High Sierras - Red Lake, West Lake

[GPsGeeps]

Pretty epic weekend in the High Sierras this past weekend. The goal was to camp at Red Lake via the Red Lake Trail.
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The trail is pretty much just fire road until you get to the gate keeper. You can either go for it here, take an easier line to the left, or a bypass to the far left. My WK2 made it through the easier line not pictured.
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The combination of boulders, super powdery dirt and lack of clearance made the journey an arduous one for me. Thank goodness for skid plates and sliders because the rocks have my armor all over them now! But these Jeeps made quick work of them.
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Taking a break after most likely stacking rocks for me.
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There are short patches of mostly dirt, but then always back to more rock gardens.
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About 2/3 of the way in I got high centered pretty good. And at the same time, about 100 yards up, two other guys that were not in our crew were hung up and winching themselves over the next obstacle. So after much effort to get unstuck, and with darkness looming, the decision was made to punt and make camp along the trail somewhere. Lucky for us our punt spot must have been a common spot because we spotted an existing fire ring and just enough spaces for the Jeeps. No stuck pics, but I took these the next morning of where it happened.
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The next morning we decided to backtrack to the trail head and try to make it to either West Lake or Strawberry Lake. But first, we hike the rest of the way to Red Lake to see what we missed. Bummer!
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After returning we started breaking down camp and this is when I noticed that my rig was nose up! The rear suspension was all the way in what looked like Park mode. In this photo you can see what I'm talking about. This may have been the reason I got hung up the night before. I know it didn't happen overnight because I would've been rolling towards the back of the Jeep in my sleep.
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Crap! How am I supposed to drag my butt back over all that stuff to get out of here!" Don't know but here goes...CLANK! SCREEEECH! CONK! Haha. Pulled over real quick and had a thought to check the compressor fuse. Didn't see anything wrong with it, but switched it with the AC fuse of same amperage just in case. Hit the height adjustment buttons on the console...Nothing. Buddy also mentioned that I should air up the tires to at least gain a little more clearance. Did so and back on the road. And no lie, within a few minutes I don't feel like I'm sagging anymore. I get out and low and behold I'm sky high back there compared to before. What the heck! Don't think it was the fuse because AC still worked. If anyone's got any ideas, please chime in.

And just like that, I'm back in business. Here's a few shots on the way back out.
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The trail to Strawberry Lake passes West Lake. We decide to check out West Lake first. This trail isn't nearly as bad as Red Lake. Actually managed a few shots of yours truly.
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We make it to West Lake without much hassle and it is absolutely beautiful! The weather is fantastic and more importantly, there's nobody else here! Strawberry can wait until another time. We spent the rest of the day fishing and sipping on beers around the lake, and then eating dinner and conversing about our good fortunes around the campfire. What a weekend!
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[JCWages]

Great story and fantastic action shots.

I'll wait till I have real sliders and a couple more pieces of under armor before I tackle that trail. Signal Peak was at my comfort limit. :)

 

[ArmyofMike]

Good on you Brother! Red lake is a tough trail and to get your rig in as far as you did is good stuff.

West Lake trail is a nice one, and I'm not sure if you made it to Strawberry Lake, but that trail has been eaten up over the years and the tree squeeze are getting tighter every year. Most trail guides rate Strawberry as easier, which should be revised now to moderate and I believe that Red Lake should now be classified as More Difficult.

Thanks for sharing! These trails are in my back yard.

 

[GPsGeeps]

Just wanted to add a quick note regarding the rear suspension issue in case any other WK2 guys with QL happen upon this. We figured out what happened thanks to a fellow WK2 owner on FB. When I got high centered, I used my Hi-Lift during the recovery. Before that I did remember to put the vehicle into tire jack mode. But...I did not know you have to drive the vehicle over 5mph to return the air suspension back to normal operation. As the last sentence in the quote from the manual states:

"To assist with changing a spare tire, the Quadra-Lift air suspension system has a feature which allows the automatic leveling to be disabled. Press and hold both the "Up" and "Down" buttons simultaneously between 5 and 10 seconds, a message will appear in the EVIC stating leveling has been disabled immediately after both buttons have been released. Refer to "Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC)" in "Understanding Your Instrument Panel" for further information. Driving the vehicle over 5 mph (8 km/h) will return the air suspension to normal operation."

Since the terrain was so rocky in that area, I guess I never got over 5mph. And when we finally hit a clearing to go a little faster, that's when the suspension returned to normal. So the vehicle was operating as it should. It was just user error. Sort of.