Sarah and I met up with Jerome and his friend Bill at the P&R at 7:30.
We headed out and Hatch and his wife Moral (sorry if I spelled the name
wrong) at the 126 and the 5. With 1 stop for fuel we ended in Shaver
Lake Around 12:30 The group that towed left the P&R and hour before we
did. The towing group was Mike and his son Chris, David, and Phil &
Jed. Rich and Corkey and Jeff and Carol had arrived in the Shaver Lake
area a few days before. The timing was just about perfect. We fueled up
and had a quick bite to eat then headed to the trailhead.
It takes about an hour to get to Courtright Res. We aired down and had
a short driver meeting. A couple miles later we hit Chicken Rock. We
had no issues going up. Once on top we enjoyed the view. Couldn't help
but notice how low the water was in the Res. Rich informed us that
there is a 4 X 6 foot hole in the dam. So in a few weeks they are going
to repair it. We slowly made our way to where Dinkey Creek feeds into
Courtright. Along the way we saw about 6-7 grouse. I had not seen any
on previous trips. Once in camp we went about setting up our tents and
gathering wood for the fire. David took his thermostate out since he
was having troubles keeping the motor cool. Thermostate was fine we are
thinking he might need a new radiator. That is about the time Mike came
walking up with a bloody forehead. He took a .50 cal round to the
forehead. Lucky for him he has cat like reflexes and the bullit just
graze him. Left a nice cut from mid forehead right between the eyes
just about to the hair line. After some minor first aid the bleeding
stoped. He then borrowed my saw and took care of the sharp shooter so
there would be no follow up shots from the "Wood be" sniper.
After sitting around the fire for awhile everyone was pretty well beat
so for the most part we all crashed early before 9 PM.
Day 2-Dusy Creek to Thompson Lake
Day two started off great-we woke up! It was sunny, but the sun had
yet to reach the camp. Maral was the first up and got the fire
started. Believe she got it going every morning, something about used
to waking up at 4:30 every morning.
This morning was the group pancake breakfast. We had more bacon,
sausage and pancakes than anyone could eat. Alright, so we ate them all.
We all worried about how we would get everything back into our Jeeps.
Seems everything was neat when we started. Last thing before heading
out on the trail was to make sure the fire was safely out. We used a
LOT of water. We also left quite a pile of wood for the next group.
We hit the trail about 9:30 and had about a six mile drive. We had to
stop a few times to allow David to tend to his overheating issue, but
it never took more than a few minutes to cool it down by pouring water
over the radiator. The stop allowed us to have a chance to look around
at the trees and flowers. We commented on the lack of critters. Not
even many birds or squirrels.
Before hitting Thompson Hill, we had a number of the group get hung up
on rocks and stuff. The hang-ups were nothing serious, just
interesting at times. Somewhere along the way Rich had a couple of
instances of what seemed like vapor lock. Opened the hood and let cool
and then back on the trail.
Then there was Thompson Hill. There was lots of slipping and sliding
and rocks to climb. Guess the most fun was Rich. Rich got into a
situation that opened a couple of eye balls wide. It was looking like
there was a possible tip over to the driver's side of the Jeep. So, a
strap was attached to the roll bar on the passenger side and the winch
to a tree; and we were once again safe. The hill was finally crested
by all and we continued on to Thompson Lake, but the lake camping area
was pretty crowded. Jeff had gone ahead on foot to scout this out and
on his way back, found a really nice camping area Scott had never
noticed. It was really nice and kind of secluded and a bit away from
the trail. Everyone staked out their areas, put up their tents,
collected some firewood (once again more than we could burn) and by
now it was cocktail time. It was about this time that other Jeeps were
just over the rise from us. It turned out to be Chuck Shaner of Victor
Valley 4 Wheelers and a couple of other rigs. He came over and visited
for a few minutes and we said we would see him at Fun in the Desert
the end of September.
After dinner we all sat around the campfire and enjoyed stories. One
of the more interesting was that Mike had never heard of Brighton
Collectibles-and what's more, he thinks Laura has never heard of them.
He does now. As it got closer to 9, everyone with watches were
checking the time and at 9 straight up, most of the group headed off
for their sleeping bags.
Friday: Clear AM, warmed up quick.
Leisure morning, with AM campfire
Left Thompson Lake area camp 9:30ish am.
Everyone decided to continue following Trail Boss Scott and his
trusty sidekick Sarah, "into the wild".
Mike and "The Son of Mike" Chris (recently back from serving our
Country).
Air conditioned and cooool, Jerome and Bill
David and Goliath
Jedidiah and Skip "Father of Jedidiah"
Hatch "the Hatchet from Jersey" and Maral "Mrs. Hatch"
Dusty Rich and Cool Corky
Dustier Jeff and Solar Shower Clean Carol
2 small groups passed us, 3 tricked out Landcruisers, and 2 Rubicons
with a trailer.
We stopped at a large meadow, filled water bottles and solar showers
from the meandering brook.
Bumpy trail.
Made it to camp around 2pm.
Pitched tents, took naps, lake exploration, casting practice, no fish,
no mosquitoes, campfire with "some oars", we stayed up late telling
stories until the wee hour of 9pmish.
respectfully submitted and committed,
Jeff and Carol
Saturday (8-23-08) morning we are on the Dusy Ershim Trail by around 8:10 AM. The group was up early since no one seems to be able to sleep well or long after going to bed by 9:00 PM. We have had to prod Phil to stay up to 9:00. Today is our longest day with 10 miles of hard trail before we sleep. Once again the weather is perfect with clear blue skies and just a hint of clouds. The views of the Sierra’s are always incredible and many times in the foreground are large granite faces amongst the tall pines. Of course there are many large granite boulders to crawl over. Between the rocks and trees we do not have many straight sections. In front of me, Mike has brushed the trees a couple of times and I also have a little tree residue to clean off the top. Hatch was able to maneuver his JK through some tight spots. However, I kept thinking at sometime I am going to look back and see him in a “Hatchkeeper†wedged between two trees. In between the trees and boulder sections we came upon several nice meadows. Prior to lunch we stopped a nice creek crossing and cooled off a bit. Later we stopped at Ershim Lake for lunch and in a flash Hatch had his fishing gear out and was heading to the lake. After lunch is Divorce Rock, at least that is what Scott called it. We all came down it without any problems, in fact we have not had any serious problems all trip. After Divorce Rock we come across another nice meadow and stopped for a rest. Then on to a large sand dune where we stopped for a short break where some of the group sunned ourselves on a large boulder overlooking a small lake downstream from a small meadow. What a break from reality to sun on a rock overlooking a pretty little lake or to walk in a beautiful meadow while trying spot fish in the creek. Hatch is fishing again however he cannot catch anything before Scott has us back on the trail. Late in the day after nearly eight hours on the trail, we make Lake Camp Lake for our last campsite. We found a nice spot where we can pitch our tents. As usual Hatch went to the lake, while Jeff was finding boulders to play on. Jed was right by his side even showing Jeff some lines to take. Later we had a nice camp fire and Hatch came back with a nice catch of 6 or 7 that he grilled over the camp fire. Since it was our last night on the trail, we all stayed by the fire just a little longer by about 10 minutes before we were almost too tired to crawl off to our sleeping bags. The night was clear and on the cool side. What a great day on a challenging trail deep in the Western Sierra Mountains.
We left lake camp lake at around 8am or so. Got past Mike's tree where
we had some carnage last year, without any real problems (to Mikes
relief). Had fun on the rough sections on the way out and had some
good views of Edison lake and Huntington lake. On one of the last
obstacles, Mike clinched the gold medal for biggest air. He had his
tire at least three feet in the air – accompanied with a big smile on
his face. Hatch and Jed were pretty low on fuel the last day, however
we both made it to the gas station and trailer respectively. No
breakage at all throughout the trip. Hatch, Scott & Sarah, Rich &
Corky, Mike & Chris, David, and Jed & Phil met at Hungry Hut in Shaver
Lake for some good food before heading on home. All in all a great
trip. Thanks Scott!