PLANNING: 2010 ORTB West Coast Event

[fishsticks]

So I told the wife the ORTB meet was prolly going to move to October, a month after we get back from Cali.

She was like, "Cool."



Gotta make sure money is in place now.

[TangoBravo]

that time frame works for me and I am open to just about anything in CA.

[djthumper]

Anyone know of any trails in the Tahoe area? I know it is pushing 9 to 10 hours drive from Vegas and maybe the from the L.A. area, 12 from Vancouver, and possibly a little more for the San Diego area.

[TangoBravo]

anyone comming from the southern CA area is welcome to crash at my place, I am depending on were we start in tahoe area 3-5 hous away so you would be well rested. jut an idea your welcome to it if its needed.

[The Roadie]

Tahoe has the Rubicon, of course, but only Teebes and I are equipped for even the easy eastern third of that, which we hit two years ago. We were in mid September, the first snowstorm had already gone by, tenting at night was no fun at all at freezing temps, and we finally cheated to warm up and hit a Best Western. Tahoe is around 9000 feet IIRC.

I know a couple dozen great trails off 395 between Mammoth on the north to Bishop on the south, after three week-long trips to the area. By October, you're going to want to stay below 7000 feet for the most part due to risk of snow.

But my wife's family has a huge reunion going on in Massachusetts on Columbus Day 10/10, so we're going back east for a week surrounding that weekend. Gonna be hard for me to take a long weekend anywhere in October, with the new job and limited vacation time.

But I can do a lot of trail planning for anybody heading to the Bishop area.

[irishboy02]

Roadie, are you going to be driving to the better coast or flying? Would be cool to setup an event while you were here, if your going to have your vehicle.

[HighSierraTB]

Hey I may have to bow out so that I can afford to do the big planning for the 2010 ORTB West Coast Event. Will keep you guys posted, and if you can take a look in that book and find some stuff that's TB-doable in the Sierras, that's probably in the area of where we'll be (Think Mammoth, Sequoia NF, as far north as El Dorado NF)

Hey Philip, I have found two sets of trails in my book one set is between Hwy 88 and Hwy 4 east of Jackson and a second set just south east of Bass Lake near the town of Oakhurst. I have not been on these trails, so I don't know if you want to go into these "blind" or not.

I will email you copies from the book on both sets of trails if you PM me you email address. These pages have some background info and turn by turn directions on the trails as well as maps and road information contacts. The trails in each set are pretty close to one another and would hopfully have something for everyone. The book shows some campsites in and around the areas too.

Set 1
These trails are in the Black Springs OHV Area in the Stanislaus National Forest. They include:
Black Springs Route - NS#8 start GPS N38 19.86" W120 14.16', 18.4 miles, elev 5300-7400, rated a 4 (by the books rating system, which is different than the system used here)
Calaveras Dome Trail - NS #9 start GPS N38 24.79' W 120 08.14', 42 miles (we'd only do part of this trail to access the others), elev 3100-7600, rated a 2
Corral Hollow OHV Route - NS#10 start GPS N38 27.42' W 120 03.11', 12.5 miles, elev 6800-8100, rated a 5
Mattley Ridge Trail - NS#11 start GPS N38 25.54' W 120 0.8.14' , 5 miles, elev 6800-7800, rated a 4.

Set 2
These trails are in the Sierra National Forest. They include:
Peckinpah Road - HS#14 Start GPS N37 13.94' W 119 28.10', 20 miles, elev 3800-6600, rated a 2
Whisky Ridge Trail - HS#15 start GPS N37 18.16' W 119 26.99', 4 miles, elev 6200-6900, rated a 4
Browns Medow Trail - HS#16 start GPS N37 19.89' w 119 26.32', 5.1 miles, elev 5700-6700, rated a 4
Shuteye Peak Trail - HS#18 start GPS N37 21.80' W119 28.79', 6.6 miles (oneway - would require a turn around at the top), elev 6000-8400, rated as a 5.

Both these sets of trails would depend on the weather. Snow would probably close the trails. If these seem too risky weather wise we should look at some of Roadie's suggestions near Bishop and Mammoth.

[Trail X]

What is their rating scale? 0-10? What does, say, a 5 mean?

[HighSierraTB]

James, Here is a summary formt he book. The scale is 1-10. the book only has up to 7 in it.
1 = graded dirt road suitable for a normal passenger vehicle
2 = High clearance vehicles are preferred. Trails are dirt roads, but they have rocks, grades, water crossings, or ruts that make clearance for a passenger car a concern.
3 = High Clearance 4WD are preferred. Expect a rough road surface; mud and sand are possible but easily passable. May encounter rocks up to 6 inches, a loose road surface and shelf roads.
4 = High Clearance 4WD are recommended althought most stock SUVs are acceptable, rough road, rocks larger than 6 inches with reasonbable driving lines available, patches of mud are possible, sand may be deep and require lower tire pressures, stream crossings up to 12 inches deep.
5 = High Clearance 4WD are required. These trails have either a rough , rutted surface, rocks up to 9 inches, mud, deep sand and stream crossings up to 18 inches deep. Certain areas may be steep enough to cause traction problems.
6 = these are for experienced four-wheel drivers only. Potentially dangerous with large rocks, ruts or terraces stream crossings at least 18 inches deep with rapid currents, etc.
7 = Slikked, expereinced four-wheel drivers only, these thrails include very challenging section with extremely stepp grade loose surfaces, large rocks and or tight clearances, Mud and sand may neccessitate winching.

Hope this helps

[Trail X]

Cool, be careful on those level 5s and 4s. And even though it says stock passable, they are often referring to older class SUVs, where stock they are like a lifted Trailvoy.

[OregTrailBlazin]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to do a trip this year. My calander is all booked up, and things are far too tight!! Lets try and make this annual, I would love to be able to meet some of ya'll and trail drive with some fellow TB/EV's..

[TangoBravo]

well im game to go.

[graverobber]

When and where, I'm in. Just need advance notice to prepare.

[Philberto]

I'm working with teebes right now on selecting a spot, he wants to try some western Sierras stuff, so we'll see... Just letting everybody know I haven't forgot ya.

Definitely hoping to get teebes as he's the only guy with a winch out here who can go. Otherwise, does anybody have a hi-lift with the winch kit?

[TangoBravo]

let me double check but I believe when I got my hi lift i got the winch kit as well, It's been awhile since I have had to use it as I got rid of my other toy that required it.

[teebes]

So plans / dates are being put together now. We'll fire up another thread so folks can commit and plan.

Note, for interested parties, please review the GENERAL RULES James has published here: http://tecore.offroadtb.com/tecore-trail-guidelines.pdf. To note, every Truck will need a CB Radio for comms.

[Philberto]

Looks like I need to get mine fixed... stupid amplifier circuit isn't working. (speaker amplifier, not linear amplifier).

[teebes]

Ok folks, we've made this official. See the following thread if you are able to attend: Oct 15 - 17th.

http://forums.offroadtb.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1284