I missed out on Larry's Desert trip this year. Really bummed me out but I had to cover for a co-worker who's father was dying. So all that prep went nowhere until last weekend. My Jeep buddies were making a quick overnight run to a local high mountain lake with family. I had to work on Saturday morning, but I was only an hour away from the trailhead. So I brought my dog to work with the truck packed the night before and headed out once I closed up.
Some changes have happened to make for more efficient use of space and time when in "camp" mode. One of which is the Chuck Box. This is all the cooking gear in one Pelican Case. Get to camp, yank it out of the back and pull the stove and table out to get cooking. Plus it's weather tight and dust proof to stay outside.
Changes inside include a new bench and a way to eliminate the bulk of coolers. Yep I got my own Fridge. ARB 50L. One of the guys from the desert trip upgraded and had it for sale. I was going to pick it up on the trip, but since I didn't go, the boys brought it back for me. Gamechanger for sure.
Happy Doggo ready for adventure!
Since the group had gone up much earlier in the day than I did, I ran the trail solo. I didn't stop and take many pictures from the outside as I just wanted to get up the trail. This is at the Bottom of the Rainbow Lake trail.
Gaining Elevation, you can look back into the valley I came from. Also, many burned trees in this area from a fire 8 or 9 years back. The Aspen Trees are coming back in force.
Close to camp, they set up at the edge of this creek.
Once in camp a few minutes and it's all set up. Beer:30 time.
Storm and I walked down to the lake to check it out for the fishing. The lake is higher than anybody I was with there could ever remember. Record Snow levels from last winter have many of my favorite trails still closed. The lake is so high there is no shoreline. It's up to the base of the mountain on two sides with a scree field of rocks/boulders making it a challenge to navigate. My buddies tried for hours and didn't get a bite.
Further across the lake.
Looking back at camp.
Oh yeah I finally did something about my grill..
Storm exploring around the creek.
I offered up to cook for the group. I carry a 20lb propane bottle in the camper so no running out of 1lb coleman bottles. Jeeps can't carry what I can..
After Dinner my buddy Shane takes up the BB gun to protect the camp. He's a nut.
My view from the bunk the next morning. Storm was warm and toasty. Never turned the furnace on since it was so warm overnight.
Morning sunlight on the lake.
Coming back down. This spot is significant to me and Larry. We had come up here May of '17 to prove out our rides prior to the Desert trip. There was three snow banks that led up to this spot. Without going into full detail again, Larry's truck had both right side tires off the trail right here. I was able to extract him with my winch and we backed down to a wide spot to camp for the night.
The snowmelt runoff is very heavy for this late in June.
Dropping in elevation again, the valley comes back into view.
I would have liked to be out longer, but longer adventures will come later this summer. It was good to get some dirt on the tires though.