By: Randy L. Wheeler - 7/2001
Photos by: Author, Vance Anderson and Dan Hoover
Three Trails - Two Days
California's Sierra Nevada Mountains offer some of the
best 4wheel'n around. With such famous trails as Fordyce Creek, the
Dusy-Ershim Trail and of course the Rubicon, there isn't a shortage of
challenging trails out West. A group of us decided that a somewhat
easy-going weekend punctuated by some incredible scenery was just what we
needed. The trails we were going to run included the Slickrock Trail,
Deer Valley Trail and the Strawberry Trail. Traversing these routes from
South to North would take us from Highway 4 north to Highway 88 at Carson Pass and
finally further north to Highway 50 at Strawberry. Most of us met up at
the Snowshoe Thompsons Brewery located in Arnold, for some awesome food and a taste of
their microbrews. After that, we continued up Highway 4 and on down to Utica Reservoir
and the trailhead of our first trail. We set up camp and
enjoyed a warm fire, a hot meal, and some tasty margaritas (compliments of
Vance's on-board blender!).
The Slickrock Trail is located off of Highway 4 near
Utica Reservoir. The trailhead starts at Utica Reservoir and continues up
to Lake Alpine. The first portion of the trail winds its way around the
south end of Utica Reservoir. There are some nice wilderness campsites
through this section, although they fill up fast on a busy weekend. Once
past this section, the trail winds its way up through the trees and along
smooth granite outcrops. The first notable obstacle is one from which the
Slickrock trail gets its name. This section has a short step up a smooth
granite outcropping and on up the "slickrock" portion of the
obstacle. This section is always good for a photo or two.
Chris Bassett in his modified ZJ on Slickrock.
Randy Wheeler negotiating the Slickrock granite.
Don Alderrou taking the high line. This is
typical Slickrock scenary.
The trail winds up through tall pine trees and granite
outcroppings. Several sections of the trail skirt the bottoms of the
tilted granite slabs and offer an opportunity for some sidehill action. Once
at the top of the ridge, we stopped along the icy cold creek for a refreshing
head dunk and some friendly water cannon wars. This was also a great time to
pull out the Radio Controlled (RC) cars for some miniature rock crawling.
Dan Hoover flex'n his '01 TJ.
Julie looking to cool someone down with her water
cannon.
Miniature "Pirate" Stack...
We packed up our gear and continued along the
remainder of the trail and on out to Lake Alpine on Highway 4. A quick
stop at the Lake Alpine store for some ice and munchies and we were on our way
up Highway 4 to Hermit Valley and the trailhead for the Deer Valley Trail.
Deer Valley Trail - Hermit Valley (Highway 4) to
Carson Pass (Highway 88)
The trailhead for the Deer Valley trail is located near
Hermit Valley on Highway 4. The first obstacle of the trail isn't more
than a couple hundred yards off Highway 4. It's a series of boulders and
shallow holes with a couple different lines available. The right side line
is a bit easier than the left side though. On his first trip to Deer Valley,
Dan Hoover in his very new '01 TJ elected to take the left side line. All was
looking good until Dan reached the top of the rock and his right front tire
dropped off the rock, pitching his rig precariously close to rolling. A
slight bump of the throttle and Dan was able to bring his rig down on all four
tires. The rest of our group made it through with no real problems. Even
the two rigs that were towing trailers made it through with no real problems.
Catch'n some air. Don Alderrou takes a different
line.
Vance dragging his trailer through the first
obstacle on the Deer Valley Trail.
Dan Fosgett with his trailer in tow on the first
obstacle.
After this obstacle, the trail winds its way up the side of
the ridge, following some tight turns and sharp switchbacks. Trail
conditions ranged from loose rocks and off-camber sections to tight turns
through large granite outcroppings. Several sections required some maneuvering
of the trailers to get around, over and through the rocks. One section in
particular caused some hang-ups (pun intended) for the trailers, but with some
maneuvering, they both got through fine.
Dan-F negotiates the boulders.
Don Alderrou weaving his way through the trees.
Eventually the trail winds its way through the trees to Deer
Valley and crosses Deer Creek. There are some very nice campsites along
this section of the trail. Following the trail further along, we set up
camp for the night off the main trail. After collecting some firewood for the
evening's festivities, we set out to prepare dinner and some more margaritas.
There's nothing better than a cold frothy margarita after a long day on
the trail.
Camping along the Deer Valley Trail.
Roasting some marshmallows for the kids.
Group Shot...
The following morning, we leisurely packed up camp and
headed towards Lower and Upper Blue Lakes. These lakes are accessible via
a paved road from Highway 88, but we opted for the more scenic, albeit dusty,
road up and over an 8,500 foot pass. The views from the top of the pass
were quite stunning. Traveling down the other side, we came across several late
season snow junkies intent on extending the skiing season. These guys were
hiking up and down the remnant snow fields and skiing/snowboarding back down.
Hey this is California... in June!
Vance at the top of the Forestdale Divide. Elevation
8,500 feet.
Group shot at the summit. Time for a snowball
fight!
Late Season snow junkies!
From there we made our way to Red Lake just above Carson
Pass on Highway 88. Some of the group decided to air up and head back to
their respective homes, while Vance, Dan-H and Randy decided to run the
Strawberry Trail which eventually comes out at Highway 50 just below Strawberry.
Strawberry Trail - Caples Lake (Highway 88) to
Strawberry (Highway 50)
The Strawberry Trail starts off at Caples Lake. Take
the turn off for the Caples Lake Maintenance Station and follow the paved road a
couple hundred yards past the metal buildings. Once we got into the trees,
the trail slowly twisted its way up the ridge and past Schneider's Camp.
The first part of the trail we encountered a couple of "shooflies".
These are man-made erosion control berms that range in height from several
inches to a couple feet. There are a lot of shooflies on this trail!
Traveling further up the trail, you get your first glimpse
of Caples Lake in the valley below. Not long, the views get even more
spectacular. Farther off in the distance beyond Caples Lake, we could
easily make out the telltale signs of ski runs etched into the side of the
mountain. We had an awesome view of Kirkwood Ski Resort and Caples
Lake. The wildflowers were out in force and it seemed the entire side of
the ridge we were on was covered with a velvety blanket of yellow silk.
View of Caples Lake and Kirkwood Ski Resort (upper
right).
Vance negotiating the boulders on the Strawberry
Trail.
Rockdog skirt'n around a large boulder.
After what seemed like forever going up and down, up and
down over the shooflies, we finally made our way to Highway 50 and the end of
the trail. Three trails in two days! What a blast! While these trails
aren't extreme, they're still worthy of going back year after year. I'm already
looking forward to next year!
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