Eagle Lake, Red Top Mountain and Fordyce

[4x4mike]

Paddlenbike and I took a day off work the other day to do some exploring offroad. My wife is home with both kids so I took the 3 year old with me to give Mom a break.

I had been to the area in the past exploring but it was awhile ago and there was much to be seen. We both recently have been messing around with Backcountry Navigator so we looked at the maps and set off.

It's not far from home, the trailhead is 65 miles from my front door is at about 5,550 feet elevation. We read some stuff on the internet about the area but once we aired down we saw this sign and decided to just start driving.



Our first stop was Eagle Lake. The trail started off as nice and graded and got rockier with more obstacles as we progressed. There was one very advanced section that we bypassed. The scraped rocks and oil spills we enough to steer us to the bypass.











Section we bypassed

[4x4mike]

More





One of the little lakes that make up Eagle Lakes.




My daughter up from a nap and enjoying a trail snack.


Screen shot from BCN of the Eagle Lake trail. Right near the water there were signs on the trail stating we were on private property so we didn't poke around much.

[4x4mike]

Next was heading back down and taking the trail up to Signal Peak. Signal peak is above 7,400 feet and can be seen from the highway. When we found out there was a trail to the top we planned the trip.
The trail was very steep at times and for part of the trail water was running down the trail making some portions pretty slick. Great views, rock, meadows, tight bushes, down trees, lush damp forest, etc.

There was a 'gate keeper' of sorts.






Typical obstacle


Here you can see the angle of the trail, the freeway and the railroad.




This vegetation looks happy to not be covered in snow.


My back seat driver.


Starting to get above tree line.

[4x4mike]

Finally made it to the top of the mountain. There are several trails to the top. The one we took is the longer more technical one. At the top are many towers and then an old abandoned look out that was used for fires and snow storms. On a clear day there is no doubt you could see Sacramento. Hell I bet you could see Mt. Diablo.

The ridge looking down towards the lookout house.


I fired up the 2m and made contacts in the Bay Area, Tahoe/Mt. Rose as well as South Lake Tahoe. Really it wasn't much of a surprise. Heck, I had 3g, the entire day.




Looking towards Donner and Tahoe.


Looking westbound 80 and towards Sacramento.


Suckers, in their two wheel drive cars.


Cisco Grove




The Lookout.




Inside of the Lookout house, 1909.








Maps:
The Signal Peak trail is the middle portion of the pink lines. The left lines are Eagle Lakes. From the peak down we took Fordyce.






And if the trail wasn't good enough we parked next to this gem to air up.

[troyboy162]

Beautiful area! Thank you for posting it up!

[Obi..]

Nice. Last time we were up there had to have been Summer '09, gate was closed so the wife and I hiked the 3 miles into the first lake of Eagle Lakes. Saw a mountain lion, a mamma and baby bear, tons of jay birds, and of course all the trout in there. So jealous of you two right now, I gotta head back up. No slippage problems from your TA/KO's I gather? Double check them, that little off camber rock section likes to put tiny slices in your sidewalls.

[4x4mike]

Not one problem with the AT's. Only in one spot did I let them slip but that's only because I knew it was a little tough after Ken went through. Mine are near new where as Ken's are near replacing. He barely had any slippage either. Locked low range gives a lot of traction.

[Robinhood4x4]

Very Cool. I did Signal Peak years ago with the Gettin Off 4x4 club guys and it was one of my first trails. I think at that time I only had rock sliders and rear bumper armor. Looks like the trail has gotten rougher.

[4x4mike]

All I have is the skid plate I made and rock sliders. With careful driving it's not all that hard. I'd rather be in a 3rd gen than anything wider and/or longer. That would make it tougher. We didn't have any damage except for very minor pen striping.

[paddlenbike]

Great pics Mike! I was all excited about bringing my new GPS tablet PC along for the ride and somehow left my Nikon at home. Thanks for capturing all of the photos!