Gold Lake (1 Viewer)

[ksheffield]

Looking at camping out at the Gold Lake 4x4 campground this weekend. Taking Friday off to claim a spot, get camp set up, and relax a bit. I want to take the out-and-back trail to Snake Lake Saturday, maybe see what else is around there.

Anyone care to join? The campsites can hold 2-3 vehicles each, and they back up to the lake.

 

[locrwln1]

Have fun, it is beautiful up there. I will be working.

Jack

 

[ksheffield]

Looking forward to it. Went there about 3 years ago and have been wanting to get back ever since.

 

[spressomon]

Love to...but I don't think the Prius would make it


(The SpressoWagon is down for mods for a couple weeks...)


Have fun!

 

[ksheffield]

Great Gold Lake trip. I'll be downloading the pics at work today and put them through photoshop. I'll try to get them posted soon. Tackled the Snake Lake trail. It was a great challenge and a skill builder for me in a couple spots. Just about killed my stock front skid plate, so it's time to start looking for real ones. Time to put a budget together for those.

Missed a turn for the trail back to Gold Lake and ended up seeing parts of Gold Valley, or what I could from the weeds. That trail went through some high grass areas.

Also saw a couple things that bothered me. There were obvious signs of folks expanding the width of the trail just to run through mud, or rather than cut through some deadfall across the trail, they created their own bypasses. I hacked through a dead tree near Oakland pond to clear the trail. Looked like some trucks just ran through the grass around it.

Like I said, I'll post up pics ASAP. Great weekend get away for sure.

 

[ksheffield]

Snake Lake Trail

Just a quick pic descending Snake Lake. This was a bit of a controlled slide down the trail. It is a steep one, and reportedly more challenging tackling it uphill. I believe that to be true. Uphill route will be for another time, and with skid plates!

 

[Krusty Krab]

Looks like a great day for wheelin.-- But wait, any day is a great day for wheelin.

Does this trail start at Gold lake and make a big loop back to Gold Lake? It looks familiar. And that trail had a small lake about halfway but don't remember if it had a name(snake Lake?)?

Thanks for posting the pic up. Wish I knew how.

 

[ksheffield]

Looks like a great day for wheelin.-- But wait, any day is a great day for wheelin.

Does this trail start at Gold lake and make a big loop back to Gold Lake? It looks familiar. And that trail had a small lake about halfway but don't remember if it had a name(snake Lake?)?

Thanks for posting the pic up. Wish I knew how.

Correct! It's the trail that drops into Snake Lake, but before turning onto that trail you pass Summit Lake (an intersection for many more trails). On the Snake Lake trail you'll get an overview of Gold Lake, pass by Oakland Pond, and drop into Snake Lake. I missed the looping part of the trail and got some bonus wheeling through the Gold Valley before finding a trail that would get me back to Summit Lake, and then Gold Lake. Great weekend.

 

[ksheffield]

Had to do a little trail clearing near Oakland Pond. This was not a big tree (deadfall) and only took 30 minutes to hack through with my camp axe. Sadly, many had trampled their way through the grass and shrubbery around this. Didn't take much effort for one person to take care of business doing the right thing. Although, I should have made my cut about another foot to the right. Watch your door panels next time you go through!

 

[ksheffield]

Stopped at Summit Lake for second breakfast (PB&J), then found the Snake Lake trail. The drop in really feels like exactly that. There would have been opportunities to get more pics on this part, had I not been soloing this trail. The truck did really well, and I only stuck it once at the bottom. Still developing my sense of where the rocks are as well as dealing with the FJ's torque-iness. Minimal carnage on the stock skid plate. It's served me well, and is about to get retired this year.

 

[ksheffield]

(Repeat: forgot to upload the pics)
Stopped at Summit Lake for second breakfast (PB&J), then found the Snake Lake trail. The drop in really feels like exactly that. There would have been opportunities to get more pics on this part, had I not been soloing this trail. The truck did really well, and I only stuck it once at the bottom. Still developing my sense of where the rocks are as well as dealing with the FJ's torque-iness. Minimal carnage on the stock skid plate. It's served me well, and is about to get retired this year.

 

[ksheffield]

And then back at camp with a fire and a couple Deschutes Black Butte Porters.

 

[locrwln1]

Cool pics and great story. I guess I need to do some more exploring in that area.

Jack

 

[24HOURSOFNEVADA]

We used to do this trail yearly, as I had a co-worker that owned property close by. A group of 5-8 rigs would run it and meet back at his place for a bbq and camping. I haven't ran it since he retired to upstate New York. It's a fun, easy trail with great views.

 

[rusty_tlc]

A fall color run up there would be fun.

 

[ksheffield]

A fall color run up there would be fun.

It's a full day's schedule for a run, which makes it great for an overnight. I'm all for a fall color run. Just a great weekend seven days ago. Better than tonight, which is being spent at work dreaming about wheeling and camping while the weather plays along.