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Bald Mountain 8/8 and 8/9

16K views 110 replies 18 participants last post by  chito frontier 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey guys...planning on running the Bald Mountain trail on Saturday, August 8. This is a beautiful trail in the high Sierras east of Fresno, near Shaver Lake. There are three routes to the lookout tower at the top, and we'll be doing this as a loop. 4WD is mandatory. A slightly built up truck (small lift, good tires, factory skids) is suggested. There are optional lines that are more challenging than the main trail, so more built trucks will have fun too.

I'm also going to lead a trail on Sunday, August 9; I'm just not sure what yet.

I'm planning on staying at the Dinkey Creek Campground. If you are even just *considering* coming and require a campground with an actual toilet, you are going to want to book your site NOW. There are only two campgrounds in the area and they book up super fast, and you can always cancel your reservation later if you decide not to go. There is also plenty of dispersed camping in the area, which obviously wouldn't require a reservation...you just wouldn't be staying with the group. And there are reasonably priced hotels in the city of Clovis, which is about an hour away, and unreasonably priced hotels much closer to Shaver Lake. (EDIT: Looks like the "unreasonably priced" options are booked up.)

Please post up if you want to come or if you have any questions.

Attending:
1. JeniorNV
2. BCBrian
3. crewmaxxis
4. jbumx2
5. TruckIt
6. Rob
7. Sixspeed-SV
8. Kia dude
 
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#2 ·
Reservations made

I'm finally going to see these trails! Really glad that you already have some experience out there! Thanks for the heads up!!

Looking forward to this trip.
 
#5 · (Edited)
First post updated with current attendance list.

Here are a few pics of the hardest mandatory sections, to give you an idea of the terrain. Both trucks have 32" tires and 2" of lift (or did at the time, anyway). EDIT: Actually my truck did have 33's in these pics, but I ran this trail twice with 32's. Close enough. ;)








The lookout tower:

 
#7 · (Edited)
Put us down as Tentative. Need to see what those unreasonably priced hotel rooms go for and whatever else is going on in our lives at that time. Actually, since that is the weekend of Hot August Nights I understand why you want to be out of town, but it would be great if you could tell me the hotels that are closest to the camp ground so I can reserve now. As you said, I can cancel later if need be.

Thanks!
 
#10 · (Edited)
That's actually probably one of the worst weekends for me to go out of town because it means I'll be dealing with heavier slower moving traffic on my drive down and back.

The only hotel in Shaver Lake does not allow pets, and it looks like it's booked for that weekend anyhow. Your other options are Clovis, Oakhurst or Bass Lake. Any of the above are an hour or so from Shaver Lake, and Oakhurst and Bass Lake are very close to Shuteye Peak, which is what I'm thinking for Sunday. Clovis is about an hour from the trailhead for Shuteye.

That trail looks awesome. I'm going to have to hook up with you NorCal/Vegas guys one of these days.
Oh sure, leave out the northern Nevada members. :p
 
#8 ·
Tempting...
 
#17 ·
#19 ·
I have 1" of lift front and rear, Shrock sliders, engine skid, transfer case skid and bumper with 32" tires. I'd have 2" lift in front but the extra weight of the bumper means only 1":frown:

So the question is, Can I do Bald Mountain without any serious damage?
By serious damage I mean rear bumper and body panels etc.. I'm ok with using the sliders and skids if needed
 
#20 ·
Assuming trail conditions haven't changed and assuming you pick good lines...yes, I think there is a reasonably good chance of getting your truck through the trail without damage.

The first two pics in the fifth post are the obstacles where dragging the rear bumper would be most likely to happen. Actually I think there is one other spot on the trail back down from the lookout tower too. Utilizing a spotter would minimize the risk. But I think you'd have to be trying pretty hard in order to get any sheet metal damage on this trail.

There are actually three different ways to get to the lookout tower: easy, medium and hard (relative to each other). I am planning on taking the "hard" way up and the "medium" way back. There is a bit of a gatekeeper obstacle near the start of the "hard" trail. My guidebook says something like "If this obstacle intimidates you, don't proceed any farther." It's nice that this obstacle is at the start of the trail because it leaves the option of turning around and taking the "easy" way up.

I hope I answered your question well enough for you to make a decision. I'd be a fool to promise "no damage" to anyone. It's a chance that we all take any time we leave the pavement.
 
#24 ·
I'm still not sure about tentative yet, but I do appreciate all of your feedback and advice.
I'll keep following this thread in the mean time.

Bradley
 
#29 ·
Lodging options in the area are dumb. :( 3 out of the 4 times I've wheeled out there, I did it as a day trip...which is ridiculous considering it's about 6 hours away. The fourth time I did dispersed camping because even the "first come first serve" campgrounds were completely full.

Is it August yet?

I like your attitude!
 
#32 ·
Shuteye is fine with me

I tried to find it once a couple years ago but got lost and never did....

Does that mean we will tear down camp before hand?

My reservations are for fri, sat and sun but I might cancel sunday and just go to my friends in Coarsegold instead.
 
#35 ·
#40 ·
If you get beyond 12, put the tentatives at the bottom and if you have 12 confirmed, the tentatives get pushed off. I am one of them and I feel it is fair that if someone else can say they want to come for sure they should get first priority.
 
#41 ·
With the number of people planning on attending this run, I have decided that the most sensible plan is to split Bald Mountain into two days and save Shuteye for another time. So on Saturday we will be running the "B" route to the lookout tower (the "hard" route) only. On Sunday we will run the "A" (intermediate) route. This will give us enough time to get all the rigs through each trail, with a little extra time to spare for peeps to mess around on some of the optional obstacles.

For anyone not camping on Friday night, I'll meet up with you at 9:30 am on Saturday morning. Once you turn onto Dinkey Creek Road, there is a parking lot with a restroom about 0.7 miles down the road, just past the fire station.
 
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