Our original plan was to head out to Kennedy Meadows or Monache Meadows area but due to the fires we headed a bit further north and a few thousand feet higher. We researched with help of a fellow overlander and found a beautiful un-tampered piece of land located thousands of feet above Bishop, CA. It's called Coyote Flats or Coyote Plateau.
We met up with some great folks and headed up to Bishop CA. When we arrived Justin's Tacoma truck's transmission was bubbling over and over heating. Apparently the morning of the trip he had the tranny serviced and they over filled it!!!!! Justin burnt his finger getting the drain plug out... but was successful getting the truck rolling again. It drained some of the fluid out and let the tranny cool for about an hour and it made it through the rest of the trip. Thank goodness.
Shot of Justin working on his rig at the local Shell station in Bishop, CA.
Ouch, last time i checked.. your finger isn't supposed to be white like that Justin?
After our first speed bump, we fueled up and headed for the trail head where we proceeded to air down for the 20 mile of trail it would take to get to camp.
The line up. We had 6 rigs on this trip. Just the right amount.
Yosh and Dixie ready to go.
After following the main wash out of town to the West we came to a set of switch backs that climb up the side of the mountain very fast. This is not a section for the people that are afraid of heights, let me tell you.
After the switchbacks we drove over one hour of winding trails through the high sierra's, it was breath taking.
River crossings..
After many miles of climbing we finally broke into the plateau. It was beautiful.
Dixie could care less.
We finally arrived at camp and this was our view. Doesn't get much better than this!
Shot of the rigs at camp
Steve with his Sportsmobile
Bryan in his truck tent.
James with his WJ and ground tent.
Justin in his decked out Tacoma with ground tent.
Our rig with AT trailer.
Pelle just slept in his huge JK.
Dixie and Yosh going for a walk. Dixie sniffing everything in sight..
The next day after a good nights rest. . we headed out for some exploring.
Sugar loaf in the background..
Glacier's in July! That shows you just how high in elevation we were.
The terrain was stunning!
We stumbled upon a creek. The water was amazingly clear.
James snapping a pic of the creek.
On the way back we stopped at an Old Indian Camp. At this spot you can still find old arrowheads laying on the ground.
You can see how the ground in the indian area looks different than the rest of the valley.
After a few hours of exploring we headed back to camp. We started to feel a few rain drops so we wanted to make sure that our camp was covered properly and prepared for the wet weather.
We quickly deployed our anwings and took cover.
Since we weren't leaving camp the rest of the day..we also deployed our beverages. This trip was sponsored by Henninger Bier from Germany!! Courtesy of Pelle
After the toast of good times, It was time for potluck. Jambalaya, Brats, Hot Dogs, Margaritas' , Smore's, Brownies and of course more Henninger!
James cooking his Jambalaya... and man was it killer!
Im grilling up brats and dogs. If i look tired its because someone honked their horn all night because they thought there was a bear in camp!!!! Im not naming any names!!!
Good eats!
Dixie saying where's mine!??!?!
After dinner it was time for "Fun with lights!" Basically a light show and tell.
Steve's LED strobes.. made for a weird photo. Looks like we are on another planet.
Lightforce lights..
The SMB all lit up like a christmas tree..
Trying to blind ourselves..
Justin's truck looking like a spaceship..
After fooling around with the lights.. we relaxed around the nice fire.
Well there always comes that time on every trip. We woke up in the morning and it was time to head home. It's always the toughest part. It means we have to head back to the smog, traffic and the daily grind.
We headed back down to civilization.
The trucks in the distance dropping back into the real world.. from 10,000 ft. back down to 5,000.
Yosh and Dixie stretching their legs before we drop down into the switch backs. It's quite the descent.
Once down the mtn, we hit Bishop for some lunch. Pizza!
No trip is complete to Bishop without a stop at Schat's Bakery! This place is amazing!
A jeepney in Bishop? What the heck? Yosh confirmed it's real!
As soon as we headed south on 395 we ran into a huge traffic jam. Apparently there was a mud slide that covered the road. The delay was several hours. It wasn't the best of times, however James didn't mind..
Long day for the street sweepers.
After the long delay .. we got home after almost 10 hours of driving! It was long but always worth it. I want to thank Kevin "KELLYMOE" for helping me with coordinates to this location and sharing his experience with us so that i could lead this group into the mountains. Without Kevin i don't think i would have been able to do so. Thanks to everyone else that came along. It was a great trip.
This also was the last trip with our Toyota Landcruiser and Trailer. Our next trip will be made with our new to us rig, our Sportsmobile! So until next time, happy trails!