Slick Rock???

Unfortunately i am going to have to work, I'm out. Bummer !!!!

Ok so heres the plan. Meet up at the Wal-Mart in Jackson at 10355 Wicklow Way at noon on Saturday. Head up to slick rock from there, set up camp, then do what ever we want. For those not camping overnight. Meet us at camp by 8:30 am on Sunday.

70dustpan said

Ok so heres the plan. Meet up at the Wal-Mart in Jackson at 10355 Wicklow Way at noon on Saturday. Head up to slick rock from there, set up camp, then do what ever we want. For those not camping overnight. Meet us at camp by 8:30 am on Sunday.

Sounds good, where will camp be specifically?

Well I'll have to check with the ranger station up there tomorrow. Looks like the campgrounds up may be closed.

You are right, it appears that a few of the campgrounds in the area have already closed for winter. Contact the rangers for sure.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recmain/stanislaus/recreation

I called today and the west shore campground is still open. So i guess that's the one.

Ok head count who is in for camping and whos coming up Sunday?

Sunday for sure, wont know about camping till we get closer.

Dustpan I wish we could commit. We love to camp and try a new trail, but we are not sure about the Jeep and if it will be tied up in the shop. It looks like it will be but maybe it won't. Don't know. Can I let you know later? Are you trying to reserve a group camp site? (BTW is this a girlie camp ground, i.e. water available, flushing facilities... etc?)
L 🙂

It's first come on the camp sites. $24 a day. Running water and flush toilets.
Just trying to see whos going and when. Right now I seem to be the only one camping.

70dustpan said

It's first come on the camp sites. $24 a day. Running water and flush toilets.
Just trying to see whos going and when. Right now I seem to be the only one camping.

If we come we will camp...especially since it's a "girl friendly" camp site! Lol. 👧

Best place to camp, if you don't need the running water/flush toilets, is right at the trail head (from the Utica/Union access side). There is about 8 sites there right on the river (what's left of it). FYI, no fire restrictions at these camp sites last time I checked.

Also, no fees at these sites

We will be bringing a propane BBQ, pork ribs, and a dessert for sunday lunch. If only a few are going then maybe we can upgrade the quality of the meat and I can get a Bison or elk tri-tip from the local butcher. Looks like the count is somewhere between 3 and 10 people total.

Can everyone confirm they will be there sunday so I can get a better count?

Dale and I for sure. Lew is a maybe.

Ok well since no one else has said they are goin up Saturday and camping I don't want to camp alone. So Dale and I will be leaving Rancho around 5:30 am Sunday morning.

Dustpan I hate doing this but we have to beg out of this one. Our rig is still in the shop. Plus I've had to leave for the past 3 days unexpectedly and I've got to catch up this weekend on a lot of things. We really wanted to go and we want to camp! So let's do this all again!!!! PLEASE! 😭

Thunderstorms on this run?

It poured here last night

Will be leaving my place at about 6am. Should put me there the same time as you guys. I got a permit for the BBQ and we will have tri-tip for lunch

We had a really good day today. Slick Rock is a really cool trail and beautiful area. Thanks to Kris and Jessica for a great lunch.

Any pictures?? I'm bummed I missed out on this trip and the lunch...

Pictures are uploading as I type this. Really good trip all-in-all. No breakage, to winching or strapping, and no necessary rock stacking. Only damage I can recall is a lost balancing weight from a front driveshaft, some hurt pride from not being able to make the hard line up the last stair-step, and some worrisome noise caused by a rock in a brake caliper.

The trail is a few hours out from the Sacramento area but does have the benefit of having campgrounds by both ends of the trail and many flat camp sites along the trail. We met at the campground about 8:30, aired down, and headed the half mile down the dirt road to reach the formal trail head by about 9am. Running from north to south, the trail parallels a creek from alpine lake down to Utica (spelling?) reservoir. The first obstacles encountered were some tight spots caused by downed trees. It had rained the night before so the puddles were all full and the trail would have been mud if the soil wasn't mostly decomposed granite. About a mile in the trail reaches a big slab section with a creek running very shallow and wide across single pieces of granite. We hiked around a little bit an brought out a big mess of rusty barbed-wire someone appeared to have left out there a number of years back. (Dale's truck was on garbage duty)

Not long after the slab area, we hit the first major obstacle which is a wedge section that falls over a few hundred feet. It was tight for the LJ, but somehow the dodges made it through without touching sheet metal. After the notch about 50 ft down the trail was a large rock on the passenger side that looked like it was asking for the dodges passenger drop diffs. Both made use of their rock sliders and kept the diffs out of trouble.

The next obstacle involved a couple of tall rocks splitting the trail not 20 ft from eachother. We all took the high, off camber approach and the right side wedge. Brent's truck even teetered on the approach.

The trial then runs smooth along some rock ridges on one side before descending down a slab section with a stair drop at the bottom. We avoided the bypass and made it without dragging, as far as I could hear. After the slab was a short section of clear trail followed by some rocks. Again they seemed aimed at passenger drop differentials so some spotting was used and only a drive shaft weight was lost.

The next obstacle was the main stair-climb of the trail. The trail turns and crosses the creek to get your tires wet before trying to climb some significant slabs. I went up first and after 4 or 5 attempts on the hard final section and a few rocks stacked, I backed off and went around to set up for lunch. I lit the BBQ about noon and tossed the tri-tip on the BBQ as the dodges mede their way up. We had tri-tip sandwiches, chips, and Jessica even made some mini-cupcake size cheesecake bites with dark chocolate.

After a relaxing lunch and watching a super flexy 4-runner on 37s go down the obstacle, we headed out about 1pm. Two minor obstacles remain before exiting the trail, a turing rock section after a bridge that was a little tight and getting off a large slab. I took the expert line off the slap making good use of my rear bumper and gas tank skid. The dodges took the preferred route for more controlled dissents.

We aired up at the pavement and headed back to highway 4. We ended up getting off the trail about 2 or 3pm and headed out after about a half hour of airing up. I had a shorter drive than the others but I was home well before dark, probably some time just before 5pm.

Brent's truck even teetered on the approach

Ya I gotta work on keeping at least 3 tires on the ground.

Slick rock is a great trail to make a day of. I look forward to running it from south to north next time. Kris did a great job of recapping it and him and Jessica did them selves proud with the bbq. welcome to the club!

Congrats Kris and Jessica. Welcome to the club.
We are dying to go on this trail. So sorry we missed the fun and the great meal.

Slick Rock looks amazing, maybe next year.