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Deer Valley, CA Trip - Sept 3 thru 6th 2024
Well, this trip was a long time in the planning and in the end, there were 3 of us.
Felix808
@_ocnorb_
@Snacktime
@_ocnorb_ and I headed out on the 400+ Mile trek at 7 am. We stopped for a burger and fish taco at burger barn in Bridgeport. After lunch we stopped in across the street from there to visit a friend of @_ocnorb_ at Sierra Strange. It’s a shop with various art offerings, I’m sure he can explain it better. I tell you this guy knows someone everywhere we go. Last time we were in a small Az mining town of Crown King and he runs into someone who he knows.
We made our way winding up the mountain to meadows summit at 8300+ feet. We would breach the 9,000 ft elevation level a few times and the headaches set in for me for the first 2 nights
Later we would find our way to the spot we had scoped out on the map. Unfortunately, people beat us to it. We continued making our way to various spots down the river towards the trail head. After checking about 6 or 7 spots, we found our paradise on the river. There was some interesting Teepee someone built. I setup my tent while @_ocnorb_ went fly fishing.
After getting the camp set up, I tried my luck in the river. Fortune smiled on me and I was able to pull out 4 small rainbows the largest being a small 9 inches. All went back into the water.
Chef @_ocnorb_ paid back the Cane Asada Taco debt from our last outing together and we chilled by the campfire.
@_ocnorb_ redeemed himself the next morning pulling out a few rainbows. before heading out to meet @Snacktime at the trail head. We arrived an hour early.
We ran into a group that informed us that this was a historical wagon train trail and they had put up markers along the trail. Unfortunately we only saw the one they pointed out to us
.
Kicking our adventure off at the gatekeeper and I took an interesting line that was more than a little tippy. It didn’t look so bad when I walked it 20 minutes before, but it was a fun one. The others thought to forgo this line. The trail is full of rocks and tight trees & very scenic.
On one of the many rocky areas I was getting hung up. While bouncing a little bit there was a Pow & cloud of dust. Yep, popped a bead on the passenger front and the computer went nuts. Luckily the tire stayed ½ way on the rim and I was able to pump it back up and it seated. Now to figure out the ABS, Swaybar and who knows what else. I think @Snacktime took a picture of the codes. I tried resetting them with my Whipple Tomahawk. It reset the 2 codes, but ABS light & service swaybar disco popped right back. @Snacktime helped me pull the positive battery connection and we chilled out for about 15 minutes. ABS popped back up, but then went away and we were back to normal
.
The hypothesis is that the computer gets lost and needs a hard reset
.
We worked our way through numerous tight trees and countless rock gardens.
We came to the major river crossing and found it was fairly deep and had decent speed. The water came right at the doors, but everyone made it just fine.
We pulled over and we threw some line and had found we were pulling some sort brown, rainbow hybrid. It was getting a little late in the afternoon so we decided the horseshoe camp was going to be perfect being just a few hundred yards away at almost 8,000 Ft. elevation.
We picked out our spots and set up camp. Having worn shorts all day I was pretty filthy as there was plenty of dust on the trail so after settling up the tent it was to the showers for me.
We built up a nice fire and relaxed as we were on the trail a good 5+ hours on the trail.
We kicked back around the campfire telling stories and getting to know each other better. @Snacktime's dog caught a glimpse of a deer out in the distant darkness., which later we spotted. Then it was off to the tents.
Next morning we found we all tossed and turned throughout the night. We were also visited by some deer during the night.
I started the morning off cooking up some pancakes and bacon. The guys thanked me and were kind for finishing it.
After cleaning up the kitchen, it was time to hit the river. They were biting pretty good, though small in size, but all in all a fun time of it.
Around noon we decided to drive the rest of the trail to Lower Blue Lake. We got to see a bald eagle soaring on the other side of the lake. Later we got to see the eagle swoop down on the water and snag a fish
. This was awesome to see & a bucket list item for me.
By chance I caught the biggest fish of the trip about 12 inches or so. Later a bird came sneaking up near me and made a run for my fish on the stringer. A couple rock chucks and he decided to move on.
The day at lower blue ended with @Snacktime, a Bald Eagle (the true pro of the bunch) and me taking the last 3 fish in the whole lake
.
Upon returning to camp I thought to myself, you can’t camp at the Horseshoe Camp and not throw a few. @Snacktime joined me in a competition of who was the lousier thrower. It was fun all the same 
.
Earlier in the week the weather forecast had thunderstorms scheduled for Friday. Before leaving the lake, we stopped by the camp host, who confirmed that thunderstorms were expected for Friday. We all came to the conclusion that it would be best to head out instead of running the trail again north to south as originally planned.
The last thing any of us wanted was an ill-fated lightning strike in the height of fire season that had the potential to make a great trip a fatal trip.
Turns out it did rain on the area, which would have added some difficulty to the trail as well.
Friday morning came. We got up broke down camp and had wheels rolling at 8 am. We stopped at Lower Blue lake to empty trash and make a deposit at the vault, then we proceeded to air back up. It was a beautiful drive down the mountain. We stopped at a historical Pony Express site at the north end of Markleeville. Unfortunately, some lowlife stole one of the plaques
.
From here we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
@_ocnorb_ & I had planned on stopping in Markleeville, but I blinked and pretty much missed it
Yes the town is that small.
This was just an awesome trip! No other vehicles on the trail. Both our campsites had no people or trash to be found. This is such a beautiful area. All in all an Awesome trip with great company. Thank you for coming out on this adventure I look forward to meeting up with you both again.
Please add comments, pictures & any videos you might have.
Damage report:
Felix808 – Popped tire bead resulting in the computer going wacky fixed on trail.
Scuffed rear passenger rim pretty good.
Scuffed rear drivers fender flare.
@_ocnorb_ -
CV boot popped off
Small running dent along drivers fender into the door thanks to a spearing tree branch.
@Snacktime??
Well, this trip was a long time in the planning and in the end, there were 3 of us.
Felix808
@_ocnorb_
@Snacktime
@_ocnorb_ and I headed out on the 400+ Mile trek at 7 am. We stopped for a burger and fish taco at burger barn in Bridgeport. After lunch we stopped in across the street from there to visit a friend of @_ocnorb_ at Sierra Strange. It’s a shop with various art offerings, I’m sure he can explain it better. I tell you this guy knows someone everywhere we go. Last time we were in a small Az mining town of Crown King and he runs into someone who he knows.
We made our way winding up the mountain to meadows summit at 8300+ feet. We would breach the 9,000 ft elevation level a few times and the headaches set in for me for the first 2 nights
Later we would find our way to the spot we had scoped out on the map. Unfortunately, people beat us to it. We continued making our way to various spots down the river towards the trail head. After checking about 6 or 7 spots, we found our paradise on the river. There was some interesting Teepee someone built. I setup my tent while @_ocnorb_ went fly fishing.
After getting the camp set up, I tried my luck in the river. Fortune smiled on me and I was able to pull out 4 small rainbows the largest being a small 9 inches. All went back into the water.
Chef @_ocnorb_ paid back the Cane Asada Taco debt from our last outing together and we chilled by the campfire.
@_ocnorb_ redeemed himself the next morning pulling out a few rainbows. before heading out to meet @Snacktime at the trail head. We arrived an hour early.
We ran into a group that informed us that this was a historical wagon train trail and they had put up markers along the trail. Unfortunately we only saw the one they pointed out to us
.Kicking our adventure off at the gatekeeper and I took an interesting line that was more than a little tippy. It didn’t look so bad when I walked it 20 minutes before, but it was a fun one. The others thought to forgo this line. The trail is full of rocks and tight trees & very scenic.
On one of the many rocky areas I was getting hung up. While bouncing a little bit there was a Pow & cloud of dust. Yep, popped a bead on the passenger front and the computer went nuts. Luckily the tire stayed ½ way on the rim and I was able to pump it back up and it seated. Now to figure out the ABS, Swaybar and who knows what else. I think @Snacktime took a picture of the codes. I tried resetting them with my Whipple Tomahawk. It reset the 2 codes, but ABS light & service swaybar disco popped right back. @Snacktime helped me pull the positive battery connection and we chilled out for about 15 minutes. ABS popped back up, but then went away and we were back to normal
.The hypothesis is that the computer gets lost and needs a hard reset
.We worked our way through numerous tight trees and countless rock gardens.
We came to the major river crossing and found it was fairly deep and had decent speed. The water came right at the doors, but everyone made it just fine.
We pulled over and we threw some line and had found we were pulling some sort brown, rainbow hybrid. It was getting a little late in the afternoon so we decided the horseshoe camp was going to be perfect being just a few hundred yards away at almost 8,000 Ft. elevation
.We picked out our spots and set up camp. Having worn shorts all day I was pretty filthy as there was plenty of dust on the trail so after settling up the tent it was to the showers for me.
We built up a nice fire and relaxed as we were on the trail a good 5+ hours on the trail.
We kicked back around the campfire telling stories and getting to know each other better. @Snacktime's dog caught a glimpse of a deer out in the distant darkness., which later we spotted. Then it was off to the tents.
Next morning we found we all tossed and turned throughout the night. We were also visited by some deer during the night.
I started the morning off cooking up some pancakes and bacon. The guys thanked me and were kind for finishing it
.After cleaning up the kitchen, it was time to hit the river. They were biting pretty good, though small in size, but all in all a fun time of it.
Around noon we decided to drive the rest of the trail to Lower Blue Lake. We got to see a bald eagle soaring on the other side of the lake. Later we got to see the eagle swoop down on the water and snag a fish
. This was awesome to see & a bucket list item for me.By chance I caught the biggest fish of the trip about 12 inches or so. Later a bird came sneaking up near me and made a run for my fish on the stringer. A couple rock chucks and he decided to move on.
The day at lower blue ended with @Snacktime, a Bald Eagle (the true pro of the bunch) and me taking the last 3 fish in the whole lake
.Upon returning to camp I thought to myself
, you can’t camp at the Horseshoe Camp and not throw a few. @Snacktime joined me in a competition of who was the lousier thrower. It was fun all the same .Earlier in the week the weather forecast had thunderstorms scheduled for Friday. Before leaving the lake, we stopped by the camp host, who confirmed that thunderstorms were expected for Friday. We all came to the conclusion that it would be best to head out instead of running the trail again north to south as originally planned.
The last thing any of us wanted was an ill-fated lightning strike in the height of fire season that had the potential to make a great trip a fatal trip.
Turns out it did rain on the area, which would have added some difficulty to the trail as well.
Friday morning came. We got up broke down camp and had wheels rolling at 8 am. We stopped at Lower Blue lake to empty trash and make a deposit at the vault, then we proceeded to air back up. It was a beautiful drive down the mountain. We stopped at a historical Pony Express site at the north end of Markleeville. Unfortunately, some lowlife stole one of the plaques
.From here we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
@_ocnorb_ & I had planned on stopping in Markleeville, but I blinked and pretty much missed it
This was just an awesome trip! No other vehicles on the trail. Both our campsites had no people or trash to be found. This is such a beautiful area. All in all an Awesome trip with great company. Thank you for coming out on this adventure I look forward to meeting up with you both again
.Please add comments, pictures & any videos you might have.
Damage report:
Felix808 – Popped tire bead resulting in the computer going wacky fixed on trail.
Scuffed rear passenger rim pretty good.
Scuffed rear drivers fender flare.
@_ocnorb_ -
CV boot popped off
Small running dent along drivers fender into the door thanks to a spearing tree branch.
@Snacktime??
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