A weekend trip to Green Creek

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Dr. Marneaus
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A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Dr. Marneaus »

Well, the second trip with the trailer and tent was a success. Still in "shakedown" mode, not taking any extreme distance trips or hardcore trails, but this trip was further, had much more backroading, was an off grid "dispersed" camp site, and had some decently varying weather conditions.

I loaded my stuff up on Thursday night, then drove the beast and trailer to work on Friday. Left the office around 2pm, and headed south down the 395. The destinationwas Green Creek area, just south of Bridgeport, CA. I was meeting up with another member of Sierra Nevada FSJ's who was coming from Sacramento. We were planning to stay at the actual campground, but upon my arrival, it was already closed for the season. Being in a national forest, that was no problem, because dispersed is allowed. Fire restrictions were in effect which kinda puts a damper on things, but oh well.

On the way. Basically just about 125 miles of highway then 12 miles of dirt road in varying conditions, most of it was just a heavily washboard graded road.
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr

Upon finding the campground closed, I headed back out the way I came, about a mile, passing some camping areas that were occupied and some that were empty. Located a nice spot right on the bank of Green Creek and was set back a ways from the road:
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr

ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr

We chatted and stayed up for a bit, but then crashed out. Temps werent too bad, it was cold but not extreme. Temps were in the upper 30's that night. The next moring, breakfast was cooked, then we headed up to Virginia Lakes to do a bit of fishing. It was a fruitless effort but the scenery was good, as always.
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr

We returned to the campsite to some weather, snow flurries mostly just on and off. Dark skies, but it was still beautiful in a somewhat foreboding way. Dinner was cooked, and right before we decided to turn in, a small snow squall came through and droped about half an inch if icy snow in about 15 minutes. That night it dropped into the low 30's.

Morning came, and we both had deadlines to meet, so we simply packed up and headed on our ways. Again, beautiful scenery on the way out.
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr
ImageUntitled by Marn, on Flickr

So, overall the trip was anti-climactic. The truck ran fine, no surprises or issues, and I actually landed about 12mpg towing between Bridgeport and Reno. So, thats good.

The tent is meeting my expectations, all the modifications I have made thus far are working as planned. I am getting a little more accustomed to set up and tear down, and its going a bit faster. The annex is still annoying and was overkill on this trip since I didnt have dog or wife with me, but it was good practice. PAcking it up wet and cold however, proved troublesome. I wasnt able to fold it so it would fit in its bag, and subsequently it would not fit back in the bin I keep in the trailer. Mostly user error though. The battery and LED lights were a great help. The tent stayed comfy and warm in the cool temps, and I was dry through the storm.

Trailer towed well the whole time, didnt even really notice it. I hit some good jarring rocks and potholes on the roads and trails, and the trailer was fine. I didnt get it super off camber or anything, but then again I never really intend to. All in all, I'm very pleased with the performance of this setup.
Well it ain't just the smoke and the traffic jam that makes me the bitter fool I am But this four-wheel buggy is A-dollaring me to death.
For gas and oils and fluids and grease, And wires and tires and anti freeze....And them accessories, Well honey, that's something else.
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Stuka
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Stuka »

Beautiful shots, looks like it was a nice weekend. We got a bunch of rain over here on the west side of the hill. Was sorely needed.
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Mustang Shooter
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Mustang Shooter »

Dude, that is just awesome!
Thanks for posting your adventures, I really enjoy seeing the different areas you go.
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twisted frame
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by twisted frame »

Great shots from your trip, thanks! Did you used to tow a pop-up trailer?
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az chip
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

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Nice pics. No puppy and no wife? Too cold? Glad the shakedown is going well. I keep looking for one of those trailers. No luck so far.
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Dr. Marneaus
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Dr. Marneaus »

twisted frame wrote:Great shots from your trip, thanks! Did you used to tow a pop-up trailer?
Yup, still have it, but its not made for things like this. The goal is to have a smaller easier to tow rig that can get us into more off grid back country areas. My trailer build is not intended to access extreme 4x4 trails, just to handle crappy back roads that my pop up wouldnt fit on or would fall apart on.
Well it ain't just the smoke and the traffic jam that makes me the bitter fool I am But this four-wheel buggy is A-dollaring me to death.
For gas and oils and fluids and grease, And wires and tires and anti freeze....And them accessories, Well honey, that's something else.
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Dr. Marneaus
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Dr. Marneaus »

az chip wrote:Nice pics. No puppy and no wife? Too cold? Glad the shakedown is going well. I keep looking for one of those trailers. No luck so far.
Wife was originally scheduled to be in Napa that weekend, but changed mid week, and decided she'd be better off at home getting work done. I left the dog with her, because I cannot fish with him.
Well it ain't just the smoke and the traffic jam that makes me the bitter fool I am But this four-wheel buggy is A-dollaring me to death.
For gas and oils and fluids and grease, And wires and tires and anti freeze....And them accessories, Well honey, that's something else.
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Chubbinius
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Chubbinius »

Those are some wonderful photos and it looks like a really nice area to spend the weekend in. That trailer is awesome and looks to tow really nicely!
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letank
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by letank »

Nice pictures, as usual, it's funny when I looked at the weather report they were mentioning snow flurries in the Sierras and I thought that can't be, as we ate roasting in the Bay Area.
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Kerry
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Kerry »

Thanks for posting pics. Looks like a great spot and time of year to be there.
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az chip
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by az chip »

Looking at tent set ups and campers. I like that trailer/tent combo. You can set up and still go explore with the Jeep. Very smart idea.
'81 Cherokee Chief 81 WT Chief/MSD 6/Holley Sniper/ Rusty 4" Spring lift/ Bulltear oil adapter/K&P Engineering Oil Filter/ NP 208/ Serehill Light Harness/KC LED Headlights/ Evil Twin Fab Roof Rack and sliders/ Ross mirror mounts.
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Dr. Marneaus
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Re: A weekend trip to Green Creek

Post by Dr. Marneaus »

az chip wrote:Looking at tent set ups and campers. I like that trailer/tent combo. You can set up and still go explore with the Jeep. Very smart idea.
Yup, that was one of my main selling points to the wife. I don’t care for an roof top tent that needs to be closed up every time you want to go fishing or hunting or exploring or what have you. This creates a nice base camp :-)
Well it ain't just the smoke and the traffic jam that makes me the bitter fool I am But this four-wheel buggy is A-dollaring me to death.
For gas and oils and fluids and grease, And wires and tires and anti freeze....And them accessories, Well honey, that's something else.
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