Planning Epic Trip - Looking for Tips

[Teephud]

I am taking my son on a 2 week mountain bike & camping road trip in July. Want to hit some cool 4WD trails to remote camp spots. My TE is stock (except for some AT3's), and my experience is limited, so planning on sticking to easyish trails. I'm hoping some of you might be able to give me some beta on trails we should hit, and good camping spots. I picked up DeLorme's CA atlas, and a book of 7-1/2' topo maps of the Tahoe basin, and per [MENTION=129593]MTN4RNR[/MENTION] 's recommendation downloaded GaiaGPS.

My kid is 11, and he rips the DH's pretty well. He is not crazy about climbing though... Whenever the trail turns uphill he starts yelling, "My legs hurt SO BAD!" Gotta admit, I prefer the DH too... So for the most part, we're going to be hitting lift access & shuttle option riding. First stop will be 2-3 days at Northstar. Looks like there are a lot of dirt roads around there. We might even be able to camp right up top of the resort?!? Anyone know that area?

Next we will head up to Downieville for a couple of days. I've ridden D'ville a lot, but only camped a couple of times. We'll probably shuttle Butcher and Mills Peak. Any recommendations for camping and exploring would be great.

Then we're heading down to Mammoth for 3-4. We went there a few years ago, so I know the riding is good. Recommendations for good trails for the truck and camping would be appreciated.

After that we'll come back from the eastside through Yosemite. I doubt we'll be able to get a campsite in the park, so looking for some recommendations for just outside, either the east of west side. We'll probably do a couple days there.

We may wind down the trip by hiting Kirkwood. Though their bike-park might be a letdown at this point in the trip...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mello03]

I can't give you too many ideas on trails, but there are some bare bones campgrounds off 89 north of Truckee. National Forest Campgrounds/primitive. If you head up 89, there's a place called Little Bear near Graeagle off 70/89. Great campground but more of an RV park but good showers etc. I've camped at Prosser, Stampede, and Boca but they're primitive sites. I will say if you head down towards Yosemite, our favorite campground EVER is at Twin Lakes off 395 near Bridgeport. Stunning views and just awesome. You won't regret that stop. You're on the north east side of Yosemite with granite peaks. There's also Silver Lake campground near June Lake Loop which is nice. There's another campground off 395 and Tioga Pass at the bottom that's kinda cool. Also, if you head down 395 take a trip up to the Bodie ghost town it's pretty cool.

 

[Teephud]

Thanks! We'll definitely check out Twin Lakes & the ghost town. My kid will love that.

 

[1engineer]

Thanks! We'll definitely check out Twin Lakes & the ghost town. My kid will love that.

So, are you willing to blog your trip with a few updates every day? Post a bunch of pictures? If so I will make this thread a sticky on the top of the first page so members can follow along!

 

[MTN4RNR]

Sounds like a great trip! Be sure to download the areas of interest on your device before leaving service. Otherwise you'll see an arrow and it will track you, but it won't be much use in guidance. Ask me know I know, ha!

I look forward to seeing more of this trip. There is a group of us heading into the Downieville area for an extended OR trip in mid July. Maybe we'll cross paths.

As for the uphill, well "you gotta go up to go down". Or at least that's what I have engrained in my head from years of my dad telling that to me as a kid, HA! I still remind myself of that sometimes on long climbs...

 

[Gingerbeard78]

I am taking my son on a 2 week mountain bike & camping road trip in July. Want to hit some cool 4WD trails to remote camp spots. My TE is stock (except for some AT3's), and my experience is limited, so planning on sticking to easyish trails. I'm hoping some of you might be able to give me some beta on trails we should hit, and good camping spots. I picked up DeLorme's CA atlas, and a book of 7-1/2' topo maps of the Tahoe basin, and per [MENTION=129593]MTN4RNR[/MENTION] 's recommendation downloaded GaiaGPS.



My kid is 11, and he rips the DH's pretty well. He is not crazy about climbing though... Whenever the trail turns uphill he starts yelling, "My legs hurt SO BAD!" Gotta admit, I prefer the DH too... So for the most part, we're going to be hitting lift access & shuttle option riding. First stop will be 2-3 days at Northstar. Looks like there are a lot of dirt roads around there. We might even be able to camp right up top of the resort?!? Anyone know that area?



Next we will head up to Downieville for a couple of days. I've ridden D'ville a lot, but only camped a couple of times. We'll probably shuttle Butcher and Mills Peak. Any recommendations for camping and exploring would be great.



Then we're heading down to Mammoth for 3-4. We went there a few years ago, so I know the riding is good. Recommendations for good trails for the truck and camping would be appreciated.



After that we'll come back from the eastside through Yosemite. I doubt we'll be able to get a campsite in the park, so looking for some recommendations for just outside, either the east of west side. We'll probably do a couple days there.



We may wind down the trip by hiting Kirkwood. Though their bike-park might be a letdown at this point in the trip...



Thanks in advance!

When you go to Downieville hit the Gold Lake 4x4 campground. Might have a little clearance issues, but I made it in my stock rig with stock tires.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CrazyNorwegian]

Mammoth mtn biking is a blast. Although the elevation can be killer on any uphill section. I've never tried kirkwood, but northstar doesn't have a bad park for riding.

 

[Teephud]

So, are you willing to blog your trip with a few updates every day? Post a bunch of pictures? If so I will make this thread a sticky on the top of the first page so members can follow along!

Thanks! I would appreciate that. I was a little worried my posts would slip off the bottom too quickly to get noticed... We'll be rolling out about 7/6 or 7/7. I'll post pics & updates at least once a day, (as reception allows...).
[MENTION=129593]MTN4RNR[/MENTION] - Would be cool to run into you. I'll keep an eye out. I know what your truck looks like... I'm actually counting on my kids fitness & willingness to climb improving as a byproduct of all the downhilling. ;-)
[MENTION=138476]Gingerbeard78[/MENTION] - Definitely want to check out Gold Lake. Got a few buddies who camp there every summer, that have been urging me to come along. My old X5 wasn't quite suited for the task...

 

[Teephud]

Finally hitting the road! Fully loaded the rear of my rig sits 1-3/4" lower... Guess that's my "leveling kit"...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Teephud]

Oh, if anyone has any tips on a good camp spot off the beaten path around Northstar, I'd appreciate it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Teephud]

Teephud & Son's Excellent Adventure

My son & I are just finished up our 16 day road trip! Camped out the last 15 nights (and actually 20 of the last 30). Only bathing in lakes and rivers (good thing these pics aren't "scratch and sniff"). All but 3 meals came out of our cooler (all pizza). About 1500 miles, many of which were 4wd. 7 different campsites, with 8 relocations (1 repeat). All of which were great, except 2, which sucked... Several pounds of bacon. Lessons learned: dry ice may sound like a good idea, but that steak you were planning on having for dinner will be frozen solid. You can use the same pot for cooking, dishes and laundry. Don't bother bringing vegetables, they will just sink to the bottom of the cooler. Things we won't miss: pit toilets...

This was such a huge trip it's really hard to boil this down to one comprehendible post, so I'll just hit some of the highlights of which I took pictures (not enough):

Camped the first 6 nights around the Tahoe area. Our favorite campsite was up at Boca Spring. The whole area up there is OHV. There were all kinds of cool trails, and you could drive right down on the beaches.

We eventually made our way down to Mammoth. After searching for most of the day to find a campsite, we got a tip for one way out in the woods. Just what we were looking for! On our way we came across this sign:

2200 miles of off road! Our site wound up being a 30 minute fun 4wd from Mammoth Mtn. We literally popped out of a bush right in to the Mammoth lot. Custom pin striping for no extra charge... BTW, really glad they had a bike wash, cause hitch-mounted bikes get really dirty...

Mammoth riding was awesome!

We took a couple days off riding to do other things, and didn't want to deal with the bikes, so we just chained them to a tree...

The ghost town of Bodie was awesome!

I really wanted to get up to see the Bristlecone pines. These are the oldest living things on earth, some older than 4500 years! It was a much bigger drive up there than I expected. We went to the higher, more remote grove, at about 11,500'.

Near the top we came across a wild horse. The first I've ever seen. This beautiful mustang (?) all alone in the middle of this high alpine meadow.

Tailgating at 11,500':

A few pics of the trees, including the Patriarch tree, which is the largest Bristlecone, and the one the grove is named after:

On the way down we took a 4wd "shortcut" back to Bishop. I had seen the road on the map, but worried it might be over my stock TE. The map clearly showed many switchbacks, and that it was steep. At the top, it was only labeled "4WD", and didn't initially look that bad... If I had seen the sign at the bottom, "4WD, Low Range, AT Tires"... All of which I had, but... Anyway, it started out pretty easy and fun, but gradually got a lot skinnier, and steeper. By the time I was having second thoughts, there was no turning back. It was the gnarliest 4wd I've ever done. I was in 4-Lo pretty much the whole way, and in 1st gear for several sections. I made all the switchbacks, though there was 1 that I carefully watched that my front tire didn't go over the edge. I only scraped a couple times. The T4R is awesome! The road is Silver Canyon Road, which I later googled, and found some interesting posts. Here are a few pics, but they really don't do justice...

Near the bottom we came across a few Big Horn Sheep (all female):

Airing up...

I'm new to airing down, so I'm pretty conservative with my pressures. I also discovered how much altitude effects your tire pressure. When I went to air down at about 10,000' I found my tires were about 8psi over where I had set them before I left! Part of that was probably due to being hot I'm sure. Though, I topped them off at 36/38 before rolling out of our campsite (~ 8000') on the way home, and found them about 4psi lower at home.
Tire Tech Information - The Influence of Altitude Changes on Tire Pressure

We spent a couple days in Yosemite on the way home which was also awesome.

I can't even begin to say how special it was to take a 2 week road trip with my kid. To some degree, our new 4Runner just made this all possible. There's no way I would have done this trip in my old X5. My kid and I both agreed that the 4Runner is just plain better.

 

[c350z]

awesome, memories last forever

 

[Terra Firma]

Looks like it was an awesome adventure. Fantastic Father-son time.

I-Spy Derby rims? Good taste.
My father took me to Mammoth for MTBing as a child and they are some of my most fond memories of when i was younger. Make it down to Devils Postpile campground in the valley below?

 

[RKSTRNR]

What an adventure! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Teephud]

Looks like it was an awesome adventure. Fantastic Father-son time.

I-Spy Derby rims? Good taste.
My father took me to Mammoth for MTBing as a child and they are some of my most fond memories of when i was younger. Make it down to Devils Postpile campground in the valley below?

Derby's are the best!
And yep! We camped at Red Meadow our 1st night in Mammoth. Was a great site that night, but swarming with flies in the morning. We hit Devils Postpile on our way out. One of the sights on the tick list. Super cool!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jwatson]

Sounds like a cool trip, what a great bonding activity!