Kickoff to Summer Sierra Camping Trip: May 26th - 28th

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
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Memorial Day weekend has always marked the beginning of summer for us and it's typically the first one that we start making our treks back up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Of course, with all the snow we had last year, it was more of a winter finale than anything but fortunately, this year is looking more like a normal year and it should be real nice for us. Needless to say, for those of you who are interested, we are planning yet another a scenic run/camping trip up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains on the last weekend of May and, if you can, we'd love to have you join us.

For those of you who can get Friday off, Cindy and I will be leaving early to try and secure a campsite and you're more than welcome to join us. If this is something you can do, we will be meeting at 9:00 AM in Lone Pine at the Spainhower Park which is located next to the Shell/Carls Jr. at the north end of town. If you can't leave till Saturday morning, I'll be sure to post up information as to where you can find us.

So you know, this is a rest and relaxation camping trip with opportunities to hike, fish and be bored. Depending on the snow levels, we may try to explore some of the old mining camps and remote lakes in the area as well. Please note that this will be back country dry camping and there are no toilets or potable water. Also, while the extended weather forecast is showing fair temps rigth now, low 70's by day and low 40's by night, it can get a lot colder at night and you will need to pack accordingly.

While it shouldn't be a problem, I should note that space is somewhat limited and if necessary, we will have to cap the amount of rigs that can come to 12. Unfortunately, this is all the information that I have available at this time but will try to post up more as it becomes available. If you have any questions or would like to join us, please post up on this thread to let us know.

Who's Coming List
1. WOL & WOLette
2. Trail Bud
3. MTG
4. ChrisB
5. mmccurdy
6. Moochie
7. mituk
8. ProfessionalDriver
9. BONDSY
10. TrailReady
11. Nicholas
12. JeepFan
13. IrvineJK


Maybe List:
1. JKRay

:honey:

Scroll down to see pics from the Memorial Day Weekend trip that we did last year :cool:
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Photo Essay from Memorial Day Weekend 2011

Memorial Day Weekend is typically our summer kick off and start of wheeling trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains but, for the 2nd year in a row, I think as our good friend JeepCacher said, it was more of a "winter finale". As we had the year before, we made our way up to the Bridgeport area to do some camping and exploring and, as luck would have it, have some fun in the snow as well. Here are some pics from our trip.

FRIDAY
Meeting up with most of our group at the Alabama Hills Cafe in Lone Pine...
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A very happy Trail Bud showing off the homemade pie he just bought...
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Shot across Mono Lake as we made our way up to Bridgeport...
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Setting up our home for the long weekend...
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Time for some well needed R&R...
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Tessa absorbing the moment in the grass...
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Standing on the shores of Dynamo Pond looking up at Kavanaugh Ridge...
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Moochie declairing that it's officially HONEY TIME!!!
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To good friends and good times - CHEERS!!
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SATURDAY

Dynamo Pond at the crack of dawn...
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Looking across the pond and what's left of the hydro electric power plant that once stood here...
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The JeepCachers showed up to join in on the fun...
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Hanging out and soaking up the sun...
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On our way out to do some exploring....
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While we were out, we met up with Chris from Full-Traction Suspension who showed up with his wife Tjen97 to join in on the fun...
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Finally got to a point where the dirt ended and the snow began...
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Time to air down a lot more...
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Blazing a trail through the untouched snow drift...
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Even close to the trees, the snow was getting real deep...
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Through to the top of the hill...
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brainchild toward the top...
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The snow proved to be too deep for JeJe and his 32" tires and he ended up getting high centered. Here we are winching him the rest of the way up...
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Moochie and JeepCacher making their way up...
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Running 35's, JeepCacher starts to get hung up but, manages to work himself free without any help...
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Trail Bud plowing his way through more snow...
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mmccurdy giving it some gas to get up this hill...
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Chris with his bald rear tires showing us how it's done east coast style...
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JeJe giving it his all but, without the clearance, he ended up burying his axle deep in the white stuff and came to a stop...
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With the snow starting to fall a lot harder, we try to dig JeJe out...
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Trail Bud simply could not hide just how happy he was that a big snow storm was starting to descend on us...
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Unable to pull him forward, we decided to pull JeJe back with some help from Moochie...
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Even though we were just 2 miles away from pavement, the drifts up ahead were getting a lot deeper and the snow storm we were in was getting a lot worse. So, we decided to play it safe and head back to camp...
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Coming down the mountain, the snow started to ease up a bit...
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Squeezing by a snow drift that had been cut through with a bulldozer...
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Back at camp, lumber jack mmccurdy chopped up some deadfall with his chainsaw...
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Trail Bud resorting to brute force with his ax...
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What a surprise - it's HONEY TIME - CHEERS!!
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Time to cook up some dinner...
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Moochie looking forward to try some of the pie that Trail Bud bought back at the Alabama Hills Cafe...
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Little Timmy trying to keep warm inside his tent...
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With the sun down, the beavers decided it was time to come out...
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As the darkness crept in, so did the snow storm we thought we left behind. All the more reason for it to be HONEY TIME - CHEERS!!
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Out of tradition, it was also time to do some Detonators before bedtime and this time, we had them chilled with some help from mother nature....
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wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
SUNDAY

It snowed the better part of Saturday night and it was really cold with temps dipping into the teens. On Sunday morning, we woke up to about 4" of freshly fallen snow surrounding us...
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Once again, Dynamo Pond at the crack of dawn...
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The Jeeps covered in snow...
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To kick off the day, we headed down to Lee Vining to have an awesome breakfast at the Woah Nellie Deli...
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After breakfast, we topped off our tanks and started our trek out to Bodie and beyond...
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A sign of things to come - another snow storm moving across Mono Lake...
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Spending some time to explore the old ghost town of Bodie...
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On our way out to an old stamp mill, Chris found himself sunk deep in an unexpected muddy hole and without his hubs locked...
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Fortunately for him, Trail Bud was close by to help him out...
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At the old stamp mill...
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Going inside for a closer look...
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View from above...
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Remember that muddy hole?
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Making a stop to check out the old Bodie Road Toll House...
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Just on the other side of the Nevada state line, there's an old ruin there that was built as a rest stop...
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Unfortunately, there's also this hunk of junk sitting there too...
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Oh joy, more snow - it is the end of May right?
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Visiting the old cemetary of Aurora...
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Aurora was once a bustling town with a population of over 10,000 people and today, this one wall is about the only thing left standing...
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Taking a walk down the main thoroghfare...
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Checking out what's left of the old stamp mill...
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Time to head on out...
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Airing back up at the end of the trail. As you can see, the road across Lucky Boy Pass and down the mountain was extremely muddy...
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Making a stop in Hawthorne to get cleaned up just enough to see out our windows and mirrors again...
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Before heading back to camp, we made a final stop over at the Hawthorne Ordinance Museum...
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And, that's pretty much how our kick off to summer went or, should I say, winter finale. I hope you enjoyed the pics and, if you'd like to see all the ones that I didn't post up, simply click on the link below:

Project-JK Memorial Day Weekend 2011
Summer Kick Off (aka - Winter Finale) Photo Gallery

I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who joined us for this trip including you Strainger who came for a night and had to leave early. We had a great time with all of you and look forward to wheeling and camping with you again soon :yup:
 
MTG

MTG

Caught the Bug
You heading out Sunday or Monday? I am pretty sure I can be there late afternoon/early evening Sat through Monday. It's so close it would be a shame to miss it.

Of course I've never "overlanded" before. Gonna have to find a tent.
 
piginajeep

piginajeep

The Original Smartass
Please no snow!!!! I should be able to join the crew. Unless we're moving. But I think we can plan around this weekend!!!
 
piginajeep

piginajeep

The Original Smartass
MTG said:
You heading out Sunday or Monday? I am pretty sure I can be there late afternoon/early evening Sat through Monday. It's so close it would be a shame to miss it.

Of course I've never "overlanded" before. Gonna have to find a tent.
Click to expand...

you going to be OK without Sharkey for a weekend?
 
MTG

MTG

Caught the Bug
bleedbeat said:
Cool! I hope you can come "overlanding" with us :). We will be coming home on Monday.
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Yeah the 28th should have clued me in. :cheesy:

In for sure on Sat.
 
MTG

MTG

Caught the Bug
ChrisB said:
you going to be OK without Sharkey for a weekend?
Click to expand...

LOL! Hadn't thought about that, hopefully he can make it and we don't have to cross that bridge.

You still homeless?
 
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mituk

mituk

New member
Eddie,

Please sign me in.
It's gona be a pleasure to camp together again.

I will try to join Friday night.
 
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