September Club Run, September 3 to 6, 2021 - Shaver Lake area (I hope!)

[DirtyRice Joe]

Exact rails TBD. Since it's about a 5-hour drive to Shaver Lake, this will be a weekend camping/wheeling trip. I would expect to find some dispersed camping in the area as early Friday as possible, since it's Labor Day Weekend. Once we claim our camp area and get set-up, we can then hit some of the local trails.

PLEASE NOTE: WE NEED A TRAIL LEADER FOR THIS RUN! If not, we will have to cancel this trip. I'm sorry, but I can't be there, as I will be out of town from 9/1 - 9/9.

If you're planning to attend this run, please check in here (or, you can reply to our Club Newsletter or email me direct), and based on the number of interested club members, maybe we will have someone able to step in as Trail Leader for this run. I'll be glad to work with the trail leader on planning, trail selections, and routing. I have subscriptions to both Gaia GPS and Trailsoffroad.com, so I should be able to provide some good trail information.

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

Knock, knock... Anyone there? I've not yet heard from anyone except Brandon (Justanothermember - via email) about possibly attending this run. If we don't have sufficient interest, and if we don't have a volunteer Trail Leader, I'll have no choice but to cancel this run.

If you're considering this run, but hesitant to volunteer as Trail Leader, I'll be happy to get together with you and go over trails and maps for the area. I'm also pretty sure we could get some support from Rich P., who knows the area pretty well.

 

[DoneThoo2]

This weekend/run is something that I would definitely be onboard for. But I am still out of commission for the next few months. Hope to be back on the trail in October.
What is the possibility of doing this run at a later date?

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

This weekend/run is something that I would definitely be onboard for. But I am still out of commission for the next few months. Hope to be back on the trail in October.
What is the possibility of doing this run at a later date?

It really depends on the weather. I love camping in the Sierras, even when it’s a little cool. But, it can get down right cold sometimes in October. If it doesn’t work out for this year, we can put it on the calendar for next year (and not for a weekend that I’ll be out of town!).

Hope you have a quick & complete recovery!

 

[Ttoner80]

Knock, knock... Anyone there? I've not yet heard from anyone except Brandon (Justanothermember - via email) about possibly attending this run. If we don't have sufficient interest, and if we don't have a volunteer Trail Leader, I'll have no choice but to cancel this run.

If you're considering this run, but hesitant to volunteer as Trail Leader, I'll be happy to get together with you and go over trails and maps for the area. I'm also pretty sure we could get some support from Rich P., who knows the area pretty well.

I can’t make this weekend but a later weekend I can. And would be happy to try my hand at leading a trail but would need to work with more experienced members to make it fun for everyone!

 

[Brav]

That's a possibility for me and a friend, let us know if this materializes. We would have to come up early sat morning.

 

[Ttoner80]

That's a possibility for me and a friend, let us know if this materializes. We would have to come up early sat morning.

How do you feel about doing a run in Big Bear the weekend of 9/11 and 9/12? We had one back in June with Marc as the trail leader and I’ve been prowling the trails in the area. We can take it easy and just explore the area. Would be really nice to have a trail partner.

 

[Brav]

How do you feel about doing a run in Big Bear the weekend of 9/11 and 9/12? We had one back in June with Marc as the trail leader and I’ve been prowling the trails in the area. We can take it easy and just explore the area. Would be really nice to have a trail partner.

I like that - just a matter of scheduling with the fam.. its been hectic recently with a move and toddler. A day run could work.

 

[Ttoner80]

I like that - just a matter of scheduling with the fam.. its been hectic recently with a move and toddler. A day run could work.

Cool. I’m totally cool with a day run. Anyone else interested?

 

[Justanothermember]

Whats Up SoCal LCs?

Since we had the meeting at the beginning of the August month and discussed this run, it sounded super interesting to me and really wanted to do it. Since we have not seen anything materialize as of yet, I spoke with Joe (DirtyRiceJoe) about some of the details. Unfortunately he will not be able to lead this months run, so my friend Evan (GryT4R) and I will be running it anyway. Fair warning I am by no means experienced in being a trail lead, although I have been on a few of the runs with Joe and gang over the last year or so. My rig is fairly stock so the trails I've picked out are challenging enough to be fun, but also something that won't strain my rig too much (I have a 100 series on 33" tires; thats about it).

The plan so far that I've discussed with Evan is to hit Strawberry Lake and establish base camp early Saturday morning. We want to get out there as early as possible to try and beat the local crowds from Fresno. If we can establish a good base camp at Strawberry Lake, we can then venture out and do Red Lake later Saturday afternoon, or Sunday. We have also discussed doing Bald Mountain either as a day excursion or a night run depending on schedule. We want to get up there as early as possible, so that if we are not able to secure a location at Strawberry Lake, we can head back down and go up Red Lake and try for a camping spot there. We do have one other vehicle (Jeep Rubicon) that will be accompanying us on this run as well.

If you are interested in joining us for this run, post it up here, or DM me so we can coordinate meeting up. We will have radio comms as well, I will post the decided channel as we get closer to the date. Hope we can get a few more members out there!

 

[Live to Ski]

I'm out of the lineup for this run.

Reason: new shoes (mark...the curse is over) and Cooper 45 day trial period. Want to ensure I can handle noise/vibration of e rating vs moving to c rated tires.

 

[Ttoner80]

Whats Up SoCal LCs?

Since we had the meeting at the beginning of the August month and discussed this run, it sounded super interesting to me and really wanted to do it. Since we have not seen anything materialize as of yet, I spoke with Joe (DirtyRiceJoe) about some of the details. Unfortunately he will not be able to lead this months run, so my friend Evan (GryT4R) and I will be running it anyway. Fair warning I am by no means experienced in being a trail lead, although I have been on a few of the runs with Joe and gang over the last year or so. My rig is fairly stock so the trails I've picked out are challenging enough to be fun, but also something that won't strain my rig too much (I have a 100 series on 33" tires; thats about it).

The plan so far that I've discussed with Evan is to hit Strawberry Lake and establish base camp early Saturday morning. We want to get out there as early as possible to try and beat the local crowds from Fresno. If we can establish a good base camp at Strawberry Lake, we can then venture out and do Red Lake later Saturday afternoon, or Sunday. We have also discussed doing Bald Mountain either as a day excursion or a night run depending on schedule. We want to get up there as early as possible, so that if we are not able to secure a location at Strawberry Lake, we can head back down and go up Red Lake and try for a camping spot there. We do have one other vehicle (Jeep Rubicon) that will be accompanying us on this run as well.

If you are interested in joining us for this run, post it up here, or DM me so we can coordinate meeting up. We will have radio comms as well, I will post the decided channel as we get closer to the date. Hope we can get a few more members out there!

My schedule just open up to make this one. Where and when are we meeting up? I don't have a radio yet and can get one but probably won't be in time for this run. Do I need one? And what does the clue use?

 

[DirtyRice Joe]

My schedule just open up to make this one. Where and when are we meeting up? I don't have a radio yet and can get one but probably won't be in time for this run. Do I need one? And what does the clue use?

Hi Dat - Glad to hear you can make it! I’m so sorry to be missing this one. Justanothermember (Brandon K. on your club roster) is coordinating this one, so I’d suggest you reach out to him. He’s probably watching this thread, but you could also PM him through this Forum, or directly through his contact info on the roster.

As to “club radios”, we don’t really have an official platform. Some are still using CB, at least one has Rugged Radio (FRS, I think…), and some us have gotten Ham radios. Personally, I think Ham is the way to go because it has better range and more flexible channel selections. I think Brandon has a handheld Ham.

I hope this helps. Have fun!

 

[Justanothermember]

My schedule just open up to make this one. Where and when are we meeting up? I don't have a radio yet and can get one but probably won't be in time for this run. Do I need one? And what does the clue use?

Great to hear you can make it! I also got a call from Craig who may also be joining us (his plan was to tow his 40 series rock crawler up and leave his truck and trailer at a friends house) waiting to hear back and see if he is confirmed. I will work on a meet up point; Craig and I discussed meeting in Fresno, early saturday morning but again that depends heavily on when he plans to get up there or if he decides to come at all. I will post up a meeting location up here later today after I take a look.

I did some more research on the trails (Thanks @DirtyRice Joe for the insight on trail resources); it appears to me that "Red Lake" is has more camping space than Strawberry Lake so we want to setup a base camp there instead. We can then venture out from there as there are a ton of trails in the area.

As for communications, Craig, me, and Evan are all on the handheld HAM radios as are most of the club members (seems to be the preferred mode of communication on club runs). Evan and I are currently on the amazon special Baofeng radios ($25 on amazon and does ok for a beginner radio). As for channel, it'll most likely be the LC club channel we usually use on runs; 151.625 (we can discuss a 2nd channel if theres too much chatter on that channel when we get up there).

I did look up the trail run for Red Lake, the trail head begins at (37.195445, -119.203913) and is about 30-45 minutes on flat fire road to the actual trail starting point. There's an area to stage and air down and park trailers if need be before hitting the actual trail. From that point on, its about 90-120 minutes to Red Lake where we will establish base camp at dispersed camping areas around the lake. It should be noted, that there is NO running water at this campsite, so please be prepared for that. I believe the trail information noted a couple outhouses in the area; but I wouldn't expect it to be much.

 

[Ttoner80]

Count me in then. Depending on where you are coming from we could meet up along the interstate and caravan to Fresno and beyond. Google is telling me to take I-10 to I-5 then CA-99 to Fresno. Otherwise a place near or at the last gas station before the trail would be convenient (Landcruisers are thirsty!). I won't have a radio in time for this run so will try and keep up with the trail dust, lights, and horn (I don't think smoke signals are allowed!). I've just subscribed to onX Offroad so will see how that works on the trail.

 

[Justanothermember]

Count me in then. Depending on where you are coming from we could meet up along the interstate and caravan to Fresno and beyond. Google is telling me to take I-10 to I-5 then CA-99 to Fresno. Otherwise a place near or at the last gas station before the trail would be convenient (Landcruisers are thirsty!). I won't have a radio in time for this run so will try and keep up with the trail dust, lights, and horn (I don't think smoke signals are allowed!). I've just subscribed to onX Offroad so will see how that works on the trail.

Great! Let me get back to you on a meet up location (still undecided on what time I intend to roll out; it would be VERY early; think 5am or earlier as it is a long drive up to Fresno). Thats the route I will be taking up too; I'm located in Pasadena area, so for me its 210W to I-5 to CA-99. I have a spare radio you can borrow for the weekend, so when we meet up, Ill give it to you. I don't have any offline GPS gadgets yet, so ill be printing out the trail directions and using those the old school way.

 

[Ttoner80]

Just heard that all CA national forests are closed for two weeks. Is this trip still possible?

 

[Justanothermember]

Just heard that all CA national forests are closed for two weeks. Is this trip still possible?

Yep you are correct, ALL national forests in CA are closed for the next few weeks as of today. Which leaves basically only desert camping; as we are still in the middle of summer... I would recommend against desert camping and avoid the heat. Evan and I are scambing to come up with a new trail run; so far we are considering the next closest national forest out of state which happens to be in Arizona - Prescott National Forest. If we do that, are you still interested in coming along? We're trying to judge interest and how many vehicles we will have if we head out to AZ for the weekend. The route we're currently mapping out is "Backway to Crown King AZ" its a little podunk down in the mountains, kinda of cool scenery. We'd start on that trail Saturday; then hit the offshoot to Horse Thief Basin, try and find some dispersed camping spots for the night, then Sunday head back out to Crown King Rd, and up Senator Hwy towards Prescott; find somewhere along Senator Hwy to campout for the night on Sunday. And monday morning take the rest of Senator Hwy out to Prescott and return home. Trail difficulty looks to be pretty easy, mostly fireroad with a few technical parts with easy bypasses for almost every obstacle. Weather seems clear; highs of low 80s and evening gets down in the low 60s. Elev is about 6-7000ft.

Let me know what you think.

 

[Justanothermember]

Just heard that all CA national forests are closed for two weeks. Is this trip still possible?

We are also open to any suggestions that are closer.. again since ALL national forests are closed; it basically leaves only desert camping..

 

[Ttoner80]

Yep you are correct, ALL national forests in CA are closed for the next few weeks as of today. Which leaves basically only desert camping; as we are still in the middle of summer... I would recommend against desert camping and avoid the heat. Evan and I are scambing to come up with a new trail run; so far we are considering the next closest national forest out of state which happens to be in Arizona - Prescott National Forest. If we do that, are you still interested in coming along? We're trying to judge interest and how many vehicles we will have if we head out to AZ for the weekend. The route we're currently mapping out is "Backway to Crown King AZ" its a little podunk down in the mountains, kinda of cool scenery. We'd start on that trail Saturday; then hit the offshoot to Horse Thief Basin, try and find some dispersed camping spots for the night, then Sunday head back out to Crown King Rd, and up Senator Hwy towards Prescott; find somewhere along Senator Hwy to campout for the night on Sunday. And monday morning take the rest of Senator Hwy out to Prescott and return home. Trail difficulty looks to be pretty easy, mostly fireroad with a few technical parts with easy bypasses for almost every obstacle. Weather seems clear; highs of low 80s and evening gets down in the low 60s. Elev is about 6-7000ft.

Let me know what you think.

I was in the northern rim of grand AZ not too long ago and not ready to go back yet. If you do go, keep in mind that AZ is in monsoon season and the high elevations get some good T-storms. Be ready for mud if you go. Otherwise, I'm up for Borrego Springs to the south or somewhere local for a day run where we don't have to camp. Last resort, we can do a beach bbq! Let me know if those are viable.