August 12-14, 2016 Coyote Flats

[cplvc]

Thank you Mike and Sean for planning and organizing this trip. We had a great time even with our short stay. It was nice to see all the familiar faces and visit all the great places. I hope you all have a safe trip home. I'll post up a few of my pictures...

[cplvc]

Here are some of my pictures.

[cplvc]

More pictures...

[Seanz0rz]

Thanks for coming out guys! Great trip!!!

Our trip started off a bit different than usual. Monday night Lexi fractured her ankle after being tripped by the dog. I was ready to cancel the trip for us but she wanted to go too bad. We decided to go ahead anyway.

We met up with Roy at the base of the mountain. After airing down and fixing his radio (now he knows some Chinese), we started up the trail.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8163/28368409064_c6ae6fcff6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/KdPvF7)

After one of the creek crossings we heard this guy buzzing around:
https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8220/28701637130_88ce745614_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/KJgoLA)

No way I was going to get the 50-200mm lens out in time, but here is a cropped photo. We initially thought it was a Sky Crane but this is probably even cooler. Pretty sure it's a Kaman K-MAX: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_K-MAX)
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8818/28368409254_78834906e1.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/KdPvJo)

Once at Funnel Lake, we saw a deer walk down to the lake, get a bit to eat and a drink, relieve herself and then continue on into the tree line. Even though we were being loud, she determined we were not a threat.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/9/8629/28911350361_64c1c22222_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L3NecX)

Rob showed up before dark and we enjoyed dinner and a small amount of the meteor shower. I didn't get any good pictures of meteors, but did manage some decent star pictures. It's something I want to work on doing better.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8243/28701640230_de833784e6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/KJgpG3)

At some point in the night Mike and Adam rolled in. I didn't hear them, must have happened during one of my 30 minute stints of sleep. We were a little late rolling out of camp and JC met us on the trail. With our group complete, we headed out to hit some of the vista points.

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Stopped at the mine or large prospect:
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Lou was having none of this cattle guard business:
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Navigating the rocks:
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[Seanz0rz]

We had lunch at 11,600 ft.:
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Lexi was doing pretty good, but didn't get to walk around much.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8023/28701626600_3ef15b2f51_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/KJgkD3)

From lunch, we traveled over to Green Lake. I guess I forgot how tough that road is. Everyone made it up just fine, but we sure had to work at it. It was a great piece of wheeling with no particular difficult obstacle, and just enough challenge to make it fun. It was very bumpy though, more about that later.

Here is another high point on the trip at 11,440 ft!
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8106/28911333901_c0b3686db6_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L3N9ja)

While JC and family, Mike, and Adam hiked the 510ft of elevation down to Green Lake, Rob, Roy, Lexi and I stayed up top to enjoy some shade and talk shop. Lou enjoyed the shade under my 4Runner so much he had to be dragged out!

Green Lake:
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Lexi was having a great time despite the broken ankle:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7471/28882471372_db93277461_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L1fdum)

This overlook is 11,580 ft, about this highest we hit over the weekend.

From Green Lake, we headed to our next camp. The road back to the split was again pretty difficult and sealed our fate for the next day: we would be going home a day early. With my back pain still unsolved and her broken ankle, we were in more pain than we were comfortable dealing with. We decided we would head home Saturday morning and let the others continue without us. JC and family had made the same decision, so we would punch out to Bishop Saturday.

We didn't get much from the meteor shower on Friday night. I did manage to get a few good pictures:
https://c6.staticflickr.com/9/8568/28911333061_af4aea1390_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L3N94F)
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8804/28882470432_4f05552d2a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/L1fdd9)

[Seanz0rz]

Here is the link to the rest of the pictures. There are nearly 200:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskF6QB4K

Recap:

I used a Camco Big Red Campfire (http://www.camco.net/product/big-red-campfire-11125/) since the fire restrictions were in place. It worked REALLY well, but on a 15# propane tank only lasted for two days. The altitude also made it run very rich. Although it and the tank are hard to pack, it was way worth bringing it!!! It is a definite "Things We Like" item!

Ham radios worked great as usual. I did really miss my mobile rig though. The HT just doesn't have the power to go far.

Our Coleman 4 person Instant Tent worked great and really made it easy to set up with one person or two. I usually sleep in the 4Runner because it is so much work to put up a tent when you are cold and tired.

Weather was super nice. Thursday night at Funnel Lake was in the low 30's. Day time highs were in the 70's and it was a bit warmer Friday night. It has been a while since it rained up there, and it was quite dusty. The lakes were pretty low. Hopefully this winter will bring more snow and rain to the area.

I am glad everyone had a great time and it looks like everyone made it out unscathed, although it sounds like Mike tried pretty hard to muck it up ;)

Thanks for coming out! Now to start prepping for Pismo!

[4x4mike]

although it sounds like Mike tried pretty hard to muck it up ;)



That's what I do best. Thanks for the pictures. I'll get mine up tonight or in the morning.

[RobG]

Sean and Mike, Thanks for organizing this and letting me (and Lou) tag along, another great trip.
1) Great People
2) Beautiful Scenery
3) Fun Trails
4) World Class Campsites
5) Near Perfect Weather
6) A Learning Experience
- The definition of Forest Service 3 diamond trial rating
- The importance of a winch and the (lucky?) positioning of the winch vehicle
- Maxtrax (or equivalent) can pay for themselves quickly.
- Seasoned recovery experts (Roy) are worth their weight in Irish whiskey.

Sean, Thanks for the pictures those are great. I will have my pictures up sometime this week.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMx6YwYMtEsG03Ro4AHh7A0By9djiyFzsKFQ27Dd91T5N QGBCO8N7THG0Yoo20bbQ/photo/AF1QipPwYEskybH9wLb4uaoWoB-TKsN7Ppy82AVTO2o7?key=cmNub0p5cU1qWFlLWF9kWVlGaFYy WDNwbmEtYVVR

[paddlenbike]

Thanks for the pictures and write up. Sucks about the scenery, weather and people you all had to hang out with. ;-)

[Seanz0rz]

Ken, you were missed. Hopefully pismo?

[slimscherer]

Super trip...thanks for the pics, and leading the way Mike & Sean. I always learn a lot when I hang out with you guys. I enjoyed meeting Rob/Lou, and hope Sean and Lexi are feeling better. You and JC & Co. were clearly missed the following day(s). I have a ton of pics I'll try and figure out how to post for group access, too.

Thanks for letting me tag along.

Ken, you have been requested to attend Pismo and pay a visit to Donna and Jason :) I visited with them in Mammoth on my way home yesterday, and they all said to say HI.

[4x4mike]

So it looks like Google changed my Picasa account over to Google Photos for good. As such the ability to embed photos is gone. Way to go Google. I see this as a step back and makes the account pretty useless now. It also ruins the write up I typed up last night.

I've got to search around to see what to do now, stay tuned.

[Seanz0rz]

I went to Flickr. I wouldn't say I like it. but it works.

[4x4mike]

Thanks again to all for a great trip. Thank you also to Troy and Sean for setting up the tracks which proved invaluable especially since we had people arriving and departing at different times. I recorded tracks each day and will post them up below. Each day was filled with wonderful comrade and breath taking scenery. Yes it was beautiful but we were also above 10,000' which literally takes your breath away.

My Trip started on Thursday after work. Slimscherer and I gassed up and departed Folsom, CA about 3:30 pm. Traffic was light but we were in the mountains most of the drive, stopping for dinner in Bridgeport.

Monitor Pass, Hwy 89, Alpine County

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We drove for what seemed like a long time arriving in Bishop at 10pm. After getting more fuel and tying up some loose ends we were airing down around 10:45 pm under the power lines at the beginning of the flat sand. From there we climbed and climbed. We saw a few astroids and Bishop slowly fading in the distance but for the most part this was my view.

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Our path Thursday night is the white outlined track below.

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We got into camp at Funnel Lake about 12:30 am and everyone was asleep. We set up our camps and hit the rack. At sunrise I decided to go for a walk and check out Rocky Bottom Lake. I sleep well in the back of the 4Runner and when I woke it was around 40*.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/9/8662/28903970932_a5cc1d7cc9_k.jpg

The walk was short but was mostly bouldering and at that point I realized we were really high in elevation.

Trail into Funnel Lake.

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Funnel Lake and camp

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Rocky Bottom Lake

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After breakfast and some chatting we packed up to meet JC.

[4x4mike]

We were a little late leaving to meet JC. On our way out he came up on the radio saying he was almost to Funnel Lake but via the northern route, we were on the southern route. We waited for him and then headed out.

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The day, Friday was spent covering some ground north and northwest of Funnel Lake. The path is the white outlined track.

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I liked Lou.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7647/28722722430_6abd477d22_k.jpg

[4x4mike]

Friday continued

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Green Lake. A handful of us decided to hike down to the lake, ~500 feet elevation and 0.2 miles each direction. Steep no matter how you cut it.

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[4x4mike]

Then we made our way to camp, overlooking South Lake.

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This was the view out of my bedroom/cargo area window.

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Then it got dark and my camera captured a UFO.

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Fridays Track

https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7565/28903893452_27844f569a_b.jpg

[4x4mike]

Saturday was another fun day with some simple ground to cover and great views. At this point Sean and JC’s truck have departed so it’s RobG, SavageOffroad, Slimscherer and myself.

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Lunch spot

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[4x4mike]

Saturday Continued.

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On the way to camp we visited the cabin on Baker Creek. Pretty cool place.

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Tempting, but no.

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After the cabin we headed just down the trail to camp for the night.

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Also tempting but really no.

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View from camp

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[4x4mike]

Once we settled at camp we thought we’d walk the short distance to what we thought was a fishing hole. There was no pond there but we decided to hike the mile uphill to Hidden Lake and try our luck with the fishes. We hadn’t really planned on this hike but we had a map and went for it. We were rewarded with the views and fish.

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I’ll let Adam tell the story about his little fish friend.

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Our track for the day

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[4x4mike]

Sunday was our last day and we were to make our way out and head home. Before Sean left we had looked at the map and I had told him we were going to take the same route out as we had taken in, via Bishop. Well that didn’t exactly happen. During dinner on Saturday we had talked about leaving via the Big Pine route. This route looked shorter and was an area the remaining four hadn’t covered yet. Plans be damned, we headed toward Big Pine.

Not far into the trail we came across a sign. While not a large sign its job was to convey a message. To hell what it said, take it’s picture and continue on to Big Pine.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8847/28904003952_f1f4382aee_z.jpg

Most Difficult? Heck this route is pretty.

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After this obstacle things pretty much stopped for close to two hours. We encountered an obstacle and decided to turn around. The words of such a task were much easier than the action itself. I was lead runner and got hung up on a mess of rocks, off cambered, in the sand and over a nice canyon (a canyon I didn’t want to make my final resting place). I didn’t get any pictures but it required lots of spotting, game planning, a winch rope, some Tred Pros and lots of nerves. In the back of my head I could see Sean shaking his head. He wasn’t laughing but he wasn’t pleased. After we got me off of the mess I had to get straightened out then we all had to reverse about 100 yards to a spot we could turn around. At this point we had some distance to cover to pass our last camp enroute to Bishop. While not breakneck speed we hauled butt making minimal stops back to the start.

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This was our track for the day

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[4x4mike]

In all it was a great trip with great company. I really enjoyed myself and was thankful for everyone as well as the parts they played in a successful outing.

I had a 5 watt APRS setup going for most of my trip and this is what it captured. It shows me from start to end, for the most part. 5 watts isn’t much and there were also lots of “dead spots” due to the terrain, even on the highways.

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While I didn’t keep great mileage or fuel info we covered about 87 miles off road. This travel was a mix of 2H, 4H and 4lo. It was warm enough that I had the AC running more than half the time and I also had the truck idling for things like pictures. I packed fuel but did not use it.

This is my Ultra Gauge at the end of the trail, which included the drive from home. I should have zero’d it at the trail head.

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This is when I got home. So roundtrip. Not bad.

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[Kryptoroxx]

Great pics! Looks like a great trip for sure! Too bad that unplanned route didn't pan out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[Seanz0rz]

Mike,

Looking at the pictures Rob has up, that is the exact spot that got me! Glad you made it out. If you had gone through, the rest wasn't bad. Or at least it wasn't last year. Who knows what the rains have done to the road.

[4x4mike]

Yeah, it was really sandy. In the 9th picture here: http://www.ultimateyota.com/showthread.php?10831-20150717-18-Coyote-flats&p=115131&viewfull=1#post115131

JD looks to making short work of it. Actually in the picture with JD it looks like cake compared to what it looked like to me. I think most of those little rocks are gone or in a different place. I got my front passenger tire up on the larger rock but couldn't get past it without sliding downhill. Even if I got over the rock it was a big hole and the edge of the trail.

[Seanz0rz]

That was my problem, I got the front passenger tire caught on a big pointy rock and the back fell in a hole and was only pushing me over and down. I ended up winching forward because going back was only going to tip me further. Seems like if you hit it right, it's easy. If you hit it wrong, it will ruin your day.

[RobG]

To me it looked very different this year (from the pictures), that pointy rock was all by itself and the off camber from the soft sand was much worse. Could just be that the severity never really shows up in pictures. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped while attempting it I would have wound up rolling down the hill.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c374/robG2/Coyote%20Flats%20Aug-2016/_DSC3046.jpg (http://s31.photobucket.com/user/robG2/media/Coyote%20Flats%20Aug-2016/_DSC3046.jpg.html)


This is the best picture that I have, was too concerned about the situation to take mane pictures.

Only 400 edits to go and I will post up my pics, sometime later tonight.

[troyboy162]

how the hell did 100 stacked rocks get pushed out of there? thats wild

[Seanz0rz]

Rob, the boulder on the left is what I winched from first, and all I did was move it. My truck was just behind where you took that picture from.

Always wished I got more pictures of that spot, but it was seriously bad.

[4x4mike]

My truck was just behind where you took that picture from.



Just behind Rob is where I was in the picture of me with the winch rope attached. Going forward on that section was easy, backing over it to get out was nerve racking.

The forward pile is what I couldn't get over without fear of ending up at the bottom of the canyon. For size reference Lou is a big dog.