Camped at Bear River and a trail run broke out !PICS!

ajensen · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 9:12 am

Last weekend we took our first camping trip of the season up at Bear River Resevoir and it just so happened that Pardoe's trailhead is right there so we gave it a shot. I'm downloading the photos as I type.

It was my friend's Tundra TRD and our KJ. We kept up with the Toyota and the other jeeps out on the trail that day but in the end everyone had to turn back before we could hit the ridgeline-even the ATVs and dirt bikes- because of a 10 ft snow drift. We were pretty bummed since at the top you can see all the lakes in the area and even some of the ski lifts from Kirkwood.

I don't know how familiar everyone is with Pardoe's, but my friends and I run it at least once a summer, and normally it's a 5. Well this was a pretty brutal winter and the trail has changed dramatically. Some trees are down and quite a bit of dirt has washed down the mountain. Even my TRD buddy classified a good deal of the trail a 7. Don't let the first few miles of trail fool you.

We hope to try it again after the snow pack is gone, but I don't think the Liberty is ready for it yet. No real damage from the run, just our first knicks on the skid plate and a little bit of trail pinstriping.

I just wanted to let everyone know what they were in for if they're planning a run. It truly is a spectacular view once you hit the ridge.

Pictures to come.

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:48 pm

Sounds like a blast. What kind of set up do you have on your KJ?

Where does this trail start and end?

ajensen · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:07 pm

The following link http://www.norcalttora.com/trails/pardoe.php goes to a Web site with a map of Pardoe's Trail. It starts on the far side of Bear River Resevoir in the Eldorado National Forest. It is about a 75 mi drive from Sacto. It takes our friends from Napa about 3 hours depending on traffic.

Right now the Jeep is all stock but the tires 235/75r/16. I have a front skid but no lift yet. Do check out the link above from the Toyota site. It has good photos of what it looks like right past where we had to stop. My buddy in the TRD was absolutely impressed by the KJ and our ability to hit this trail. The guys behind us in the Rubicon (not pictured) couldn't believe we made as far as we did but they felt vindicated when they gave me a tug out of the snow drift. Amazingly no pics of that event. Nothing wounded but a little pride.

The begining

Starting to get rocky

Good obstacle

KJ leading the way!

Log? What log?

Jeep bath

(Photos shot with Canon Digital Rebel XT)

More bath

Snow drift (3 feet) got a little hung up on this one

Stopping point. About 200m further was the 10 foot snow drift that no one could pass

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:22 pm

Great pics Andy. I like that KJ but then I'm partial to the red ones.

What say, Sean? Do this one one day and do Strawberry another day for a full weekend?

mt

ken · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:21 pm

i think the blue ones rule but,let's test it.i think a run should go off before big bear.KJ's 0 TRAIL'S 1,later

lilmatty · **Posted:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:54 pm

I'd like both trails to get a few more weeks on them soze the snow will be melted.

NorCalKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:11 pm

I do think this would be a fun trail to pair with Strawberry for a weekend run. I also agree with Ken, in that we need to get out and do a run before Big Bear. It doesn't need to be an "official" NorCal run, but I just wanna get back up there again SOON. So I'm thinking we can think about an official NorCal weekend campout run sometime in early to mid August, after Big Bear. I'm going to start another thread re: a trail before BigBear. Possibly Pardoe? It looks cool.

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Fri Jun 30, 2006 5:48 pm

Way to represent Andy!

Camped at Bear River and a trail run broke out !PICS!

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