Swamp Lake Trail, CA

Nestled in the High Sierra Mountains east of Fresno, CA is a trail in which I love to run. This trail is Swamp Lake.
Rated a difficult trail in the C. Wells "Guide to Calif. Backroads & 4 Wheel Drive Trails" this trail offers many opportunities to test your wheeling skills, and offers some of the most scenic views, lakes, meadows, and camping. A lengthy 13.4 miles long the trail can be done in a 7 hour day if your JK has the proper equipment. I attempted to document all the tougher spots on this trail to give you perspective of what you can expect. I sure hope you enjoy the pics I took and, I hope you too will take the time to enjoy this trail as much as I do. Also, all the pics you will see was taken with the Iphone 4.
Enjoy:

At this point I have already aired down, it's 8:00 am:

Installed the Crawl Tune:

The trail leading up to the first ridge:




A rocky section:


This time of year the flowers are in bloom:

This trail also has open spaces and narrow spots winding through the trees:

Emergency supplies:rotflmao2: And yes I was wearing a cowboy hat, bumping old country tunes too:

A view:


Some of the snow still hanging on. There were still 12" banks a month ago:

You know, there are many unsung hero's who every year are chomping at the bit to clear these trails for us to enjoy. I solute you. One of the trees the cleared:

Pretty to drive through this:


Up until this point of the trail the difficulty has been minor. It changes now:



Stretching a little:



The tougher spots as I make my way to the second ridge:






Rocky and narrow:

Some spots are difficult to find the trail:



Just on the left of my JK is Rooster Rock:

Another awesome view:

Grouse Lake is at 7.9 miles:


Working my way up to the second ridge which is about 9600"



From the top of the second ridge, looking down at Swamp Lake and Meadow:


At this point of the trail you descend rapidly down hill but this mine is along the way:



This is Swamp Lake and the Camp site. Restroom are here too:



That is snow on the other side of the lake:


Peaking through the trees is the Meadow. One of the prettiest I've seen:








At the Meadow there is an old snow survey cabin:

The trail is flat and smooth for a bit, but don't be fooled:



Unforgiving rock gardens will test you:





You get a break for a bit:


Then this, more rocks:



This is why I bought EVO Sliders:



Up and over:



Getting some more flex:

Rock gardens again. I love these sections of trail:

Rocks Continued:


The trail eases up for a bit and you see treats like this:




The down hill descent to Miningtown Meadow is a tough one. And up till this point dust on the trail wasn't an issue due to rain the day before:
Here we go on the last leg of the trail:




Thanks again to the folks who clear these trails:


Miningtown Meadow:

Just before the end of the trail there is a old mining area:






Almost to the northern gate and a creek crossing to cool of the tires:





Generally this trail is run from the south to the north. At this gate the time was 2:40 pm.
Here is a link to all of the photos I took of this trip:
http://s1005.photobucket.com/albums/af176/bondsy/Swamp Lake Route 8-27-11/

And some waypoints:
SWAMP LAKE: DIFFICULT
1) 37 4 24.0 N 119 6 3.3 W
2) 37 6 0.7 N 119 4 15.5 W
3) 37 6 26.3 N 119 4 25.0 W
4) 37 6 39.6 N 119 4 54.2 W
5) 37 6 47.6 N 119 4 55.2 W
6) 37 7 28.6 N 119 7 28.6 W
7) 37 7 46.0 N 119 4 21.0 W
8) 37 8 1.7 N 119 5 29.5 W
9) 37 8 43.6 N 119 5 44.5 W
10) 37 8 55.1 N 119 6 16.3 W

Thanks for taking the time to check out this run. If you have a better idea of how this trail is I'll be happy. If your interested in running this trail, let me know if you have questions. This trail is open for only a short time this year, and will be closing before you know it.
See you one the trail!:thumbsup:

looks like a good challenge, thanks for the pictures !

If there's anything about Cali that I do like, it has to be the scenery and trails. Good job on the pics Festus, I mean Tom.

Beautiful trail another one that I would love to wheel someday! Thanks for sharing your adventure.

sm_rubi said:

Tom that trail seems like the perfect combination of scenery and trail obstacles...definitely need to drive up there and run it some time with ya! :brows:

Click to expand...

Yep, we need to plan a run

Thanks for the encouraging words guys. Chris, yes we will have to run this trail. Robar is not invited.:bleh:

sm_rubi said:

When does that trail open up? And why is Robar calling Tom a Fetus? :doh::cheesy:

Click to expand...

IN 2011 Swamp trail opened after the Niagara Rim run. In late Aug. I'm hoping this year it will open in late June or earlier. I don't know whats with the Festus comment.:idontknow: Could be cause I was wearing a cowboy hat, bumping Hank Williams Sr. and beans were my back up supplies.:cheesy:

Awesome pics! Not sure whether my stock Rubi would fair too well on some of that but damn I'd love to run that trail.

@TomB, what is the bar crossed between the two d-rings in the back?

tkuntz said:

@TomB, what is the bar crossed between the two d-rings in the back?

Click to expand...

LoL, that's not a bar. It's just a rubber bungee tie down. Kinda hard to see in the pic's i guess.

Nice job with all the pictures. Sierra Nevada mtns are so beautiful, can't wait to do this trail. I want to do Dusy this year and I'm guessing this one is not far from Dusy right? Thx for sharing with us.

Great pictures and descriptions Tom! Us NorCal guys have to come up there and run this trail with a little camping!
:thumb:

Missed this somehow. Glad someone bumped it to he top.

Great pictures. Gonna need to have you show me through here sometime Bondsy.

Jkzinger said:

Great pictures and descriptions Tom! Us NorCal guys have to come up there and run this trail with a little camping!
:thumb:

Click to expand...

Yep we will hitting this trail up soon.

MTG said:

Missed this somehow. Glad someone bumped it to he top.

Great pictures. Gonna need to have you lahore me through here sometime Bondsy.

Click to expand...

Heck ya Mike, your Jeep will make it no problem.:thumb:

Absolutely gorgeous pics!

Great pics Bondsy! Looking forward to hitting this trail with you when the snow melts. I haven't been on this trail since the LJ days.

TrailReady said:

Great pics Bondsy! Looking forward to hitting this trail with you when the snow melts. I haven't been on this trail since the LJ days.

Click to expand...

I'll be looking forward to it too!

Please post up the next Swamp lake run in the NorCal section also in case we don't happen to hit the CenCal forum at the right time!