 45-60 degree incline. This is a steep solid granite climb that leads to quite the breath-taking views of the lake & mountains around. It’s a great place for a group shot and even a drone flight.
At the top of Chicken Rock, @popo_patty found himself with a self-venting Roto-pack so we topped him off at the top of chicken rock to minimize fuel loss, as fuel conservation is a factor on this trail & we were unsure how the fuel economy would playout for us.
Not long after @Snacktime had a click to chase down. It looked to be track bar, so a little cinching on it he thought he had it sorted but a little further down the trail he discovered his front driver lower control arm was a little looser than desired, so out came the wrenches & problem solved.
At 5.8 miles in we found the bearded man in the mountain. Quite the amazing feature that I have never seen before as I have always run the trail the other direction and you pass by it never noticing it. It was as if someone had carved this giant face in the mountain.
We rolled a little further and broke for lunch with a better view of bearded man.
As we continued to meander our way through the countless trees and rocks squeezes and numerous boulder fields, and log bridges we found our way to the start of Thompson Hill.
This would leave a lasting impression on all of us as we would spend the next 3 hours clawing our way up this loose, slippery dusty silt laden boulder field that is a mile long hill climb. And don’t forget the trees and rocks that you need to snake through. @popo_patty found himself hung up on his lower control arm. He pulled some cable and he was back under way.
Later I got hung up bad at a section of trail we will call Dirty Name Corner at the lower end of Thompson Hill. After snaking through trees, you have a sharp right hand turn that you need to go high on to avoid a large boulder patch. Getting in the right position can be a hard trick. Needless to say, I didn’t make it. After trying to stack rocks I was making no progress. I tried winching forward, but couldn’t. @popo_patty winched me back with a redirect.
Thompson Hill was a winch fest for all of us at one time or another. Up around 3/4 of the way up the mountain, My steering rack over heated. I waited for my truck to cool down and pulled the battery cable while everyone worked their way up. I don’t know about anyone else but I was pretty much gassed out and trying to catch my breath at the near >9k foot altitude level. The top of Thompson Hill is near 10K Feet.
We continued to claw our way up the loose boulder filled mountain. 5 winches for me. Lost count of everyone else.
I continued to get hung up and my energy was spent causing more problems and hang ups. I said it would be a full day and it most certainly was.
We rolled into Thompson Lake Camp at 7 PM. Completely exhausted after 11 hours on the trail.
@popo_patty was recording a spot and came to ask me a few questions about the days adventures for which I probably gave some incoherent answers to as I was outright spent.
Afterwards, @Dirtyjed @popo_patty made a run for the lake while I made a deposit in the vault and washed up.
@Dirtyjed cooked up some fantastic chicken wings while @popo_patty cooked up some carne asada tacos.
Later @Dirtyjed sparked up his gas fire box and we reminisced about the trials of the day mesmorized by the flames. Before seeing it in action I had my own misgivings about such a setup but after, I was glad we had it. If this the only way to get flames in the field inside of California, it beats the heck out of a chem light on the ground. I came away impressed.
Day 3:
We woke up to an amazing morning. So brisk and clear. Took a nice hot shower and the others were waking up starting breakfast. After breakfast, we conducted some repairs and a much needed once over on the vehicles.
We rolled out just after 9 am the trail starts off where it left off with a patch of large boulders and tight tree squeezes.
@Dirtyjed found himself pulling cable early once the plan of stacking rocks didn’t pan out.
The trail continues through numerous twists through the trees and into a beautiful meadow.
We made a stop at Summit Lake and enjoyed the beautiful views.
@Snacktime casted a line in and @Dirtyjed wadded out into the water / mud.
Continuing on, we came a tight section between two trees and a big boulder square in the middle of the trail. At first, I went right and climbed the boulder and it threw me into the tree sapping up the hard top. I backed off and went left which got me hung up spinning in circles like a merry-go-round. After numerous maneuverings while @Snacktime was laughing at the situation I got myself into I was finally free. Shortly after everyone got past that obstacle, @popo_patty had some altitude issues so once everyone else was through we took a sugar break. My sugar choice at the time was Tang, you know that stuff the astronauts drink. Though I never drew the conclusion until @Dirtyjed mentioned the astronauts drink it dawned on me the altitude doesn’t get any higher than that. Seemed to help me at the time.
We rolled into camp at East Lake at 2 pm. Everyone headed to the lake while I stayed behind and rested. It was nice to have a much shorter day to help recoup after the previous day’s adventure.
@Snacktime made a great BBQ Chicken and rice and noodles pilaf and @Dirtyjed kicked it off with more outstanding chicken wings.
Due to the multiple mirror resets, @popo_patty lent me his spare tripod to use as a mirror reset tool as the tight trees are always folding the mirrors in. Unfortunately, when I got home, I found I still had it. @popo_patty please let me know how I can get this back to you.
Day 4:
We woke up to another stunning morning. We made some deposits in the vault took a hot shower and relaxed. Well at least until it came time to pack up the shower tent. The cognitive deficiencies were abundantly clear as I struggled a good bit of time to get the genie back into the bottle. Then @popo_patty the magician walked over and all of a sudden it decided to fold up as it should just as he walked up.
We started off at about a 1/4 to 8 as we would have a full day of wheeling ahead of us. It wasn’t long before we were back amongst the big boulders and tight trees with a lot of really off camber sections.
We found ourselves in a really tight section with a large rock and a tree. Riding the rock pushes you into the tree, but if not for the tree I would have found myself flopped over. I forgot to check the tip over meter as I had other concerns on my mind.
@Snacktime used a tighter line to the tree and rode it with his rock rails. @popo_patty was having a time of it and sapped his door handles and soft top.
Then @Dirtyjed comes along and drives right through it.
Shortly after we saw 4 cows.
We found our way to Ershim Lake at 10:30 am. It is such a beautiful area as is the whole trail.
We apparently just missed a group as they left pancakes and bacon in a still smoldering fire. Carelessness like this causes Forrest Fires. To quote @popo_patty “Pack your trash and cool your ash”! To give the previous adventures the benefit of the doubt, they may have cooled the ash, but it is a multiple step process. You need to pour water then stir, pour more water and stir. Repeat until no more steam. If you only pour water once, the coals will become insulated and still pose a risk of fire.
@popo_patty took a rubber raft that was docked on the water for row while @Snacktime
tried his luck at fishing.
@Dirtyjed setup lunch and I just relaxed for an hour. I took a look at my passenger rear fender flare and noticed it was about to depart. At first, I ran a couple self-tappers in it but they pretty much pulled right out. Then I drilled them out a little more and zipped them on. Now I have tree and rock feelers. @Snacktime said they would soon be ripped off, but they lasted the test of the trail & one even survived the trip home (still connected but the tail snapped off. During this operation, my cooking utensils container took a tumble out the back. I hadn’t planned on doing dishes during this nice little break, but here I was. I figured the gang didn’t want Forrest Floor seasoning in their pancakes, eggs and bacon the next morning
Shortly after heading back out. I found myself in a real pickle so out came the winch again.
My dash went nuts. Closer examination after the battery disconnected trick failed to work revealed my wheel sensor pins pulled loose on the driver side front. It was also discovered that my driver inside cv boot popped off.
We wanted to move the truck to flatter ground with a bit of shade when we came to one of tightest spots on the trail thus far. You had to squeeze between a large fallen tree on the passenger side and another tree on the driver’s side, while climbing really high on a very large boulder on the passenger side. This would pitch me into the tree. Climbing higher was the only option, but this put the truck on two wheels almost flopping. @Snacktime jumped on my slider to counter and we were on the very edge of going over but just made it.
After that @Snacktime moved a log onto the trail to help with the tight transition and came on through. Next was @Dirtyjed coming in hot as in too fast. He ended up ramming the fallen tree with his headlight. He backed up for another go and he took out a good foot off of the dead tree on the driver’s side clearing the path for @popo_patty. But @Snacktime decided to take off a few more feet making it a breeze for @popo_patty to roll thru.
Once in the shade @Dirtyjed crawled under my truck and fixed the pins that had pulled out from the wire harness side of the wheel sensor & taped them up while @Snacktime was able to clear the codes once Jed fixed the wires. @popo_patty tried to pop the boot back on but no luck all while I stood around in a cognitive daze. And with that and a miracle my truck was working as it should again. I was dreading the thought of having to try to get out of there without the lockers, no swaybar disco. There would be no pretty way to try to drag it out of there. The truck would be so beat up it would be a candidate for cutting it up into a buggy as it would hit every tree on the way out. And there are countless trees. Thank you all for your help!!!
Later I decided to feed my passenger mirror to a large tree as I was trying to squeeze by. While the front side popped off and broke a tab on the turn signal insert, fortunately after fiddling with it a good bit, it snapped back together.
Then we were on our way to camp at Lake Camp Lake. We arrived only to find the whole area is shut down.
Well, that was a bummer but we continued to march. We drove about another 1/2 mile and found a spot to camp higher up on the mountain.
We set up camp while @Dirtyjed made us some fabulous Carne Asada Tacos.
It was a full day of fantastic & challenging 9 hours on the trail.
We all sat around @Dirtyjed homemade fire pit mesmerizing us while a sticker war broke out. Apparently, they by their stickers by the thousands and place them everywhere they can. From broken headlight, broken taillights, chairs, propane tanks, trucks, pit toilets there were stickers placed everywhere.
Day 5:
We woke to another amazing morning. Took a shower and kicked off a pancake, eggs and bacon breakfast. The eggs weren’t so hot being cooked in bacon grease remnants but I ate them.
Then we packed up and I fought a few rounds with the shower tent. I beat up on it so badly, it surrendered the zipper on the bag.
After I finally got everything packed back up, we headed out at 8:30 am.
We made our way through more rocks and trees as we climbed up to Kaiser ridge at 10k feet plus. @Snacktime left @Dirtyjed and @Dirtyjed got stuck good while @popo_patty , @Snacktime and I were at the top of the trail. @Snacktime went back to help winch him out
Making our way down Kaiser ridge, we were having quite the adventure. @Dirtyjed was getting hung up again. He was stacking rocks & winching. @Snacktime went back to help him through it, being he kind of left him behind. Once we were at the top of the highest point of the trail, we looked over Florence & Hunting Lakes a short walk on opposite sides of the trail.
We came to the Northside Gatekeeper & it was an exciting time to say the least. Coming down very off camber and extremely tight large boulders that took a tremendous amount of maneuvering to get everyone through. With all the sawing and stress on my steering, it overheated again. Thankfully pulling the battery & waiting for the group to get through this tight technical section was enough to get it working again. I was told that this is the beginning of the end of my rack & a HOSS 3.0 is in my future.
The bugs were extremely light this time around which was a pleasant surprise. After leaving from Voyager Rock Campground (our starting point) we encountered no one else on the trail. The seclusion in all of the beauty this trail offers is the cherry on top. Not many run this trail and it’s only open around 92 days a year, but it well worth all of the preparations to take on the challenge.
This trail remains a serious challenge for both man & machine. Do not take this trail lightly! Be armored up with quality skids & rock rails as you will use them to the fullest. Running anything less than 37’s and you will be doing a lot of road building. Have a winch because it will no doubt be used. Be in some shape other than round as the altitude can really wear you down. And don't ever go alone.
Don’t try to rush through the trail, take the days. It can be the difference between enjoying it or having a miserable time.
We finished our adventure at Shaver Lake Pizza, which is apparently one of two places that have seemed to stay in business over the years. They make a pretty good pizza. Then we parted ways looking forward to the next time.
It had been 24 years since the last time I ran it. It’s was kind of funny looking back on the last time I ran it with my old local club. I have a VHS tape of the run & a magazine article with plenty of pictures of my wife & I in my XJ featuring us running it in 4WP Off Road Adventures Magazine they use to have. I still have that copy. The trail has changed a little but it was nice to roll through certain areas remembering events that took place on previous adventures.
This time around @popo_patty documented it for his channel and I will have a whole new stack of memories to review when I can’t remember them and it will bring me right back to the great adventure we shared as friends. Thank you all for coming & I look forward to running with you again!
This was an amazing adventure! Those that missed out, really missed out!
Damage Report
Felix808:
CV Boot disengaged
Passenger rear fender flare Zipped back together, though Snacks gave me a replacement.
Passenger mirror snapped apart, but was able to fix on trail.
Pending Steering rack replacement which looks like my year of wheeling is done, but it was so worth it!
@Dirtyjed:
Broken passenger headlight.
Broken Drivers Taillight.
@Snacktime
Fender Flare.
Passenger side inner Tie Rod.
@popo_patty:
Got off light with a broken comm antennae.
Everyone got some full-service Forrest detailing complete with pinstriping & scuffed wheels.
Thank you for the video @popo_patty
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