Trip Report: Stanislaus National Forest - November 4-6, 2012

SirCampalot

Adventurer
Summary:

We were initially hoping to explore the Blue Lakes area (south of Lake Tahoe), but due to the high number of potentially closed trails, we opted for "Plan B". The alternate plan was to explore the lower elevation areas (5000-6000 feet vs. 7000-8000 feet) of the Stanislaus National Forest. Either way, we wanted a location that wasn't too far from where we lived. In the course of 3-days, we covered over 100-miles of trails/dirt roads within the Stanislaus National Forest. We couldn't have asked for better weather conditions. The group got along well, caught some nice trout, ate great food, and drank Pacifico. We were fortunate to avoid any mechanical issues as well. What else could we have asked for?

Here's the breakdown of the trip:

Day 1 – 11/4/2012

After a hectic day (going to my kid's soccer game, shopping for supplies, getting stuff done around the house, and packing), I somehow managed to squeeze in 1.5 hours of sleep before leaving for this trip. The weather forecast for the next few days was very good… almost too nice for a November. We departed the SF Bay Area at around 0430 hours. We caravanned east towards the town of Groveland, CA. Since eurosonic was coming from Sacramento, he had agreed to meet us at the ranger station in Groveland. About an hour and a half into the drive, a nicely outfitted Montero pulled out ahead of us. I called eurosonic to see is that was him in front of us… sure enough, it was him! Talk about good timing! The 4 of us then proceeded east into the town of Groveland to the trail head off of Ferretti Rd. Once we reached the trailhead, we aired down and proceeded east on 1N70 along the south fork of the Tuolume River.

Checking out the remains of an old bridge that once existed:

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We stopped at the Lumsden Bridge area:
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First attempt at fishing (no luck at this location):
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We then proceeded north-east to Cherry Lake:
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SirCampalot

Adventurer
First cast near the dam got me this little fella:
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Ronnie got one too!
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We then decided to make our way towards the Bourland Tressel area. This tree caught my attention:

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It was starting to get dark so we were keeping an eye out for a nice spot to camp for the night. We decided to make a run for the John's expert navigational skills got us to the Bourland Tressel:

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John sport'n the gopro on the hood:
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Dimitri's Montero:
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We setup camp near a small stream. Someone had built this nice shelter but we didn't use it:
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Once the sun had set, the temperature dropped rapidly. We got a nice fire going, drank a few ice cold beers, and ate a nice meal. Shortly thereafter, the lack of sleep got the best of me and I crashed out for the evening.
 
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SirCampalot

Adventurer
Day 2 - 11/5/2012

After a nice breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and hot-links, it was time to hit the trails once again to continue with the exploration of the Stanislaus National Forest.

Pit stop:

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I believe this was the Clavey River:
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Ronnie play around over a mound of gravel at a quarry:
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Eurosonic demonstrating the capabilities of a Montero on 35's:
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John showing us what a stock Taco can do:
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Perfect place for a group shot:
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Another angle:
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Love this Montero!
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Onto the Dodge Ridge Trail as listed in the Backcountry Adventures book:
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Enjoying lunch at the “lightning lookout” as listed in the book:
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Such a beautiful place:
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Continuing on:
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What a bunch of posers: :)
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Tiny patch of snow!
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At this point, it was dark so k01featherweigh and I parted ways with eurosonic and 09mgmdc. We then rushed to find a campsite. Good thing for Motion X GPS, as it led us to a very nice campsite next to the Clavey River.
 
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SirCampalot

Adventurer
Continuation of Day 2:

Once we got the fire going, we downed a couple of cold ones and prepped dinner:

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Ronnie did a fabulous job cooking the fresh trout. My Andersen's split pea soup looks kinda scary... almost looks like chartreuse Power Bait:
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SirCampalot

Adventurer
Day 3 – 11/6/2012

My sleeping quarter:

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Campfire to break the chill in the air:
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We tried fishing here… no luck:
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Packed up and ready to continue on to Pinecrest Lake:
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On the way, we found this interesting “pavement”. Of course it required further investigation:
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Articulation! Icon makes some nice hardware!
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Water level was quite low, but Pinecrest was still beautiful!
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k01featherweigh caught a little trout. He let this one go:
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A nice gentleman fishing nearby gave us this nice fish. Here's a shot of it on the frying pan the following day. I cooked it up outside using the Coleman stove… wife and kids loved it!
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iPad screenshot of the ground covered over the 3-days:
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eurosonic

Expedition Leader
I’ll chime in with my share of the report.

I left Sacramento at about 4 o’clock in the morning. I took Highway 99 south then got on to Highway 4 almost all the way down to Groveland. Even thought the guys took off from Bay Area over 100 miles away, we perfectly merged together on the way. What a nice way to start off the trip!

I’ve never met any of them in person. Only chatted here on the portal during the trip planning. We pulled over before hitting the trail to airdown and for a quick meet/greet. From the start we all connected very well. Throughout the entire trip it was nice to be a part of a crowd who shares similar interests in their vehicles outdoors/exploring/overlanding. No whining, no annoying complaints like I usually get when I go with some family members or friends. Every one here was on the same page. Everyone was having a good time.


Although there was not much technical terrain, crawling or any mud it was still very fun and enjoyable. Over all it was a very nice and relaxing trip. Always good to get away from the city madness and relax outback.

Anyways, here are some of the many pictures taken during the trip.


(camera: Canon 5D MKI w/ 24-70 L lens)


Fueling up in Sac

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Watching the sunrise on early Sunday morning. Nothing else, no cars, no traffic.

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Got on to the trail, following Atsushi in his Land Cruiser 100

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while having this on the side. Ginormous sunrays peeking through the mountain line…

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Tacoma, LC100, Montero, Tacoma

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Ronnie having a go at it..

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Breaking in the paint

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eurosonic

Expedition Leader
got to Cherry lake

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Johns Taco TRD

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Racing stripes are on

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Our navigators with MotionX iPad ap and a good ol' fashion map.

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Followed an old railroad bed and eventually arrived at this old rail road trestle.

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Man this thing was cool..

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Got my self a nice souvenir

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eurosonic

Expedition Leader
Speedy twists and turns

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Felt like rallying at one point

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Eventually we found a nice place to break camp next to a creek. LC100, climbing down towards camp spot

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and then the rest of us

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After we slept and got back on the trail we did run into what looked like fire trail maintains crew (dept of corrections written on the truck)
Check out behind them, an old water tank for filling steam trains.

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After all the driving, fuel was running low. Stopped by near town for some gas. (ca prices)

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Turn off to Dodge Ridge trail
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.aspx?trailid=XFT003-031

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Although there are some tricky places, most of the trail can be done in 2WD if its dry. Here is Atsushi going up in his 100

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Ronnie in his nicely outfitted Taco

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Found a nice scenic place to break for lunch

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Ahhh…some view and brew

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Ah, what the heck…poser shot, why not…


panorama1

while enjoying this..


panorama2

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I left on Monday night while the guys stayed until Tuesday. Made home safe ☺

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1leglance

2007 Expedition Trophy Champion, Overland Certifie
Looks like a really good run and very cool that none of you had met before. Just goes to show what kind of folks are around here.

Great pics and fun to hear from 2 people on the trip.

Thanks for posting and I am looking forward to more from that area.
 

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