StewsRunner

iTrader: (1)

AAAAAHHHHH I wish I could go! I brought it up to my buddy who just got an 85 on 35s that I could ride passenger with but a family member birthday falls on the 4th

having fun

Yah, sound like what I bring, less the dog, unless you count the son as qualification.

Boom, boom, sticks, love it. Just wasn't sure if water was near by for dishes, if not will bring paper and plastic.

Hey, you left out trash bags, oh that's what the shovel is for. J/K,LOL.

Did the coordinates help. My book can tell where each trail starting point is if you need.

Bawlzdeep

-trash bags
-headlamp/flashlight
-fire wood
-splitting axe

Does anyone have some fire wood that they can bring with? We got lucky last time and found plenty on the trail up to Bowman.

redwolf3

I would assume that there is no running water available. There are some campsites that have small creeks nearby, depending on how deep into the area we go to camp, but probably safer to assume you will need to carry in everything you will need.

WRT wood. I would suggest that anyone planning to camp should bring at least one box of wood with them, two if you are travelling with guests, and then we will create a communal fire in the middle of the camp areas.

WRT toilets, as mentioned before, assume that there will be none. There are some campgrounds near the front that have biffy's, but the deeper you go, the less likely they are.

As a note: the last time we went to this campground, we had planned for one campsite, and had to travel in close to 1 1/2 miles deeper before we could even find a place to pitch our tents. This area seems to be very dead or very busy depending on the weather and time of the year. I'm hoping that the time of year we are going it will be closer to dead, haha.

redwolf3

Absolutely. We should plan on following the pack-it-in, pack-it-out rule. As such, make sure you have enough trash bags, etc. to pack-out what you bring in.

In addition to the great list Bawlzdeep has already provided, I would also highly suggest the following additional items:

• Sunscreen
• More water (You should have at least one gallon of water per person per day).
• Drinks besides water (don't want to get water poisoning)
• Trail Snacks

In addition, prior to the trip, you should hydrate up as much as possible. The following site has a general guideline which is good to follow: http://fitknitchick.com/2012/02/15/a...-and-find-out/.

I am hoping to make a trip up to the trails in the next couple of weekends to check out what the terrain is like, talk with the rangers to make sure I have the necessary fire permits, etc. If anyone is interested in coming along, just let me know and I will keep you guys apprised of my plans there. Probably just a one-day up and back.

redwolf3

You can find more out about the trails in the area at this page: http://4x4trailmaps.com/OHVA.php?OHVA_ID=29

The first trail we plan on hitting Saturday can be found here: http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=47

The second trail we plan on hitting Saturday can be found here (assuming we have time): http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=80

The trail may be doing Sunday, if there is enough interest is here: http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=81

Each page has some information about the trail, sometimes a few pictures, and GPS Coordinates for the entire trail.

The following is a Google Map with GPS Coordinates to the main entrance of the lake campground which we will need to go through to get to the trails and our primary camping area:
Right now, I am tentatively planning on taking a trip up to the trail on Saturday, April 20th to scout out the trails and a good camp spot. I will post up more details there once I have a better idea of where we can setup camp.

redwolf3

So, I just got home after checking out the planned site for this trip, but thought I would update you all on what I found.

The main issue I found is that there is still a ton of snow up near Gold Lake. Taking the south route in, I made it about a mile before it got too deep for me to risk driving by myself. Taking the central route around the lake I made it about 50 feet off the main highway.

Given that the main trails I planned to run are more covered than either of these roads I suspect this will be a no go on the trip to Gold Lake at this time, since most of the trails are very narrow with some steel drop offs.

Right now I'm thinking we either postpone until a later date, or we find a different trail (at lower elevation) to hit instead.

Either way, I'm open to suggestions.

redwolf3

Ok guys, so here are the photos I took today.


Snow on the Mountain from Highway 49






Packer Lake Exit from Gold Lake Highway (No Snow in Sight)








Packer Lake Road
NOTE: Roadside snow started about 1/2 a mile in, I stopped at the snow pile about 1 mile in. It's hard to tell from the picture, but this road is uphill about 10 degrees and slightly angled, probably about 2 feet deep in the middle.












Gold Lake Road (Snow Leading Up to and on trail)





NOTE: My truck is about 50 ft off of the highway and I hit this, I think it would be an effort just to get to the concreted camping spots.

having fun

Was that a trout jumping in that creek, heading there now. LOL.
Sorry to hear this, I'm trying to work things out with the others on t4r form to continue that weekend.

redwolf3

Just as an update to those of you on this thread, Jon (AKA Bawlzdeep) is going to take a follow-up run up to Gold Lake this weekend and see how the snow is doing.

After discussions in the other threads, I think we are going to make this a snow run weekend, and try to get any additional off-roading in that we can where there isn't snow. Plan on bringing your tow straps, etc in case you slide off the road =).

We are going to try and shoot for a camping spot on Packer Lake Road, preferably one without too much snow on it, but plan on packing warm.

We will follow-up once Jon has taken his look this weekend.

Bawlzdeep

Snow should not be a problem next week. Everything is melting fast. The first camp ground where the nice rest rooms and boat slip has some very small patches of snow. I attempted the trail to Squaw Lake but didn't feel like airing down and all. So I was stopped at the second little patch of snow which was only 6" at the most. We didn't push too far, my buddy needed to be home for dinner, you can make fun of him when he shows up in his TrailBlazer SS (he could have made it to the trail head in that today). All his fault or I would have done a lot more exploring and probably stayed the night.

Here's the pics you've been waiting for


Bat Dog!

There's the snow you were worried about

I made it up over that first patch. Bet this is all gone by next weekend.







Another thing everyone should bring that was not mentioned is gas cans. There is gas "locally" for $4.30 but it would save on unnecessary gas runs. If you got em bring em, if not oh well. The drive up there is pretty slow once you get on HWY 49. Took me 2hrs from Penn Valley (75mi) and almost half a tank. So worth it though! The area is amazing.

redwolf3

Jon-
Nice work, it's amazing how much snow has melted since I was there just last week. I didn't expect so much of it to melt, but I'm glad it did.

Thanks again!

Bawlzdeep

FoSho man. It will almost be gone by next weekend. It was warm up there, I'd guess 75 or higher. Really nice weather.

Bawlzdeep

New Vid

redwolf3

I contacted the Yuba River Ranger District today to discuss the campsites, etc. Here's what I was told:

Fire Permits:
Fire permits are free, we just need to stop into the Forest Rangers office to get one. We should probably get as many as we can. This is also the only restriction we will have camping in the area we are planning to camp.

Camp Sites:
Due to the time of the year, we may not have access to the pit toilets, but I have been told that we can camp at any campground we can reach. We just need to have a fire permit in order to have a fire, and need to restrict our vehicles to within one vehicle length of the road (unless the camp site has in-camp parking).

I don't believe that any of the campsites we are looking at normally have fees associated with them. I believe it is only the "Improved" camp sites (IE: Paved) that have fees associated with them.

Trails:
In looking on the various forestry websites, I was a little concerned because I was still seeing campsites and trails listed as closed. After talking with the Yuba River Ranger Station, it appears we should be good to go.

I was told that the new federal standard is that all OHV trails must be listed on a Motor Vehicle Usage Map, which includes the locations of the trails and any seasonal restrictions. According to this ranger, the Tahoe National Forest (at least in the area we are going) have not finalized their MVUM maps yet, and are not enforcing them, thus we can have access to any trail we can get to given the following kaveats:

1. We must stay within one vehicle length of the trail at all times.
2. We must "Tread Lightly" and not damage any of the wildlife in the process of our OHV experience.

These are both givens, but I thought I would pass them along.

The ranger did indicate that she wasn't sure we would make it in very far, but I'm less worried about that.

One weird Nuance is that the main entrance to Gold Lake is actually in the Plumas National Forest jurisdiction. As soon as we get to the far side of the lake, we transition to the Tahoe forest. According to the MVUM from Plumas NF, the Gold Lake trail is open year round, so we should be good there.

The biggest thing we may have to figure out is where we will be camping. I am going to suggest that we shoot to try and get in just past Gold Lake into the Tahoe Forest side, but I'm open to suggestions (especially form you Job, since you have a better idea of what the conditions are there).

In any case, that's the information I have found so far.

I plan to stop at the Yuba River Ranger Station on Friday on our way up (which is right off of Highway 49 on our way up). That way we can all get our own fire permits to ensure we are covered. That will allow us to ask any additional questions we may have as well.

Bawlzdeep

Great news man! Thanks for getting the legal junk taken care of. We'll stop by on our way up. There looked to be plenty of loose small rocks that folks have used to build fire pits. So as long as we have permits, we are good.

I have one fold out cooking grate. What's on the menu? Make sure everyone brings enough food and drink. I'm always "prepared to share"

Anyone got good ideas on food to bring?

Good news is that if we make it up high enough into the snow, free ice for the coolers!

having fun

I have a monster cooler as I need to make sure I brought enough for my group of 4 for 4 days. Didn't know we where setting meals up as a group. Sorry.
Also have a grate for cooking on, hell, I'm bringing a hole kitchen set up you will think I'm moving in up there. Just might even bring my shower set up. Don't mind if others use, you will need to bring a small propane bottle for heating the water.

Bawlzdeep

I'm not trying to do "group meals" I was just curious as to what others were bringing. I'm living the bachelor life for another 2 weeks so I'm running on pot roast and corn flakes! I might do some simple sandwich stuff, chips, eggs, sausages, chicken, trout...... Find out when I go shopping Thursday. Don't worry, I wont bring a rabbit this time!

Who's bringing dogs? Not to eat but.. I got my crazy a$$ boxer

having fun

No like button on here.

Skinless, boneless chicken breast potatoes and veggies, open face burgers with chilly on them an the nights you are there. Breakfast consist of bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, hot cakes.

If you wish to bring enough of the same, I have no problem doing a cook out for ya.
I have my partners tell me they are gonna slap there other half when they get home, they ate better in the hills with me than with them at home. Have no clue why.

redwolf3

I'm planning on loading up the following food for the weekend:

• Sandwhiches for lunch
• Sausage w/ Hoagie for Friday Night
• Baked Beans
• Rib eye for Saturday
• Individual Cereal for Breakfast (I have 8 but only eating 1 or 2, so plenty to share)
• Bacon, Eggs, and Hash Browns for Sunday Morning (Enough to share with a couple)
• Misc snacks, drinks, etc.

If you need something and I have it, you are welcome to it. I always bring way more food than I can eat, haha.

As for cooking gear, here's my planned load out:

• Bag of Charcoal + Charcoal Lighter
• Gas Cook Stove
• Pots + Pans
• Cook Table (1/2 Grated, 1/2 Plastic Folding)

I can bring more, but again, I try to pack as light as reasonable for me... If you have something you need, let me know, as I should have spare room in the runner.