Weekend climb over Strawberry Pass, CA (picture heavy)

[eurosonic]

Last Saturday woke up in the morning and felt the calling!
Quickly packed up, grabbed whatever was in fridge and pantry and took off to the mountains. Of course had to stop by and get some brewskies and water

This time we’re off to a relatively local trail, about 80 miles east from Sacramento, down Highway 50 towards South Lake Tahoe. Trail is named Strawberry Pass, which reaches out from Highway 50 to Caples Lake, on Highway 88. Highest elevation was a bit over 8600 feet.

Trail was right up the alley for my vehicles capability, although at one time I almost turned around. Clearance was the biggest concern. For the most part it is a very scenic climb, beautiful views, enchanted like forest passes, numerous stream crossings. Passed by many good places to break camp.

For navigation purposes I took my Ipad 3 with newly installed Topo Maps. I am so impressed by that software, probably one of the best $8 bucks that I ever spent on a map. IMO its worth much more than that. It was a great mapping tool, it kept us on the right track the entire time. GPS signal was always on the dot. I have the 3G model w/o data plan. I bought the iPad for this exact reason. Preloaded the USGS maps for the entire region and programmed in the GPS waypoint coordinates from home. Without it I probably would get lost due to many dead-end splits in the trail.


Any ways, here are picture from the trip

(photo eqp used: Canon 5D MK1 w/ 24-70L lens, iPhone 4.



Fueling up



Got off at mile marker 42





Many fancy cabins were all over place



iPad FTW



Got off the pavement



First few miles were pretty smooth





Many passing’s like this



This sign is on the trail turnoff



Finally begun to go up hill





First few rock obstacles



Removed the sway bar right before the trip, so it was a good time to test the new articulation





Face rock



Trail turning pretty rocky here





Had to stop for a bit and cool off, transmission was over heating. Will have to examine later





Passed a ton of dips with streams like this one





Ok, so here we got to a point called Painted Rock. Im glad I had a rear locker for this one. Had to go over this guy before I got to a giant boulder in the middle, which had almost no room to go around it. Only way to go was thought it.



Made it over the first part ok

[eurosonic]

Here is the rock, what a pain in the A**







Came ‘this’ close to tippin over




Had to put up a platform so the rig wouldn’t roll over. This where a taller truck with better articulation would benefit.



Ended up resting on the transmission shield and struggle for traction.



After a bit of wrestling finally made it through, left a good mark



Coming up to a part called the Squeeze, this is where a full size rig would have trouble getting through. Was indeed a squeeze between the rock and the tree. Easy to damage the right quarter panel if not careful. Saw plenty of bruise marks on the tree and the rock.







After, got pretty mellow going up



Wouldn’t want to end up there



Some scenery









Got to this place, pretty nasty clay like mush. Quickly filled the tire tread with this stuff





Some more nasty mud, thank God I didn’t get stuck here.



Had to rest a bit and let the wife drive









this was pretty much the tip of the mountain, begun to cruise downhill from here

[eurosonic]

Stopped for a break for a nice panorama







Was gona camp here, but decided to keep driving







Kirkwood Ski resort





Came up to this creepy barn













Drove by some giant solar panels





Snow equipment garages



Ahh asphalt, highway 88





Caples lake



Stopped by Kirkwood Ski resort drive in









Ok so it got pretty dark, Caples lake and surrounding lakes camping spot were way too over developed (and expensive), where is camping/wildeness fun in that? So decided to head out to good ol’ family camping spot at Utica/Union reservoir in Bear Valley. Home of the Slick Rock 4x4 Trail.

[eurosonic]

It was pitch black outside on Highway 4, perfect time to test out the Blitz Lightforce 240s. WOW, what a difference. Still have to adjust the beam angles a bit.

Low beam with crappy bulbs.



High-beams



Lightforce 240s only



Lightforce 240s plus high-beams



Arrived at Utica Reservoir, unpacked tent and went to sleep.
Morning time!



Battle scars





Breakfast – omelet with fresh tomato and espresso.



Morning stretch





Time to eat and enjoy the day



Went to see what Slick Rock was all about





When I got this quickly realized that my rig and I are definitely not ready to go thought something like this. The jeeps with huge clearance were having a hard time.





So turned around and went back, maybe next time.



Here is a quick iPhone vid leaving the Slick Rock trail. Going over the easier part, nothing fancy, rest of the trail was way out of my league.



Stayed till sunset, had some tea by the fire and took off back home.

[Clem]

eurosonic,

Great trip report. Looks like you and the little lady had a great weekend.

Thanks for the inspiration,

Clem

[Hill, Bill E.]

Awesome report! Nice rig too!

[mrwizard]

Very cool trip. Some amazing territory in your neck of the woods.

[nwoods]

Great report. Your iPad holder setup is quite nice :-)

I have a good buddy who recently moved to the SF with a nice rig and looking to explore trails just like that with another vehicle. He's in a lifted 4Runner with 33" KM2's. It's only 90 minutes or so from Sac, right?

[eurosonic]

thanks everyone,
it is a great drive for a moderately built rig. Highly recommend it to everyone

Great report. Your iPad holder setup is quite nice :-)

I have a good buddy who recently moved to the SF with a nice rig and looking to explore trails just like that with another vehicle. He's in a lifted 4Runner with 33" KM2's. It's only 90 minutes or so from Sac, right?

Nwoods,

yes, its about an hour away from sac. Have your buddy message me next time he want to head out. It would be nice to have another rig join in.

There are numerous of other trails to explore around that area.

[soonenough]

Great report! Just read through your build thread, I really like your Montero