Mini trip report.
I took my 11yr old boy / girl twins up to the Kern Plateau for the last weekend before school started. We left Thursday afternoon and came home Sunday. The drive up was non-eventful, light traffic all the way. We topped off at the Pearsonville shell station before heading up 9 mile canyon. This was the first time going up without 12,000 extra pounds behind me and it was a lot nicer of a climb.
We drove straight to the Monache Meadows Jeep Trailhead and aired down once we hit dirt.
The trail down to Monache is a fun winding road through the trees. It only has a few real rough sections and other than the alternate line down the slab could be done in any stock truck or SUV.
We camped on the far side of the South Fork of the Kern Thursday and Friday night. Due to the fire restrictions and real low water levels I decided to pack up and head down the hill to the North Fork of the Kern for our last night.
Of course I couldn't take highway all the way down so we split off the highway to take the Sherman Pass Jeep trail down. Unlike the trail in and out of Monache, this is a black diamond jeep trail. the road up to the trail head was a blast. It is fairly smooth with some nice rolling water bars and sweeping turns.
Sherman Pass Jeep trail was, shall we say interesting in a 20' long and not exactly skinny vehicle. There were quite a few REAL tight spots squeezing between trees, and you definitely had to plan your lines so you went through square. There was a downed log across the trail with a bypass, but I wasn't sure if I could make it around. I ended up having to take the rockier route of the two lines as I could not get lined up to fit through the other line. I still had to work the rocky line a few times as my rear diff kept getting hung up.
After that it was fairly smooth sailing other then the occasional, pull the mirrors in to fit. We even went up the big rock hill without barely a tire slip. There was another downed tree before that but it was small enough to drive over. After passing the turnoff to the Enbree Cabins and the Sherman Pass peak the trail took a drastic change. Once you start going down towards the valley the brush tightens up drastically. It seemed like a mile straight of listening to the branches rub both sides of the truck. Also found more than a few downed logs pushed to the side of the trail hidden in the brush. Next time I will turn off at the cabin and take that down to the highway.
Once you finally make it through the brush the real fun starts. the trial gets steep and the turns turn into switch backs. As if the switch backs are not exciting enough in a vehicle this size, on the down side of many of them were some fairly good sized rock shelf's. I think I had to multi point four of the switch backs and I diff'ed one of the larger rocks with my front a few times until I figured out the line. The kids were happy to get to the bottom.
I attested to air up at the highway but my compressor / on board air setup still has some wiring bugs. I got two and a half tires up prior to the relay failing me. We headed down the rest of the hill and ended up finding a spot at Fair View for the night. I set up the tent while the kids waded in the water a bit. Then we went to McNalley's for some of their famous grub. The next day we packed up and headed out after breakfast. We stopped in Kernville to fill up the tires the rest of the way. I can't wait for the next adventure.
Note: I will add more pictures and such later (hopefully tomorrow). I might edit this one for here and expand it out in the adventure section.
I took my 11yr old boy / girl twins up to the Kern Plateau for the last weekend before school started. We left Thursday afternoon and came home Sunday. The drive up was non-eventful, light traffic all the way. We topped off at the Pearsonville shell station before heading up 9 mile canyon. This was the first time going up without 12,000 extra pounds behind me and it was a lot nicer of a climb.
We drove straight to the Monache Meadows Jeep Trailhead and aired down once we hit dirt.
The trail down to Monache is a fun winding road through the trees. It only has a few real rough sections and other than the alternate line down the slab could be done in any stock truck or SUV.
We camped on the far side of the South Fork of the Kern Thursday and Friday night. Due to the fire restrictions and real low water levels I decided to pack up and head down the hill to the North Fork of the Kern for our last night.
Of course I couldn't take highway all the way down so we split off the highway to take the Sherman Pass Jeep trail down. Unlike the trail in and out of Monache, this is a black diamond jeep trail. the road up to the trail head was a blast. It is fairly smooth with some nice rolling water bars and sweeping turns.
Sherman Pass Jeep trail was, shall we say interesting in a 20' long and not exactly skinny vehicle. There were quite a few REAL tight spots squeezing between trees, and you definitely had to plan your lines so you went through square. There was a downed log across the trail with a bypass, but I wasn't sure if I could make it around. I ended up having to take the rockier route of the two lines as I could not get lined up to fit through the other line. I still had to work the rocky line a few times as my rear diff kept getting hung up.
After that it was fairly smooth sailing other then the occasional, pull the mirrors in to fit. We even went up the big rock hill without barely a tire slip. There was another downed tree before that but it was small enough to drive over. After passing the turnoff to the Enbree Cabins and the Sherman Pass peak the trail took a drastic change. Once you start going down towards the valley the brush tightens up drastically. It seemed like a mile straight of listening to the branches rub both sides of the truck. Also found more than a few downed logs pushed to the side of the trail hidden in the brush. Next time I will turn off at the cabin and take that down to the highway.
Once you finally make it through the brush the real fun starts. the trial gets steep and the turns turn into switch backs. As if the switch backs are not exciting enough in a vehicle this size, on the down side of many of them were some fairly good sized rock shelf's. I think I had to multi point four of the switch backs and I diff'ed one of the larger rocks with my front a few times until I figured out the line. The kids were happy to get to the bottom.
I attested to air up at the highway but my compressor / on board air setup still has some wiring bugs. I got two and a half tires up prior to the relay failing me. We headed down the rest of the hill and ended up finding a spot at Fair View for the night. I set up the tent while the kids waded in the water a bit. Then we went to McNalley's for some of their famous grub. The next day we packed up and headed out after breakfast. We stopped in Kernville to fill up the tires the rest of the way. I can't wait for the next adventure.
Note: I will add more pictures and such later (hopefully tomorrow). I might edit this one for here and expand it out in the adventure section.
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