Swamp Lake Run 2012

wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Swamp Lake is a beautiful 13 mile difficult rated trail located deep in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and near to the town of Shaver Lake, California. Because of it's remote location and all the snow they normally get up there, it's also a trail that has a limited window upon which it can be run. Fortunately for us, the snow were light this year, everything opened up early and as luck would have it, we were able to get our good friends Moochie, Tom, Chris, Jen, Tony and Stephanie to all join in on a last minute trip to do some camping and run this fun trail. Here are some pics from our trip, I hope you enjoy.

To ensure we could get a spot big enough for everyone, Moochie, Cindy and I headed up early and setup camp over at Courtright Reservior...
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Even though it was about 20 degrees cooler up at 8,000 ft., it was still a warm 90° F. Needless to say, Tessa didn't waste anytime in going for a swim and getting cooled off...
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For fun, we climb up to the top of Chicken Rock and took in the awesome view...
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The rest of our group pulled into camp late that night and by morning, all had their doors off and were ready to roll...
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On our way down to the Swamp Lake trailhead, we stopped over at McKinley Grove to air down and to check out the massive Sequoias there...
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Pulling onto the Swamp Lake Trail - Time to have some fun...
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Warning and recommend lists of things you should have before running this trail...
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The first third of the trail is pretty but with terrain that makes you wonder how it got a difficult rating. Being as long as this trail is and with more challenging terrain ahead, it was nice that everyone in our group was built up enough and experienced enough to cover this distance in a short amount of time...
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Making a stop to take in the view...
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Chris and Moochie being silly - you'd almost think they're related...
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Moving along and nearing the point where the trail earns its difficult rating...
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About 4 miles into the trail, the trail is re-routed due to a mining claim. Here is the sign that points the way you need to go...
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If the "PRIVATE PROPERTY" part of the sign doesn't stop you from going the wrong way, the sign up ahead and the guy behind it who's been trolling your CB channel all day might...
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Of course, the re-routed trail is a ton of fun and so nothing is missed. Here's a shot of Jen rockin the rocks..
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Tony showing his stuff...
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This is Tom's favorite trail and shows that he knows the lines...
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At least for a while, it's all rocks ahead..
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There are a lot of lines you can take that'll get you twisted up nicely...
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Decisions, decisions, what line to take...
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Chris taking the wheel and having some fun...
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Just about to the point where the re-route hooks back up to the original trail...
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As I sat there posing for the shot, I looked out and saw this - looks like someone wasn't having a good day...
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About half way through, the trail appears to stop at the base of a granite face of which it's true steepness is difficult to capture on film. This of course is Rooster Rock and to continue on the trail, it needs to be climbed...
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Making my way up...
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Chris' turn...
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Tony working his way up...
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Tom at the start of the climb...
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Moochie working his way over to the top...
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Moving right along and heading up to Grouse Lake...
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Making a stop over at the gorgeous Grouse Lake to relax for a bit...
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Tessa using the opportunity to show off a new trick she learned - walking on water...
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More pics below...
 
wayoflife

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
About half way between Grouse Lake and Swamp Lake, you come up and over 9,600 ft. which is the highest point along the trail. Here is a shot of Swamp Lake below...
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Stopping to explore an old mine on the way down...
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With the day starting to get late, we decided to skip the hike down to Swamp Lake and keep moving along. Here we are at Tom's favorite part of the trail - an off camber slippery section that just begs you to slide into the tree on the right...
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At the bottom of the descent, we took some time to explore an old cabin next to Swamp Meadow as well as the meadow itself...
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Out in the middle of the meadow, there was an old snow depth guage...
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On the move again and on more rocks...
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With a steep climb up loose rocks, this is probably one of the toughest obstacles on the trail...
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The back side of the obstacle is fun too...
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Near the end of the trail...
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Making a stop over at the old Rainbow Mine which is located at the end of the trail. This is the old mill...
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Heading up to explore one of the old cabins nearby...
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Old workshop nearby...
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Here is the actual mine...
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A look inside...
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Looking back out...
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And finally, what they appeared to be mining...
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That pretty much wraps it up. I hope you enjoyed following our adventures on the Swamp Lake trail. If you'd like to see all the pics that I wasn't able to include in this essay, simply click on the link below to see the full gallery:

Swamp Lake Trail Run 2012 Photo Gallery

A BIG THANKS goes out to all our friends that were able to join us for this run on such a last minute notice. We look forward to doing it again soon. :cool:
 
Bullwinckle

Bullwinckle

Hooked
Awesome trail now I see why its Toms favorite trail, hope to go on that trail in the near future! Thanks for the Picture essay Eddie. :thumb:

Chris your Jeeps looking great with the EVO coil overs!! :rock:
 
BONDSY

BONDSY

Member
The only thing better than camping out and running an awesome trail, is doing it in the company of great friends.:yup: Thanks for trekking up to my neck of the woods. Of course and as always, the pics are tremendous. Let's do this again soon.:thumb:
 
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JeepFan

JeepFan

Hooked
Amazing

Amazing pics Eddie...You truly captured many great moments. You and Cindy have a brand of telling a story through your videos and pictures that is second to none. Thanks for the memories!!! :yup:
 
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Ksail101

New member
Don't get me wrong your pics are always amazing. But I really hope you guys do another video soon. I dont even care if you make it a mix of these last trips you guys have done.

Just a fan of your videos.
 
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