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Cruzer vs. Mirror Lake Trail

Discussion in 'Trip Reports' started by Cruzer, Jul 30, 2022.

  1. Jul 30, 2022 at 8:45 AM
    #1
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    On Wednesday 27th I woke up at 2am to get ready for the Rubicon Trail, again, only to find out that the trail was closed because of the Jeep Jamboree event that doesn't officially start until the 28th. Feeling bummed out I tried to go back to sleep but was just tossing and turning wondering what else can we do. The :ballchain: was okay with me doing the Rubicon again because one of the guys going is her sister's baby daddy - so in her eyes I was trail leading and chaperoning :rolleyes: I didn't want to waste this wheeling opportunity so I gave the guys a choice:

    1. Overlanding style trip near the Tahoe area through Long Canyon 4wd Trail to Strawberry Pass Trail to Forestdale Road to Deer Valley Trail to Slick Rock.

    Or

    2. Head down towards Fresno to the Shaver Lake area and do a crawlanding style trip through Mirror Lake Trail to Strawberry Lake Trail to Coyote Lake Trail.

    To my surprise they chose option #2 :yes:

    These trails and others nearby like Brewer Lake trail and Swamp Lake trail are notorious for having very tight squeezy sections, which is why I have yet to see any Youtube videos of these trails run with a full size truck. @831Tun Warren, these trip reports are for you :D

    From the town of Shaver Lake it takes 20 minutes to get to forest road 08S010. After immediately turning onto the FR there is a section off to the side where you can air down. You drive 3 miles of smooth dirt then you turn off and drive 3 miles of slower rocky dirt road and pass through the seasonal gate.

    upload_2022-7-30_9-4-27.jpg

    A short ways down you get to the intersection.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-17-5.jpg

    I originally wanted to start with the longer Coyote Lake trail but it was 4pm at this point so we decided to do the shorter Mirror Lake trail.

    On this trip we had:
    Taco on 35s, locked rear but has crawl control and all of that fancy stuff
    FJ on 35s, locked front and rear

    upload_2022-7-30_7-21-37.jpg

    As with most starts of trails the excitement is hard to contain and I'm soon looking for rocks to stomp on - even if they're little ones.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-26-34.jpg

    The rocks start off small

    upload_2022-7-30_7-27-12.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_7-27-30.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_7-27-49.jpg

    Out of nowhere it just starts dumping rain that lasted for about 10-15 minutes.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-28-42.jpg

    The rocks start to get bigger and I don't have to go looking for them cuz it's the only way through.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-30-18.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_7-31-20.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_7-31-44.jpg

    Then we reach the top of Winch Hill, which is the hardest section of the trail.
    At the top you have this rocky section to get through, which then turns sharp left to go down the hill.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-43-44.jpg

    This is what it looks like when you turn left. At the center of the picture is a metal pole where you are supposed to connect your winch onto. The Forest Service wants you to winch off of the pole rather than the trees. Winch Hill is steep!

    upload_2022-7-30_7-45-44.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_8-35-22.jpg

    Once you clear this section then you have to straddle this V-notch, which doesn't look like much but because of the steep angle that you're already on there is an extremely dangerous rollover potential if you take the wrong line.

    upload_2022-7-30_7-57-32.jpg

    The correct line is to place your driver tire on top of the rock and then before the drop veer off driver and plant your tire onto the tree root/dirt and head straight down.

    upload_2022-7-30_8-11-8.jpg

    Next you curve down to your left, straddle 2 huge rocks to get to this crazy squeeze. A huge granite slab on the left with a huge tree on the right and a slight drop behind the tree. Smaller vehicles don't really have a problem here. Putting your wheel on that big slab will tilt the truck into the tree.

    upload_2022-7-30_8-28-26.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_8-37-28.jpg

    So the proper line is to place the passenger tires onto the tree roots as high as you can. Once the front wheel starts to pass the tree you have to turn a little bit passenger in order to avoid the rock on the driver side, your passenger side slider will prevent you from going into the tree. Once you pass the rock straighten out and continue down.

    Edit: You NEED to have sliders that extend out from the body. Also, RTTs that hang over the side of the bed have no business being down here as they extend out too far and WILL hit the tree.

    upload_2022-7-30_8-43-29.jpg

    :ballchain: says it's time to complete the honey do list...

    to be continued...
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Aug 2, 2022
  2. Jul 30, 2022 at 9:24 AM
    #2
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    Page 2

    So I get over the rocks at the top and make the sharp left to go down
    upload_2022-7-30_9-22-4.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-15-1.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-15-28.jpg

    Straddle the V-Notch

    upload_2022-7-30_9-15-54.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-16-10.jpg

    I straddle the 2 big rocks for the approach to the squeezy

    upload_2022-7-30_9-19-3.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-19-29.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-20-7.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-20-30.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-21-9.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_9-21-36.jpg

    Ok now it's time for that honey do list

    To be continued...
     
  3. Jul 30, 2022 at 10:44 AM
    #3
    Sunnier

    Sunnier Pity the warrior that slays all his foes

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    Sunny
    San Diego, CA
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    So close! :thumbsup:
     
  4. Jul 30, 2022 at 11:06 AM
    #4
    ATV25

    ATV25 Young at heart

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    So far, sooooo EPIC !!!
    :101010:
     
  5. Jul 30, 2022 at 11:17 AM
    #5
    TG705

    TG705 Braaaap

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    San Jose, CA
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    2011 super white Tundra double cab
    King 2.5 coilovers, King 3.0 rear bypasses, Camburg uniball UCAs, RCI skid plates, Camburg front bumper, warn zeon 10s platinum winch, monster hook reaper shackles, Rigid Industries lights, SDHQ sliders, SDHQ A-pillar brackets, SPOD, 17" Method standard wheels, 315/70/17 Cooper STT tires, Morimoto XB LED headlights, Boon dock steel rear bumper, Durobumps front bumpstops, Deaver U748 with MCM shackles
    I did long canyon about a month ago, not much to see after the Caldor fire for the first half. Did the second half on my dirt bike, 2nd half the trail gets back into the unburned which is nice. About 3/4 of the way up came to a about a 4’ diameter tree across the road which was cut just big enough for a jeep or Tacoma looked like, not sure the tundra would make it unless you had a big saw with you. Not sure the condition of strawberry pass but I think it also got hit hard by the fire

    4716717C-FB8E-4814-A83C-A7D159002DFB.jpg
     
  6. Jul 30, 2022 at 11:53 AM
    #6
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    Good thing we didn’t go there.
     
    Sunnier likes this.
  7. Jul 30, 2022 at 11:57 AM
    #7
    TG705

    TG705 Braaaap

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    King 2.5 coilovers, King 3.0 rear bypasses, Camburg uniball UCAs, RCI skid plates, Camburg front bumper, warn zeon 10s platinum winch, monster hook reaper shackles, Rigid Industries lights, SDHQ sliders, SDHQ A-pillar brackets, SPOD, 17" Method standard wheels, 315/70/17 Cooper STT tires, Morimoto XB LED headlights, Boon dock steel rear bumper, Durobumps front bumpstops, Deaver U748 with MCM shackles
    Definitely! The trail you guys did looks like a way better time!
     
    joonbug likes this.
  8. Jul 30, 2022 at 4:10 PM
    #8
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    Page 3

    After Winch Hill it's just some boulder fields and lots of squeezy sections

    upload_2022-7-30_12-6-8.jpg

    We finally get down to the lake. No wonder they named it Mirror Lake

    upload_2022-7-30_12-7-4.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_12-7-25.jpg

    There were a few campsites available with fire rings. We used propane instead - kept it safe. We were the only ones down here.

    upload_2022-7-30_12-8-29.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_12-8-48.jpg

    Next morning we packed it up. What came down must come up right? I guess I forgot to mention that this is an out and back trail.

    At this point the 4Low (no torque) issue had reared its ugly head so I was not looking forward to Winch Hill. Also, I've concluded that the Tow/Haul button doesn't do shit when you're in 4Low. Back to the drawing board with that.

    I also figured out that my rear locker is leaking because air is escaping out of the rear diff breather. Fortunately, the locker was working but the air compressor was running longer than it had to. It's probably the o-rings.

    Wait there's more..... as we made our way to Winch Hill there were some good sized rocks that my rear diff skid got banged up on. So banged up that it bent the clamp that attaches to the 3rd member (it's been bent before but this was the worst it's been). I tried bending it back in place but it was a no go so I just took off the clamp and hoped that the skid would still do its job - surprisingly, it survived the rest of the trip and took a good beating. I guess I'm just going to keep it this way :cool:

    upload_2022-7-30_15-18-14.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_15-18-40.jpg

    So we get to Winch Hill and had to go up the squeeze.

    upload_2022-7-30_15-24-30.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_15-24-58.jpg

    upload_2022-7-30_15-25-14.jpg

    I believe I would've made it but the 4Lo issue struck again. Just wasn't enough torque to climb up the hill and rocks at the same time. So I winched onto a tree stump. The metal poles that I'm supposed to winch off was 45 degrees to my passenger side, which would've turned the truck and hit the tree.

    upload_2022-7-30_15-26-45.jpg

    Afterwards I am able to make it to the top of Winch Hill, bumping my way there.

    upload_2022-7-30_15-30-50.jpg

    Mirror Lake is 5 miles round trip. It took us 2.5 hours to go down to Mirror Lake and 3.5 hours to climb back out. Mirror Lake is definitely a hard trail with rewarding, peaceful, and isolated campsites at the end. Would I do it again? Probably not, unless someone really wants me to lead them there.

    Minimum requirements for this trail: (you can drag a stock Tundra through most obstacles with a winch but it's not going to be fun and you'll waste a lot of time)
    Front & rear lockers, sliders that protrude away from the body, 37s, high clearance front & rear bumpers, and a winch. EDIT: full armor underneath as well.
    Might be able to do 35s but you're probably gonna stack enough rocks to rival the pyramids of Giza :anonymous:
    Could do with a non-high clearance aftermarket bumper but see line above ^^^

    STRAWBERRY LAKE
    The trailheads for Mirror Lake and Strawberry Lake are right next to each other so we went straight into Strawberry Lake after exiting Mirror Lake. Don't have any trail pictures of Strawberry because it was not hard at all - I'd rate it as a medium. There is one tight squeeze section though. The trail is a little over 3 miles round trip with several campsites at the lake.

    Minimum requirements for this trail: 33s, sliders

    Didn't see any strawberries though :p
    upload_2022-7-30_15-59-37.jpg
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2022
  9. Aug 1, 2022 at 3:19 PM
    #9
    badmotofing3r

    badmotofing3r To be so civilized, one must tell civil lies

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    Toytec lift and the works
    Your tree strap reminded me of this meme template.

    Great trail report. Good job.

    upload_2022-7-30_15-26-45.jpg
    4j8vxk.jpg
     
    Cruzer[OP] likes this.
  10. Aug 1, 2022 at 3:31 PM
    #10
    reywcms

    reywcms New Member

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    Beaverton,Oregon
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    Too many mods to come
    This is what I've been waiting for! Dude the fact you do all this in a full-size is killer lol. Great pics and info as always. What lockers do you have? My old mans rear is doing the same as yours guessing the o-rings also.
     
    Cruzer[OP] likes this.
  11. Aug 1, 2022 at 3:42 PM
    #11
    fisherman951

    fisherman951 MT dreams

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    SoCal
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    Wow wow
     
    Cruzer[OP] likes this.
  12. Aug 1, 2022 at 4:03 PM
    #12
    pandapro

    pandapro New Member

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    Looked like a dope trip!
     
    Cruzer[OP] likes this.
  13. Aug 1, 2022 at 6:33 PM
    #13
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    Got the ARBs. Not looking forward to taking the axle apart.
     
    reywcms[QUOTED] likes this.
  14. Aug 1, 2022 at 6:36 PM
    #14
    Cruzer

    Cruzer [OP] Wheeling Full Size

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    I still need to post up the Coyote Lake trail. It is by far the funnest and hardest trail I did on this trip.
     
    badmotofing3r, ATV25 and Sunnier like this.
  15. Aug 6, 2022 at 2:41 PM
    #15
    ATV25

    ATV25 Young at heart

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    WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR ?
     

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