This weekend some friends and I were planning to run the Deer Valley trail, but then a winter storm warning was issued and we decided to change our plans. Instead we headed up to the Bear Valley area and ran Corral Hollow and Mattley Ridge. There are other write ups for Corral Hollow on this site, but I thought people might be interested in seeing it in the snow.
Here's an overview of our route. We first went up the the Bear Valley ski resort to check on how much snow was on the ground. Highway 4 is closed before Lake Alpine for the winter so this is the end of the road. We then headed back down and ran Corral Hollow from east to west. This is the more difficult direction because you run the rock garden uphill, and we wanted to get through that first since it was snowing and we did not know how much was going to come down. After Corral Hollow we still had some daylight so we ran part of the Mattley Ridge trail.
-----
Public Service Announcement
Obviously you need to be extra careful when offroading in the snow. We are familiar with the area and were prepared with warm clothes, shovels, boots, gloves, food, water, sleeping bags, and recovery equipment just in case. Neither of these are hard trails, but route finding can become difficult during a snow storm and traction is greatly reduced.
-----
Here is the start of Corral Hollow. There was just a few inches of snow on the ground and it was not coming down too heavily so we felt that it was safe to head in.
The small rock garden was not a problem, even for my friend in his Sequoia which was pretty large for this trail.
This was the only tricky spot we ran into, and only because the snow and mud really limited traction. In these conditions you have to be careful not to tear up the trail, so we just took it slow and easy. I wish I had video, but this was a really good example of the benefits of the solid front axle on the WJ vs the IFS on the Toyotas.
Up on top of Blood's Ridge where we stopped so the dog could play in the snow.
Here's the view from @Michael 's favorite camping spot. Usually you can see across the valley to the backside of the Bear Valley ski resort, but we just saw clouds this time. Temperatures were in the low 30's, so not too bad.
This shot really shows how much larger a Sequoia is than a 4Runner.
Local wildlife.
We stopped at the USFS cabin in Bear Trap basin to build up our self esteem. Thanks Abe, see you next time I'm in Chicago.
In a few months the cabin will be surrounded by more than 10' of snow.
We were surprised to run into two other groups on the trail, and I have a few trail tips based on what we observed.
1) Drinking beer and shooting rifles at the same time probably isn't the best idea.
2) Shooting towards the trail and/or using granite as a backstop are both not great ideas.
3) Traveling on a trail without a GPS or a map during a winter storm is not a great idea.
The western half of Corral Hollow had less snow and was bare dirt in areas. We dropped down onto NF-7N09 and debated what to do next.
to be continued...
Here's an overview of our route. We first went up the the Bear Valley ski resort to check on how much snow was on the ground. Highway 4 is closed before Lake Alpine for the winter so this is the end of the road. We then headed back down and ran Corral Hollow from east to west. This is the more difficult direction because you run the rock garden uphill, and we wanted to get through that first since it was snowing and we did not know how much was going to come down. After Corral Hollow we still had some daylight so we ran part of the Mattley Ridge trail.
-----
Public Service Announcement
Obviously you need to be extra careful when offroading in the snow. We are familiar with the area and were prepared with warm clothes, shovels, boots, gloves, food, water, sleeping bags, and recovery equipment just in case. Neither of these are hard trails, but route finding can become difficult during a snow storm and traction is greatly reduced.
-----
Here is the start of Corral Hollow. There was just a few inches of snow on the ground and it was not coming down too heavily so we felt that it was safe to head in.
The small rock garden was not a problem, even for my friend in his Sequoia which was pretty large for this trail.
This was the only tricky spot we ran into, and only because the snow and mud really limited traction. In these conditions you have to be careful not to tear up the trail, so we just took it slow and easy. I wish I had video, but this was a really good example of the benefits of the solid front axle on the WJ vs the IFS on the Toyotas.
Up on top of Blood's Ridge where we stopped so the dog could play in the snow.
Here's the view from @Michael 's favorite camping spot. Usually you can see across the valley to the backside of the Bear Valley ski resort, but we just saw clouds this time. Temperatures were in the low 30's, so not too bad.
This shot really shows how much larger a Sequoia is than a 4Runner.
Local wildlife.
We stopped at the USFS cabin in Bear Trap basin to build up our self esteem. Thanks Abe, see you next time I'm in Chicago.
In a few months the cabin will be surrounded by more than 10' of snow.
We were surprised to run into two other groups on the trail, and I have a few trail tips based on what we observed.
1) Drinking beer and shooting rifles at the same time probably isn't the best idea.
2) Shooting towards the trail and/or using granite as a backstop are both not great ideas.
3) Traveling on a trail without a GPS or a map during a winter storm is not a great idea.
The western half of Corral Hollow had less snow and was bare dirt in areas. We dropped down onto NF-7N09 and debated what to do next.
to be continued...
