About a week or so ago, my wife and I did some scouting about for CalX. So far what we've managed to find out is that the majority of the actual trail are still closed due to snow. The 2wd fire roads that I had planned to use for scenic transit, however, are open, and indeed, scenic. At least for the most part, the higher elevation Buck Rock fire lookout is still closed, but it should be open and manned by the time this trip rolls around.
As far as that goes, when is a good time for this trip to roll around? With everything still closed, it looks like July would be about the earliest, though August would work as well. The trip I have in mind would ideally be done over a Sat/Sun/Mon weekend, with a convienient noonish Sunday breaking point for those unable to take a Monday off of work. Several of us began discussing possible weekends in July, and thought we'd throw them out for discussion. Here's what we've got.
July 23-25th
July 30th-Aug 1st
Ok, well it's really just two weekends. I know the weekend of the 4th of July is a three day weekend, but because of crowds and family obligations we thought we'd leave that alone. I'd really like to make this trip easily attendable by as many as possible, so please let me know what works best for everyone, and feel free to suggest other weekends. As for the actual trip, I thought it would go something along these lines:
Fri: My wife and I will take the day off of work and head up at a leisurely pace to set up camp early. This way anyone wanting to leave Friday after work can meet up with us and have less work/worry to deal with. The area we'd be at is about an hour's drive from Fresno, so basing your travel time off of that, you can decide if you'd like to join us.
Sat: 4wd, Bald Mountain trail
Trail Review , and time permitting, Brewer Lake trail
Trail Review . These two could be reversed in order if desired. Also, an evening/night trip could be made up Bald mountain again, up in the late evening, watch the sunset from the lookout, and then down in the dark.
2wd, Exploring Dinkey Creek, the historic wooden bridge offers excellent photo opportunities, and the scenic drive to the Brewer Lake trailhead. I'd happily offer more options, but I don't really know what folks with 2wd X's like to do in the mountains, so I'm open to ideas. Shaver Lake is nearby with beaches and boating, and with binoculars and good 2-ways, communication with folks at the top of Bald Mountain should be possible. Some folks mountain bike the same trails we 4x4, so I suppose that's an option as well.
There's also supposed to be good fishing in the area, and while I can lead you to several streams, I'm not a fisherman, so I can't honestly say much about it. I'll try to take my fishing friend up there soon and report what he has to say.
Sun: This day is a 2wd friendly day, as it involves much scenic travel. The one thing I'm not all that sure of is what time everyone get's up and around in the morning, that variable could affect things a bit. My plan would be to break camp and hit the road at about 9 AM. We would begin the scenic descent,
Trail Review to Pine Flat lake, and the Kings River, Along the way there is a Fire Lookout tower named Fence Meadow that offers (air quality dependant) views into the Central Valley, Pine Flat Lake, and Kings Canyon. We'd reach Pine Flat at about lunchtime and could either eat lunch where we join the lake, or proceed uplake a bit to where the Kings River meets the lake. The river is popular with rafters, and, having rafted it, I can see why. At this point, those unable to make it a three day weekend could say their good-byes, hit the paved road and make it to either SoCal LA area, Sacramento, or the Bay Area by early evening. Those continuing would begin the ascent,
Trail Review on the other side of the Kings River up to CA 180. Once the bulk of the climb is complete, several options await. We can detour to the Delilah Fire lookout, the southern counter part to Fence Meadow, take to "Way Around" trail,
Trail Review (2wd friendly) around the Kings Canyon Park entrance station, thus saving $10 per vehicle (providing you exit via a non-monitered route, there are a couple), or just hit the highway, go through the Park and back into the Forest, and set up camp at either Big Meadows Campground, or the nearby Buck Rock campground.
Mon: In the morning everyone can drive to the base of the Buck Rock Lookout, and admire the views. The 4wd vehicles can run the short but lovable Buck Rock Jeep Trail, while the 2wd can opt for a trip down to Hume Lake or out to the Kings Canyon overlook. Everyone could meet back at camp for lunch, then break camp and head home, again, I'm planning for an early evening arrival for folks from either northen or southern Ca. Your drive time may vary.
I have tried to put together something that has something for everyone. The fourwheeling parts are stock do-able, but also offer harder sections that should keep everyone entertained. I also tried to allow plenty of time for either a Sunday or Monday departure for those with longer travels than myself, please let me know if you feel that modifications need made. All in all, it's a fairly open plan, Sunday being the most "scheduled" so to speak. Sunday does involve a lot of driving, but I figured to whole point of the trip revolves aroung driving Xterra's, so that should be ok with everyone. I was concerned about fuel consumption initially, but I monitored it closely on my wife and I's scouting trip, and I don't think it will be a problem. If you top off is Shaver (somewhat more expensive than Fresno, but recomended) you should have enough that when leaving camp on Monday after lunch, you'd have roughly 1/4 tank, more than enough to make it down the hill and into a major community with reasonable gas prices, thus bypassing the scattered mountian stations along the way with higher than average prices. Elavations will range from 6,500 the first night, down to 1,000, then back up to 8,000 for the second night. Temps should be warm during the day and cool, not cold, during the nights.
Ok, that's about it. Let me hear some ideas and feedback, and let's get CalX 5 underway!
MV
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