The 2016 NorCal Camping/Wheeling Thread!

Ohhh...badass trail for sure

 

I see MJ's doing another one. Yes a bit to far for me, with my son playing soccer on Saturdays now it wouldn't be worth the drive.

 

Post trip comments:
It might be 'bad ass' when covered in snow, but kinda boring when dry.
They have done a lot of recent work, filling in holes with gravel (small rock actually), and building a brand new shitter at the camp ground. The meat bees at the CG drove us crazy, we had to have our lunch inside the truck.

Quite a few well-built jeeps from SoCal stopped briefly, on the way to Buck Island Lake.

 

Ooops. Forgot to warn you about those fuckers sir. They were all over us when i made tri tip. Only way to semi escape was to build a roaring fire.
@HAVING FUN

Ahh. Forgot about that...izzy is playing foorball now....mod day wont happen then

 

BIG F'in fire. And a shirt. LOL. Kids working on it.

 

My sons first game this season is tomorrow and I gotta work

 

Damn...that sucks bro

 

Hey all, I'm new to wheeling and very glad to find this thread! I've been trying to find out where to go to get some experience and have found many ideas here. Been on easy trails at cow mountain and got the obligatory pinstripe job... looking for more adventurous stuff now. We "dipped a toe" over the beginning of the rubicon (with a very friendly steward providing guidance - i'm not so stupid to try it alone w/ no real experience!)

With all that said, i'm looking for somewhere to go gain some experience before i actually do try to run the Rubicon next year - i have a long weekend without the family October 14-16 and if the weather cooperates i was thinking of trying to go run.. something! And maybe combining with some biking (tahoe) or fishing...

I'm driving an '06 TRD with a mild lift, 33's, sliders, bumper, and winch. Rear bumper and more lights may go on before then. I'm a ham, so have that for comm, but i also run FRS/GMRS/MURS. No CB (yet).

If anyone is interested in a low-key-ish run, or has a suggestion, let me know! I'd like to try to find something within 4 hours of the north bay. I'm coming out of west Sonoma county. The clearlake-mendocino forest trail run sounds pretty good... anything there that was a bit of a test?

 

Eagles lake is fun

 

Welcome to TW. If you do end up trying that Mendocino Trailrun let me know I might be interested in that I'm in Cloverdale

 

I'm going to try and mountain bike White Mountain Peak east of Bishop that weekend if weather permits. The drive up is via Silver Canyon. It's in no way technical but it gains like 9,000 feet in 7 miles or something like that. White Mountain Peak is the only CA 14'er you can ride a bike to.

The back up plan is to mountain bike Downieville. You're welcome to join in either.

 

Gents, thanks and will keep you posted on plans. I think Bishop and Eagles lake is a bit out of my range though up north takes me through my favorite place to fish...

 

Lakes Basin area and Downieville are good for medium off roading and mountain biking.

 

What's a good resource for learning about trails in the Downieville/Lakes Basin area?

 

May I suggest the internet? Haha!

Pick up a Plumas NF forest service map. Then google gold lake, johnsville, Sierra buttes. I can't help you with the mountain biking but I'm sure here is a ton of info out there about Downieville downhill and shuttles. If you have questions about camping and off roading, PM me and I'll help you out.

 

Hah! The Internet... I think I have a plumas map... Will do!

I do know where to go for the biking, but the wheeling is new to me, and it's not like climbing or kayaking where there's a rating system, so a conversation is really helpful. Will be in touch!

 

Snake Lake trail is pretty advanced wheeling. However, last time I was there I camped at Little Dear Lake. If you come in from the north east the trail is fun and not super crazy. If you come in from the other direction it's even more fun but a bit challenging at some spots. Sliders would be a good idea if you don't already have them.

 

there is a rating system,1-10 and lots of info on it. forest roads for the most part are easy trails most a car can do. the ones that say 4wd are moderate to difficult. just Google the specific trail by name and some sites even rate them on how difficult they are.

 

Was at Pinecrest over the weekend.

 

I'm going mountain biking in Downieville the weekend of October 15th.
Last time we drove up on Friday night, drove through Gold Lakes 4X4 campground around midnight and continued up the road to summit Lake. We camped at summit lake, got up early and rode bikes into town and shuttled back. We rode from the shuttle drop back up to the truck and then drove to Little Deer Lake. The road to little deer lake was pretty fun. The next day we drove out of little deer lake toward Snake Lake. At the Snake Lake trail we turned left (Right is the gnarly part of snake lake trail). We drove around a bit until we got onto Gold Lakes Highway south bound...stopped in the lakes basin, rode some trails and headed home.

If anyone wants to go you're welcome to join.