w0rk_m0nkeys
w0rk_m0nk3ys
It was Saturday. We were a little bored. We decided it was time to finally scout out a place to go on weekend trips which satisfied four basic requirements:
-Seclusion
-Scenery
-Stars
-A reasonable driving distance
We set out the next day (Sunday- today) at the crack. Had some java, packed up the jeep, dog and gear & split, destined for the El Dorado National Forest.
Out the door as the sun was rising, we stopped for gas and popped in the beats. It was gorgeous out and gonna be a great day. We stopped in Plymouth for a quick stretch to top off the tank, then made our way past the wineries and up into the NF.
We quickly found a suitable trail and started exploring. The ground and trails were in great condition. Dry pack covered with pine needles most of the where we were today. One trail we took degraded into a zero track, and finally we had to cross over to something a bit more reasonable. That one however, was blocked by several downed trees. The recent tornado level winds really pushed the older stuff around.
Since we were quickly nearing our departure time we opted not to winch them out of the way, as it would have taken me a couple of hours to move them all.. at least six trees in a row, all larger.
After a break we turned around and made our way out. Still had a blast and found a good spot for an overnighter so we can more thoroughly cover the portion we went to today.
:safari-rig:Conditions / June 26, 2011
*Dry but recent storms created lots of downed timber-Bring your cutting gear and/or winch to clear the path.
*Some trails have deep (dry) ruts. Easily passable.
*Low brush rating
I'll keep posting as we make our progress. Here are todays shots:
As always, Sydney was ready to go-
Conditions were dry. Fire permits a must if camping.
On the main trail through a section of the ED-NF.
This is so great early in the morning!
Gotta have the gratuitous Jeep-commercial shot ;-)
Lovin' this one.. may be my new prof pic!
A little timber coming up on this section of unmaintained old path, but all are easily passable. Small stuff mostly movable by hand.
Heading up an overgrown portion of the trail.. can't see the track! Looks like Syd is checking the GPS for me lol-
Gorgeous!
Trail degrades a little
On the whole, most of the area we passed through today was extremely accessible. Lots of traction- only needed to engage 4wd in one loose section on an incline. Trailers may get scratched. All but the widest Rigs should remain completely unscathed.
This is the most our suspension had to flex all day- pretty smooth overall.
Proceeding around this bend were numerous downed trees. Recent tornado level winds in the area really moved stuff around. Bring cutting gear, winch, etc.
This was the end of our trail for today. It was quickly nearing time to split, so we opted to NOT winch the trees out of the way. Would have taken me a quite a while to do all of them with our winch, so we decided to call our day. Overall very successful. Found a couple of really nice quiet spots which will serve as an advance deployment point for a more in-depth exploration of the El Dorado.
-Seclusion
-Scenery
-Stars
-A reasonable driving distance
We set out the next day (Sunday- today) at the crack. Had some java, packed up the jeep, dog and gear & split, destined for the El Dorado National Forest.
Out the door as the sun was rising, we stopped for gas and popped in the beats. It was gorgeous out and gonna be a great day. We stopped in Plymouth for a quick stretch to top off the tank, then made our way past the wineries and up into the NF.
We quickly found a suitable trail and started exploring. The ground and trails were in great condition. Dry pack covered with pine needles most of the where we were today. One trail we took degraded into a zero track, and finally we had to cross over to something a bit more reasonable. That one however, was blocked by several downed trees. The recent tornado level winds really pushed the older stuff around.
Since we were quickly nearing our departure time we opted not to winch them out of the way, as it would have taken me a couple of hours to move them all.. at least six trees in a row, all larger.
After a break we turned around and made our way out. Still had a blast and found a good spot for an overnighter so we can more thoroughly cover the portion we went to today.
:safari-rig:Conditions / June 26, 2011
*Dry but recent storms created lots of downed timber-Bring your cutting gear and/or winch to clear the path.
*Some trails have deep (dry) ruts. Easily passable.
*Low brush rating
I'll keep posting as we make our progress. Here are todays shots:
As always, Sydney was ready to go-
Conditions were dry. Fire permits a must if camping.
On the main trail through a section of the ED-NF.
This is so great early in the morning!
Gotta have the gratuitous Jeep-commercial shot ;-)
Lovin' this one.. may be my new prof pic!
A little timber coming up on this section of unmaintained old path, but all are easily passable. Small stuff mostly movable by hand.
Heading up an overgrown portion of the trail.. can't see the track! Looks like Syd is checking the GPS for me lol-
Gorgeous!
Trail degrades a little
On the whole, most of the area we passed through today was extremely accessible. Lots of traction- only needed to engage 4wd in one loose section on an incline. Trailers may get scratched. All but the widest Rigs should remain completely unscathed.
This is the most our suspension had to flex all day- pretty smooth overall.
Proceeding around this bend were numerous downed trees. Recent tornado level winds in the area really moved stuff around. Bring cutting gear, winch, etc.
This was the end of our trail for today. It was quickly nearing time to split, so we opted to NOT winch the trees out of the way. Would have taken me a quite a while to do all of them with our winch, so we decided to call our day. Overall very successful. Found a couple of really nice quiet spots which will serve as an advance deployment point for a more in-depth exploration of the El Dorado.
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