I have spent a good portion of my life in and around the north and west Tahoe shores enjoying skiing in the winter and boating/biking/hiking in the summer. I have always wanted to explore the roads West of highway 89. This weekend while vacationing at nearby Soda Springs, I took the initiative to head out and make a trip of it. The target being Ellis Peak, west of Tahoma with an elevation of approximately 8,500’.
I left the cabin we were staying at and decided first to cruise through the valley there at Soda Springs, which turned out to be a fun, fast cruise through some of the trees and the relatively smooth roads. The cool moment was seeing a train on the tracks above me, and “racing” to the next crossing. If I had a drone, a team of cinematographers and some time, it would have no doubt been an amazing shot (or at least I will keep thinking that). I made it to the next crossing first and got to enjoy the loaded Locomotive cruise by as it prepared for it’s descent into Truckee via the Donner Pass.
I then headed down Old Donner Summit, and into the Tahoe Basin, eventually cruising past Tahoe city and onto Barker Pass Road. This is a paved section that brings you to the Blackwood Canyon campground. You can take a paved option to the top of Barker Pass, or the 4WD option. You guessed it, 4WD for me.
Air down. 20psi front, 18psi rear as I was unloaded during this trip except for a few beers.
The trail remained fairly consistent and easy, I was in 2WD 75% of the way, stopping to enjoy some of the scenery.
I found a parked new TRD Pro on the trail, just below a rock obstacle. I connected with the owner after posting the photo on Instagram. She had bought the truck a few weeks earlier and was using it to get outside and enjoy the mountains. She mentioned that she was looking forward to more practice off road, and illuded that something like that wouldn’t stop her in the future! A side note: At first I made a caption for the photo comparing the “abandoned TRD Pro” on the side of the trail being passed by the Trail Edition with stock suspension, reflecting and joking on some of the views that some of us express here on this forum. It’s all quite negative really, and I didn’t really think much of it at the time. But when the owner spoke up about who she was and what her story was, I quickly took the foot out of my mouth and remembered that regardless of what you drive or how far you get on the trail, it is about being out there, doing SOMETHING instead of nothing. Needless to say I felt terrible that I had acted like a tool, and quickly recanted my original statement. She was kind to me after I had apologized, and I appreciated the reality check.
Back to the story:
Reaching the top of Barker Pass, I headed down the other side of the ridge and pointed towards Bear Lake, finding it full and pristine with plenty of future camping spots. This is where I realized I didn’t have any bug repellant *itch itch*
Time to make a break for the summit. Oh wait… there’s still snow on the trails… Made it through this bit
More trail
More snow. I lost forward momentum the first time trying this drift, but after the photo and reversing, a little more speed was all that was needed to get up and over.
This was the turn around point for this trail. I could have made an effort through this patch, but a few hundred yards up trail, there was a drift I knew I wouldn’t be able to pass.
I double backed to a smaller trail that was half creek half trail. I picked up some new custom striping through this section, which I have ultimately accepted as a part of the gig with a darker truck. It’s going to happen. I just try to moderate the difference between avoidable and careless scratches. It brought me through a scenic meadow with more creeks and water flowing through it
I then ran into a couple who were fellow Overland Bound members, who had met this snow drift and opt’d not to try passing in their Jeep as they had been solo before I showed up. I told them I’d give it a shot. Engaged the locker and took a hard right line.
No problem! And I got first use of the 4x4 Labs sliders with that rock on the left that I ended up moving anyways afterwards. Oh well…
My new trail buddies followed me in the Jeep to the point where we couldn’t venture any farther due to snow. .75 miles from the top, stopped by a trail wide, 3’ deep drift that was about 50’ long. Not willing to spend the day shoveling snow when I didn’t have the proper equipment to get me through safely. It was time to hike from there.
This is the final ascent to the peak that I had seen videos of other 4x4’s charging up. Next time….
See 2 of 2 below
arty:
