Events/Trails Coyote Flats / Eastern Sierras August 8th - 12th

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Shucks - forgot that one is private - account is Made Dumb on instagram. Visualize stock pickups sliding backwards down snow covered trails. Those guys.
 
I am headed to Coyote Flats on June 28th. I can report back on conditions, since there will be some snow on the ground. How much? Who knows. If anyone else is coming up next weekend let me know and we can meet up? Leaving Orange County at 5am Friday and meeting up a buddy in Bishop 11am. Planning on entering via Bishop and exiting through Big Pine but depends on conditions.
 
Excellent! Have fun!
 
chmura said:
I am headed to Coyote Flats on June 28th. I can report back on conditions, since there will be some snow on the ground. How much? Who knows. If anyone else is coming up next weekend let me know and we can meet up? Leaving Orange County at 5am Friday and meeting up a buddy in Bishop 11am. Planning on entering via Bishop and exiting through Big Pine but depends on conditions.
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A report back on the conditions would be very appreciated. Thanks in advance and hope you have a great trip
 
That would be excellent!
 
elripster said:
Hi folks, it's getting to that time of the year that if we are going to hit the Sierras and we are going to change it up a bit this year.

The last few trips have been to Funnel Lake. While Funnel is cool, it had zero signs of fish life last year and the trail from the flats to funnel is sufficiently difficult that it adds a good hour in and out to any exploration about the plateau. If last year's trip taught us anything, it's that there are so many great places to explore including lakes WITH fish.

Last year explored the following...
View attachment 1972741

The marker, "Camp Spots" is off of the main road is a cluster of trees over a flat surface that would easily host a large group. Because of its central location, this spot makes a great jump off point to visit other lakes and features. Thus, we are planning to use this spot as this year's camp.

The trip is proposed Thursday to Monday to ensure an acceptable driving/camping ratio. The hope is that moving the trip to early in August will make it easier for more to attend. I will have my wife and kids in tow. A rough agenda is as follows

Thursday - travel day

Friday - day trip to Hidden Lake. This lake is amazing. You have about a 45 minute hike from Hidden Lake Camp Ground. If you have an inflatable float thing you can fish off of it or otherwise enjoy the lake.

View attachment 1972746

Saturday- Either a day trip to Funnel Lake or revisit Hidden. If reports of Fish at Funnel come in, the trail to it is fun with some more challenging off shoots so it could make for a nice detour. If no fish are at Funnel, there is a second lake near Hidden that we can check out or even go elsewhere. Or we can make this a free do whatever you want day.

Sunday - Green Lake. There is a lengthy and scenic trail with some challenge to it leading to the ridge overlooking the lake. You have to then hike down to the lake. Doing this on day 3 gives everyone time to adjust to the elevation before making what would be the most strenuous hike of our planned destinations.

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Monday - Travel day, if we leave by say 9AM we should cruise home without hitting traffic.

Boiler plate stuff...

- The Coyote Plateau is remote. You leave pavement between Lone Pine and Bishop. Thereafter you will traverse 15-17 miles of varying terrain starting with sandishness to a steep switch back climb to high desert 2 track . The plateau is around 9,600'. Any cruiser with upgraded tires will do fine though some of the off shoots could touch the under belly.
- Bring any and food and drink you will need.
- Appreciate that 4WD with low range is extremely recommended for the ascents and descents. This is not to say a lifted built 2WD can't make it but expect to struggle, need help at times, and ride a lot of brake down the mountain (not exactly ideal). Altitude will take its toll on engine performance.
- You will most likely see wildlife. Your dog could run into wildlife. Your kids might run into wildlife. Be prepared for wildlife.
- Time from San Diego towing a trailer and mostly obeying the towing speed limit is about 6 hours which includes stopping in Bishop to get all of the things you forgot but remembered on 395.
- It is best to leave around 9AM (non a weekday) to avoid traffic up 15.
- Weather, well, it's almost 10,000' up, you are in serious mountains, days can be 80, nights can be windy and 20, you just never know. August should be warmer than last year's September run so there is that. That is part of the fun and part of the challenge. Best bet is to be prepared. Know how to use your vehicle as a wind break, etc... bring warm sleeping equipment.
- Bring fishing gear and any other things you want to entertain yourself. Feel free to bring a mountain bike if you can work the thin air.
- There are miles and miles of roads to explore so fill your tank before leaving civilization.
- There is no cell service. If you need to contact the rest of the world you will need to drive until you can.
- Comms: CB 22 or HAM 146.490. If anyone only has FRS we can start out on channel 1 and migrate from there depending on FRS traffic.

Hopefully lots of us can make it this year. We often do a running start where folks wait on an on ramp to join the convoy. Others rather just hit the road and make good time. It is all good. Let's enjoy some of what our state has to offer if you can afford the time.

Head Count:

Elripster + wife + 3 kids + dog
Phulcrum + ?
Custyota


We will work the potluck as the data approaches.

Frank
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I live in Bishop and have been to coyote flats many times. If you take the road to the end of the flats, there is a trail that leads to Baker Lake. There are tons of Brookies in that lake.
 
We hit that up last year, it was awesome. We will definitely be visiting Baker again this year.
 
chmura said:
I am headed to Coyote Flats on June 28th. I can report back on conditions, since there will be some snow on the ground. How much? Who knows. If anyone else is coming up next weekend let me know and we can meet up? Leaving Orange County at 5am Friday and meeting up a buddy in Bishop 11am. Planning on entering via Bishop and exiting through Big Pine but depends on conditions.
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The exit through Big Pine is getting really sketchy due to non drivers tearing it up with inadequate equipment. Good luck :cheers:.
 
2mountainfish said:
The exit through Big Pine is getting really sketchy due to non drivers tearing it up with inadequate equipment. Good luck :cheers:.
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Thanks for the heads up. Just curious, do you have any pics? What are your thoughts on pulling off road trailers up there?

Most of us are on 33's-35's with the usual lifts, sliders, etc... so just trying to gauge what we might be in for to prepare.

Frank
 
I got back from Coyote Flats area last Sunday, June 30th. Was an awesome trip minus the mosquito's there. I was wearing long sleeve shirts (3 layers + 1 sweater) and long pants and managed to get 25 or so bites on my body.

There was some snow on the ground but I managed to make it to the places I had in mind. I camped at Baker Creek campground and there was some snow patches but managed to get through. Here are some pictures.

I tried to exit the Big Pine Route. Crossed a sign that said, "MOST DIFFICULT Skilled Drivers with Modified 4WD vehicle" continued on. A mile or so I saw some local folks grazing their cows and horses. Last two pictures are at the start of the difficult section. Definitely want try the Big Pine route but with the right folks and proper recovery gear. Snatch blocks definitely are needed here. One wrong move and the day is ruined since its on a narrow slanted hill on the side of a cliff.

Would love to do the Big Pine route, seems very challenging. I need sliders next!

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That looks fun! So the only route I have taken starts passed that neighborhood where you typically air down by the power lines. Then there is a short wash section before the steep zig zag up the mountain that turns into rolling 2 track that finally reaches the plateau. Is that what you mean by the Big Pine Route? Or did you come up another route?


Here is a screen shot of where we start at the top of the image.
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Yes that is where I started as well in your map at the upper area of your map. I entered from Bishop side and attempted to exit the Big Pine side to the 395 basically doing a 'loop'. I am barely building up my tacoma so I decided to turn around at the beginning of the difficult sections at the Big Pine trail.

There are two ways to enter/exit the Coyote Flats Meadow area from the 395. One is the Bishop side which 99% people enter/exit from and there is the Big Pine Route which is much more difficult where mostly Jeepers take.. If you go to Google Earth you can clearly see the trail if you have trouble I can email you the way points and my GPS logging.

Since this is a forum I highly advise against taking a big group through the Big Pine Trail route. I walked some of it to see the difficulty starting at the picture where the mud was and it has some difficult sections in the beginning. Locals said there is more difficult sections that will take hours to complete it. This section is very narrow, slanted, off camber sections on the sloped hillside. You cannot turn around here or even back up. Once you enter the hillside you are committed to finish the entire trail IMO. I even saw some rope tied around a big boulder near the 2nd difficult section and I am sure someone had trouble and had to use some clever extraction techniques using snatch blocks, etc.

That said I want to do it with some expeirenced folks with a bunch of recovery gear in hand just in case.



elripster said:
That looks fun! So the only route I have taken starts passed that neighborhood where you typically air down by the power lines. Then there is a short wash section before the steep zig zag up the mountain that turns into rolling 2 track that finally reaches the plateau. Is that what you mean by the Big Pine Route? Or did you come up another route?


Here is a screen shot of where we start at the top of the image.
View attachment 2019718
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That is excellent info. A few of us will be towing trailers up there so would want to avoid that section for sure unless we decide to attempt it without trailers some day.

Frank
 
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