MTN4RNR
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Downieville to Sloat - July 2016 (Part 1 of 6)
A while ago, my buddy Andy mentioned to me that he would be putting together an “expedition” to travel the Backcountry Discovery Trail in Plumas National Forest. He convinced me that it was something I needed to do, so that’s what I did. I looked at the calendar, picked the dates I could join along, and booked it. I would be joining on the first leg from the town of Downieville to Sloat, approximately 60-70 miles north. The only roads between the two points that we were going to take were dirt, because that’s just how Andy rolls. And I have never been the type to argue over getting dirty. So join along as I share some photos and dialogue of my portion of the trail.
I met Andy and his dog twin Taco in the Bay Area at a donut shop early Saturday morning. Well stocked and anxious, we left and headed through San Francisco (Taco’s first time over the Bay Bridge), and east on Interstate 80. Stopping in Fairfield, we met up with Phil, an Expo/Tacoma World member and his 2nd generation Tacoma/Four Wheel Camper combo. We then met up with Alvin and his 1st generation Tacoma along with his co-pilot Eric, both Tacoma World members. One thing that we did notice, we all had Cooper Tires; Andy with STT Pros, Phil with ST’s, Alvin with STT’s and myself with the ST Maxx’s (fitting). After a brief chat, we took off eastbound on I-80 towards Auburn. There was a bit of radio chatter discussing the rigs, and the route planned on the way up, and ultimately we ended up in Auburn traveling North on Highway 49. This area was very familiar to me as my family has land and a cabin not 15 minutes from 49. We passed through Grass Valley, Nevada City, and then followed 49 on to Downieville. This was new territory for me as I had never been past South fork of the Yuba River before. In Downieville, we agreed on some pizza and a quick fuel up before heading to the beginning of our off-road journey.
Taco ready to go in his section of the truck
2 Rig convoy
Phil joining the group in Fairfield
Heading North-East on highway 49
We had to “hunt” for gas in Downieville because we clearly missed the small station on the way in, but after a quick shout out to someone on the street, we found it
I parked next to a bridge crossing the Downie River before heading in for some good pizza before hitting the trail
A quick air-down at the trailhead, and we were on our way!
The theme of this trip was to make it to the campsites in a reasonable amount of time, but anywhere along the way was subject to change on the fly. We made our way up the first fire road, took a quick offshoot that looped out and back from the main road, and then reached an intersection. The Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) showed the trail being 4x4 accessable, but a forest service sign at the beginning of the trail noted the trail as being ATV/Motorcycle. We decided to venture up the trail to see if things got too tight. We fought through some narrowing spots on the trail until we reached a section that was really tight, and mostly manzanita which isn’t forgiving on paint. Everyone in the group was ok with the pinstriping, except for me. I am more than willing to scrape along a trail, but this was too much. I took my shaming as we headed towards the top on foot to catch the view.
The “narrow” part of the trail
The view towards the Sierra Buttes
After getting back to the trucks, we drove to the last intersection where we diverted, and made our way to the next waypoint, Saddleback Mountain Lookout. It was an entertaining ascent to the top at nearly 7,000’ elevation. The lookout itself was manned by a Forest Service employee and his wife and son. He was the relief watchman and was there for a 4 day stint. Talk about an epic job. We got to tinker around with some of the tools up there, my personal favorite being the Osborne Firefinder. Talk about a cool tool that was built almost 80 years ago! After chatting with the FS guy for a bit, and snapping a photo together, back to the trucks and on to the next bit; a 4x4 side trail.
Side note: I think that I am going to incorporate more of these Forest Service lookouts on my adventures, because they are just plain COOL!
I met Andy and his dog twin Taco in the Bay Area at a donut shop early Saturday morning. Well stocked and anxious, we left and headed through San Francisco (Taco’s first time over the Bay Bridge), and east on Interstate 80. Stopping in Fairfield, we met up with Phil, an Expo/Tacoma World member and his 2nd generation Tacoma/Four Wheel Camper combo. We then met up with Alvin and his 1st generation Tacoma along with his co-pilot Eric, both Tacoma World members. One thing that we did notice, we all had Cooper Tires; Andy with STT Pros, Phil with ST’s, Alvin with STT’s and myself with the ST Maxx’s (fitting). After a brief chat, we took off eastbound on I-80 towards Auburn. There was a bit of radio chatter discussing the rigs, and the route planned on the way up, and ultimately we ended up in Auburn traveling North on Highway 49. This area was very familiar to me as my family has land and a cabin not 15 minutes from 49. We passed through Grass Valley, Nevada City, and then followed 49 on to Downieville. This was new territory for me as I had never been past South fork of the Yuba River before. In Downieville, we agreed on some pizza and a quick fuel up before heading to the beginning of our off-road journey.
Taco ready to go in his section of the truck
2 Rig convoy
Phil joining the group in Fairfield
Heading North-East on highway 49
We had to “hunt” for gas in Downieville because we clearly missed the small station on the way in, but after a quick shout out to someone on the street, we found it
I parked next to a bridge crossing the Downie River before heading in for some good pizza before hitting the trail
A quick air-down at the trailhead, and we were on our way!
The theme of this trip was to make it to the campsites in a reasonable amount of time, but anywhere along the way was subject to change on the fly. We made our way up the first fire road, took a quick offshoot that looped out and back from the main road, and then reached an intersection. The Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) showed the trail being 4x4 accessable, but a forest service sign at the beginning of the trail noted the trail as being ATV/Motorcycle. We decided to venture up the trail to see if things got too tight. We fought through some narrowing spots on the trail until we reached a section that was really tight, and mostly manzanita which isn’t forgiving on paint. Everyone in the group was ok with the pinstriping, except for me. I am more than willing to scrape along a trail, but this was too much. I took my shaming as we headed towards the top on foot to catch the view.
The “narrow” part of the trail
The view towards the Sierra Buttes
After getting back to the trucks, we drove to the last intersection where we diverted, and made our way to the next waypoint, Saddleback Mountain Lookout. It was an entertaining ascent to the top at nearly 7,000’ elevation. The lookout itself was manned by a Forest Service employee and his wife and son. He was the relief watchman and was there for a 4 day stint. Talk about an epic job. We got to tinker around with some of the tools up there, my personal favorite being the Osborne Firefinder. Talk about a cool tool that was built almost 80 years ago! After chatting with the FS guy for a bit, and snapping a photo together, back to the trucks and on to the next bit; a 4x4 side trail.
Side note: I think that I am going to incorporate more of these Forest Service lookouts on my adventures, because they are just plain COOL!
