West Coast 4x4 Club Trip Report – Dusy Trail

8/16 thru 8/21/2009

Our original plan had us heading out on Saturday August 15^th; however, we decided to head out on Sunday the 16^th so that Ray could join us. 

Attending:

Ron Guptil

Ray Pfeifer

Chris Storm

Vince Jones

Paul and David Beckman

We took off from Brea at about 6 Sunday morning and dropped off the tow rigs at the usual park and ride at the bottom of the grade below Shaver Lake.  We went to get gas in Shaver Lake at the precise time everyone else on the mountain was doing the same thing.  We spent probably an hour getting gas and supplies.  

We camped at Voyager Rock camp at Courtright Reservoir Sunday night.  We got up there well before nightfall and spent some time relaxing.  The relaxing was great, the fishing not so great.. 

We headed out at 8 a.m. with some of the best weather for this area.  The misquotes had already flown south for the winter, but the dust was around to remind us why snow is not that bad……

We tackled Thompson Hill in short order, it looked as if some highway crew had been ahead of us since there were rocks piled in almost every hole.  We ate lunch at Thompson Lake and headed off for Ershim Lake.

Somewhere before East Lake, an eight point buck bolted up the rocky hillside.  This had to be the largest buck I have ever seen in the area.

We were moving along quite well until a log took a bite at Vince’s cruiser.  The bite managed to tear the passenger side steering arm off at the knuckle.  Vince, having packed well for the Dusy produced a new arm from the well stocked tool box.  The crew went to work and in short order the cruiser was ready to tackle the last ½ mile or so to Ershim Lake.

At the lake, some land barons had taken up claims to all the lake front sites.  Basically one Jeep per table and these people were traveling together.  So we headed over to the overflow side of the lake and began to set camp in the dark.

The next morning had us running at about 8 a.m. again.  As we worked our way towards Lake Camp, we began to reflect back on the number of spots we had repaired vehicles at.  Ron thought the trip would be most memorable for him if he got to replace some heim joints on his front suspension.  So without batting an eye, he picked a nice easy part of the trail to break his Jeep. 

The crew again jumped out in Nascar fashion and began the repair job.   Fortunately, Ron also had a variety of replacement parts and was able to get “ole Silver” up and running in no time.

Ray thought he would make Ron feel better and say that he has never been across the Dusy without at least one vehicle in the group breaking.

We stopped for lunch at Lake Camp and then headed for Kaiser Pass.  Along the way, Ray decided to add more fuel when he ran out of gas. Darn gas guzzling automatics. 

It appeared that the Kaiser Pass area had not been serviced by the aforementioned highway crew.  This area was really tore up and provided some fun driving down off the trail.

We worked our way into Huntington Lake were Ray and Chris decided to support the local economy by purchasing some of the most expensive black gold this side of the Sierras.

We then headed for Shaver Lake and topped off the tanks and replenished our ice chests.

By now, the sweat, grease and dust was taking its toll on us and everyone downwind so we decided to camp at Dinkey Creek and enjoy the showers.  Some showered, some jumped in the creek and we all enjoyed a nice fire and good stories.

Wednesday morning found us rolling out at about 8 a.m. again.  This time, Swamp Lake was in our sights.  After one wrong turn, the group got the fearless leader back on track and heading to the east side of the Swamp Lake Trail.

We enjoyed the rugged trail all the way up to Grouse Lake, were we stopped for a much needed break and lunch.

Back on the trail, we came across a young buck resting near the summit of the Swamp Lake overlook. 

Swamp Lake looked as pristine as any high mountain lake.  We stopped off at the snow surveyor cabin and took a walk out into the nearby meadow.  To our surprise the small trickle of a stream running through the meadow was loaded with four to six inch sized trout.

The memory of a hot shower beckoned us and we headed off again.  We stopped to play on some of the hard spots and try out our spotting and driving skills.  As we climbed the final grade out of the trail, Vince experienced some hesitation and misfiring.  A cool down for both the cruiser and drivers revitalized the spirits and off we went back to Dinkey Creek campground.

Another round of showers and some four wheeling war stories around the campfire capped off our day.

Thursday morning, we set sail for our respective home ports with some arriving Thursday afternoon and others planning to be home on Friday.

As always a fun trip with a new found love for Swamp Lake.  This trail will be on the top of my list for future runs in the area.

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