My Dusy Write-up...

[blkTJ]

Since I?d missed the Rubicon this summer I was determined to tackle the Dusy-Ershim trail. 33 miles from Courtwright Resevoir to White bark Vista, the Dusy traverses some of the most spectacular scenery in the Sierra Nevadas. The trail winds through the mountains starting around 9k feet and peaks at 10k+feet through Kaiser Pass. The remoteness, difficulty and length of the trail makes it one that should only be tackled by solid, well maintained swb vehicles with 33+? tires and at least one locker. Many have run it... this is my story...

I knew a group of friends in a ?mostly? Toyota club that were planning a Dusy trip in the middle of September. Since it was a trail I?d wanted to do for some time, I took some vacation and made plans to join them. Knowing it was very important to be covered with spare parts and extra gas, I contacted a friend (who will remain nameless for his own good ) to borrow some axle shafts, hubs and spare fuel packs. Although I don?t like wheeling with doors, I knew the temps were going to be down in the low 30s at night and I figured I should get some soft doors and windows just in case. Thank you Tam and Chris for letting me borrow some. At the last minute I decided to go with out any windows... I?d live to regret that.

Thursday finally arrived, the Jeep was packed and I was off. Up the 5 to the 99, the 41 out of Fresno to the 168 toward Shaver Lake. One last stop in Prather to top off the tank and fill the fuel packs gave me a total of 25 gallons of gas for the trip, plenty for my fuel injected 4.0. I made it to camp at Courtwright Resevoir around 8pm, met by John K, Neil, ?the other John? and his friend Art. We sat around the campfire cracking jokes while ?the other John? made some gourmet mac and cheese in a Dutch oven, yummy!!! Everyone decided to forgo putting up tents and elected to crash in their sleeping bags under the stars. It was cold but bearable. Ross K and Dave arrived after we?d gone to bed. In the morning we?d start the trail.

We awoke to a brisk morning ready to tackle what was ahead. The weather turned out to sunny and warm.

Courtwright Resevoir...



Ready to roll...



It wasn?t long before we had our first problem, John K pinched and tore a driver side break line...




Luckily Neil had a spare.

Later we hit some slabs and lined up for a group shot...



Then on to Chicken Rock, not quite ?launch pad?, but steep...



Later the group got a bit spread out, mostly because I drive to damn slow. :yay: Anyway, this was a stop for everyone to regroup...



Friday?s lunch break....



Domes...



After lunch we proceeded to the difficult rocky climb called Thompson hill. To everyone?s relief we all made it up without a breakdown, although I needed a bit of spotting to get ?un-stuck? a couple times and ended up with a bent tie rod.

Here?s camp at the top of Thompson hill...



Thompson Lake...



A view on the granite domes and Courtwright from above camp...



A neato ?Jeep? sign...



The next day would be the easiest of the trip. Don?t forget to pay attention though, or you?ll do some body damage on a tree. Lot?s of tight maneuvering on this trail.

A poser rock on the trail...

Ross K...



John K...



Me...



The ?Other John?...



At lunch we realized why you shouldn?t put YJ shackles on a Crusier...



Saturday?s campfire at Ershim lake...




While sitting around the campfire (read: me taking crap about Jeeps) it started to snow. We woke up to about 30 degrees and this the next morning...



The last leg of the trip has many technical rocky sections. While climbing out of camp I had my first big scare. I turned on my rear ARB only to see my air pressure steadily drop. After crawling under the Jeep we figured out that I was losing air inside the diff, an O ring must be leaking. I was bummed to say the least. I guess I?d have to try and make it out using only the front locker.

Not far down the trail Dave and John K had some tire problems. We stopped awhile for the repairs...



As we climbed higher in elevation the snow got worse. By the time we made it to Kaiser pass (10k+feet) we had blizzard conditions. The wind and snow was brutal. I should have brought those windows!!!... The good news was, after my rear axle warmed up, the ARB seemed to hold air!!! :yay:



At the end of the trail we realized how bad the weather really was. The forest service had closed the trail!!!



Great trip. I?ll do it again in a heartbeat.

Brian.

[Darrell C]

Sounds like you had a nice time, Brian. And nice write up.

Yep, middle of September is getting a little late to hit country that high. Easy to get caught in an early storm.

So, you need to replace the tie rod and fix the rear ARB?

[NAILER341]

looks like a good time, brian!
now get your rig put back together for the rookie run

[mrblaine]

Originally posted by Darrell C


So, you need to replace the tie rod and fix the rear ARB?

Think space shuttle.

The tie rod is Currie, a little press work and it's good as new.

[Jerry Bransford]

Nice write-up and pics, that is a trip I'd love to do some day. Compared to some descriptions of the carnage can happen on that trail I have read before, you guys got through it relatively unscathed.

Thanks for the pics, I know I sure enjoyed seeing them.

[John]

I'd have made some smart ass remark about the Jeep being able to outflex the FJ40's, but look like that wasn't the case.

Leaf's rule

Nice write up and pics.

[Darrell C]

Originally posted by mrblaine
Think space shuttle.

The tie rod is Currie, a little press work and it's good as new.

Ah, didn't know he was running the Currie setup. That's a stout tie rod. Going to need a good size press to fix it...not your typical 6 ton HF job

[Allen]

Originally posted by Jerry Bransford
Nice write-up and pics, that is a trip I'd love to do some day.

Thanks for the pics, I know I sure enjoyed seeing them.

X2

Allen

[blkTJ]

glad everyone enjoyed it.

[Stu Olson]

Thanks for sharing....the pics were great as was your comments of the trip.

[Paradiddle]

I want to run this trail.

Great pics Brian and nice writeup. Glad to see you didn't embarass all us Jeep owners by getting outdone by a bunch of Toy guys...

Looks like you had way too much fun.

Jeff

[norcaljr]

Great pics. I really want to do this trail, but it looks like im going to have to wait till next year

[Jeff Weston]

Nice pics ... crappy weather! Sheesh, I woulda' lent you my soft doors and upper windows. At least it probably wasn't too dusty like it usually is. Having run both trails, do you prefer it to the Rubicon? Aside from the history of the Rubicon, the proximity of the Dusy to SoCal and the relatively emptiness of the trail make it pretty hard to beat. Those who are sensitive to it, though, may feel the effects up at 10,000+ feet at the summit.

[blkTJ]

Originally posted by Jeff Weston
Nice pics ... crappy weather! Sheesh, I woulda' lent you my soft doors and upper windows. At least it probably wasn't too dusty like it usually is. Having run both trails, do you prefer it to the Rubicon? Aside from the history of the Rubicon, the proximity of the Dusy to SoCal and the relatively emptiness of the trail make it pretty hard to beat. Those who are sensitive to it, though, may feel the effects up at 10,000+ feet at the summit.

Well, actually Friday and Saturday were plenty dusty. Sunday not so much.

as far as preference, it's hard to say. Dusy doesn't have anything like little sluice, but it's plenty of fun. It does seem to be a bit less traveled which is indeed good and the 5-6 hr trip is better than 8-9hrs. I dunno, I like 'em both.

[blkTJ]

Originally posted by norcaljr
Great pics. I really want to do this trail, but it looks like im going to have to wait till next year

I'm not so sure I'd wanna try it with a lwb vehicle, unless your a big fan of pine sap.

[blkTJ]

got a cd from the trail leader the other day... a couple more pics...