Gold Lake Trip Thread

[Desertcrawler]

Ok, plans for Gold Lake have finalized. We will be heading up to Gold Lake the week of August 9th through 15th (thats Monday through Saturday night) and camping up at the OHV campground there. Like in years past, we will be doing some trail runs on Saturday (the Snake Lake trail) and on Sunday I am sure folks that are not brining in their rigs on trailers or pulling a tent trailer will be exiting out via the Fire Lookpout near Sierra Buttes.

 

Gary, could I ask you to email me last years trip information so I can post up details/GPS coordinates/etc?

 

Right now, we've got three of us who will be there the bulk of the week. I'm going to be pulling in my tent trailer and camping lakeside with my Kids and another friend (who will have a jeep and some ATV's and possibly a powerboat). I'm aiming to get in Monday night before sunset. TigerDan is planning on joining with us and tent camping. Of course, anyone else who has that week off or has flexible time during the week may want to show up as well. We will be hanging around camp, doing some pre-runs on the trail, etc with no defined agenda. But if you are able to show up mid week and not the weekend, we'll help you out and take you on an exploration trip.

 

I'll post up more logistics details once I get last years file from Gary, but here is a link to last years trip thread.

http://nclrclub.org/forum/showthread.php?750-Gold-Lake-Trip/page6

 

I'll plan on setting up a "trail run" day for Saturday, August 14th. We would leave camp around 10am.

 

If you haven't done Gold Lake before, I'll emphasize that it is a great camping area and wheeling area (one of my favorites in the Sierra's). I discovered it with my stock 95 Disco before I even knew that offroading clubs existed. It can be done with a stock rig, but there are certain areas where having body protection, custom bumpers, lift, etc is helpful to avoid body damage. If you are new to the club or to the area, post up your questions and we can answer them -- as well as adjust some of the run we do on Saturday to allow those with more stock rigs to not get in over their heads.

 

To get an idea of what the trail is like, here is a link to an old trip report from the jeepers...

 

http://www.sacramentojeepers.org/2006_gold_lake.htm

 

as well as some more trail info with directions..

 

http://www.nccn.net/~gv4w/adopt.htm

[TigerDan]

Just got home (had to leave early for a gig, Chuck and family are still up there due home tomorrow evening.)

 

I can't believe that no one else went on this trip. It's always been a popular one in the past and there's some great wheeling, camping and scenery to be had. We explored some new trails and tackled some old favorites, including a successful climb UP the Snake Lake Loop trail (pics and video to be forthcoming) and possibly reigned in a new member as a nice '03 DII pulled into camp on Weds. evening (or maybe it was Thursday...I don't remember now!) and was curious about our Rovers. Turns out he's from Santa Rosa, just bought his and is trying it out, wants to find out what it can do. I gave him a card for the club, he's quite interested.

 

As for the rest of the trip...well, I'll let Chuck tell about it as he's the trip leader. But you guys missed a good one...

[Desertcrawler]

Hey Dan, good trip. Barry and I pulled out yesterday. You missed another day of exploring. We followed those mining trails, found a good swimmng hole plus some great views of the area. Even went around that big log, slid into it, and had to pull out the high lift for a little log movement to get by safely.

 

Never did find Smith Lake. The trails all turned into ATV runs after a while. Couldn't fit the Disco between the trees. But now I know more cool places to explore next year!

[TDeWitt]

Hey Chuck, good to hear you have ventured further out. What direction this time? Did you head North-Northwest towards La Porte, or more towards Quincy? I have just started to explore the region around La Porte heading towards Gold Lakes, but have not gotten deep deep into th woods as of yet. Would like to hear what I may come up against from someone who has gone South to the Northernly direction. Looking forward to the pics and vid.

[Desertcrawler]

Terry,

 

We did the Snake Lake Loop (the tough way) both Dan and I made it -- no problems. Later in the trip, however, I saw a Toyota that passed me on the way back to camp coming back from that trail -- severe body damage -- looked like it rolled. So I would try it carefully -- and also with a friend.

 

All my trips orginated from the Gold Lake OHV camp. One day, we did a run along "Deer Lake Trail". That is a hard left as soon as you reach the top of the ridge above gold lake. That was a lot of fun. We did not drop down to the lake itself, but could have. We went forward, over the hill, and ended up at Packer Saddle. It was a awesome trail with great views. Definitely on next years trip agenda. Relatively easy -- but possibilty of driving off cliffs makes it fun.

 

Our next adventures centered around exploring all of the dead end trails that are down "Gold Valley" trail. Boulder Creek is the name of one of them, there are other names too that are posted on the intersections if you look hard enough. Found a great campsite, plus a awesome (but chilly) place along the creek to take a dip and jump off boulders. Most of the trails ended up at old mine sites -- but nothing remains. Most also degenerate into ATV and motorcycle trails. Trail would keep going -- but my rig wouldn't fit. You should see the pinstripes.

 

I have in the past gotten as far as Johnsville along Gold Valley trail -- it is the furthest thataway that I have gone. Looking at the maps though, it looks like a lot of cool places. Also I want to play around in the Packer Saddle area.....